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Frankie MacFarlane, Geologist #2
Detachment Fault
Finalist, Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Award, Adult Fiction ForeWord Book of the Year Award, Honorable Mention After the murderous rigors of her Ph.D. field research, Frankie MacFarlane is happy to be settling down in her native Tucson, house-sitting the family home and teaching geology at Foothills Community College. Little does she imagine that a brief fishing trip to Mexico with her brother Jamie and his girlfriend, Carla, could entangle her in a string of murder, mythology, and international intrigue. Nonetheless, Frankie responds in true form. Noticing every nuance of her surroundings, both natural and manmade, Frankie skids through a heart-stopping and unforgettable chase from the Sea of Cortez to Tucson’s Sabino Canyon.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Susan Cummins Miller
12 books12 followersSusan Cummins Miller is an American author of mystery novels.
Miller was born and raised in Southern California and lives in Tucson, Arizona. Before writing full time, she worked for the U. S. Government (primarily with the U. S. Geological Survey), conducting fieldwork in California, Nevada, Idaho, and Utah. She subsequently taught introductory geology and oceanography at the college level and offered short courses in writing, geology, paleontology, and oceanography in Tucson area schools. Miller is currently a Research Affiliate of the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women and a SIROW Scholar. Her poetry has appeared in Sandcutters: Journal of the Arizona Poetry Society; Oasis Journal (2003-2008); and the anthology What Wilderness Is This: Women Write About the Southwest (University of Texas-Austin Press, 2007). Miller's mysteries and nonfiction have been published by Texas Tech University Press.
Series:
* Frankie MacFarlane, Geologist
Miller was born and raised in Southern California and lives in Tucson, Arizona. Before writing full time, she worked for the U. S. Government (primarily with the U. S. Geological Survey), conducting fieldwork in California, Nevada, Idaho, and Utah. She subsequently taught introductory geology and oceanography at the college level and offered short courses in writing, geology, paleontology, and oceanography in Tucson area schools. Miller is currently a Research Affiliate of the University of Arizona’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women and a SIROW Scholar. Her poetry has appeared in Sandcutters: Journal of the Arizona Poetry Society; Oasis Journal (2003-2008); and the anthology What Wilderness Is This: Women Write About the Southwest (University of Texas-Austin Press, 2007). Miller's mysteries and nonfiction have been published by Texas Tech University Press.
Series:
* Frankie MacFarlane, Geologist
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 26, 2015
#2 in the Frankie MacFarlane series. Frankie has returned to Tucson from her field studies and has submitted her doctoral geology dissertation. While teaching at the local college and preparing to defend her dissertation, she gets involved in a most complex mystery. A student is killed and a chemistry instructor is blown up, both had secrets. Her neighbor's daughter, the spitting image of the killed student, went missing from a Mexican fishing trip. The neighbor's sister may be a witch and his son is engaged in a business that may involve smuggling. Wheels within wheels until Frankie and her family come under attack from yet another direction. Very complex.
Frankie MacFarlane series - Jorge Desierto's bound body is discovered in the Sea of Cortez. A young American flamenco dancer, Carla Zorya, disappears during police interrogation in Mexico. Two weeks later, in Tucson, Carla's doppelganger, community college student Angelisa Corday, is found stabbed to death in the school amphitheater. On Angelisa's finger is a rare alexandrite ring perhaps the very one Carla wore when she went missing. The next day, chemistry professor Hector Ortiz dies when his office is bombed. When the Tucson murder victims turn out to be Frankie's colleague and a favorite student, Frankie joins the hunt for the killers, bringing her geologist's eye and analytical skills to aid two old friends--sheriff's detective Toni Navarro and private investigator Philo Dane.
Frankie MacFarlane series - Jorge Desierto's bound body is discovered in the Sea of Cortez. A young American flamenco dancer, Carla Zorya, disappears during police interrogation in Mexico. Two weeks later, in Tucson, Carla's doppelganger, community college student Angelisa Corday, is found stabbed to death in the school amphitheater. On Angelisa's finger is a rare alexandrite ring perhaps the very one Carla wore when she went missing. The next day, chemistry professor Hector Ortiz dies when his office is bombed. When the Tucson murder victims turn out to be Frankie's colleague and a favorite student, Frankie joins the hunt for the killers, bringing her geologist's eye and analytical skills to aid two old friends--sheriff's detective Toni Navarro and private investigator Philo Dane.
October 28, 2020
"After laboring long and hard on field research for her Ph.D., Frankie joins her brother and his girlfriend Carla on a relaxing fishing trip. There, they reel in a catch they wish they could throw back: the body of a faceless man. With this shocking discovery, their holiday is over -- but then Carla disappears, and they realize that their troubles are only beginning.
"Back in Tucson two weeks later, one of Frankie's students is murdered, and she's wearing the same rare alexandrine ring Carla had on when Frankie last saw her. Then a fellow professor is killed, and Frankie realizes these crimes are all connected. But it's going to take a lot of time -- and the application of serious pressure at the weak points -- to break the case open ..."
~~back cover
Just wasn't in the mood for this type of mystery.
"Back in Tucson two weeks later, one of Frankie's students is murdered, and she's wearing the same rare alexandrine ring Carla had on when Frankie last saw her. Then a fellow professor is killed, and Frankie realizes these crimes are all connected. But it's going to take a lot of time -- and the application of serious pressure at the weak points -- to break the case open ..."
~~back cover
Just wasn't in the mood for this type of mystery.
May 29, 2017
This is a very good book recommended to me by an old college roommate who has a PhD in geology. She creates a very interesting set of characters. Living in Colorado, I like that the book is set in southwest US. The author weaves some very interesting geological facts into her murder mystery fiction. The plot moves very quickly. Her written descriptions of Tuscon and it's environs are very picturesque. I will track down her other geologic offerings and share this one with my daughter.
June 5, 2012
It was supposed to be a weekend of sun and fun at Puerto Penasco, Mexico, where Frankie MacFarlane, her brother Jamie, and his girlfriend Carla plan to do some ocean fishing. Instead the captain of their boat finds his brother's corpse floating at his favorite fishing place and the MacFarlane group cut their weekend short. They're stopped at the border and while waiting to be questioned Carla disappears.
Frankie is in Tucson housesitting for her parents and teaching at the community college while she finishes her dissertation. Two weeks after she returns from the Mexican vacation one of her students, who is a look-alike for Carla, is murdered. The next day a colleague is killed when a pipe bomb explodes in his office. It's all becoming too real and too close for Frankie who decides she has to help old friend and Tucson polic detective Toni Navarro and both their friend, private investigator, Philo Dane.
The setting of the book is one of my favorite places, Tucson, and Ms. Miller does an excellent job of delivering a sense of the city and the surorounding Sonoran desert. The pace of the book was good with well-debveloped characters and a nic plot. What threw me off, though, was the storyline that had Frankie actively involved in an ongoing police investigation with the apparent co-operation and even encouragement of the police. This hard to believe premise threw the whole story off for me.
Frankie is in Tucson housesitting for her parents and teaching at the community college while she finishes her dissertation. Two weeks after she returns from the Mexican vacation one of her students, who is a look-alike for Carla, is murdered. The next day a colleague is killed when a pipe bomb explodes in his office. It's all becoming too real and too close for Frankie who decides she has to help old friend and Tucson polic detective Toni Navarro and both their friend, private investigator, Philo Dane.
The setting of the book is one of my favorite places, Tucson, and Ms. Miller does an excellent job of delivering a sense of the city and the surorounding Sonoran desert. The pace of the book was good with well-debveloped characters and a nic plot. What threw me off, though, was the storyline that had Frankie actively involved in an ongoing police investigation with the apparent co-operation and even encouragement of the police. This hard to believe premise threw the whole story off for me.
July 15, 2015
It was a fine book, a little too cluttered here and there, and then on occasion it was not slow enough to understand where all the strands were connecting. It was well thought out and planned, that's for sure, but sometimes it seemed like some of the more important pieces, the connecting pieces, like the 'B' puzzle piece in an ABC puzzle, were missing.
That said, I liked the characters that I was supposed to like, and the 'bad' characters were three dimensional and just as fleshed out as the protagonist.
The geologist stuff was both interesting as well as sort of taking up space in an incomprehensible way. What I mean is, hey, I'm not stupid at all, but, some of the stuff was insanely over my head, and though I got enough of it to get where it fit in the book I didn't get it all. Still, the geology stuff fit nicely into the flow of the story and for those who came anywhere near understanding the complex parts, I'm sure it added yet another layer to the story. Solid three stars, leaning towards four.
That said, I liked the characters that I was supposed to like, and the 'bad' characters were three dimensional and just as fleshed out as the protagonist.
The geologist stuff was both interesting as well as sort of taking up space in an incomprehensible way. What I mean is, hey, I'm not stupid at all, but, some of the stuff was insanely over my head, and though I got enough of it to get where it fit in the book I didn't get it all. Still, the geology stuff fit nicely into the flow of the story and for those who came anywhere near understanding the complex parts, I'm sure it added yet another layer to the story. Solid three stars, leaning towards four.
December 15, 2016
Couldn't believe my good luck when I happened to come across this little paperback at my local thrift shop! This is the third Frankie MacFarlane book I've read (although it's actually the second book) and I loved it! It filled in some blanks that I'd had - such as how Philo Dain came into her life - and we see more of Frankie's family in this book which was nice. It was interesting to see how Frankie managed out of a geology situation as this was very different from the first book in that it took place in multiple locations that weren't the mountains.
Can't wait to find more books in this series at my local op shops (why aren't they all available in Berkley Prime Crime?) because the hardbacks are soooo expensive at around $50! Perhaps that's why I hardly ever see anyone mentioning this great series?
Can't wait to find more books in this series at my local op shops (why aren't they all available in Berkley Prime Crime?) because the hardbacks are soooo expensive at around $50! Perhaps that's why I hardly ever see anyone mentioning this great series?
August 25, 2010
Can a book have too much action? Well, I think it can if the main character is a geology professor instead of a world class secret agent. There are people murdered, kidnapped, and even blown up. It's like there's a frenzy of violence which is very different from the first book in the series. In the first book Frankie works out in the desert and it's got a slow solid story that builds the suspense. This book hits the ground running and doesn't really stop. I thought there was far too much going on and much of it depended on coincidence and wasn't very believable.
Which is a shame, because I like Frankie. She's a great character. She's smart and very capable, but I found the book to be a bit over the top for me to really enjoy as much as I did the first one.
Which is a shame, because I like Frankie. She's a great character. She's smart and very capable, but I found the book to be a bit over the top for me to really enjoy as much as I did the first one.
May 10, 2010
This is by far the most exciting book I have read in a long time!
She lives and writes with Tucson, Arizona as the Locale. I knew some of where she was talking about and learned more about the Northeast and Far East part of town, as I live in the Northwest part of town. I HAVE been to Sabino Canyon, and knew about the Phone Line, but did not know the name of Thimble Peak. Didn't know about the little caves etc either.
Learned more about the Border around Douglas, too.
I am going to re-read this book!
Hope you do too.
She lives and writes with Tucson, Arizona as the Locale. I knew some of where she was talking about and learned more about the Northeast and Far East part of town, as I live in the Northwest part of town. I HAVE been to Sabino Canyon, and knew about the Phone Line, but did not know the name of Thimble Peak. Didn't know about the little caves etc either.
Learned more about the Border around Douglas, too.
I am going to re-read this book!
Hope you do too.
July 22, 2016
Geology is a science of observation and deduction, so Frankie MacFarlane makes a perfect amateur detective, noticing everything and too curious for her own good. This is the second of the series, but it stands alone nicely. Those familiar with the first book will enjoy meeting Frankie's unique extended family, along with a handsome private detective who adds sparks to the mystery.
May 9, 2011
second in the series. Like the characters and the plot. Takes place in Tucson and Mexico. This author is a geologist and the mystery has a lot of geology in it -- very interesting to me. Hiking is involved as well!
May 7, 2012
This book was ok. I don't think it stood out from a large number of other mysteries out there. The writing and storyline was passable and the story kept me interested. I just found it to really be mediocre.
February 5, 2010
Love this series, love Frankie MacFarlane. Knows her stuff, her job is fascinating truly relates with others (distinctive people) and her location. On to the next volume!
September 2, 2010
Found the book; yah. Really like this author and this series about a woman geologist.
June 24, 2013
Fun read; fast reading mystery. Especially liked southwestern cultural
references and description of local geography.
references and description of local geography.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews