Chain of Evidence

by Ridley Pearson

Detective Joe "Dart" Dartelli fears that the mysterious murders of a succession of wife beaters may be the work of his former mentor, a brilliant forensics expert who lost his own wife to a vicious killer. Reprint. AB. PW. NYT.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Ebooks

512 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 7, 1997

About the author

Ridley Pearson is the author of more than fifty novels, including the New York Times bestseller Killer Weekend; the Lou Boldt crime series; and many books for young readers, including the award-winning children's novels Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, which he cowrote with Dave Barry. Pearson lives with his wife and two daughters, dividing their time between Missouri and Idaho.

Also writes Chris Klick mysteries as Wendell McCall.

Reviews

[Μαρία Ανδρακάκη · Rating 1 out of 5]

Το 1 το βάζω γιατί είναι ο Pearson και με συνήθισε σε πολύ καλά βιβλία διαφορετικά θα τον αγνοούσα και δεν θα αναφερόμουν ποτέ ξανά σε αυτόν.Το συγκεκριμένο δεν κατάφερα να το ολοκληρώσω αν και θα το ήθελα πολύ.Έφτασα με το ζόρι τις 300 περίπου σελίδες κι αυτό γιατί ήθελα να δώσω μια ευκαιρία.Σαν υπόθεση είναι καλή,οι ήρωες επίσης αρκετά καλοί.Ένα βιβλίο που ίσως θα μπορούσε να ήταν καλύτερο αν δεν κρινόταν στις λεπτομέρειες οι οποίες μπορούν να κάνουν και τη διαφορά.
1/5.
Συνεχίζω να αγαπώ Pearson γιατί μου έχει χαρίσει ωραίες στιγμές με τα βιβλία του.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Omg, this is a ridiculously awful written book. Emotionally tone deaf beyond belief, three sentences written when one would do. Pearson can write action scenes and knows his technology - his strengths as an author. I've finished reading six of his books, and while I've rated them from four stars to one, they ALL have terrible emotional tone-deafness despite the presence of constant, over-the-top soap opera emo, and half of them include sentences similar to: 'I went to the store. I stopped at the store to shop. The store was the place I shopped at.' The hot women all have high big breasts. Word usages are often truly odd; i.e. "She leaned back and caught eyes with him." page 229. This police detective mystery has all of that going on. I couldn't finish it. His spy thrillers, for some reason, are better written, even though they also have the same problems.

I guess if bad writing isn't a problem for you, it's ok otherwise. A waiting-for-a-bus book, if it doesn't make you titter like a crazy person and cause people to edge away. O _o

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know what to say about this book. It wasn't exactly BAD, but it wasn't very good either. The story was pretty interesting, I guess. I was just BORED. Maybe it was the length of it. Maybe it was the fact that I knew what was going on the whole time. I just know I flew through the last 30 pages just so I could finally be done.

Some of my friends have rated his books really high, so I will give Pearson another try in the future. Perhaps this just wasn't the right one for me.

[Jan Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little slow getting into the book, but about a quarter way through picked up and kept me reading page after page. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the book as I really do not like reading stories where the police officer is the bad guy. Ended up really enjoying the book. The ending had some surprises.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pearson has great ideas for mysteries and this one is no exception. A suicide is suspicious in nature and Officer Dartelli (Dart) realizes that he dropped the ball in the first of what has become a chain of suicides. Now at risk for having his mistake (which is somewhat intentional) ending his career and perhaps result in prison time-- Dart must stop a killer who appears to be extremely knowledgeable with police forensics-- and that killer may be his former mentor-- a man he respected and cared for. The suicides are all sex offenders or wife beaters and the police are happy to write them off as suicides, thinking on one hand that the killer is doing society a favor... But that unofficial attitude cannot persuade Dart to stop investigating- to stop demanding that they view these as crimes.

Pearson fills this novel with a great deal of forensic and investigative details and deserves kudos. He has created a clever plot that turns out to be more than simply a former cop acting as a vigilante. There are a number of twists and turns, some of them very good, and some of them feel contrived to keep the plot moving forward. Eventually, Dart and the killer are jousting with one another-- almost as if the killer is trying to assist Dart-- and the reason for this becomes quite clear. The action scenes are well-done-- with possibly the final climax becoming a bit over-the-top!

This was a pretty good novel, but not as good as the rest of Pearson's stuff. This one has a pornographic sex scene that slowed the novel's pacing. I normally skip over this type of material- but this one went on for a number of pages. It was extremely graphic and had a conclusion (well I had to find the end of it didn't I?) that was probably straight out of a porn flick and something I cannot imagine that left me feeling very creepy about the female character involved.

The conclusion seemed rushed. The mystery was resolved and the story wasn't complete because Dart needed to retrieve the evidence. It becomes a race to obtain that evidence before it can be destroyed and though an exciting adventure, it lacked the usual satisfaction of a Pearson novel.

Still a good book... If the sex scene hadn't been so creepy and the conclusion been more satisfying it would have bumped my rating up another star.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent book, but I felt like I was missing something, like there was an earlier book that introduced these characters and their backstories. The focus here is on Joe Dartelli, a detective who finds an odd pattern to suicides being investigated by his department, particularly ones where a fellow detective is lead. The work ethic of this detective, Kowalski, is widely known among his colleagues to be less than stellar and Dartelli wonders if Kowalski's apathy is causing key clues to be missed. At the same time, Dartelli is reminded of a case from his past in which he ignored a crucial piece of evidence in order to protect his mentor, Zeller, who retired suddenly soon after that case was closed. Being only one of two people who knows about the evidence, Dartelli may be the lone person left in the department who can link this case to the new ones, but he may find that leaving the cases to be closed as simple suicides is easier for everyone involved.
Even though Pearson gradually provided the information about Zeller and Dartelli that was needed to form the plot of this book, I imagine it could have been a book all its own, albeit one that this story completely spoils. It doesn't go along with any of the other books I've read, so if there are multiple books, it would be a completely new series. All told, while the story had me hooked, it wasn't one of my favorites by Pearson, as the ending was action-packed yet anticlimactic at the same time. Some of the minor characters who played a role in the ending, I also felt needed more of their backstory told in order to understand how and why they do what they do and interact with others in certain ways. Therefore, if this indeed is part of a series, I'd recommend reading the earlier ones first.

[Maya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Типична литературна семка, която сигурно щеше да ми е дори интересна, ако прочитът ѝ на български не представляваше толкова мъчително упражнение. Преводът звучи като правен от току-що завършил средняк от АЕГ с не особено ясна представа от български словоред (предвид факта, че е издавана 1996 г., нищо чудно и да е така), а редакторска работа категорично не се усеща. Повторения, неясни изречения, буквални преводи и изобщо всичко, което може да наруши плавния поток на повествованието. Героите пият "Деуори", гърлата им се задвижват чувствено, достатъчно умни са, "за да не будят спящото куче", да не говорим, че изречения като тeзи са в изобилие:"Костюмите бяха продукт на въображението на компетентни хора, а гъвкавите женски крака в черно трико на осемнадесетгодишни бели момичета, които залитаха от бирата и се стабилизираха без съмнение от трезва сметка и луди очаквания."

[Lori Michael Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pure Ridley Pearson! Like his other books, (I have read maybe 12,) he builds his characters so you think you really know them, builds the story so you think you know where it is going and then WHAMMO! He takes you on a long suspenseful ride and you aren't really sure where it is going. The suspense is like a leaky faucet. Drip. Drip. Drip. It seems to go on forever and you can't turn the pages fast enough! Sometimes I literally have to remind myself to breathe!! I LOVE this author! This particular book had language that was WAY over the top and some pretty graphic sex, which I haven't found typical of Pearson's style. Still, the book was quite a ride and I recommend this book as I do ALL of Ridley Pearsons books.

[Charles Vrooman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chain of Evidence by Ridley Pearson was a well written thriller with excellent character development. The plot involved an interesting twist in having a detective investigating murder cases pointing to a suspect who happened to be a retired police sergeant that had been his mentor. Since the crime scenes were made to look like the murdered victims had committed suicide, the main character had to decide if he was going to arrest his former mentor. The action was electrifying and kept this thriller moving to an exhilarating climax. I really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it for readers interested in both crime and thriller types of books.

[Sandy Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Joe Dartelli is called in on the investigation of an apparent suicide. He immediately becomes suspicious that it was really murder. Thus starts a thrilling story that deals with sex offenders, justice, the intricacies required of law-enforcement agencies to gather a conviction, which are much more stringent that defense requirements. From there it goes to a biogenetic lab seeking to discover a "cure" for the pervert gene and the suspicion that Dart's mentor and friend is involved in the whole affair.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good mystery by Ridley P.

This was a surprise. It ended up with a lot of good people doing bad things for questionable reasons. I guess it ended the way it had to, but still, the ride was fun. Is it ok to kill bad people, is it ok to commit crimes to get a drug that will save people to market, is it ok to falsify test results. The answers aren’t always as clear as we’d like them to be. Good book.

[Sher Ferguson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the greatest. Some plot holes and the main character puts his dog in peril (an instant one star decrease for me) - for instance, leaving him in the car while he's on a stakeout. Plus, his police partner (a woman) is smarter than him and yet, just melts into his arms (don't all women do that?).

[Kathi Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story that keeps moving. I would have given it more stars if a couple of sections were not focused on sex and not so many "f" bombs. They are totally unnecessary and do not add to the story. It does have a sex abuser theme and trying to treat it chemically. Of course it doesn't work and an ex-cop tries to right some wrongs that these men did.

[Race Bannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit dated but I ignored those factors and
just tried to enjoy the story. The characters are a bit
flat and I thought the plot gave away too much
information, but ultimately there was a thrilling
climax that sort of made up for it.
Slightly recommended.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great thriller and very realistic even though it was written several years ago. The detail and research is excellent.

[Anke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een leuk boek, een goed opgebouwd verhaal.

[Sisley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about police technology from this book. It was interesting to learn about how they collect evidence, and conduct raids.

[Wynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, fast paced read

[Bob Box · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in 1996. Intense heart pounding story of student versus mentor in the playing field of forensic investigation.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good police story. Likable main character.

[Jacy Carroll-Bussman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really get into this book until I was about 1/2 way through. All I can say that it was okay.

[Cora Kuhlman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading it, would recommend it if you enjoy lots of action. Finished the book in 4 days.

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was in my IRL library since 2012 when a friend gave it to me after she was finished reading.

[Zade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ridley Pearson has a reputation as a thinking reader's author for good reason. He does an incredible amount of research for his books, making technical detail key to his plots. Even as technology changes, his writing is strong enough that his books hold up well over time and rarely feel anachronistic. Chain of Evidence, for example, although about 20 years old, makes it easy for the reader to feel like it takes place today. The problem at the heart of the plot still exists and the technology that makes the climactic scene work still rings true.

For readers new to Pearson's work, this is not the book with which to start. It's a solid effort and quite readable, but it does not showcase Pearson's true abilities. Despite a complex and likeable protagonist and a hot-button social topic, it's hard to invest emotionally in the story. It's a tribute to Pearson's skill that I found myself leaning towards sympathy for the apparent bad guy even before I had a justifiable reason to do so, but even as I knew all the reasons I should feel for Dart, the protagonist, I was never able to overcome a sense of detachment from him. Looking back, I can identify two reasons for this distance:
1. Pearson jumps over weeks at a time in his narrative. While this may be accurate to police work, in which nothing may happen on a case and other cases demand attention, the complete disappearance of those days in the protagonists life draws the reader's attention to the fact that this is fiction. For comparison, look at John Sandford's work, in which the reader may learn more than he ever wanted to know about muskie fishing, but at the same time, is never ejected from the protagonist's life for more than a few hours, which is a much easier gap to span. By omitting most of the mundane parts of Dart's life, Pearson makes him less of a person.
2. Pearson's protagonist makes decisions, including the most important one in the novel, for which the reader cannot understand the rationale. While readers can sometimes pass off unclear motivations as simply cases of "it's not what I'd do, but people are different," in this case, there is absolutely no conceivable reason why Dart would go where he goes, when he goes, in the manner he goes.
Chain of Evidence is certainly worth the time to read, but don't judge the author by this book alone. He's written far better. Just the same, Chain of Evidence is still better than a lot of the crime fiction out there. It will make you think and it will certainly entertain.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I had read something from most of the other members of the Rock Bottom Remaiders and thought I was being predjudical to Ridley Pearson. Then I read it and remembered I'm really not much of a mystery fan. Not that this was a mystery. The writing was fine. But the story and characters never became something that I cared about.

I admit that having that helix on the cover and then having virtually nothing to do with DNA was a bit of a bummer. I was hoping for some good science - but if you don't count the morphing program - science was pretty sparse.

I will be more careful when reading books due to who the author plays music with....

[G. Edweird Cheese · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok book. A basic crime drama with a few cool twists and what not.
what really got me, though, was the fact that its based in Hartford, CT. I live in CT and know the city well. All the streets in the book are real, and according to Pearson, very VERY dangerous. But....its not as bad as he makes it out to be. Either he has never been to Hartford, or hes just going off of rumors and stereotypes. Either way, the picture of The Beat he paints is overly exaggerated.
Over all, this was an alright mystery. Good for a quick weekend read.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this gritty detective story on audio. The narrator had perfect northeastern accent for the main character. While I did enjoy the story, characters, and suspense, I had a little trouble following events at times. Several of the characters were similar, so part of the storyline remains fuzzy to me. I still enjoyed it, however, and would read more crime drama from this author.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lt. Joe "Dart" Dartelli investigates the suicides of several prominent local criminals and comes to the conclusion that they are actually murders. The only problem is that is prime suspect is his partner and mentor.

A great story with a tight plot and fast pacing. Read this when it first came out in 1995 but enjoyed it again.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, a book that takes place in Hartford Connecticut of all places!! I happened to pick this up browsing through the stacks at the library. I was my introduction to Ridley Pearson, and though I enjoy his Lou Boldt novels, I wish he would return to Connecticut.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair to middling book that could have been a lot better. The beginning was often quite confusing because the author did a poor job of setting the book up. Once you got past the weak setup the book became much better.