Cold Case

Of all the current crop of female PIs, Linda Barnes' CarlottaCarlyle may just be the best:.... This is her best book so far: cunningly plotted, beautifully written, believable and likeable. Read it once for the plot, twice for Carlyle herself. Added bonus: Barnes is the only writer I know who can talk knowledgably about music without making it seem like she's showing off.

"Cold Case" by Linda Barnes is enjoyable from start to finish.The poems of a murdered writer surfaces 24 years after her death.Recent poems. Private I,Carlotta doesn't know if they're frauds or genuine.She only knows that the poems reveal more than writer's family wants her and the public to know.Things such as the truth behind a seemingly solved case,and secret alliances between politicians and members of the Boston PD. The role of the murdered,child writer makes this novel border on the paranormal.It gets very eerie without getting "out there."I give it a 10 for suspense. -Joe

I surprised that this mystery did not make People Magazine's "Page Turner of the Week." I couldn't put it down. Linda Barnes reoccuring characters are well constructed. Here books don't take reading and re-reading the first few chapters several times to jump right into the reading journey. If this book were food, it might not be filet but it certainly is warm oatmeal on a cold, rainy day.

Linda Barnes does it again. Such a tight, intriguing, carefully drawn plot. The characters are fresh and intelligent. The roller coaster action hangs together without distraction - so difficult to do. And Carlotta Carlyle, woman detective par excellence, has not become brown and jagged with age. Boston makes for an interesting setting.

I love all of Linda Barnes' books about Carlotta Carlyle and this one was no exception, but it was not my favorite. I thought it was very interesting and it keep my interest, but I didn't want to sit down and read it in one sitting like some of her other books. It was still a very entertaining and remarkable book and I would highly recommend it to anyone