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A Trouble of Fools (Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries)
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Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Author: Linda Barnes
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
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Our Price: $6.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Author: Linda Barnes
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Average Customer Rating:
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A Trouble of Fools (Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries) Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780312359430
ISBN: 0312359438
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2006-06-27
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Product Release Date: 2006-06-27
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780312359430
ISBN: 0312359438
Label: St. Martin's Minotaur
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2006-06-27
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Product Release Date: 2006-06-27
Studio: St. Martin's Minotaur
Editorial Review of A Trouble of Fools (Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries)
The first book in the Carlotta Carlyle series!
Linda Barnes’s A Trouble of Fools is the book that introduced readers to ex-Boston cop and PI Carlotta Carlyle, who knows trouble when she sees it like the old Irish lady offering a grand in cash to find her brother...
TROUBLE…
Since being bounced from the Boston police for insubordination after six years of service, Carlotta Carlyle has set up shop as a private investigator ready to deal with anything from lost pets to substantially grander larcenies. Though Carlotta, a six-foot-tall, redheaded ex cop, part-time cabbie, and neophyte private eye, works out of her home, it’s rare that clients stop by unannounced. Especially clients like the genteel, reserved, elderly spinster Miss Margaret Devens.
ALWAYS COMES…
With cash flow problems and a caseload so light that she’s taken to reading her cat’s mail, Carlotta accepts the case of Miss Devens’s missing brother Eugene. Oddly enough, Carlotta knew Eugene when they worked together back at Green and White Cab. As far as Carlotta sees it, this case should be a pinch—until two thugs looking for money send her client to the hospital.
WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT…
The old lady’s missing brother seems to have been involved in something much more dangerous than simply driving a cab. Carlotta is determined to do whatever it takes?work the cops, pose as a hooker, and even drive a cab again—to find Eugene before it’s too late.
“She is one of the most sparkling, most irresistible heroines ever to grace the pages of a whodunit.”
?Chicago Sun-Times
“All elements are skillfully woven together in a book that has just about everything.”
—Denver Post
Linda Barnes’s A Trouble of Fools is the book that introduced readers to ex-Boston cop and PI Carlotta Carlyle, who knows trouble when she sees it like the old Irish lady offering a grand in cash to find her brother...
TROUBLE…
Since being bounced from the Boston police for insubordination after six years of service, Carlotta Carlyle has set up shop as a private investigator ready to deal with anything from lost pets to substantially grander larcenies. Though Carlotta, a six-foot-tall, redheaded ex cop, part-time cabbie, and neophyte private eye, works out of her home, it’s rare that clients stop by unannounced. Especially clients like the genteel, reserved, elderly spinster Miss Margaret Devens.
ALWAYS COMES…
With cash flow problems and a caseload so light that she’s taken to reading her cat’s mail, Carlotta accepts the case of Miss Devens’s missing brother Eugene. Oddly enough, Carlotta knew Eugene when they worked together back at Green and White Cab. As far as Carlotta sees it, this case should be a pinch—until two thugs looking for money send her client to the hospital.
WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT…
The old lady’s missing brother seems to have been involved in something much more dangerous than simply driving a cab. Carlotta is determined to do whatever it takes?work the cops, pose as a hooker, and even drive a cab again—to find Eugene before it’s too late.
“She is one of the most sparkling, most irresistible heroines ever to grace the pages of a whodunit.”
?Chicago Sun-Times
“All elements are skillfully woven together in a book that has just about everything.”
—Denver Post
Customer Reviews of A Trouble of Fools (Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Feisty heroine
Review: Carlotta Carlyle doesn't go by the book, which may explain her defection from the Boston Police Department and her subsequent jobs as a cab driver and private investigator. In this first novel of the series, she is approached by an elderly woman named Margaret Devers who is concerned about the disappearance of her brother Eugene. Carlotta takes on the case, but comes up with a lot of blind alleys in her search for the missing man. She returns to her job as a cab driver to do undercover work and introduces us to the dispatcher Gloria who shows a lot of potential as a supporting character, as well as her partner Sam, a former lover of Carlotta's, whose family is into organized crime. Another nice touch is the Big Sister--Little Sister relationship between Carlotta and a young school girl named Paolina. Before the dust settles, Carlotta is involved with the IRA and drug pushers, but she never loses her "moxie" or her sense of humor. This is a good series with lots of potential.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Totally Satisfying
Review: If this book were a film, it would definitely be noir. I imagined everything in black and white throughout my quick gallop through these wonderful pages.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Meanwhile, Back in Boston ...
Review: Author Linda Barnes wrote this first Carlotta Carlyle, Boston based female P.I. mystery, in 1987. It's a good start, which vaguely reminds me of the movie "Going In Style," where the old guys revert to bank robbery. Wait till you read where she stashes the cash!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Read these in order!
Review: One does a disservice to an author/series if one reads book #3 or #4 or #5 and then goes back to read #1. Characters develop, relationships develop, and authors develop. I read this first Carlotta Carlyle book before I read the rest, and enjoyed it just fine. Yes, the following books get better as they go along, but you'll have missed out on several important relationship/character points if you don't read this one before you read the others.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Introduces Carlotta, pretty typical female PI book
Review: Having read and enjoyed several of the later Carlotta Carlye books, I thought I'd check out this first book. As a first book goes, it's solid but not stunning. Carlotta and her supporting cast (crazy artist roomie, cab drivers, "little sister") are all interesting enough. The plot seems a bit contrived. The blues music interest doesn't quite ring true. It's as if the author was told to give your character and interesting hobby.
Review Summary: Feisty heroine
Review: Carlotta Carlyle doesn't go by the book, which may explain her defection from the Boston Police Department and her subsequent jobs as a cab driver and private investigator. In this first novel of the series, she is approached by an elderly woman named Margaret Devers who is concerned about the disappearance of her brother Eugene. Carlotta takes on the case, but comes up with a lot of blind alleys in her search for the missing man. She returns to her job as a cab driver to do undercover work and introduces us to the dispatcher Gloria who shows a lot of potential as a supporting character, as well as her partner Sam, a former lover of Carlotta's, whose family is into organized crime. Another nice touch is the Big Sister--Little Sister relationship between Carlotta and a young school girl named Paolina. Before the dust settles, Carlotta is involved with the IRA and drug pushers, but she never loses her "moxie" or her sense of humor. This is a good series with lots of potential.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Totally Satisfying
Review: If this book were a film, it would definitely be noir. I imagined everything in black and white throughout my quick gallop through these wonderful pages.
Having never read a Linda Barnes mystery before, I was enthralled by the gritty language, the down-and-dirty description of the Boston streets, the no-nonsense tone, and above all, the main character, PI Carlotta Carlyle.
Written in the mid 80s, this book is not outdated in the least. The plot concerns a group of Irish-American cabbies, all over 50, who may be running money and guns for the now-severly-restricted IRA. Accidentally stumbling into their activities while investigating a missing persons case, Carlotta finds herself in very deep trouble--the kind that can easily end in murder.
This is a perfect book to devour one lazy afternoon while shutting the rest of the world out. I loved it, and intend to sample more Linda Barnes mysteries from now on.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Meanwhile, Back in Boston ...
Review: Author Linda Barnes wrote this first Carlotta Carlyle, Boston based female P.I. mystery, in 1987. It's a good start, which vaguely reminds me of the movie "Going In Style," where the old guys revert to bank robbery. Wait till you read where she stashes the cash!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Read these in order!
Review: One does a disservice to an author/series if one reads book #3 or #4 or #5 and then goes back to read #1. Characters develop, relationships develop, and authors develop. I read this first Carlotta Carlyle book before I read the rest, and enjoyed it just fine. Yes, the following books get better as they go along, but you'll have missed out on several important relationship/character points if you don't read this one before you read the others.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Introduces Carlotta, pretty typical female PI book
Review: Having read and enjoyed several of the later Carlotta Carlye books, I thought I'd check out this first book. As a first book goes, it's solid but not stunning. Carlotta and her supporting cast (crazy artist roomie, cab drivers, "little sister") are all interesting enough. The plot seems a bit contrived. The blues music interest doesn't quite ring true. It's as if the author was told to give your character and interesting hobby.
Bottom line -- Don't go out of your way to read this book but at the same time, don't let it put you off from later books in the series, some of which are great reads.