Customer Reviews
good mystery, weak ending - By: Sophie K. Scott, 04 Oct 2008 
The pace of this book is quite slow, but it went well with the developments of the plot. I found that after the lengthy build up, the actual resolution of the two mysteries was done & dusted very quickly, with a lot of detail simply not there, & I found that a bit unsatisfying.
A good mystery - By: crime reader, 13 Aug 2008 
This is the first book I have written by this author & on the whole I enjoyed it & would probably read another of hers. It was very easy to read, I would say it is a good mystery rather than a thriller, as it's not dramatic or frightening, it is simply about how the police solve the decades old murder of one woman & the recent disappearance of another, but it IS a good mystery with lots of interesting twists & turns along the way. Interesting & enjoyable, if slightly drawn out, I did feel there was quite a bit of stuffin there that had no relevance to the story, but if you enjoy a good mystery then it's well worth a read.
Mystyfyingly meandering - By: Michael Watson, 09 Aug 2008 This is the first Mrs. Kellerman I've read, tempted, as I was, by the previous reviews homingin on the puzzling nature of the crime.
In that regard, the book lives up to its reputation. I did read through it just to find out what happened & then I got it wrong, anyway! But it was a long journey and, at several points, rather tedious. Maybe I've missed out on the family build-upin previous books, maybe not. The family relationship didn't gel for me but I can see where others would feel involved when reading her books.
I always enjoy a puzzler so have lobbedin four stars. I'll look out for the next one to see if the mysteries are just as mysterious.
A book that could be written by her husband - By: J. Bowen, 31 Jul 2008 Faye Kellerman is the wife of the author Jonathan Kellerman, & while they both write detective fiction, their writing styles are typically very different. His books tend to rattle along at a certain rate, while her books are typically more thought provoking. Both styles are valid, but I find her books more enjoyable when they're written well.
In this book, a plane crashes into an appartment blockin Los Angeles. The actual crash is dealt with quickly, because the aftermath is at the heart of the book.
While looking for evidence of the last remaining passenger from the crash (a passenger they never find), they come across a badly burned body. Naturally they assume their work is done. When this assumption turns out to be false, Pete Decker decides he has two murders on his hands, one recent (the passenger), & one over 30 years old.
After some decent detective work, they nail both killers, & that element of the story is told well. The problem is that the book focuses a little too much of the mystery aspect of the story. The best Faye Kellerman stories make me think (or tell me something about Judaism, if nothing else), & that doesn't happen here, which left me wanting more from the book, & that's a shame.
A corker of a whodunnit - By: 3Lllama, 16 Jun 2008 Perhaps because I'm new to Kellerman's work, the dialoge didn't always sound completely natural, & there was certainly too much irrelevant detail, but this is the best mystery I've read since I finished the last Rebus. I'll put that down to the fact that it's a solid "whodunnit" police procedural, with characters & scenarios that don't require too much suspension of disbelief. When so many booksin this genre are padded-out & patched-up with contrived action scences, that's like finding the proverbial diamondin a coal mine. I'm certainly looking forward to Cold Case.
