The Art of Deception (Lou Boldt/Daphne Matthews) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

A troubled young woman is tossed off the Aurora Bridge. Lou is investigating the disappearance of two local women, one of whom is a personal friend and takes on a request from Mama Lu to investigate the "accidental" death of her cousin, Billy Chen. Daphne is up to her elbows in charity work at a local woman's shelter and trying to turn the life of a pregnant client around. All of these threads lead to the Seattle Underground, a city below the city, buried over more than 100 years ago.

Mr. Pearson excels on two levels: his characterizations are sharp and interesting. Via Daphne, Pearson gives us an in-depth look at suspects Lanny Neal, Ferrell Walker, and Nathan Priar. He keeps them in our face, and they are always lurking (sometimes literally) at the edges of our thoughts. Secondly, the locale. Pearson is magnificent in putting us in Seattle; you feel you should be reading holding an umbrella. And then the underground---the decay, the sickening odors and terrain, the sense of claustrophobia, the occasional dusty shop window untouched in 100 years reflecting your surprised image, the very real sense of an imminent cave in, and LaMoia's comment that graveyards are over their heads.

This is an excellent read with a smash of a finale and Pearson ties up the threads as neatly as an expert tailor. I could have done with a little less of Daphne's interior monologues. Sometimes I wondered what she was doing besides being lost in thought while all this furious action was taking place. Also feel the subplots of Margaret; Daphne's client, and Billy Chen were there strictly for plot purposes, not for their necessity to the story. However, these are minor quibbles. The gruesome level is fairly high, but manageable for all but the very faint hearted. "The Art of Deception" is an excellent addition to Ridley Pearson's fine stories.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

Matthews' personal life is a mess. She fills all her free time with police and charity work. At the novel opens, she is consummed with caring for runaway girls at a local women's shelter. She checks up on a witness as a favor to LaMoia, and suddenly finds herself being stalked not only by the witness, but by a deputy from the sheriff's office.

LaMoia, after an intervention by Boldt and Matthews, has kicked an addiction to pills. Still working for Boldt, LaMoia gets drawn into the investigation of a couple missing women assigned to his former 'Sarge'. In addition, he finds himself looking after Matthews once she starts having run-ins with the witness she interviewed.

Boldt has reluctantly taken a promotion to Lieutenant in order to fulfill a promise to his family that he would be safer on the job. However, he gets involved in a case when a family friend turns up missing. An old informant, Mama Lu, further involves him by asking him to look further into the 'accidental' drowning of an Asian man that perhaps isn't so accidental after all.

'Art of Deception' is quite possibly Pearson's best novel yet. First, the clues are easily grasped. Much more so than in previous novels. They rely less on forensic evidence, which is interesting, but at times overwhelming in past novels. Second, there are multiple suspects. Pearson introduces nearly all of them early on and keeps your attention on them. He builds a sound case for each one. Third, the setting is incredibly interesting. The Seattle Underground is almost a character in itself. With its former buildings buried under the streets of present day Seattle, it is has become a maze in the darkness and Pearson expertly uses it to create edge of the seat suspense.

The characters themselves continue to grow, which sets this series apart from those of other authors. Old problems, such as Boldt's wife's cancer, have fallen aside, and new challenges have replaced them. Daphne struggles to find meaning in her life, LaMoia re-examines his life prior to his pill addiction daily, and Boldt wrestles with conflicting feelings as his two friends and coworkers grow closer.

The list of great things about this novel goes on and on. Pearson has long been one of my favorite authors because of his mastery of the suspense novel and his extensive knowledge of the police and forensic science. He does not disappoint in 'The Art of Deception'. I would recommend this novel to any fan of suspense novels, or detective stories. It is also a great introduction into the genre.

Police psychologist Lieutenant Daphne Matthews finds herself deeply involved in a case that might tie in to Lou's. The brother of a woman who was killed and thrown off a bridge insists he has some knowledge about the two missing women. The problem is that he wants to deal on his own terms with only Daphne with whom he has taken an unholy interest in.

Readers of this long running and popular series will feel very comfortable with the way the characters are evolving, especially Sergeant La Moia who is in control of his sexual and drug addictions. His relationship with Daphne is also evolving into something more personal and the audience will think this pairing makes for a better story. The mystery is complex, intricate and totally absorbing, a one sitting read that shows why Ridley Pearson is the grandmaster of the police procedural.

Harriet Klausner