Strange Bedfellows: A Charlotte Justice Novel (Charlotte Justice Novels) (Hardcover)

by Paula L. Woods (Author)
Key Phrases: latent prints, Chuck Zuccari, Uncle Henry, Alma Zuccari (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In Woods's searing fourth Charlotte Justice novel (after 2003's Dirty Laundry), the troubled, hot-tempered LAPD detective looks into an attack on politically connected Chuck Zuccari, the elderly head of a successful toy company; his pregnant young wife, Alma; and their business associates, intellectual African-American Muslims Malik and Habiba Shareef. It's a complicated case: Zuccari's dysfunctional family and business are rife with infighting; his company is being defrauded; the FBI is investigating the too squeaky-clean Shareefs. Meanwhile, Charlotte wrestles with professional demands, racial and gender prejudice, and her interfering lover, Dr. Aubrey Scott, and family. Set in 1993, this multilayered novel may at first confuse new readers with its many plot threads and characters from previous books in the series, but all will appreciate its stunning conclusion as well as its rich portrait of LAPD politics and of the African-American community. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Aptly named LAPD homicide detective Charlotte Justice, haunted by the long-ago murder of her husband and daughter, is obsessed with helping other victims find the closure she craves. Prickly and outspoken, she loathes smaller injustices, too, ever-alert to the casual racist and sexist slurs that permeate her profession (though she calls an elderly driver a "Q-Tip"). In her fourth novel (following Dirty Laundry, 2003), a missing suspect from an old case turns up injured in a car accident, reigniting an investigation into a drive-by shooting that left a toy company tycoon in a coma. As Justice unravels the tycoon's family's secrets, new clues bring to light secrets in her own family--and the lies that have been told to keep them. Though the byzantine plot will please readers who enjoy unraveling snarls, procedural fans who like a fast pace will do better elsewhere, as nearly all of Strange Bedfellows unfolds in flashback, interior monologue, or talky conversation. Further dampening the excitement, several discoveries happen offstage. Still, Woods'unique mix of moral outrage, social commentary, and therapy definitely has an audience. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: One World/Ballantine (January 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345457021
• ISBN-13: 978-0345457028
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #790,539 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Paula Does It Again!!!, April 7, 2006

By	Urban-Reviews.com (Urban-Reviews.com) - See all my reviews

Detective Charlotte Justice is back with another perplexing and disturbing case. She is trying to solve a very public shooting of CEO and chairman Chuck Zuccari, his wife Alma, and their business partners Malik and Habiba Shareef. But this case is not what it seems. There is a dangerous web of Zuccari family secrets that anybody would kill to keep. Charlotte is slapped in the face with her own family secrets. She finally finds out why her brother Perris stole her late husband Keith's files from her house. Perris must tell Charlotte the awful truth behind her husband and daughter's murders. On top of all that, Charlotte has to go through job-required psychological counseling that may lead to the turning point of her career.

Strange Bedfellows is a spellbinding novel by Paula L. Woods. Woods once again brought an outstanding mystery with a lot of twists and turns. Readers will really need to pay attention to the intricate details of this story. I liked how the author incorporated the toy industry into the storyline. I literally didn't know the answer to the mystery until it was revealed. This is the mark of a good crime fiction novelist. This novel reads like a shocking Law and Order episode. Strange Bedfellows is a shining example of why Paula L. Woods is one of the masters of crime fiction.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Secrets Never Told, August 16, 2006

By	Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At the end of Dirty Laundry, we found Charlotte Justice embroiled in mounting issues just when she was beginning to think her life was settling down. This last case was fraught not only with hard core murder but entanglements with fellow officers who were sexually harassing her and her sister colleagues. There were also links to the gruesome murder that killed her young criminologist husband, Keith, and daughter, Erica, thirteen years prior that were beginning to surface. Now as Strange Bedfellows opens, Paula Woods spins another Los Angeles yarn with twists and turns that fling readers into the wide open L.A. highways like the Santa Ana winds.

Charlotte finds her job is on the line when a culmination of events has overwhelmed her and she is sent to "Chinatown", the psych division for L.A.P.D officers. In denial and protesting all the way, she is flat out told if she does not accept help, she can kiss her job goodbye. This is a sentence worse than death. "For who am I without my job?" Charlotte asks herself. It has just been one week since she wrapped up her last emotional case when she discovers her brother has stolen files from her home relating to Keith's cases; somehow she suspects her mother is involved. But a cold case has resurfaced and the adrenaline is running through her veins. She jumps in headlong but has she gone from the frying pan into the skillet?

Chuck Zucarri, CEO of CZ Toys, is lying in the hospital in a coma after a mysterious shooting and a young intern who worked in his financial department is found in the Central Valley in a coma after a car accident with a stash of $27,000. The plot thickens when the FBI is called in and a black agent is gung ho about dragging the Nation of Islam into the fracas. A trip to the Bay Area turns bizarre, family secrets explode and issues of race and how it plays out in love, war and death are examined. Furthermore, the events of what led to her family's death are finally revealed. Not to mention the members of the Nut House--- Charlotte's parents' home and the man she is now seeing are putting pressure on her to leave the police force. All of these factors threaten the very fabric of Charlotte's existence. Can she come out of this situation sane?

A cast of characters that include the widow of an up-and-coming African American toy manufacturer, the ex-wife and the new trophy wife of Zucari, a rogue FBI agent and a young man with a lost memory set the stage for suspense, drama and secrets. With her usual M.O., Woods gives her readers a journey and history lesson of Los Angeles' African history and culture, visual stimulating images of the city and a heroine who is far from perfect. Woods' craft is getting stronger as like Sue Grafton with her Kinsey Milhone heroine in her ABC mystery series, she gives the inner workings, the psychological set-ups and the anatomy of a murder in methodical, detailed symmetry in the world of Charlotte Justice. My childhood favorite detective was Nancy Drew but Woods' Justice is a blood and guts, real woman who has become one of my top female sleuths. I cannot wait to read the next chapter of Charlotte's adventures.

Dera R. Williams
APOOOO BookClub
www.apooo.org

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Taut, well-written and will keep you guessing!, February 8, 2006

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Strange Bedfellows is the fourth in the Charlotte Justice series. Justice is an African-American Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective who is in therapy due to some recent killings. She is driven to solve crimes to help the victim's families but her urge is based on the murder of her criminology professor husband and their infant daughter in a drive-by shooting 13 years ago.

Justice deals with narrow-minded colleagues who still can't handle diversity, and her proud family who feel her career is inappropriate and prefer doctors and lawyers. (Charlotte's brother resigned from the police force after the drive-by shooting; and is now an attorney.)

Charlotte is "passed" by her therapist to return to work temporarily to help with a cold case that resurfaces following eight months with no activity.

Two prominent couples were shot as they left a restaurant. One couple is a white, wealthy, conservative toy manufacturer and his young, pregnant trophy wife. The other is an African-American couple trying to do business with the toy company and produce some ethnic dolls. Malik Shareef and his wife, Habiba, were known for a groundbreaking survey and book about how dolls affect children's self-image.

The author, Paula Woods, is known for her depiction of South Central areas of Los Angeles. She feels that cops are at the center of trying to keep the peace, keep people secure and provide justice.

Homicide Detective Charlotte Justice is a complicated, intense, righteous woman, someone who would make a good friend and an excellent cop. When your employer and colleagues do not have the same values and integrity, things can get difficult--and she's gets in the thick of it.

Armchair Interviews says: This taut, well-written mystery will have you guessing up to the very end--the plot twists and turns are astonishing.