The Scent of Murder

Robin Light #4

by Barbara Block

For Robin Light, running a pet store is a decent way to make a living—but solving the occasional crime is much more interesting. So when neighborhood tough kid Manuel and his cousin, Eli, wander into her shop with a wild story about a suitcase full of smuggled Cuban cigars, Robin can't resist nosing around. But when Eli's roommate turns up dead, Robin discovers she may be next in line.

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

First published August 1, 1997

About the author

Aka Isis Crawford

Barbara Block is the author of the Robin Light Mystery Series, Twister, In Plain Sight, Scent of Murder, and Vanishing Act. Her upcoming release, Endangered Species, will be available in September of 1999. She was recently named one of Booklist's Top Five Lesser Known Female Sleuths so, hopefully, a wider audience will discover her through the thrills of Endangered Species. A longtime freelance writer, Barbara has produced numerous feature articles and reviews in addition to her novels. When she's not writing, Barbara somehow finds the time to run a catering business specializing in desserts.

Barbara holds a BA in Spanish from New York University and an MA in Spanish from Columbia University. She has also studied at Hunter College and the School of Visual Arts. An avid traveler, Barbara has toured extensively through both Europe and Latin America.

As a youth, animals were among Barbara's many interests. Her childhood was crowded with pets of every kind that included a type of alligator known as a caiman. The caiman took up residence in the family bathtub, much to the guests' dismay. Her love for creatures has not dissipated over the years. Indeed, her deep interest in animals has led her to be a "mother" to dogs, cats, ferrets, Burmese pythons, and monitor lizards. Included in the zoo were three male Homo sapiens of her own.

Originally from New York City, Barbara Block has made Syracuse her home for twenty-five years.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange girl walks into Noah's Arc with a cute white ferret and a story about Murphy. The girl leaves suddenly with the cops n pursuit. This of course peeks Robin Light's curiosity and we all know where that leads... Dead bodies and Robin getting beat up over and over again.

I think this will be my last Robin Light novel as they are a bit too formulaic. Robin knows she shouldn't go into the big scary building on her own but she does anyway and bad things happen again and again -- She never gets any smarter.

Additionally this particular printing of this book is wrought with editorial mistakes and typos. Everyone can expect one or two typos to slip by but this book had so many! And then there were the mistakes. On one page a character's name is Monica Selles on the next it's Monica Silles. It looks like the Amy character was at one time named "Tessa" as the character is referenced in one sentence as Amy and two sentences later as Tessa. It doesn't speak well for staff at the publisher.

[Eli Deabay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Scent of Murder is a book about family greed, corruption, and murder. Robin Light is the main character of the story who is smart, cunning, and most of all, deadly. She owns a pet shop named Noah's Ark and has a style of clothing from the 70's. Amy Richmond is another one of the main characters and has very strange style that consists of white lipstick, blue hair, and a nose ring. Amy is usually one that runs from danger, but she does know how to handle tricky situations.

The first problem that approaches Robin is a murder of Amy's stepfather

[andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty lame. This series is just getting too weird for me. It's not a cozy, not a noir, not a hard-boiled PI. It's a jumble of all of that and it's too chaotic and sloppy to be worthwhile.
I'm getting tired of Robin constantly making stupid choices and walking into dangerous situations, which she then somehow conveniently just manages to escape.
As a side note this book has some serious editing issues. Lots of mistakes with changing of names in particular. Just adding to the sloppy feel of the book.

[Pramila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, hard to keep down.

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara Block's Robin Light series is as good as Sue Grafton's. I don't know why they are not more well-known. This was another page turner and I am looking forward to the next one.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Pet store owner and inveterate sleuth Robin Light who finds reptiles,birds and mammals a lot less complicated then her fellow homo sapiens,is back in pursuing a vanished teenager through a seamy underworld of drugs,violence and murder. Robin was behind the fish tanks when the girl walked in the door. Fifteen year old Amy Richmond wasn't the type you could forget,not with her electric blue hair,corpse white lipstick, and nose ring. The ferret she was holding was albino, and wearing a rhinestone halter. But her appearance paled beside her message she had for Robin: Murphy said you'd help me. Those very words sent chills down Robin's spine. Murphy was Robin's ex-husband who died too young. A troubled, secretive man who concealed a lot of things from his wife. Like the fact that Amy was his daughter. But soon Amy will need help that Robin can give her: she has just become the prime suspect in the cold blood killing of her stepfather, the wealthy,powerful Dennis Richmond. Suddenly Robin finds herself moving between the exclusive,privileged circles in which Amy grew up and the edgy drug infested world of squalor into which she have seemed to disappear. Hitting up on the streets a guy named Manuel,Robin gets plugged into a secret network of runaways,addicts and strippers where a street level low life named Toon Town is appeared to be calling all the shots. Robin has to find the terrified 15 yr. old girl before its too late for both of them.