Criminal Seduction

by Darian North

As author Owen Byrne covers the trial of the beautiful wife of renowned artist Bram Serian, accused of her husband's murder, his growing obsession with the widow leads him into a nightmare of passion, mystery, seduction, and murder that threatens his life.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Legal Thriller, Mystery

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Lubna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave it 4 stars for the 500 and so pages, I would have definitely given it 5 stars if it was 300 pages.
You can easily imagine this book as a movie or a tv series. Very interesting and full of events. I would really like to read more for this author.

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another one I picked because it was fat. I'd never heard of this author and after having read it, I know my pick-by-girth system is a good one. This is a great book - fascinating plot, fabulous characters and beautifully told. Owen Byrne is a cattle farmer in Kansas. He's working hard to make his family farm work with his father and two sisters and he needs cash. Plus, he's always liked to write. Nearly by accident he gets a chance to write a true crime book on a murder trial being held in a suburb of New York City. A famous but mysterious author has been murdered and his equally mysterious wife is the accused. And Owen gets mired in the middle of it all.

[Lianda Ludwig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the book was well written is way too long and could have edited down and tightened up to lose at least 100 pages. The important "why's" in the book didn't get enough focus and extraneous information filled up too much of the details.
I read this book of Darian North because I had just found another of his novels and enjoyed it. But if I had read this book first I might not have read others.

[Scott Augustein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for 10 years and kept passing over it because it was so long. Turns out I’ve been missing out. I see some reviews here that subtract a star because they say it was too long but I’d much rather read a great book that’s 550 pages long than to read an average book that’s 350 pages. Well worth the read. Hard to put down at times.

[Tara N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bomb ass thriller! I hate when the characters get sidetracked by love, but the story going on around their hormones was so good! The ending was perfect! I added Darian North to my list of "Authors to Invest In."

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Not great.

[Els van Oers · Rating 4 out of 5]

In het begin veel namen en personen en lastig om erin te komen. Maar leest lekker weg en je wilt toch graag weten hoe alles in elkaar steekt.

[Jan Jaap]

ISBN 0 7472 4382 4
632 p.
published > 1994?

[Eldon New]

Dark, somber...readable.

[Patricia Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Couldn't put it down.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very confused at first. Then it occurred to me that he was trying to show what really happens inside a courtroom as opposed to what we see on a TV program or movie. And life is not all about excitement- there is a balance of boredom and details. It became more tolerable.
Then he adds a few more mysteries to be solved and the reading pace picks up. Was it really the artist who died? Or was it someone the artist killed and put in his studio? Who was the artist really? Who was his wife? Where did she come from? All her life she was told she was Vietnamese but she didn't know the language. Why wasn't she educated? Why is/was she depicted as a "black widow"?
What part does the house play with all its strange rooms and stairs going nowhere ? Does his mistress or former employers know him any better than his friends?
All these questions plus increase the drama while the trial is coming to a close and waiting for a verdict.
There are romantic interludes to also help us through the boredom. We also have relief provided by the country boy from Kansas taking on a first writing assignment with a large New York publishing House. We feel his stress as he has so little to go on: money problems from the outset and somehow he has to do an investigative search; artist's studio burnt to ground- so many guests from party contaminated the scene by trying to put out fire before they knew it was a crime scene, even the sheriff; everyone knows him and considers him a friend; yet, no-one really knows the man-where is he going to get answers??- meanwhile, funding depends on whether his writings about the trial and the man provide enough interest both to the public and the publisher because a future movie hangs in the balance.
The writer is a fully developed character. The author has given us a picture of the young man at home in Kansas. Working his dad's farm and trying to take care of his sisters and save enough money to get married to his long-time girlfriend. Things aren't going well so he looks for an outside job.
Off he goes to New York, he is naturally confused by everything. The first day of the trial he is latched onto by a predator female reporter. She brings him into their group and he has new found friends and they provide the court routine as well as expected behavior. Sitting with the press gives him an opportunity to observe the widow who has been charged with the murder, her legal team and the prosecuting attorney and his team closely.
In the end I was glad I stuck with this book to its conclusion. And I have promoted it among friends.

[Itanbi]

Another book that I picked it from the little library. It was uncanny how I was thinking this book must be published in 1993 as I leafed the hardcover, and surprisingly it was! I needed that to cross out my goal for the year.
Prior to this, I read Postmortem. I was already high on with mystery/thriller theme. Therefore, I automatically pulled out Criminal Seduction. I couldn't wait to get started on this. And since the cover page was missing, with no blurb to give me hints on what to expect, this one added more fuel of mystery around it.
I was awfully disappointed, though. In Postmortem, it was about the medical aspects and finding the suspect and in Criminal Seduction, it was about after the suspect gets caught and court trials. It was very slow-paced in the crime aspect, but darn I didn't know it would be so long-arse process with the trials and all. It was informative and eye-opening in the aspect of how court trials are held. It was from the perspective of a writer and I enjoyed that. I definitely appreciate that I got to see the approach and struggle of research and emotions such as frustration and uncertainty when hitting a dead end. It was like I was seeing how authors write non-fiction-fiction.
The back story was quite easy to follow. It was awful knowing what people go through. There was this huge "Oh! I knew it that bastard." moment in the ending. Al reminded me of Ali from The Kite Runner. It was uncanny how their names and live's sufferings were similar to one another.
Overall, lengthy but flowy read.

[Kellylynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those easy to read books. The basic premise is a cowboy who wants to be an author gets a chance with a true crime story. He starts attending the trial of a woman being dubbed as a 'Black Widow' who is accused of killing her artistic husband in a fire in his studio. The dialog flowed smoothly. Some of the character development was a bit rough and there were quite a few things that were rather predictable. The author did try to throw some fun twists throughout.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A writer becomes obsessed with a beautiful Oriental woman accused of murdering her famous artist husband, leading him into a nightmare of seduction and mystery that threatens his life.

Very different from his other books. Very psychological, involved plot. Slower paced than most legal thrillers.

[Terrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good mystery. This one is part court room drama, part love story, part murder mystery and part twisted drama. Is the accused woman playing games with the naive man falling in love with her or is she really an abused, damaged person? Is the talented artist a helping, generous person or a manipulative monster? Fast paced and intricately detailed, I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was a little uneven and overlong (500+ pages). And I'm not sure the author actually knows any women. Still, it kept my interest, and had an unusual take on narration: the lead character is tasked w/writing a book about a murder trial, and that's how the action begins.

[Billymojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In spite of the generic title, this is a far above average mystery/thriller. So good that I was convinced that Darien North is a nom de plume of another, more renowned, author. His other titles don't measure up but this is worth the time.

[Velvetink · Rating 2 out of 5]

5/5/14 loaned to pop

[Kim]

Excellent

[Veronica Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good courtroom drama. Lots of secrets and twists and turns.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Criminal Seduction" - written by Darian North and published in 1993 by Dutton Books. A dark murder mystery that started well, but did not finish well.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4,5)

[Jackie Simons]

Read 22/09