Judging Time

April Woo #4

by Leslie Glass

The novels featuring NYPD Detective April Woo have been praised as “polished and intriguing” (Orlando Sentinel) and “gripping psychological drama” (Publishers Weekly). Now, April Woo faces her most challenging investigation yet. A man and woman lie dead on a snowy Manhattan sidewalk. The primary suspect is the murdered woman’s husband, African-American ex-football star Rick Liberty. For Detective Woo, it’s a homicide case engulfed in a media storm of race, class, sex, and celebrity. But somewhere, buried in all the publicity, lies the truth. And an extremely dangerous killer...

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Procedural

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1998

About the author

LESLIE GLASS's new book, the Mother Daughter Relationship Makeover is a memoir and exploration of the issues that drive mothers and daughters (and also sons) apart. Her experience as founder and editor of Reach Out Recovery, the online wellness and recovery magazine, inspired her to move beyond her beloved April Woo mystery series and focus on helping people by writing recovery books for people of all ages. Since 2011, she has produced two award winning documentaries, The Secret World of Recovery, and The Silent Majority and developed a website with followers from all over the globe wanting to know more about addiction, recovery, relationships, and health. Reach Out Recovery has more than 1500 original articles.

In her early career Leslie worked in publishing and has written for a variety of media. She was a journalist at New York magazine and a short-story and feature writer for Cosmopolitan and Woman’s Own in Great Britain. A playwright and the author of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring NYPD Detective Sergeant April Woo, Glass is also the author of Over His Dead Body, Sleeper, The Teen Guide to Health, Find Your True Colors in 12 Steps, The 8 C's That Help Me Be All Right.
She lives in Sarasota, Florida.

Series
* April Woo Mystery

Reviews

[Lychee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out very promising -- especially enjoyed the complex and subtle examinations of race/gender/ethnicity. At the same time it was strange to follow cops working on solving a mystery who seemed to get absolutely nowhere despite their hard work and yet suddenly put all the pieces together at the very end. Also was strange to get first-person narratives from various suspects which seemed more to confirm the dead-ends of the cops. The two main protagonists were the only reliable narrators. Still, I had a hard time putting the book down until I finished it.

[Mad Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

My third April Woo novel and I've enjoyed them all. I don't find the mysteries very interesting but have grown to like April, Mike and Skinny Dragon Mother. I do wish April would develop a little more spunk, it seems she is always "in trouble" with superiors or her mother. And Mike has an irritating
habit of sucking on the ends of his mustache which I would hope a grown man would never do...ick. No need to rehash the plot.

[Puri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le pondría 3.5

Me gustaron los personajes entrañables, siento que es lo que hace al libro entretenido. También es interesante cómo la autora diseñó todo lo tocante al crimen, la verdad más o menos preveía que la dra. Rosa tenía algo que ver, pero no esperaba que ella fuera la culpable como tal. Ese fue un gran giro, así como su descenso a la locura.
Considero que los personajes, al menos a los que les da más desarrollo y apertura psicológica, como april y liberty, están diseñados para ser muy humanos, así que por eso logré desarrollar interés en ellos y su desenlace

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this police series. April Woo is a great character. She has many facets to her personality due to being female, chinese, only daughter, etc. Her mother is quite funny but horrendous.
Note: The books are hard to find. I read the first three books a couple years ago and was not able to locate anymore. I prefer to read digitally. I had an acquaintance in a book club recommend Internet Archive. This has been a gold mind in locating some Authors I enjoy reading.

[Brok3n · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first foray into the April Woo series. I was disappointed, and probably won't be reading any more of them. There is no need to go into a lot of detail. The problem with the book is very simple. There was no one in it that I liked very much. Even though protagonist, Sergeant April Woo, in whose head we spend most of the book, is a difficult person to like.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgot how thrilling, how paced and patient Leslie Glass is with her April Woo and Mike Sanchez characters, how well she knows the city. This one has some weird, unexpected twists, and some insights into April's weird mother. Sometimes patience and family loyalty can go too far...

[Lynne Block · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery/homicide detective

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat derivate mystery, but it is fun to have a Chinese detective, Amy Who, and the cultural elements overlapping with the cop culture of being tough. Her mom, Sei, is fun in her derisions to her daughter, calling her a worm, her superstition and pressure to marry Chinese. Amy’s potential lover, Mike Sanchez, adds some spice as they try to figure out how Tor, a wealthy Scandinavian, and Merrill Liberty, wife of an NFL star, are murdered with an instrument smaller than an ice pick. There are a number of suspects, Tor’s wife, and Rick the footfall star are the suspects. There is some good detective detail about fibers, detecting product brands from individual fibers and indiscernible murder method. The gritty African American projects add vividness, as well as some of the psychology of main characters. But the ending just sort of happens. I’d recommend it though.

[Pbwritr · Rating 3 out of 5]

April Woo--two people killed outside a restaurant. The reader knows it, but the police report and medical examiner try to say one of them died of natural causes. It's a struggle to find out how the man died and why the reports say it was natural causes. In the end, Woo and her partner figure it out--the medical examiner killed them. Fast-paced, well-written.

[Susan Mangigian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books. April Woo and her mother, the Dragon Lady and hysterical in the way they interact. Her boyfriend, sexy Mike, the romantic Mexican police officer is wonderful. I believe these only come out in paperback with no fanfare, but they are a good read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

April Woo is a good character. the mystery story was second fiddle to the romance between April and Mike.

[Hildy Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade: B

Entertaining albeit easy to solve. Enjoy the characters of April Woo and Mike Sanchez better than the story line.

[Karen Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

writing good

[Christine Sabourin · Rating 1 out of 5]

very disappointed struggled to finish the book

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this series for what it is. The Dragon Lady is a hoot.

[Chantal]

loved it!

[Andy Plonka · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing puzzle type mystery married to an education in Chinese-American culture.