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Norah Mulcahaney #4
The Baby Merchants
Married six years, Norah Mulcahaney yearns for a child. Miscarriage after miscarriage convinces her that she is not able to carry to term. Adoption seems her only hope. But finding a child is not so easy. The sudden opportunity to adopt three year old Mark seems too good to be true. A brutal murder confirms Norah's suspicions that the child's background is tainted.
194 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
11 people want to read
About the author
Lillian O'Donnell
64 books8 followersMarried J. Leonard O'Donnell. Lived in New York, NY. Interred in Maple Grove Cemetery.
Began career in theater then turned to writing crime novels. Longest running character was NY City policewoman Norah Mulcahaney, but also had series for Mici Anhalt, a crime victims investigator, and private detective Gwenn Ramadge.
Began career in theater then turned to writing crime novels. Longest running character was NY City policewoman Norah Mulcahaney, but also had series for Mici Anhalt, a crime victims investigator, and private detective Gwenn Ramadge.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 24, 2008
This is the second novel in the omnibus I mentioned in my recent review of Maigret and the Black Sheep.
How can one resist this blurb?:
Joe Capretto and his wife, Norah Mulcahaney, police detectives in New York, want to adopt a child. At the same time Joe is working on the investigation of a big drug smuggling ring. Though they find out adoption is difficult enough these days, they are startled and frightened by the connection they uncover between the two projects in this very credible and gripping thriller.
Alas, it turns out the blurb is the best part of this novel. I wasn't even able to finish it, it's just so dully and amateurishly written.
How can one resist this blurb?:
Joe Capretto and his wife, Norah Mulcahaney, police detectives in New York, want to adopt a child. At the same time Joe is working on the investigation of a big drug smuggling ring. Though they find out adoption is difficult enough these days, they are startled and frightened by the connection they uncover between the two projects in this very credible and gripping thriller.
Alas, it turns out the blurb is the best part of this novel. I wasn't even able to finish it, it's just so dully and amateurishly written.
September 4, 2025
Detective Norah has been married a while now to Joe, and the child hasn’t happened. Her mother in law is dropping snide hints. She realizes she isn’t getting any younger…Husband Joe, also an ambitious copper, is wrapped up in his work with illegal drugs coming from Italy and mafia middle management getting killed. So Norah, who doesn’t want to take time off from her cop job to deal with a pregnancy, figures maybe adoption. Maybe, even, a grey market adoption.
This is a pretty decent mid-70s procedural that catches a moment in time when working women cops were considered unusual and the rules around adopting children had suddenly become more difficult. The plot has the problem of a lot of vintage procedurals, where one big complicated crime ends up being handled by just a couple of cops working in a big police force in a big city. But the crime plot itself is quite clever. The soap opera piece of this book is well observed and realistic. Worth finding.
This is a pretty decent mid-70s procedural that catches a moment in time when working women cops were considered unusual and the rules around adopting children had suddenly become more difficult. The plot has the problem of a lot of vintage procedurals, where one big complicated crime ends up being handled by just a couple of cops working in a big police force in a big city. But the crime plot itself is quite clever. The soap opera piece of this book is well observed and realistic. Worth finding.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews