Snapshot

Mysterious photographs lead to a grieving mother who may or may not have seen something suspicious when her daughter died. Add in medical intrigue, problems with P.I. Carlotta's Little Sister, seemingly unrelated murders, and, weirdly, the theft of her full trash cans, and the result is a mystery full of twists and turns and surprises. One quibble I had is that all the men in the book seem to find Carlotta irresistible. Irritating.

Carlotta Carlyle receives mysterious photos through the mail each Friday. She finally realizes that they are pictures of a child, showing her at birth and then on each of her subsequent birthdays. Eventually the child's mother comes to Carlotta and asks her to investigate her daughter's mysterious death while she was being treated for a curable kind of leukemia. The investigation leads to a hospital where a prominent physician is in charge of cancer treatments. If this isn't bad enough, Carlotta's garbage cans are stolen from her yard, and her little sister Paolina (from the Big Sister' Organization) is consorting with a much older man. Linda Barnes skillfully weaves a serious plot around the madcap occurrences in Carlotta's private life and the result is a very enjoyable entry into the Carlotta Carlyle series.

In the fifth of Linda Barnes' very enjoyable Carlotta Carlyle series, the main character comes into her own as a PI. Although she still has a wry sense of humor, a self-deprecating streak, and daily contact with a cast of outrageous characters, this story is a serious one.Carlotta is approached by a distraught woman, Emily, who is accompanied on the visit by her young and handsome psychiatrist. It seems that Emily's young daughter, who was being treated for a curable form of leukemia, suddenly took a violent turn for the worse and died. Emily is certain that it was due to gross negligence on the part of the hospital, one of the most prestigious in Boston. Her psychiatrist does not agree, but wishes to soothe his patient by letting her hire Anna.Anna finds the case daunting and more than a little confusing, especially when her first forays into information-gathering result in the death or disappearance of several key players, including Emily herself. Is Anna in over her head? What exactly DID happen to Emily's 6-year-old daughter? Is there a conspiracy of silence at the hospital, and if so, which of the pompous, well-known doctors is taking part? As Anna digs deeper, she finds herself involved in a dangerous web of intrigue that threatens not only the patients in the hospital, but her own life as well.Although this story has much more meat than the previous books in the series, it is not without its own special brand of humor and quirky characters. Carlotta's insanely nutty roommate, Roz, is her usual outrageous self, as is Diane, the impossibly huge proprietess of the Green and White cab company. Carlotta is still involved with Sam, the offspring of a well-known mobster, and no-nonsense cop Mooney, her friend, mentor, and would-be lover, still disapproves. There are also some plot-thickening incidents with Carlotta's beloved "little sister" Paolina, and her immoveable mother Marta, who has become very ill.All in all, this book promises a new twist in the series, and bodes well for the future of Carlotta's career as an offbeat, but successful, private eye.

If you're a fan of Linda Barnes and her Carlotta Carlyle protagonist you will enjoy Snapshot the fifth installment in this series. I listened to the audio of this book and have to admit that reading would have been much better. I feel the audio is to easy to get distracted from. However, I love C. J. Critt and feel she does a wonderful job. Snapshot takes you into the world of hospitals and medicine and secrets they may hold. Carlotta is taken into this world by her customer who later cannot be found. Snapshot has many twist and turns (which I enjoy in a novel). Several people who could be the bad guy, and our old favorites Mooney, Gloria and Sam make appearances. Although they are not involved as much as in the previous novels. Snapshot will not let you down if you are looking for a good whodunit with a great protagonist.