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Paris Murphy #2
Cold Blood
When homicide detective Paris Murphy encounters a "concerned citizen" who has stumbled upon a clue in the disappearance of missing bridesmaid Bunny Pedersen, she soon realizes that she shares a past with the bizarre killer. Reprint.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 2, 2017
A cross between a police procedural and a serial-killer thriller, with very hardboiled-style writing (Sentences. Short sentences. Lots of them. Often verbless.) applied to material that was sometimes hardboiled but more often -- especially when dealing with the central character's complicated love life -- quite emotional.
There's no real mystery involved in the tale. We know who the killer is from the outset, and indeed probably (I didn't count pages) spend more time in his company than we do in that of the central character, Minnesota homicide cop Paris Murphy. Her detection as she solves the case relies less on logical deduction, more on gut instincts.
A quick and painless read that well fulfilled its function of keeping me engrossed until I found out how everything resolved itself.
There's no real mystery involved in the tale. We know who the killer is from the outset, and indeed probably (I didn't count pages) spend more time in his company than we do in that of the central character, Minnesota homicide cop Paris Murphy. Her detection as she solves the case relies less on logical deduction, more on gut instincts.
A quick and painless read that well fulfilled its function of keeping me engrossed until I found out how everything resolved itself.
June 10, 2018
3.75 A little more than OK. But not a reread book.
This is the second Paris Murphy story I have read and I enjoyed the book as a whole.
The story is good, bloody and gory. As with the first Paris Murphy we get to see the story from the POV of view of the murderer and the cop. I enjoyed that too. It's a change of perspective and it works. The pacing of events also worked, as did the plot. All very good.
Having said that, there were a couple of things irritated me a little in this book.
First of all, the amount of details, unnecessary details is so great it becomes too tedious. Long strings of actions and their order, which is fine in measured doses, but Monsour does this a lot. For everything. Ithinking making a pot of coffee took most of paragraph at one point. Whilst I like to know the details of events and actions, I do not need to be told things that are implicit in the narrative. Getting into a car, for instance, does not need the author to explain walking there, opening the door, getting inside, sitting down, and starting the engine etc. unless something is important about it, different even. When a character gets into the shower, it really is not necessary to list in what order clothing is removed. Perhaps such detail would not be problem, but it is just padding when it happens for several things on every page. I skimmed.
The other is the relationship she has with her men. Just dump the children and get on with the crimes, Paris. She has a husband (more on than off) who hates her job, and other than sex why are they together? The new boyfriend, wants to move in immediately. Then there is a hew chief in the cop shop, and it looks like they are heading towards “a thing”. Right. I just found it irritating.
Still, I rate this a decent crime/murder.
This is the second Paris Murphy story I have read and I enjoyed the book as a whole.
The story is good, bloody and gory. As with the first Paris Murphy we get to see the story from the POV of view of the murderer and the cop. I enjoyed that too. It's a change of perspective and it works. The pacing of events also worked, as did the plot. All very good.
Having said that, there were a couple of things irritated me a little in this book.
First of all, the amount of details, unnecessary details is so great it becomes too tedious. Long strings of actions and their order, which is fine in measured doses, but Monsour does this a lot. For everything. Ithinking making a pot of coffee took most of paragraph at one point. Whilst I like to know the details of events and actions, I do not need to be told things that are implicit in the narrative. Getting into a car, for instance, does not need the author to explain walking there, opening the door, getting inside, sitting down, and starting the engine etc. unless something is important about it, different even. When a character gets into the shower, it really is not necessary to list in what order clothing is removed. Perhaps such detail would not be problem, but it is just padding when it happens for several things on every page. I skimmed.
The other is the relationship she has with her men. Just dump the children and get on with the crimes, Paris. She has a husband (more on than off) who hates her job, and other than sex why are they together? The new boyfriend, wants to move in immediately. Then there is a hew chief in the cop shop, and it looks like they are heading towards “a thing”. Right. I just found it irritating.
Still, I rate this a decent crime/murder.
June 15, 2007
This is a perfect book if you enjoy knowing the answer and seeing how the characters make it to the end!
July 13, 2008
Story line was simple but effective. I felt drawn into the story and although the ending could have been a bit more punchy it was enjoyable.
February 19, 2025
This is not really a detective book. There is no real investigating going on. The investigation that we are witnessing is based solely on gut instinct and "the guy is creepy".
The only interesting thing about the book is the unraveling of Trip. His life has been quite tragic... It was quite sad at times.
I found the character of Murphy to be quite unlikable and her personal love drama pathetic. She doesn't seem to do anything all day but she is always so tired. Does she not have any cases of her own?
The writing was absolutely maddening. The description of the minutia of every action that nobody would ever need to have described: making coffee, entering/exiting a car, retrieving tape from a drawer, exact directions of how one got from point A to point B etc. This is the first book I've read by this author so I don't know if this was some kind of choice on her part and not typical, but by the second time it was described to me every step Murphy took to make coffee I was ready to throw the book in the trash. However, I persevered and finished it...
As far as the accuracy of the procedures... idk... sounds like these two cops were doing a lot of things that weren't up to code or made any sense. Why wouldn't they share their suspicions with the people who had evidence and have this guy arrested...?... At least try... Why was it so important to confront him at a highschool reunion?...
The only interesting thing about the book is the unraveling of Trip. His life has been quite tragic... It was quite sad at times.
I found the character of Murphy to be quite unlikable and her personal love drama pathetic. She doesn't seem to do anything all day but she is always so tired. Does she not have any cases of her own?
The writing was absolutely maddening. The description of the minutia of every action that nobody would ever need to have described: making coffee, entering/exiting a car, retrieving tape from a drawer, exact directions of how one got from point A to point B etc. This is the first book I've read by this author so I don't know if this was some kind of choice on her part and not typical, but by the second time it was described to me every step Murphy took to make coffee I was ready to throw the book in the trash. However, I persevered and finished it...
As far as the accuracy of the procedures... idk... sounds like these two cops were doing a lot of things that weren't up to code or made any sense. Why wouldn't they share their suspicions with the people who had evidence and have this guy arrested...?... At least try... Why was it so important to confront him at a highschool reunion?...
May 29, 2018
A book with an interesting split between antagonist and protagonist, but nobody else's point of view. We get to know Paris Murphy, a Twin Cities cop rather well (readers of book 1 would already know her of course) and her strained relationships with Jack, her non-domestic husband and Eric. Not to mention her boss, variously termed Yo-Yo (I never did fathom why) or Duncan.
The killer of course is Trip,or to give him his weird full name Justice Trip. He's damaged goods (rather more than he knows!) and certainly amoral, though going further than that would strain it given the experiences of his youth.
We follow the story from both points of view, as Trip commits crime and Murphy tries to solve them. It works very well most of the time, though I couldn't help feeling there was a sort of continuity error over his and his sister's ages from the initial information on his family, to the later shock-horror revelations.
Overall a good read, and the characters that we are supposed to like are generally likeable, which is always a bonus!
The killer of course is Trip,or to give him his weird full name Justice Trip. He's damaged goods (rather more than he knows!) and certainly amoral, though going further than that would strain it given the experiences of his youth.
We follow the story from both points of view, as Trip commits crime and Murphy tries to solve them. It works very well most of the time, though I couldn't help feeling there was a sort of continuity error over his and his sister's ages from the initial information on his family, to the later shock-horror revelations.
Overall a good read, and the characters that we are supposed to like are generally likeable, which is always a bonus!
August 6, 2021
Surprisingly, the writing here is better than the third book. The story was ok, it wasn't that bad, but it didn't fit into my liking either. I wasn't invested in the characters, I did not find the crime thrilling. I'm much more interested in the marriage drama of the cop (bcs i luv me some drama), but that was like one or two scenes.
March 19, 2022
Fun read.. Finished Cold Blood by Theresa Monsour.
Enjoyed plus I know the area they were in.
I would give it 4 stars for sure.. what to read others.
2 other in the series
This is book 2
Need to hunt for book 1 used or library
I have book 3.
She does a series under her own name for a future hunt
Enjoyed plus I know the area they were in.
I would give it 4 stars for sure.. what to read others.
2 other in the series
This is book 2
Need to hunt for book 1 used or library
I have book 3.
She does a series under her own name for a future hunt
June 21, 2017
this book was some what intense and I thought this would be good to read but it was interesting how it turned out at the ending of the book
February 19, 2009
This book is the second thriller after Clean Cut. Paris Murphy is assigned to a case involving a hit and run. she finds out that her old classmate from high school may have done it! He is really creepy and slipping drugs into her drink. He was beat up in high school by Paris's boyfriend because he asked her to the prom and he never forgot the humiliation she caused him. Great read.
February 10, 2010
Very fast-moving book. Fascinating story and characters. All very well developed. Certainly kept my attention on the 14-hour drive to Jacksonville. Great first sentence. "If she hadn't been wearing a peach bridesmaid dress, she'd be alive..."
March 21, 2012
Not bad, but it could have been better. Justice Trip struck me as a careless killer, and in real life he probably would have been captured sooner than he was. No one suspected Justice was up to something when Keri disappeared after visiting the Trip's home, at least at first? C'mon!!!!
November 24, 2008
An intriguing mystery although I did think that the ending was a bit rushed and could have been worked out better
April 12, 2015
Good up until the ending. Could have done more with it....ended too quick.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews