Flammen der Rache. Ein Fall für Carlotta Carlyle.

Carlotta Carlyle #8

by Linda Barnes

Die rothaarige, in Geldnöten taxichauffierende Privatdetektivin mit den großen Füßen und dem großen Herzen untersucht den Tod einer alten Dame - bis ihr eigenes Haus in Flammen steht.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Audiobook, Thriller

381 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 1999

About the author

Linda Barnes is an American mystery writer, born and raised in Detroit, and graduated from Boston University"s School of Theater. She is best known for her series featuring Carlotta Carlyle, a 6'1" redheaded detective from Boston. Carlotta Carlyle is often compared to the hard-boiled female detectives created by Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky. Her new novel, "The Perfect Ghost," which will be published in April, 2013, is her first stand-alone mystery.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere in the works of James Thurber, Thurber mentions a woman telling him that she is worried about the possibility of thieves breaking in to her home and so intends to have her house burglarized. As I recall, Thurber says something like, "I didn't know you could hire people for that."

What she meant, of course, is that she wanted to hire someone to burglarproof her home. Carlotta Carlyle, former police officer and former cab driver, currently a private detective, is hired to do that job for an elderly woman who seems uncommonly worried about people getting unauthorized access to her apartment. The woman lives in the Fenway area of Boston, not the safest of neighborhoods, so it isn't odd that she might be concerned about break-ins, but Carlyle thinks the woman is overly so. Carlyle thinks that right up to the time she finds the woman dead in her not-safe-enough apartment.

This is the start of a most improbable case for Carlyle. There are Jews trying to recover works of art looted by the Nazis, crooked real-estate developers, organized crime figures, artists, street punks, children abandoned by their mother, police officers (friendly and not), volleyball players, newspaper reporters, newspaper employees who hate reporters, model trains, and, I believe, a partridge in a pear tree.

As the book begins, Carlyle finds a naked man, apparently deceased, in her bathtub. Carlyle, who narrates the story, thinks:

Somehow I remembered to close the lid before sinking onto the toilet. Resting elbows on knees, forehead in hands, I shut my eyes and vowed to get a normal life even if it meant ringing a cash register at the local Stop & Shop. Tentatively, I shook my head and ran my tongue around the inside of my mouth. No sign of a hangover. I'd never been a binge drinker. Never blacked out. Before. I couldn't recall bringing home a man, and now, here I was with a corpse.

And that was in the first three pages!

Parts of the book concern continuing characters in this series. Carlyle's tenant, Roz, continues to be the same rather odd, very sexually open young woman of earlier books. Carlyle's police officer friend and former mentor, Lieutenant Detective Mooney, is now working with a new female officer, towards whom his feelings do not appear to be strictly professional.

Most importantly, Carlyle has long been Big Sister to a young Latina girl, Paolina. Paolina's single mother has gone off with a man, leaving Paolina, now fourteen, and her younger brothers alone. A relative has taken in the sons, but, as Carlyle discovers, Paolina, unsupervised, has been skipping school, smoking, and hanging out with much older men. She has no intention of letting Carlyle run her life.

I live in Boston and the descriptions of Boston as a physical entity and as a dwelling place seem accurate. I hate references, both here and elsewhere, to Boston's racism; I admit that I might feel differently if I were a person of color. I think that a brief mention of the notorious Charles Stuart case will be meaningless to most people; Barnes's summary of the case is pretty sketchy and impossible to follow. As for the incidence of rats in the Fenway neighborhood at that time, no question; if the rats had all paid taxes, Boston could have paved the streets with gold. (I understand that this problem is actually much better than it used to be.)

I enjoyed Flashpoint. Barnes writes wittily and well. I think that is apparent in the passage I quoted above. (I especially like the use of "Before" as a whole sentence.) The problem I have with the book is how much Barnes tries to cram in. That results in some things being left out (where was the will finally found?) or rushed. And as with many mystery novels, at some point "unlikely" turns to "unbelievable."

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not read #7, and I think I did miss something--a couple of love interests. Mooney, Mooney--the timing is everything and it's still off. In fact, he has found another bright, young eager beat cop to help solve the death of an old woman. This elderly woman had byzantine techniques to check out strangers--even Carlotta who comes recommended by the woman's home health aide who is also Carlotta's volleyball teammate. The woman wants a to protect something valuable with a better security set-up. She won't tell Carlotta what it is, so they settle on new locks. Before the new locks can be installed, she is murdered inside her locked apartment. Flashpoint is an apropos title with literal flashes along the way, all leading to the usual perilous denouement.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

yay, carlotta's back :-)

i enjoyed this loads but i'm not sure how much of it was just 'meeting up with an old friend' syndrome. carlotta's the same as ever, paolina's growing up, roz never will grow up. the plot has all the not quite realistic tying together of unrelated threads that i've learnt to expect from linda barnes. but i didn't realise that til the end, and that's the idea after all. i know she does it but it fools me anew each time.

[John Biddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Carlotta Carlyle mystery, #8. In this one she starts out doing a favor for one of her vollyball friends and gets involved protecting an old woman from a greedy landlord. It get much murkier and more dangerous when the woman dies and it could be murder.

I like Carlotta and enjoy her adventures, though this one was rough because of the things that happen to her.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time I've read this series. It was an easy read and an interesting story, but it's very similar to many others in this genre. Reminded me of Janet Evanovich without the humor

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It’s not that it’s so good with money as it’s bad without it.”

I've been enjoying reading Carlotta Carlyle, more than I enjoyed the audiobooks. I think it's because I can kind of skim when I come to something that makes me roll my eyes. (which happens in this series) It's not my favorite series and I don't know that I'll ever reread it but it's a fun little escape.

An elderly lady asks Carlotta to help install a security system. Her fears were legit because within 24 hours the old lady is dead. Carlotta starts to dig a little deeper and finds lots of mini mysteries.

Valentine Phipps had impressed me as a woman who’d make her own bed with the last breath in her body.

She had the look of a woman who wore a corset for the good of her soul.

There's a lot of nonsense going on with Paolina (as per usual) and someone comes after Carlotta and sets her place on fire. I would like this story a lot more without Paulina. I'm not sure what the author's purpose was for including this little subplot. I don't like it.

I could have confronted Paolina, demanded to know what she was doing dressed like a five-dollar whore, smoking lipstick-stained cigarettes with a bad-news man. (I think she's like 13 or 14 in this book??)

This is a series I'll keep reading.

“Money talks, and the poor walk. Hey, it’s not discrimination. If you’d been smart enough to buy, not rent, sucker, you could have made a bundle. But you were dumb—worse, you didn’t have the bucks—and now you’re stuck.

[Nd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carlotta Carlyle is a little more put together in her private life in this latest murder mystery. The same is not true for her over-the-top tenant, Ruby, or her maturing "little sister," Paolina, but their extremes lend broad color and an air of unpredictability. After a regular Y volleyball game, where most players are volleyball friends but don't otherwise know much about each other, Gwen trailed Carlotta to her coffee and donuts spot and haltingly, stutteringly, asked her if she would consult with one of her home health clients about additional security for her apartment. She was concerned that Valentine, had moved from security consciousness to the outright obsession that malicious tactics were being employed to get her out of her rent controlled apartment. Then she asked Carlotta to personally install the suggested additional security. Between that meeting and the next day when Carlotta came to do the work, Valentine was dead, and an elaborate crime story ensued.

[Jeff Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boston Private Eye Carlotta Carlyle is asked by Gwen Taymore, a friend from volleyball, to give some security advice to Valentine Phipps, a seemingly defenseless old lady who as an eye for valuable antiques. Next day she is found dead and although appearing to be suicide is ruled as murder and Gwen is the main suspect. The eighth book in the series and once again Linda Barnes is in fine form with Carlotta acting as a mother figure to "little sister" Paolina when her real mother abandons her. "Flashpoint" carefully balances numerous threads as we get a chance to see a different side Carlotta and a clever plot twist neatly ties it all together. Great stuff.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flashpoint by Linda Barnes is the 8th of the Carlotta Carlyle series. It is a pretty good one with a backdrop of urban renewal, rent control and racial tension in Boston. There are a lot of players, each with a separate, hidden agenda that makes for a complex solution to what is a relatively simple
crime. It was fun figuring out who the players were and why they were even in the game. I'm looking forward to the next.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Carlotta, and Roz is something else! The story kept my interest for the most part. For some reason, often when I had time to read, I didn't feel like it - which NEVER happens to me. So I'm not sure what about the book didn't compel me to not want to put it down and keep reading, because I did find it pretty interesting. This was my first Linda Barnes/Carlotta Carlyle book.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT STORY

This book had a great storyline with a interesting group of characters. The pace of the story was quick with a few twists to keep you guessing. Another very good book in this series.

[Mary Newcomb]

Carlotta Carlyle never disappoints! From rescuing her Little Sister to helping out a volleyball team mate to untangling an old and complex disappearance she manages to pull things together. And maybe she found a way to help her Little Sister's mom make a better choice.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be reading this series in order but I messed up. Still great characters.

[rebecca O. webber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, yet I feel Linda Barnes has a disjointed writing style. I had questions at the end of this book regarding certain plot points. I prefer the novels with more Roz and Sam.

[Zora · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5

[Daelith]

Only got about 40 pages into this and it wasn't holding my attention.

[Russ Leavitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this series.

[Jan Norton · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an okay read. I thought there was too much conversation.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fast read. The PI is funny and the ending is a surprise.

[Ruby J · Rating 2 out of 5]

really slow in the beginning, had to force myself to keep reading but it really picked up in the 2nd 1/2 and I was liking it but I didn't love the ending. it was fine ig, but not my style

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in October 2015 and I liked it. The characters are good. It's an older book so no one had cell phones or google but it is fun to read about the days before everyone had these. I like the character of her niece and the drama with the cop who used to be her boss/lover.

SPOILER ALERT:
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This is a review I copied from a friend's page here. Carlotta was drawn into this case by an acquaintance with whom she played basketball once a week at the Y. The woman said she was a home health aide, and her client was afraid and needed protection. Carlotta agreed to see her and discuss security measures with her. Shedid so, and when she returned the next day to change the locks and take other security measures, she found the woman dead. What was the woman afraid of? Was she murdered? Was the murder, if it was murder, connected in some way with the death of her first husband back in 1942, and with some kind of secret from his past? And who had reason to kill her and had something to gain by uncovering the secret? Along with the case, we have the usual assortment of characters in Carlotta’s life, including particularly her “little sister” Paulina, whose mother disappears for a period of time and with Paulina moving in with Carlotta for that period of time. A very good addition to the Carlotta Carlyle series.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Flashpoint, by Linda Barnes, a-minus, Narrated by Tavia Gilbert, Produced by Brilliance Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Carlotta was drawn into this case by an acquaintance with whom she played basketball once a week at the Y. The woman said she was a home health aide, and her client was afraid and needed protection. Carlotta agreed to see her and discuss security measures with her. Shedid so, and when she returned the next day to change the locks and take other security measures, she found the woman dead. What was the woman afraid of? Was she murdered? Was the murder, if it was murder, connected in some way with the death of her first husband back in 1942, and with some kind of secret from his past? And who had reason to kill her and had something to gain by uncovering the secret? Along with the case, we have the usual assortment of characters in Carlotta’s life, including particularly her “little sister” Paulina, whose mother disappears for a period of time and with Paulina moving in with Carlotta for that period of time. A very good addition to the Carlotta Carlyle series.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#8 in the Carlotta Carlyle series.

When home health aide Gwen Taymore asks Carlotta to provide security advice to Valentine Phipps, an old lady struggling to keep her rent-controlled apartment, Carlotta agrees, as much out of civic duty as out of a desire for a paycheck. But Mrs. Phipps's sudden death, which may have been murder, casts suspicion on elusive Gwen, as well as on the building's possibly mob-connected landlord. And when music industry mogul Bronson Hohen hires Carlotta to investigate Mrs. Phipps's family tree, she starts to wonder why her old cronies in Boston Homicide are so intent on barring her from the crime scene. Meanwhile, Carlotta has to cope with assorted domestic crises, such as her adolescent "Little Sister" Paolina's homelessness, and her tenant Roz's onslaught of bad boyfriends.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: Carlotta Carlyle, PI
SETTING: Boston
SERIES: #8 of 12
RATING: 4.25
WHY: PI Carlotta Carlyle is asked by a volleyball friend, Gwen Taymore, who is also a home health aide to talk to her elderly charge, Valentine Phipps, about safety and security. When Mrs. Phipps is found murdered, Gwen is arrested. Carlotta is then hired by a music mogul to check Phipps' will and finds that an object of value may be the at the center of all the interest. When her house is set on fire, it gets personal. There's an unexpected twist which turned things upside down. Though the villain was implausible to me and I find Carlotta's romantic yearnings uninteresting, I enjoyed the book.

[Ernest · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book with admittedly low expectations, willing to get into a mystery book after quite some time away from the genre. I almost gave up during the first quarter of the book, the mystery of how an old, strange woman died not compelling enough. The second third of the book proved more fruitful, as the protagonist's other work weaved into the death of the woman, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying the story and threads that had been woven.

There is probably not enough in this book to make me want to seek out the rest of the series, but Barnes has written a most competent mystery that I do not begrudge spending the time on.

[Karschtl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nach den ersten Seiten war ich skeptisch, ob ich das Buch wirklich weiterlesen sollte. Zu 'unübersichtlich' waren die einzelnen Elemente der Story, zu viele verschiedene Teile (die Mitbewohnerin, die 'Paten'-Tochter, die alte Dame um die es im 'echten' Fall dann geht, das Liebesleben von Carlotta) - so viele Aspekte die alle verarbeitet und im Kopf miteinander verdrahtet werden wollen.
Ich habe dann doch weitergelesen, und es auch durchaus genossen. Würde aber nicht gleich losziehen um mir die anderen Fälle der Ermittlerin zu kaufen.

[Spuddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

#8 Carlotta Carlyle mystery set in Boston. Carlotta, a licensed PI, is hired by an elderly woman in a rent-controlled property--one of the few remaining in the Fens neighborhood--as a security consultant. When the seemingly paranoid and batty woman is found dead by Carlotta upon returning with her new locks and equipment, Carlotta is then hired by a wealthy music-business owner to see if the woman was his great-grandmother.

Interesting, fast-paced read with snappy dialogue and the always-interesting characters, although with a fairly obvious murderer. Enjoyable.

[Dobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 8th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mystery series, but it's the first one I've read. You can't jump into the 8th book of a series and expect to get the full richness of the characters' backstories. Despite that, I did enjoy this book and thought the author did a good job of integrating Clueless Reader (that would be moi) into Carlotta's world. This was a fun read with interesting twists.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carlotta is on the trail of trouble, and finds it in this installment of the series. This is a tale of an eccentric widow, a no holds barred reporter, and gentrification of a Boston neighborhood. I'm a fan of the series, but feel like this one is a little bit better than the others because it portrays what would be likely to happen when several people want something regardless of what it takes to get it.

[Shirley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really just skimmed, as by the third page I realized I had read this before. And I hadn't liked it as well as many of her others. My mother, my daughter and I share books and sometimes it gets confusing, and we get back ones we have already read. (In the days before I was keeping track with GoodReads.)