Authorized Personnel Only

Figueroa and Bennis #4

by Barbara D'Amato

For Chicago cop Suze Figueroa, home is a sanctuary, a quiet refuge from the crime, corruption, and tragedy she encounters everyday on the job. The creaky old Victorian house she shares with her little boy, her invalid sister, and her sister's family seems far removed from the threats and dangers of the mean city streets.. . . or so she believes.

The truth is far more terrifying, for, unknown to Suze, a stranger has moved into the an intruder who waits in the attic by day and prowls her home at night, spying on both the unsuspecting adults and the defenseless children. While Suze spends her work day tracking down an elusive serial killer, she has no idea that a much more personal danger lives under her own roof, eating her food, handling her gun, and watching her loved ones....

Strips of yellow tape may keep curious bystanders away from crimes scenes, but nothing so simple can protect Suze and her family from the menace that has invaded the privacy--and the safety--of their own home.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Aka Malacai Black

Barbara D'Amato has had a checkered career, working in the distant past as an assistant surgical orderly, carpenter for stage magic illusions, assistant tiger handler, stage manager, researcher for attorneys in criminal cases, and recently sometimes teaching mystery writing to Chicago police officers.

"Writing is the greatest job of all," D'Amato says. "I get to hang around with cops, go ask people questions about their jobs that I would be too chicken to ask without a reason, and walk around Chicago looking for good murder locales. Best of all, I get to read mystery and suspense novels and call it keeping up with the field."

She was the 1999-2000 president of Mystery Writers of America. D'Amato is also a past president of Sisters in Crime International.

D'Amato is a playwright, novelist, and crime researcher. Her research on the Dr. John Branion murder case formed the basis for a segment on "Unsolved Mysteries," and she appeared on the program. Her musical comedies, The Magic Man and children's musical The Magic of Young Houdini, written with husband Anthony D'Amato, played in Chicago and London. Their Prohibition-era musical comedy RSVP Broadway, which played in Chicago in 1980, was named an "event of particular interest" by Chicago magazine. A native of Michigan, she has been a resident of Chicago for many years.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a kid, one of my fears was that someone might be in the house or looking in the window, and no one would know. The fact that D'Amato includes this situation as one of her subplots works for me.
D'Amato's protagonist Suze Figueroa and her partner Norm Bennis are trying to solve a string of murders of homeless people. Their superiors want them to catch a pickpocket targeting upscale shops. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Suze, there is a psychopathic child molester hiding in her attic.

D’Amato doesn’t really develop the suspense potential of her subplots. They all seem matter of fact, with the cops gathering clues, ignorant of how their cases will turn out, until they are resolved at the last minute. To be fair, the emphases of D’Amato’s books are mostly focused on the cops, how they live, the daily slog through multiple cases, the psychological drain of the job. The mystery aspects of the story are not the focus so much as the context in which these lives are detailed.

All in all, a decent book, well-written with believable characters.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY – G+
Barbara D’Amato – 3rd in series
Patrol officer Suze Figueroa and her partner, Norm Bennis are assigned to detective detail, after E. coli fells detectives at a retirement banquet, and are looking for a shoplifter targeting women in up-scale department stores, and for a serial killer of homeless people, A much greater menace awaits Figueroa at the home she shares with her son, her disabled sister, and her sister's family: a psychopath has entered the large Victorian house, observing the family undetected, awaiting his chance to kill.

I very much enjoy D’Amato’s books. She provides very good character development, strong sense of place, and believable dialogue. These are police procedurals, but much less dark, though not less suspenseful, than some.

[Shirley J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy d'Amato's writing and appreciate that she does extensive research around the topic of her books. Character development and the plot are adequate in this book. This book doesn't have a higher rating because the story backs in and out of several subplots and none of them were suspenseful enough to want me to finish the book quickly to find out how the story ends.

Perhaps D'Amato was trying to portray the day-in-the-life of a cop, however, the lack of depth to each mystery leads to some pretty obvious choices of who did what and how the book would end.

[Toesnorth's mom]

excellent