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Darcy Lott #2
Hungry Ghosts
Set among the wistful Victorians of San Francisco, the second installment of the Darcy Lott series finds stuntwoman Darcy once again plagued by murder. Recently returned to San Francisco to assist her Zen teacher in his new zendo, Darcy cannot shake the pain of her brother's disappearance. When she spies him on the roof of the zendo, she hurries to catch him — and finds him gone. And when another disappearance rattles Darcy the very next day, she realizes something is afoot. A bit of digging uncovers a terrifying plot, and Darcy must once again race to thwart a killer.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published June 28, 2008
7 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Susan Dunlap
98 books46 followersSusan Dunlap is best known for her Jill Smith detective series, but she is a prolific and much loved writer of crime and mystery fiction, including award-winning short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 25, 2010
I read the first Darcy Lott; why did I pick this one up? Wishful thinking? How can this author be published? The plot is the main character running from incident to incident with no repercussions about invading crime scenes or being the last to have spoken with a murder victim... attempts are made on her life and are forgotten moments after they happen. She invades a crime scene, falls in the mud and lands on a maggoty corpse (no one noticed the smell??), and not only aren't detained by the police who were behind her, but she runs off and has noodles and tea at a restaurant. Excuse me? With mud and dead-thing smell on her face and clothes? She's supposed to be an assistant at a Zendo, but she runs in and out of the place and gives it hardly a thought. Things happen to characters that are illogical, just to get them out of the way for awhile. How can books like this be published? Are there no editors?
September 26, 2020
This was a lot of fun if you have the stomach for it.
I admit I am a girly girl, not a tomboy. I find the stunts that Darcy does incredible. When she discovers that a high school student had tried her stunt years ago it did not go well and the student was seriously hurt.
The novel jumps right in as she jumps from the top of a building and sees what she thinks is her long lost brother, only to semi land on the pad and roll off. She hops in a cab and tracks the man she saw but loses him. And off we go.
Instead of facing her fears in the forest, she is smack dab in the middle of San Francisco now and still pursuing killers. Leo is less front and center in this but I enjoy the comraderie of Darcy and her siblings, who are all in pursuit of Kevin, even after 20 years.
I borrowed a copy from the public library and plan to continue on reading this series.
I admit I am a girly girl, not a tomboy. I find the stunts that Darcy does incredible. When she discovers that a high school student had tried her stunt years ago it did not go well and the student was seriously hurt.
The novel jumps right in as she jumps from the top of a building and sees what she thinks is her long lost brother, only to semi land on the pad and roll off. She hops in a cab and tracks the man she saw but loses him. And off we go.
Instead of facing her fears in the forest, she is smack dab in the middle of San Francisco now and still pursuing killers. Leo is less front and center in this but I enjoy the comraderie of Darcy and her siblings, who are all in pursuit of Kevin, even after 20 years.
I borrowed a copy from the public library and plan to continue on reading this series.
February 8, 2019
"Hungry Ghosts: A Darcy Lott Mystery is a Buddhist-focused murder mystery following the painfully repetitive actions of Darcy Lott in her attempt to understand the disappearance of her friends. Finishing this book is a struggle with its lack of the thrilling action and suspense that normally accompany a detective novel. " -- L.A.
August 18, 2019
Enjoyable read in an interesting context. Really enjoyed this one, and not too long.
June 2, 2024
A library find June 2024.
No thanks.
No thanks.
July 10, 2008
It is hard to imagine what would possess a woman to develop a career as a stunt woman but Darcy Lott has done just that. Darcy has returned to San Francisco after a long absence and estrangement from her family. Darcy has returned to serve as an assistant to her Zen teacher, Leo Garson, in his new zendo. The disappearance of Darcy’s brother, Mike, eleven years ago had left Darcy reeling with shock and only now has she chosen to return to the city where she grew up.
Her fame as a stunt woman has gained her a job immediately upon her return and as she is ready to do a thirty-five foot dive to the sidewalk below she spots a man walking across a roof and he is the image of Mike. Darcy follows him but is unable to catch him.
Later Darcy is to discover that there is a Mike lookalike and he is the person that has helped arrange for the new zendo. His name is Eamon Lafferty and Darcy learns he has become close friends with other members of Darcy’s family. Eamon appears at the preview of the new Zendo with a beautiful woman in tow. It turns out that she is Tia Dru. Darcy has known Tia since she was fourteen. Tia was very close to Mike back then.
As Tia and Darcy begin to renew their friendship Darcy becomes convinced that Tia may have information that will help her understand Mike’s disappearance and the reasons. Darcy finds that Tia has secrets of her own.
Darcy finds that danger lurks around her new friends and sets Darcy on a dangerous path of discovery. A very exciting, fast moving book with wonderful descriptions of the city and the Zen culture.
The reader will finally attend the Ceremony of the Hungry Ghosts but mystery, danger and death come first.
Her fame as a stunt woman has gained her a job immediately upon her return and as she is ready to do a thirty-five foot dive to the sidewalk below she spots a man walking across a roof and he is the image of Mike. Darcy follows him but is unable to catch him.
Later Darcy is to discover that there is a Mike lookalike and he is the person that has helped arrange for the new zendo. His name is Eamon Lafferty and Darcy learns he has become close friends with other members of Darcy’s family. Eamon appears at the preview of the new Zendo with a beautiful woman in tow. It turns out that she is Tia Dru. Darcy has known Tia since she was fourteen. Tia was very close to Mike back then.
As Tia and Darcy begin to renew their friendship Darcy becomes convinced that Tia may have information that will help her understand Mike’s disappearance and the reasons. Darcy finds that Tia has secrets of her own.
Darcy finds that danger lurks around her new friends and sets Darcy on a dangerous path of discovery. A very exciting, fast moving book with wonderful descriptions of the city and the Zen culture.
The reader will finally attend the Ceremony of the Hungry Ghosts but mystery, danger and death come first.
November 2, 2012
Stunt woman Darcy Lott has returned to her home town of San Francisco. She is an avid Zen practitioner and is now an assistant to the main priest, her friend Leo. They are opening a new zendo in the downtown area. Darcy has keep up her main work and is doing a complicated stunt when she sees a red-headed man who resembles her brother Mike who disappeared many years ago.
Darcy follows the man, who is her brothers look-a-like and finds that he is associated with the new zendo and he also seems to know her family well. She hopes to reconnect with her family when she finds out that all of her brothers and sisters have been looking assiduously for Mike just like she had.
Mike is a big presence in this book and in other Darcy Lott stories, but it is an issue that never gets resolved and this is why I only gave it three stars. Darcy also makes several moves in her stunt business that could have been deadly and this is not consistent with her past way of being technically very controlled in her work. She usually plans things down to the last millisecond and here she ignores safety because some one is rushing her.
When a former friend of Darcy's is murdered the sleuthing begins and Darcy is no stranger to that.Overall I enjoyed the story.
Darcy follows the man, who is her brothers look-a-like and finds that he is associated with the new zendo and he also seems to know her family well. She hopes to reconnect with her family when she finds out that all of her brothers and sisters have been looking assiduously for Mike just like she had.
Mike is a big presence in this book and in other Darcy Lott stories, but it is an issue that never gets resolved and this is why I only gave it three stars. Darcy also makes several moves in her stunt business that could have been deadly and this is not consistent with her past way of being technically very controlled in her work. She usually plans things down to the last millisecond and here she ignores safety because some one is rushing her.
When a former friend of Darcy's is murdered the sleuthing begins and Darcy is no stranger to that.Overall I enjoyed the story.
March 4, 2009
This is my first book by her. Stuntwoman DArcy Lott is now in San Francisco. There is a theme of a brother who just walked out years before, and she has now returned to SF and her remaining family. A friend of hers from younger years is killed and she sets about discovering what has happened. There is a character who has insinuated himself into her family and is very much like the missing brother, so we also see how family members become "caught" in his web. LIght reading, not a lot that stands out, yet the interweavign of themes is enjoyable..there is some info about Buddism, etc including the hungry ghosts..... those who have very thin necks and big stomachs, who can never be satiated.
January 6, 2011
#2 in the Darcy Lott mystery series. Darcy has followed her Zen Buddhist abbot to San Francisco where she was raised and her family lives and where he is establishing a new zendo in the Barbary Coast section of the city where she will be his assistant. It is a return home for Darcy and brings her back into contact with her family. There are some family issues involved along with Darcy's relationship with a high school friend. The story line involves murder and something mysterious regarding her high school friend.
It is a stand alone mystery, but am not sure whether the first in the series provides more background regarding Darcy's family. Her connect to the abbot is established in the first novel.
It is a stand alone mystery, but am not sure whether the first in the series provides more background regarding Darcy's family. Her connect to the abbot is established in the first novel.
September 24, 2015
Darcy Lott is a very talented stunt person and when she returns home to start a meditation business and zen studio with her friend and mentor Leo, she doesn't expect to find a long-lost friend and another person who is almost an exact match for her long-missing brother Mike. Things are not as they seem and when a body turns up in the zen studio killed with the knife they use to trim candles, the number of people Darcy loves who may be responsible is considerable. With this many red herrings to choose from the action is nonstop and the double crosses amongst the bad guys is fun to watch. This is only the second one in the series, so I can only hope that they continue the high quality that the first two have shown.
December 11, 2010
I liked the first book in this series much better than this second one. This one has too many unbelievable coincidences, too much choppy language, and a lead character who is much less insightful and reflective than she seemed in that first book. Darcy Lott is a stunt woman in the movie industry, and also a practicing Buddhist, who in this story has just moved into a Buddhist center in San Francisco. The creation of this character, and all that she could be doing, holds promise, but not sure if I will waste my time with any more in this series.
September 5, 2016
I really wanted to like this book!
I liked that Darcy was both a stunt double and a zen assistant. I gained no real insight into her life. The character development was very flat.
I went on to read the 2nd book in that series,hoping it would get better. It did not. I'm moving on to a different series!
I liked that Darcy was both a stunt double and a zen assistant. I gained no real insight into her life. The character development was very flat.
I went on to read the 2nd book in that series,hoping it would get better. It did not. I'm moving on to a different series!
January 21, 2009
Interesting to read about a what it takes to do movie stunts...the buddhist slant warmed my heart in this cold time of year. We all have our hungry ghosts that cannot be satisfied, which plays into the novel well, and reminds me to look for those unseen needs that may drive my actions.
July 19, 2011
A very slow start--there wasn't even a murder until 70 or 80 pages in. I didn't identify with any of the characters and finally abandoned this book half way through as I didn't care at all what the outcome was. No hooks, bad character development, and nothing to hold my interest in the plot.
March 12, 2013
Enjoyable. Very different mystery with main character a stuntwoman who is also a Zen assistant. A yearning to find out what happened to her brother who walked away from the family years ago complicates things.
May 19, 2015
This is the second book in the Darcy Lott Mystery series. I do not feel it was as good as the first one, but I expect the series to get better. Wish there was a bit more zen in this one. That is what made the first one so good.
September 23, 2010
It kept me entertained enough
February 2, 2011
I read this right after A Single Eye. Again, I was interested in but not blown away by Darcy or her life. I may read the third book in this series, but I'm not in any rush to do so.
August 20, 2012
clever plot, good setting, but not enough invested in the characters for my taste
February 26, 2013
A bit pacier than the preceding one in the series.
July 10, 2016
The characters are developing slowly, sometimes a bit confusingly. However, this totally fits my need for a light summer series.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews