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lynguy1's review against another edition
3.0
A Trouble of Fools by Linda Barnes is the first book in the Carlotta Carlyle private investigator series. Carlotta is an ex-Boston police officer, ex-part-time cab driver, and a newly minted private detective. Miss Margaret Devens hires her to find her missing brother Eugene. Carlotta slightly knew Eugene slightly from when they were both working at Green and White Cab. She thinks she will solve the case quickly until thugs invade Margaret’s home and she ends up in the hospital. What where they looking for? Was Eugene involved in something more dangerous than driving a cab?
Carlotta is tough, stubborn, divorced, untidy, plays volleyball, and is a Big Sister to Paolina. The other characters have varying degrees of depth. They’re a mixed bag of characters including TC the cat and Red Emma the parakeet as well as an old love interest and a former colleague wanting a relationship, an artist tenant and her boyfriend, her former boss at the cab company, and many others.
There’s a decent mystery in this story, but the start is slow-paced, meandering, and uneven. However, it picks up in the last third of the novel. There is a lot of description detail that doesn’t seem to advance the story. However, as the investigation continued, the puzzle pieces came together and the ending is what I expected.
Overall, this sets the stage for an interesting series with some eccentric characters and new investigations to pursue.
I purchased a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date was January 1, 1987.
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My 2.98 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
Carlotta is tough, stubborn, divorced, untidy, plays volleyball, and is a Big Sister to Paolina. The other characters have varying degrees of depth. They’re a mixed bag of characters including TC the cat and Red Emma the parakeet as well as an old love interest and a former colleague wanting a relationship, an artist tenant and her boyfriend, her former boss at the cab company, and many others.
There’s a decent mystery in this story, but the start is slow-paced, meandering, and uneven. However, it picks up in the last third of the novel. There is a lot of description detail that doesn’t seem to advance the story. However, as the investigation continued, the puzzle pieces came together and the ending is what I expected.
Overall, this sets the stage for an interesting series with some eccentric characters and new investigations to pursue.
I purchased a copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date was January 1, 1987.
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My 2.98 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon.
cemoses's review against another edition
3.0
It is a pleasant book. In part I liked it because it was set in Boston and it referenced many areas that I know.
ubalstecha's review against another edition
3.0
Excellent intro to the series. Carlyle is an excellent main character, whose first adventure doesn't feel like a first adventure. Some nice shenanigans and mystery.
verumsolum's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.25
This was an ok book; maybe I’m just not in the mystery spirit, because I can’t put my finger on why it fell flat for me. I think I just didn’t connect to any of the characters as much as I wanted to. And the story felt a bit … off to me. (Some of That May be because the book is now more than a few years old.)
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
4.0
The first Carlotta Carlyle mystery was quite well done. Good writing, good characters, interesting story. I especially enjoyed it as someone who lives in Boston (while I can imagine someone who hasn't been to Boston occasionally finding it a bit confusing).
I think my one complaint is that a lot of the elements of the mystery seemed a little bit unlikely. A lot of rather wide points got tied together neatly, and I don't think real life is very often that neat.
I think my one complaint is that a lot of the elements of the mystery seemed a little bit unlikely. A lot of rather wide points got tied together neatly, and I don't think real life is very often that neat.
psalmcat's review against another edition
4.0
The premiere of this series is about a missing cabbie from the company Carlotta used to work for. Somehow, the missing guy is involved in an apparent fundraiser for the IRA, but she's also keeping an eye on a creepy dealer-type hanging out in her "little sister's" neighborhood. She even does a turn as a decoy hooker, reconnoitering for photos. Turns out the only involvement of the IRA is a name-clearing exercise of violence at the end. Some loose ends, but generally pretty good.
stefhyena's review against another edition
5.0
God I love Carlotta Carlyle. She's tough, she has a bad attitude, she does whatever the hell she wants and accepts the consequences. There is a right and wrong in these books but it's not simple. Nevertheless it is relaxing and refreshing to read them
wrencameron's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The book has an unusual cast of characters and a funny stile of writing.
mcomp's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
I like the calm witty writing style of the author and would like to check out some of her other works, but felt like this one just wasn't very gripping in its storyline.