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Amazon.co.uk Review
"Look, I made a mistake. I slept with a student", concedes Wilson Chaney, an African-American professor at Harvard Medical School, as he hires Carlotta to find and foil the person responsible for blackmailing him with love letters he'd sent to Denali Brinkman, a startlingly attractive freshman rowing champ who evidently committed both suicide and arson at a Charles River boathouse. As Carlotta confronts the case's multiplying puzzles, she wonders whether there are answers to be found in Denali's sketchy past--answers that could not only clear Chaney, but protect this gutsy gumshoe from an increasingly dangerous adversary.
Carlotta's distractions in Deep Pockets are numerous, from her ebbing relationship with a black FBI agent to her concern over the half-dressing habits of her fast-developing "little sister", Paolina. Yet she rarely misses a clue--except, of course, when it adds to the story's tensions. Barnes fails to fully explain a couple of dramatic plot turns in this 10th Carlotta Carlyle novel (after The Big Dig), and you needn't boast a Harvard sheepskin to figure out her tale's principal twist well in advance of its conclusion; however, those faults are outweighed by one's delight in seeing the pertinacious Ms Carlyle again get her man without entirely losing her femininity. --J Kingston Pierce, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Kinsey Millhone...the other first ladies of crime better watch their backs."--"People"
"Her first person prose is well-honed, and her touch is sure enough to float her fast-paced narrative while still allowing for sharp development of an intriguing cast of characters...best of all, Barnes can turn a phrase well enough to make even Paretsky and Grafton jealous."
-"Houston Chronicle"
"[There's] plenty to keep a reader chasing after the delightful Carlyle while she chases after the bad guys.""-Entertainment Weekly "
"Barnes weaves an intricate web with a pleasingly poisonous spider at its center...Barnes makes superb use of the town-grown tensions...the twists and turns in this nail-biter are at once startling without ever becoming absurd."-"Publishers Weekly"
"With Deep Pockets, Barnes locks in her position as one of the foremost practitioners of middle-of-the-road, character-based mystery...I suppose I could have put it down. But I didn't want to."-"Orson Scott Card"
"No question: Carlotta's tenth case is her best to date. Edgar nominators, take note."
--"Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
"Carlotta Carlyle combines the sensitivity of Robert Parker's Spenser with the stubbornness of Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski, and she's rapidly carving out a place of her own." -"Chicago Tribune"
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Customer Reviews
As the book opens, Carlotta finds that she is being tailed inexpertly by a well-dressed, middle-aged African American male. Finally, she braces him . . . and he knows her name. Gradually, it turns out he has a problem . . . but cannot decide whether or not to hire her. It's hard for him to trust a white person. It turns out that the man, Dr. Wilson Cheney, is a professor at Harvard and has a delicate problem. He cannot decide whether or not to share the problem.
Eventually, Carlotta decides to help him after she finds out that he is a friend of her FBI lover, Leon Wells. But she doesn't like the story he tells very much. Cheney had had an affair with a student. Although the student is now dead, Cheney had sent the student some incriminating letters. Cheney fears that he would get the boot from both Harvard and his wife if the letters were made public. A blackmailer has already sold him one of the letters for $1,000 . . . and wants $5,000 for a second one. Cheney wants Carlotta to find the blackmailer.
In the course of her investigation, Carlotta learns that the good professor has not been very candid about the details of his relationship with the student or his own situation. As she uncovers more facts, she wishes she had never heard of him. But she continues on the case . . . which soon takes an unexpected turn after she tracks down the blackmailer. From there, hold onto your seat, for the action takes many unexpected directions in a fine detection story.
In the background, Carlotta's relationship with Leon has its ups and downs, her little sister (Paolina) decides to dress in a trampy way to go to a party, and Sam Gianelli keeps coming up in her yearnings. Carlotta finds herself only partially able to handle all these issues.
Much of the story occurs in and around Harvard Square in Cambridge. Those who know the area will delight in the many details of the locale and people. Fond memories will be evoked for those who love this area.
Harvard plays the role as heavy in many ways in the story, but not in any way that's unrealistic in my opinion. So if you went there, stay cool.
After you finish this story, think about what your priorities should be to create a better life for your family, you and your community.
Carlotta's case quickly expands from blackmail to murder, and introduces complications from her contacts at the Boston Police Department, a cleaning contractor, the professor's eccentric wife, and Harvard University administration. Lies of omission and double crosses by the suspects lead Carlotta in a variety of directions, including some half-truths and breaking and entering of her own. Carlotta's working activities occur against a backdrop of her relationships with Roz, her roommate, and Carlotta's unofficial little sister, Paolo, who is struggling with her awakening sexuality and puberty. As always, Sam Gianelli, Carlotta's ex-boyfriend and mob member, is also haunting her heart and her daydreams.
Deep Pockets is a fast paced, engaging read, and a great addition to this series. The characters and plot are well written and consistent, although the Harvard professor and Leon are a little flat. Carlotta is an appealing hero, largely because of her portrayal as a person with doubts and imperfections and not a superwoman. This is a very good read, relatively fast, and recommended for fans of private investigators and sleuths.
This is the tenth in the Carlotta Carlyle series. Linda Barnes does a good job of telling enough of Carlotta backstory to make this book totally stand on its own. I enjoyed the tall, red-haired, independent, strong, stubborn, and oddly vulnerable character of Carlotta. The story really grabbed me from the first page. It seemed to drag a bit in the middle, but really had a suspenseful ending with an unexpected twist. There was a nice balance between Carlotta personal story and the case she was working on. The plot was not overly complicated and easy to follow. Linda Barnes fans won't be disappointed.
He explains that "his friend" is being blackmailed and paying failed to end the nightmare. Tenured Harvard Professor Wilson Chaney admits he had an affair with a freshman student Denali Brinkman. Realizing that revelation of his taboo indiscretion would end his career Wilson hires Carlotta to uncover the identity of his blackmailer so he can persuade the person to stop. Though Carlotta literally (only slightly that is) and figuratively (totally) looks down at her client especially over the age of his lover, she accepts the case.
Carlotta digs deep into the background of her client and his former teen lover. She searches for threads at the University and in Wilson's personal life, finding a vehicular death link. Unable to resist, Carlotta goes down the side path that this death takes her not realizing how dangerous her detour will soon prove as there is much more to this case than simply a blackmailed cheating husband
In her tenth appearance, Carlotta remains an invigorating private investigator. Her latest case DEEP POCKETS is a fabulous detective story that starts rather differently, but quite exhilaratingly before turning into a suspense thriller. Carlotta deals with ethics issues throughout the tale beginning with her odious client and continuing when she chose a lane that might not be in the best interest of the professor. This six foot one former police officer still kicks butt as one of Boston's finest.
Harriet Klausner
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