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carolpk's review against another edition
3.0
Sometimes books get on our TBR piles in the strangest ways. A few years ago I did a library display on Cold Cases. If you’ve read anything I’ve reviewed you’d probably know I love to read about these unsolved missing person cases. Anyway, I bought the book Cold Case by Linda Barnes for that display. It was not the greatest copy so I circulated it and then threw it on my book shelves meaning to read it in the near future. . A few weeks ago I decided my book shelves could use some weeding and I came across the book. I couldn’t bear to part with it so back it went only now to stare me in the face as there was room for it to be seen. I vowed to read it soon. I’ll bet that promise would have gone unheeded if not for Book Lust to Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers by Nancy Pearl. In this collection with selections for us traveling dreamers, Nancy recommends Cold Case for books taking place in Boston. To quote she gives this teaser "For personal reasons (which you'll totally understand when you read the novel), my favorite Linda Barnes's Carlotta Carlyle series remains Cold Case".
No more excuses. I read the book. First, let me say I’m not much of a series fan and this one falls number 7 of the 14 in the series. Well, at least I wouldn’t be starting at the end. Cold Case stands alone well enough. It might have been better to have a bit more background about the main PI, Carlotta Carlyle, but I managed . Carlotta's a former cop, red haired and tough, but not as wise-cracking as some female PI’s in other series. I appreciated this as sometimes those too smart, kick a__ women don't ring true to me. The streets of Boston are well represented in the tale. Some of the fun of Cold Case was that it was published just long enough ago not to be filled with Internet searching and cell phones and the big dig. The story kept my interest and the cold case had some twists I didn’t see coming so all in all, a solid 3 out of 5 from me. Will I read another? Possibly.
And as to Nancy Linn Pearl’s involvement with the story, this mystery was not revealed until the very end. If I was one of those people who read an ending first, it would have saved me shaking my head throughout trying to figure the role Pearl would play.
Sorry, I’m not going to tell. You’ll have to read it like I did and no peeking!
No more excuses. I read the book. First, let me say I’m not much of a series fan and this one falls number 7 of the 14 in the series. Well, at least I wouldn’t be starting at the end. Cold Case stands alone well enough. It might have been better to have a bit more background about the main PI, Carlotta Carlyle, but I managed . Carlotta's a former cop, red haired and tough, but not as wise-cracking as some female PI’s in other series. I appreciated this as sometimes those too smart, kick a__ women don't ring true to me. The streets of Boston are well represented in the tale. Some of the fun of Cold Case was that it was published just long enough ago not to be filled with Internet searching and cell phones and the big dig. The story kept my interest and the cold case had some twists I didn’t see coming so all in all, a solid 3 out of 5 from me. Will I read another? Possibly.
And as to Nancy Linn Pearl’s involvement with the story, this mystery was not revealed until the very end. If I was one of those people who read an ending first, it would have saved me shaking my head throughout trying to figure the role Pearl would play.
Sorry, I’m not going to tell. You’ll have to read it like I did and no peeking!
cmbohn's review
Couldn't get into this one. A lot of talking about whether she's going to take the case or not, a lot of exposition. Show, don't tell, remember? Too bored to finish.
crazy4reading's review
4.0
I enjoyed this story. When I picked this book up I did not realize it was part of a series. It was easy to follow even though it is #7 in this series.
Carlotta is a private detective. She used to be a police officer. This book finds her working with a high society family to prove that some notebooks are actual fakes of their dead daughter's work. I enjoyed the way the story line flowed and will look for more books by this author and in this series.
Carlotta is a private detective. She used to be a police officer. This book finds her working with a high society family to prove that some notebooks are actual fakes of their dead daughter's work. I enjoyed the way the story line flowed and will look for more books by this author and in this series.
lauraellis's review
3.0
[1998]. The longest of the Carlotta Carlyle mysteries [at that time] and the one I found the least gripping, although I enjoyed it. A man shows up claiming to be the uncle of a long-dead poet and insisting she must still be alive, because she is still writing—and she happens to be the sister of the current gubernatorial candidate. By the time Carlotta completely unwinds the case, the family tree is discovered to contain the usual assortment of skeletons-might be better on a re-read.
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