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Richard Christie Mystery #3
Afterimage
In the humid dog days of a Pittsburgh summer weekend, Richard Christie, Head of Homicide, faces not one, but two mysterious murders. The victims---a polite woman and an angelic child---do not seem to be connected in any obvious way. Christie is short-handed, the clues don’t stack up, and he’s got a rookie detective, Colleen Greer, to look out for. These are his problems.
Colleen has problems, too. Her boyfriend is trying to break up with her, she’s got a serious crush on her mentor, Christie, and it turns out she knew both victims slightly. Early in the investigation, she gets an alarming idea about the perpetrator’s identity, but the man she suspects has no obvious connection to the victims. She has to move carefully with nothing but a gut feeling to go on---all the while disturbed by a series of memories of her own childhood.
Kathleen George’s novels have been praised for their subtle rendering of character and relationships---whether those relationships are among detectives or in the families of criminals. Boldly and elegantly written, Afterimage is a startling thriller.
Colleen has problems, too. Her boyfriend is trying to break up with her, she’s got a serious crush on her mentor, Christie, and it turns out she knew both victims slightly. Early in the investigation, she gets an alarming idea about the perpetrator’s identity, but the man she suspects has no obvious connection to the victims. She has to move carefully with nothing but a gut feeling to go on---all the while disturbed by a series of memories of her own childhood.
Kathleen George’s novels have been praised for their subtle rendering of character and relationships---whether those relationships are among detectives or in the families of criminals. Boldly and elegantly written, Afterimage is a startling thriller.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published December 10, 2007
5 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen George
2,641 books67 followersKathleen Elizabeth George (born July 7, 1943) is an American professor and writer best known for her series of crime novels set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
She was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and educated at the University of Pittsburgh: B.A. (summa cum laude), 1964, M.A. (theatre), 1966, Ph.D. (theatre), 1975, M.F.A. (creative writing), 1988. She teaches theatre arts at the University of Pittsburgh and fiction writing at the Chatham University Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing.
She is married to the writer Hilary Masters, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. They reside in Pittsburgh.
She was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and educated at the University of Pittsburgh: B.A. (summa cum laude), 1964, M.A. (theatre), 1966, Ph.D. (theatre), 1975, M.F.A. (creative writing), 1988. She teaches theatre arts at the University of Pittsburgh and fiction writing at the Chatham University Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing.
She is married to the writer Hilary Masters, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. They reside in Pittsburgh.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 7, 2020
If you like cop procedural television shows, you'll enjoy this book. It reads exactly like an episode of CSI or Law and Order, almost to the point where you can see where the commercial break would be. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with that, but it isn't what I really look for in my mystery novels. I want a little more heart, a little more connection to the characters. Now, my problem might be that I did not read the first two novels, but what I got from this one also did not make me want to jump up and get them. It was a nice read, something good in the car to the beach or on your commute, but it wasn't memorable.
December 10, 2012
Commander Christie and newbie Colleen Greer solve an intertwined homicide, seemingly unrelated.
I love how George makes her characters so likable and good at what they do. I did not want to put this book down. Now I have to go back and read the first of these books. #2 and #3 were very, very good.
I love how George makes her characters so likable and good at what they do. I did not want to put this book down. Now I have to go back and read the first of these books. #2 and #3 were very, very good.
June 14, 2023
This book begins slowly giving the reader time to get to know the characters a bit. Although the main character of the book is supposed to be Richard Christie, more time is spent on the character of Coleen Greer, a new member of the team. Without too much detail the author manages to create a good picture of the other characters as well. Once the book picks up the pace the story is shocking and becomes hard to put down.
August 18, 2020
Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, during a humid summer weekend, Commander Richard Christie and his team of ace detective Artie Dolan and rookie detective Colleen Greer are confronted with two murders which initially do not seem connected. The first was a woman with a slashed throat and several stab wounds. Greer recognized her as the wife of a man with whom she worked at a counseling center before she joined the police force. The woman used a different name now. When questioned the woman’s boyfriend said that the woman had separated from her husband. There is a second murder. This time a beautiful young girl of eleven or twelve, found in the park where Colleen usually jogged. Again Colleen recognized the victim. Jamilla had been a client at the same counseling center. Are the two murders connected in any way other than through the woman’s husband? Meanwhile the man Colleen had been living with is breaking up with her. She is balancing her private life and her job. A chance encounter at the police station gives Colleen a hunch which she follows up on without telling her boss about her suspicion. Since she knew the first victim’s husband, Colleen is asked to talk with him. He seems eager to talk with her although he also seems to be hiding a secret. What was a traditional police procedural swerves somewhat as the reader is suddenly following David Hoffman’s, the woman’s husband, as he is advised by his father to leave town. The focus then alternates between Hoffman and Collen as she pursues her hunch and he frets about what he has been told to do, even as he does it. There is seriousness in this story as Colleen moves from her role as rookie cop to being partners with the boss in working on the case. Once she shares what she has found with Christie what she has found, the original team of three works to resolve the case. This is the third in the series featuring Richard Christie and his team which should lead to more cases to come.
May 30, 2017
Book three in the Christie series introduces Colleen Greer; rookie homicide detective with a crush on her boss, and a connection to two homicide victims.
The characters are believable and likable, and the tension of the hunt for the murderer is palpable. Another good read from Kathleen George.
The characters are believable and likable, and the tension of the hunt for the murderer is palpable. Another good read from Kathleen George.
September 29, 2018
Fun to read a story set in my hometown.
February 27, 2024
Interesting details with the story taking place in Pittsburgh.
June 4, 2013
The first I have read of a series of police procedural murder mysteries set in Pittsburgh and centered around a squad of detectives led by the imperturbable and occasionally brilliant head of homicide, Richard Christie.
Pittsburgh doesn't have many murders--or at least Kathleen George is successful in convincing the reader that there aren't many. It isn't exactly Detroit or Chicago or even the somewhat fictionalized Baltimore so that the squad can devote itself to one case at a time--or two possibly interrelated cases as happens here.
George has more than usual in this type of book on the personal/social/sexual lives of the cops and she does it well with the home life of the investigators occasionally impinging on the investigation since conflict with spouses, kids, ex-spouses, ex-kids, etc. take the edge off their ability to function at work, the same as in the lives of men and women in any calling.
The only weakness in "Afterimage" is that the police are led to the murderer--and this is as foul and horrifying as any crime anywhere--by an unlikely flash of intuition and jolt of recognition by a junior member of the team, so if this guy hadn't been in this particular place at this specific time, all the work would have been for naught and the killer uncaught and unpunished.
Looks like a very good series well worth following.
Pittsburgh doesn't have many murders--or at least Kathleen George is successful in convincing the reader that there aren't many. It isn't exactly Detroit or Chicago or even the somewhat fictionalized Baltimore so that the squad can devote itself to one case at a time--or two possibly interrelated cases as happens here.
George has more than usual in this type of book on the personal/social/sexual lives of the cops and she does it well with the home life of the investigators occasionally impinging on the investigation since conflict with spouses, kids, ex-spouses, ex-kids, etc. take the edge off their ability to function at work, the same as in the lives of men and women in any calling.
The only weakness in "Afterimage" is that the police are led to the murderer--and this is as foul and horrifying as any crime anywhere--by an unlikely flash of intuition and jolt of recognition by a junior member of the team, so if this guy hadn't been in this particular place at this specific time, all the work would have been for naught and the killer uncaught and unpunished.
Looks like a very good series well worth following.
May 6, 2013
This is now my third book by Kathy George, and like the first two, it's very good.
As others say, she has great touch with character, teasing sympathy for the reader for even some of the most heinous criminals, letting you glimpse their brokenness and humanity. Primarily, though, her stories are about the cops, and what I especially love is the ordinariness of them; how they come of as ordinary people with ordinary concerns, dealing with extraordinary actions. They are constantly figuring out when and what to eat, take a shower, sleep, see their family. They catch colds, get headaches from too much coffee. Meanwhile they keep going as the case demands. It gets messy, and sometimes they "color outside the lines" to get the bad guys. But, who's looking? Not me!
Even if I weren't a native Pittsburgher, getting a kick out of all the locales and haunts of my youth, and even if Kathy George weren't and old and respected colleague and friend from way back (I'm so proud of her), I would still call this a real good read, and heartily recommend it.
As others say, she has great touch with character, teasing sympathy for the reader for even some of the most heinous criminals, letting you glimpse their brokenness and humanity. Primarily, though, her stories are about the cops, and what I especially love is the ordinariness of them; how they come of as ordinary people with ordinary concerns, dealing with extraordinary actions. They are constantly figuring out when and what to eat, take a shower, sleep, see their family. They catch colds, get headaches from too much coffee. Meanwhile they keep going as the case demands. It gets messy, and sometimes they "color outside the lines" to get the bad guys. But, who's looking? Not me!
Even if I weren't a native Pittsburgher, getting a kick out of all the locales and haunts of my youth, and even if Kathy George weren't and old and respected colleague and friend from way back (I'm so proud of her), I would still call this a real good read, and heartily recommend it.
June 24, 2012
This book was very good. The author puts the most unlikely suspect into the main plot of the story. A detective, a new rookie is taken under the wing of the commander. They are trying to solve two murders which are undoubtedly done by the same person and are related. The son of the chief of police is shocked by the death of his former wife. He is then shocked by the death of one of his young patients at the Family Counseling Center where he is a psychiatric.
The book is well written and very well laid out. Just wish the rookie and the commander would have been linked other then the working relationship. Very good if you don't want a love story, it is a story of full throttle police work at its best!
The book is well written and very well laid out. Just wish the rookie and the commander would have been linked other then the working relationship. Very good if you don't want a love story, it is a story of full throttle police work at its best!
July 6, 2016
Solid mystery, suspense
Another good read from Kathleen George. This is the third in her Pittsburgh Police series and if anything, she gets better. Tight writing, good characterization, plot that keeps you turning the pages long after you should have gotten up to feed the dogs. In her previous books she makes no attempt to hide the killer. We know who it is early on. In this one, there's a twist about two thirds of the way through that adds to the suspense. An excellent weekend read if you like police procedurals mixed with psychological drama and suspense.
Another good read from Kathleen George. This is the third in her Pittsburgh Police series and if anything, she gets better. Tight writing, good characterization, plot that keeps you turning the pages long after you should have gotten up to feed the dogs. In her previous books she makes no attempt to hide the killer. We know who it is early on. In this one, there's a twist about two thirds of the way through that adds to the suspense. An excellent weekend read if you like police procedurals mixed with psychological drama and suspense.
Read
January 15, 2012Chapter Twelve has really captured my interest. I've almost forgotten that there is a dead wife because I'm so intrigued by the cop's social interaction with the possible-suspect husband.
Then I remember the other murder. The little girl. The story I was so caught up in yesterday. Yes, this is the same book, I have to remind myself. Yes, these two compelling stories will come together. So far, a wonderful balance between the two mysteries.
Then I remember the other murder. The little girl. The story I was so caught up in yesterday. Yes, this is the same book, I have to remind myself. Yes, these two compelling stories will come together. So far, a wonderful balance between the two mysteries.
January 12, 2008
If you know Pittsburgh, you will recognize every location. If you have never been to Pittsburgh, you will feel like you have after reading this book. Interesting characters, chilling situations, even in the heat of summer.
July 11, 2010
Gripping. By the midway point, I could hardly put the book down. It's a mystery, and from a literary point of view, it ain't much. But as a detective story, with engaging characters galore, it's well worth a read.
July 23, 2016
I enjoy the characters, and especially love the incorporation of Pittsburgh into the story line. If you have lived in Pittsburgh, or wish you did, you too will enjoy the travels the detectives take through our city.
March 25, 2008
The third in a series regarding Pittsburgh Detective Richard Christie. Another good mystery and nice read.
May 26, 2008
This is the second book I have read by her, and I liked both a lot.
Read
July 21, 2009so far this book is really good and very suspenseful.
October 16, 2009
Yes, I definitely like Kathleen George. Her books are sensitively written, and her characters complex and convincing.
May 9, 2010
Kathleen George is very good. I liked this one a lot. Her characters are very true to life and the story-line was not way over-the-top. Looking forward to her Edgar-nominated THE ODDS.
November 8, 2010
Figured it out too early . . . but well written with engaging characters .
May 31, 2013
My library recommended this book for those who like Louis Penny's character driven mysteries. This was a good read but not as good as Penny's books.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews