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Robin Light #7
Blowing Smoke
In the seventh installment of Barbara Block's critically-acclaimed mystery series, private investigator Robin Light sets out to uncover the truth about an elderly heiress' connection to an enigmatic stranger who may—or may not—be communicating with the dead. With Syracuse suffocating under a shroud of relentless summer heat, Robin Light's exotic pet store business is slow—and her semi-pro detective business is even slower. But Robin's seasonal tedium and her financial crisis are about to be remedied, thanks to a trio of adult siblings who are certain something sinister is simmering at their widowed mother's mansion.
Rose Taylor's children, Hillary, Louis and Amy, are convinced their inheritance is being squandered by their mother, whom they believe is the unwitting victim of a scam. The con woman in question: so-called pet psychic Pat Humphrey, who located Rose's supposedly kidnapped cat and won not just a substantial reward, but the woman's undying gratitude—and a place in her will.
Assuming she's a fraud, Robin visits Humphrey, posing as a client seeking advice about her dog—and comes away with startling evidence that the woman might just be the real thing. Then Pat Humphrey disappears—just as the body of the Taylors' buxom maid is found floating in the swimming pool.
As the sizzling dog days unfold, Robin finds herself embroiled in a case that takes one shocking twist after another, as she tracks a cold-blooded killer.
Rose Taylor's children, Hillary, Louis and Amy, are convinced their inheritance is being squandered by their mother, whom they believe is the unwitting victim of a scam. The con woman in question: so-called pet psychic Pat Humphrey, who located Rose's supposedly kidnapped cat and won not just a substantial reward, but the woman's undying gratitude—and a place in her will.
Assuming she's a fraud, Robin visits Humphrey, posing as a client seeking advice about her dog—and comes away with startling evidence that the woman might just be the real thing. Then Pat Humphrey disappears—just as the body of the Taylors' buxom maid is found floating in the swimming pool.
As the sizzling dog days unfold, Robin finds herself embroiled in a case that takes one shocking twist after another, as she tracks a cold-blooded killer.
- GenresMystery
368 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2001
4 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Block
20 books30 followersAka 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 27, 2020
Crazy but amusing! A light read.
August 8, 2021
This was a page- turner filled with twists and turns. It kept me reading into the night. I love Robin Light and I love Barbara Block's writing.
May 12, 2010
Established fans should welcome this seventh mystery (after 1999's Endangered Species) featuring Robin Light, the hard-drinking, sloppily dressed, heavy-smoking amateur sleuth and exotic pet-store owner from Syracuse, N.Y., but the uninitiated may find the plot tortuous and the plethora of characters too hard to keep track of. Robin faces a double challenge: locating a teenage runaway in nearby Cazenovia; and investigating an animal psychic, Pat Humphrey, whom three siblings suspect of defrauding their elderly heiress mother, Rose Taylor. Humphrey has won a place in Rose's heart (and will) by locating Rose's "kidnapped" cat; now Rose's much-younger husband and her lawyer hover over the old lady protectively.
In the process of discovering that just about all the principals harbor secrets (one of Rose's children is a heroin addict, another a thief and transvestite), Robin is punched into unconsciousness, shot at several times with a rifle and held at knife-point. She also travels between New York and Wolfe Island, Ont., with no mention of Canadian or U.S. immigration or customs. On one page an automatic pistol turns into a revolver, while elsewhere a string of pearls, later described as knotted and hand-strung, breaks and cascades to the floor. Such careless slips won't bother most readers, but they do suggest why Block has yet to join the first rank of authors writing about contemporary female detectives.
In the process of discovering that just about all the principals harbor secrets (one of Rose's children is a heroin addict, another a thief and transvestite), Robin is punched into unconsciousness, shot at several times with a rifle and held at knife-point. She also travels between New York and Wolfe Island, Ont., with no mention of Canadian or U.S. immigration or customs. On one page an automatic pistol turns into a revolver, while elsewhere a string of pearls, later described as knotted and hand-strung, breaks and cascades to the floor. Such careless slips won't bother most readers, but they do suggest why Block has yet to join the first rank of authors writing about contemporary female detectives.
March 29, 2016
This was a good book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews