In this case, the ingenious P.I. (and part-time cab driver) must untangle a web of blackmail, political corruption, family secrets, and murder. Cold Case is written in fine, breezy style and both Carlotta's attractive personality and the story's twists and turns will keep you hooked until the last page.

Product Description

The plot concerns the sudden appearance of an unpublished manuscript by Thea Janis, a teenaged prodigy who wrote a shocking blockbuster hit, "Nightmare's Dawn," a couple of decades earlier, before apparently killing herself at the tender age of 15.

Carlotta is hired by a Dr. Manley, a "friend of the family" who is now convinced that Thea is alive, and who wants Carlotta to--very discreetly--find her. Manley is absolutely firm in his belief that Thea is still alive, and although Carlotta strongly doubts it, her subsequent sleuthing brings her closer and closer to one of the most prominent Boston families, one of whom is running a close race for governor.

Sounds tailor-made for a great read, right? Wrong. There are so many red herrings, side stories, wrong turns, threads that go nowhere and endless musings, I had to stop reading for days at a time. Several times, I thought to myself, "Now THIS is a perfect ending for the book." But nooo.....it went on and on and on and on into many such endings, until it finally limped to a disappointing conclusion.

I forgive Linda Barnes, because I love her writing and I love her series. I'm going to put this down to panic over a printing deadline and forget all about it. My suggestion: If you have read the entire series and you are a purist about reading every last page (like I am), go ahead, but be warned. If you are an occasional Linda Barnes reader, and you like what you have read, skip this one, by all means.


Bad Girl   October 31, 2002
 4 out of 7 found this review helpful

Having worked with numerous investigators over the past 16 years, I am sure I would have lost my license to practice law if Carlotta was working on my cases. I don't expect mysteries to be "true", but at least they should not border on science fiction. I was tempted to start a count of how many criminal laws the ex cop turned investigator broke but gave up. Don't even mention ethics.

I know that lawyers, especially criminal defense lawyers, are supposed to be the slime of the earth. Maybe so, but Carlotta was way slimier than any attorney I have ever known.


a real disapointment   January 25, 1999
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

I was very disapointed with this book. It came highly recommended. I loved Ms. Barnes' other books. This one was a bore!


Interesting plot   October 22, 2004
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

Intrepid private investigator Carlotta Carlyle is approached by a man who claims that he has received a manuscript written by a girl who disappeared as a young teenager some 24 years ago. The girl, Thea Janis, wrote a brilliant and successful book at a very early age and then disappeared. When Carlotta begins to investigate, she finds that Thea was reported dead many years ago. She begins to investigate Thea's wealthy and politically-active family and begins to uncover some skeletons in the closet. She works with her old police buddy, Mooney, and after several red herrings, begins to unravel a tangled web of lies and deceit that run very deep in Thea's family. Some of the familiar elements of this series are missing in this book. Carlotta plays nary a game of volleyball and her little sister Paolina is absent until the very end of the book. A parting of the ways occurs between Carlotta and her current lover with suddenness and fury over a seemingly minor matter. Also, the presence of Paolina's father lurks furtively in the shadows, but never really makes an impact on the story. Other than this, readers should enjoy this entry in the series.


Ugh...bad topic, convoluted plot, bad language...   December 2, 2002
 1 out of 4 found this review helpful

I really like to read mysteries. And I've read a lot of them over the years. I like them well-written, and I like the plots to make sense, and the mysteries to be plausible. I've read BArnes before and have enjoyed some of her work. But I really did not like this book!

About the only good thing I can say about it, is I had no idea where she was going (in spite of background in neuroscience/psychiatry). As she kept mentioning 'recovered memories' that should have clued me in to the horrible conclusion, but for some reason there was not enough information given in the poetry of the person Carlotta was looking for, or the background of the family.

Yeah, it deals with a topic that makes me very uncomfortable, even though I realize that in reality this type of family situation happens more often then we know. It's just I don't find this stuff even remotely entertaining or interesting....ugh. And the language of Barnes' books are getting more and more rough. I realize she is supposed to be writing about a hard-boiled woman detective, but it is more than I can stand!

Karen Sadler