The Hydrogen Murder

Physicist Eric Bensen, along with his fellow researchers, are on the verge of making an exciting new discovery about hydrogen. After Eric is found shot to death in his physics lab, we learn that he has found a fatal flaw in the data which could discredit the team's findings. Was Eric murdered to keep him quiet, or was it for another reason? This very enjoyable novel introduces Dr. Gloria Lamerino, a recently retired physicist who has returned to her hometown of Revere, Massachusetts after a successful physics career in California. Gloria is hired by the Revere police department as a scientific consultant to help understand the scientific background of the case. Author Minichino has created a marvelous character in Dr. Lamerino, a career woman who is still looking for a relationship. In this story, Gloria is pursued by her former high school flame Peter Mastrone, while SHE is interested in getting to know the police detective Sergeant Gennaro much bettter. The plot development was well done, making this book a real page-turner. Being an engineer myself, I enjoyed the scientific information in the story. It's so refreshing to find a cozy mystery with an intelligent protagonist! I'm looking forward to reading the Helium mystery next!

Thank you, Camille Minichio, for providing a protagonist who is a real person. Gloria Lamerino may be a fictional character but she seemed real to me. In addition to providing the reader with a compelling character to care about, the author gives us a plot that forces scientific insight and propels a lazy reader into becoming a thinking person. I am looking forward to more stories about this female detective!

With the exceptions of Marcia Muller and Sue Grafton, I seldom enjoy mysteries with female sleuths. I will now have to add Camille Minichino to the list of "must read" novels with female sleuths. I am a chemist so I was interested because Minichino uses the periodic table to name her novels. Gloria Lamerino is a retired physicist who has returned to her hometown Revere, Massachusetts from California. The scientific insight she brings in the novel kept it going for me, and the puzzle and resolution were very impressive. The other characters, Rose, Frank, Peter, and Matt are very well drawn and I will look forward to them in her next mystery. In the last chapter, Gloria says that she's not looking for a "helium murder", but since I already have a copy, I know there is one, and I am really looking forward to reading it, as well as the other periodic table mysteries.

A unique contribution to the spate of books about female detectives by female authors. Minichino, herself a physicist, created Gloria Lamarino a retired physicist turned police consultant. All the elements are there for a "cozy." And they are shaped in a well plotted, three dimensional character study.

At last we've discovered that a female sleuth can be over 50, a little heavy, and still attractive to men! Using herself as a model, Camille Minichino has begun a new series set in Revere, Massachusetts. With The Hydrogen Murder, Ms. Minichino introduces us to Gloria Lamerino, a retired physicist who has returned to her hometown populated with a delightful cast of Italian-Americans. Gloria becomes a police consultant when the local boys in blue discover they need someone with a scientific background as a "translator" in a murder case. Gloria is quickly swept up by the events surrounding the murder of a fellow researcher and is almost as quickly swept up in romantic feelings towards the detective who hires her. This is not a hardboiled mystery but a delightful story with local flavor and humor. I look forward to her continuing saga as Dr. Lamerino works her way through the periodic table.