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Melanie Vargas #2
The Finishing School
The Barnes & Noble Review
The Finishing School, Michele Martinez's second novel featuring sexy federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas (and sequel to 2005's Most Wanted), finds the soon-to-be single mother tackling her most perilous case to date.
After two students at an exclusive finishing school are found dead from heroin overdoses in a posh Park Avenue apartment -- one was the stepdaughter of a shady Wall Street magnate running for the Senate -- Vargas is assigned to track down and prosecute the drug dealer who supplied the girls. But when she looks deeper into the girls' backgrounds (assisted by hunky FBI special agent Dan O'Reilly), Vargas finds that their heroin use was just the tip of a sordid iceberg that included drug smuggling, cyber-pornography, prostitution. and a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme.
'The Finishing School' is one of those rare, all-consuming novels that, once begun, leave readers little desire to do anything -- eat, sleep, work, etc. -- but continue onward in a state of glorious bibliophilic rapture until the very last page. It's no surprise to learn that Martinez spent eight years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York.
Like its savvy and thoroughly likable protagonist, 'The Finishing School' is intelligent, stylish, and utterly realistic. Fans of authors like Laura Lippman, Sara Paretsky, and Marcia Muller will be doing themselves a great disservice if they don't check out this truly outstanding suspense thriller. Paul Goat Allen
The Finishing School, Michele Martinez's second novel featuring sexy federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas (and sequel to 2005's Most Wanted), finds the soon-to-be single mother tackling her most perilous case to date.
After two students at an exclusive finishing school are found dead from heroin overdoses in a posh Park Avenue apartment -- one was the stepdaughter of a shady Wall Street magnate running for the Senate -- Vargas is assigned to track down and prosecute the drug dealer who supplied the girls. But when she looks deeper into the girls' backgrounds (assisted by hunky FBI special agent Dan O'Reilly), Vargas finds that their heroin use was just the tip of a sordid iceberg that included drug smuggling, cyber-pornography, prostitution. and a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme.
'The Finishing School' is one of those rare, all-consuming novels that, once begun, leave readers little desire to do anything -- eat, sleep, work, etc. -- but continue onward in a state of glorious bibliophilic rapture until the very last page. It's no surprise to learn that Martinez spent eight years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of New York.
Like its savvy and thoroughly likable protagonist, 'The Finishing School' is intelligent, stylish, and utterly realistic. Fans of authors like Laura Lippman, Sara Paretsky, and Marcia Muller will be doing themselves a great disservice if they don't check out this truly outstanding suspense thriller. Paul Goat Allen
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
15 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Michele Martinez
16 books33 followersMichele Martinez, a graduate of Harvard University and Stanford Law School, was a federal prosecutor in New York City for eight years. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 20, 2020
It has been a long day or a short night for U.S. Attorney Melanie Vargas. She recently kicked her philandering husband to the curb, and she's trying to raise their little girl on her own. As the book begins, the baby has an ear infection that has kept everyone awake long into the night. That's when the infamous pager goes off, and Melanie's boss orders her to a crime scene that is anything but pleasant.
Two high-school girls from an exclusive private school in the city have overdosed on what appears to be heroine. There is vomit and crap everywhere, and both have torn their clothes off as part of the freak-out that happens when people overdose. The incident happened in the home of a high-profile politician, and his stepdaughter is among the dead. He failed to follow proper procedure in notifying the cops, preferring instead to call a highly placed friend inside the police organization. Could he have saved the girls’ lives had he done the right thing? He insists they were dead already.
But a third girl was involved that night. She is the daughter of the building supervisor where the overdoses all happened. She's gone missing, and no one knows where she is. Her dad begs Melanie to find his daughter, and the adventure is on--an adventure that takes Melanie through the halls of an exclusive school into the seedier parts of a city teaming with drug use in search of answers.
Melanie wonders to what degree the third girl is involved. Things get even murkier when a visit to the third girl's locker reveals that it contains heroine of the same brand as that found at the scene of the overdose. But Carmen is supposed to be the common-sense studious girl. Why would she even go to such a party? Where would she get the heroine?
It's a pulse-raising race against time as Melanie realizes she may still be able to locate the missing girl; and if she finds her in time, she could save the teenager's life. But there are sleazy things happening at the school all three girls attended, and as always, it's about money and power and sex, too?
This is an edge-of-the-seat figuratively speaking kind of experience. The author's writing style will capture you early and hold you immersed to the back cover. I’m already looking forward to my next encounter with Melanie Vargas. Incidentally, I found the romance thing between her and an FBI agent or DEA or whatever he was just a bit silly and over the top. Still, the book gave me a couple of hours of real entertainment.
Two high-school girls from an exclusive private school in the city have overdosed on what appears to be heroine. There is vomit and crap everywhere, and both have torn their clothes off as part of the freak-out that happens when people overdose. The incident happened in the home of a high-profile politician, and his stepdaughter is among the dead. He failed to follow proper procedure in notifying the cops, preferring instead to call a highly placed friend inside the police organization. Could he have saved the girls’ lives had he done the right thing? He insists they were dead already.
But a third girl was involved that night. She is the daughter of the building supervisor where the overdoses all happened. She's gone missing, and no one knows where she is. Her dad begs Melanie to find his daughter, and the adventure is on--an adventure that takes Melanie through the halls of an exclusive school into the seedier parts of a city teaming with drug use in search of answers.
Melanie wonders to what degree the third girl is involved. Things get even murkier when a visit to the third girl's locker reveals that it contains heroine of the same brand as that found at the scene of the overdose. But Carmen is supposed to be the common-sense studious girl. Why would she even go to such a party? Where would she get the heroine?
It's a pulse-raising race against time as Melanie realizes she may still be able to locate the missing girl; and if she finds her in time, she could save the teenager's life. But there are sleazy things happening at the school all three girls attended, and as always, it's about money and power and sex, too?
This is an edge-of-the-seat figuratively speaking kind of experience. The author's writing style will capture you early and hold you immersed to the back cover. I’m already looking forward to my next encounter with Melanie Vargas. Incidentally, I found the romance thing between her and an FBI agent or DEA or whatever he was just a bit silly and over the top. Still, the book gave me a couple of hours of real entertainment.
July 24, 2015
The book started with an interesting premise: two super-rich teen girls from an exclusive finishing school are found dead, presumably of heroin overdoses. A third girl, not rich, is missing. NY federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas is assigned the case by her boss from hell. It goes south from there. Melanie acts like a high school student herself. She has the hots for FBI agent Dan O’Reilly and their verbal exchanges sound like something from a teen soap. Melanie continually does stupid stuff, putting herself and others at risk. I ask again, do prosecutors really go out and investigate crimes, go undercover, and engage in shootouts? I thought police officers did all that. This is the third series I’ve read where the female prosecutor busts criminals and solves crimes. That aside, Melanie seems immature and makes dumb decisions. The author has also stuck Melanie with a toddler (the constantly barfing and feverish Mia), so we have the single mom cliché. Melanie bemoans not being home with the kid, but the author puts her in situations where she is not home very often. Oh, near the beginning of the tale, Agent Dan acts like a douche regarding baby Mia (Melanie did not help in her responses to him), but near the end, A. Dan is all about children and wants tons of them? Hmmm. Also, don’t exclusive private schools run background checks?
July 12, 2016
Wow. I thought this was really great! I picked it up not realizing it was actually the second book in a series, but I don’t think it mattered. There were a few references to book 1, but this stood pretty well on it’s own. I liked Melanie a lot… She’s a smart, sassy prosecutor, but she’s not full of herself and knows she makes some stupid decisions. She felt like a fresh character to me, not the same old strong female lead. Dan is a little on the cheesy side, but I liked the two of them together. The attraction seemed very natural. I’m hoping we get to know him better in the later books (there’s four total in the series now). There’s lots of twists and turns here, and what starts out looking like a couple of ODs turns out to be a whole lot more. It’s definitely not what you would expect, either! I had no clue who the bad guy was going to be, so I enjoyed the surprise of the reveal. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good suspense novel, and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. In fact, I may even keep this paperback instead of swapping it!
February 16, 2018
omg, the main character is so stupidly reckless I couldn't stand it. Actually all the cops are stupid. Why would they send people who the criminals actually know to do an undercover op? It's just one stupid action after another. The story itself could have been okay if it weren't trying so hard to be dramatic. Plus, it seemed like sections were out of order. Like when they get a call to the morgue to get an exciting new clue, we as the reader already know what it is. It just wasn't suspenseful or realistic at all. And the ending didn't add anything but more disappointment. Don't waste your time.
October 18, 2023
This was an 80s style police procedural/mystery featuring a protagonist in the mold of those old "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan" perfume commercials with the gorgeous, perfectly-made-up mother holding a briefcase, baby, and frying pan. The protagonist is a prosecutor who just happens to be put on a case with an equally good-looking FBI agent. They root out the criminals (who are connected, though not with much detail, to an elite private day school in New York City), have some hot sex on a work trip, and make it home to spend Christmas with the protagonist's baby. It's a lot of fun, but no real characterization or stylistic originality.
August 3, 2020
Somewhat predictable story although quite interestingly written because it keeps you in suspense until the end. But the characters are too used already, which makes them uninteresting and clichée. The writing style is nice because Michele Martinez manages to use the native slang yet still make it understandable enough, also her explicit language at times really spices things up for a reader.
February 25, 2024
The story evidenced no imagination at all. The plot was your typical murder story. For a Harvard graduate, her creativity was stunted. The story was about two socialite young girls who die from an overdose of drugs. The whole plot was typical and every step of the book was predictable. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
March 30, 2019
Again, what I think is a good detective story. The NYC police are not pictured in a very good light in terms of sticking with an investigation and figuring it out. That may be pretty accurate, I don't know.
January 19, 2022
3.5 stars
July 18, 2024
Pretty good book, but the ending was weak as most are.
February 17, 2014
It’s 2 a.m. on a cold winter morning, the week before Christmas and you’re called to a crime scene on Park Avenue. Two young women, both students at an exclusive Upper East Side School are found dead under bizarre circumstances. You’ve got to leave your 1-year daughter with your philandering ex-husband while you go to investigate. And your tyrannical boss is breathing down your neck for answers. Such is the life of Melanie Vargas, federal prosecutor.
At first it appears that Whitney Seward and Brianna Meyer’s deaths are the result of accidental heroin overdoses, but when things just don’t add up, foul play is suspected. In addition, Carmen Reyes, a fellow student who lives in the basement of the building with her dad, the building super is being held captive by a nameless assailant. As Melanie struggles to get a handle on the case, an unexpected problem turns up in the form of Dan O’Reilly, a cop who’s also been assigned to the case. Although Dan still makes Melanie weak in the knees, they recently ended their budding romance. Melanie blamed bad timing, Dan blamed Melanie and they parted unpleasantly.
Before long Melanie has lots of leads but no clear motive. Is Carmen’s father telling the truth about what time Whitney's father, a senatorial candidate, showed up that night? Did Whitney’s alcoholic mother see or hear anything that can help the investigation? What are the school officials trying to hide with their evasive answers to Melanie’s questions? Where is Carmen and how does her disappearance factor into the case? How intimate was Whitney’s relationship with a notorious drug dealer? And last but not least, does Melanie have the strength of will to keep her mind on her work and not on Dan’s strapping body and manly ways?
The ride is fast and furious as Melanie uses brainpower, know-how and some daredevil tactics to get to the bottom of the shady goings on and solve the case.
At first it appears that Whitney Seward and Brianna Meyer’s deaths are the result of accidental heroin overdoses, but when things just don’t add up, foul play is suspected. In addition, Carmen Reyes, a fellow student who lives in the basement of the building with her dad, the building super is being held captive by a nameless assailant. As Melanie struggles to get a handle on the case, an unexpected problem turns up in the form of Dan O’Reilly, a cop who’s also been assigned to the case. Although Dan still makes Melanie weak in the knees, they recently ended their budding romance. Melanie blamed bad timing, Dan blamed Melanie and they parted unpleasantly.
Before long Melanie has lots of leads but no clear motive. Is Carmen’s father telling the truth about what time Whitney's father, a senatorial candidate, showed up that night? Did Whitney’s alcoholic mother see or hear anything that can help the investigation? What are the school officials trying to hide with their evasive answers to Melanie’s questions? Where is Carmen and how does her disappearance factor into the case? How intimate was Whitney’s relationship with a notorious drug dealer? And last but not least, does Melanie have the strength of will to keep her mind on her work and not on Dan’s strapping body and manly ways?
The ride is fast and furious as Melanie uses brainpower, know-how and some daredevil tactics to get to the bottom of the shady goings on and solve the case.
February 15, 2017
This book was riveting. This is the second book in the series. The series is definitely on an upswing. Get ready to go on another exciting ride with Melanie. Michele Martinez has definitely opt her own level of excitement with this second book of the series. If you have read the first book, you may still have questions about what happens between Melanie and Dan. Some of those questions will be answered in this book. Melanie still has a lot to contend with in her personal life, but you will definitely enjoy going along for the never ending, exciting ride. Join Melanie and find out how she continues to deal with being a single mom and and assistant district Attorney. The second book of the series is filled with many plot twists and turns, you will not be disappointed!
October 7, 2022
Absolutely loved this book! I listened to the audiobook, and Isabel Keating does a phenomenal job voicing the characters. The story was great, and I'd definitely re-read this book in the future. I do have to say I'm disappointed in the next audiobook (Cover Up) so far because it's a different narrator and she is very dull and a huge downgrade from the previous narrator. Overall, the book was awesome!
July 9, 2008
Teamed with FBI agent Dan O’Reilly, prosecutor Melanie Vargas embarks on a wild chase that leads her from New York’s elite private schools to the darkest recesses of the city’s nightlife.
#2 The Finishing School
#2 The Finishing School
June 23, 2009
It felt like what it is…a book by a first time writer. The story is okay but too many aspects of it seemed amateur and predictable. It was not a horrible read but I gained nothing from reading it either. I could have lived it without it.
October 16, 2011
This book had a lot of action and moved at a brisk pace. There were many subplots going at the same time. I found some of the story to be very far-fetched. But I still enjoyed it and stayed with it until I finished it.
September 12, 2007
Fabulous debut.
October 2, 2008
Another great entry in the series
April 11, 2011
I truly wanted to love this book because it was written by a work colleague - a great person. However, it just wasn't there.
July 29, 2011
Decent plot but not a very complex read. A good book if you're just in the mood for a mystery with a lady cop as the heroine.
Read
August 2, 2011Ha! Things are not always what they may seem like.
June 14, 2012
Great book and on to the next in the series!!
March 8, 2013
A solid book two of the series. Melanie continues to be strong, with relatable flaws to the average person. There is enough action and detail without being too graphic.
December 18, 2013
High paced and action packed. An easy read that will have you flipping through pages and mentally chasing bad guys. Recommended.
April 30, 2015
Melanie Vargas has to be worst mother in the world. nonchalant. also the lamest dialog ever
July 3, 2015
it wrapped up nicely
a book on CD, and a long car trip... awesome
a book on CD, and a long car trip... awesome
October 19, 2015
New author for me. Good drama, mystery, and detective work, but a little too unrealistic to be believable.
September 16, 2009
Another excellent entry in the Melanie Vargas series! Can't wait to read more!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews