Hangman

Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus #19

by Faye Kellerman

Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus face a familiar sociopath in this electrifying tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman.

When LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker reluctantly agrees to do a big favour for old friend Teresa McLaughlin, he knows that his involvement will bring her sociopathic husband, Chris Donatti, back into his life. But then Terry goes missing and Donatti disappears, leaving their 14-year-old son Gabe behind.

Meanwhile Adrianna Blanc, a party-loving nurse, is found swinging from the rafters of a house in a wealthy suburban area. Her last phone call announced she was breaking up with her philandering boyfriend and Decker questions whether it was in fact suicide.

With lives hanging in the balance, Decker and his team need to find answers fast. At home matters are just as precarious: while Decker and his wife Rina Lazarus want to look after young Gabe, with Donatti on the loose, no one is really ever safe…

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

432 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2010

About the author

Faye Kellerman was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Sherman Oaks, California. She earned a BA in mathematics and a doctorate in dentistry at UCLA., and conducted research in oral biology. Kellerman's groundbreaking first novel, THE RITUAL BATH, was published in 1986 to wide critical and commercial acclaim. The winner of the Macavity Award for the Best First Novel from the Mystery Readers of American, THE RITUAL BATH introduced readers to Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, termed by People Magazine "Hands down, the most refreshing mystery couple around." The New York Times enthused, "This couple's domestic affairs have the haimish warmth of reality, unlike the formulaic lives of so many other genre detectives."

There are well over twenty million copies of Faye Kellerman's novels in print internationally. The Decker/Lazarus thrillers include SACRED AND PROFANE; MILK AND HONEY; DAY OF ATONEMENT; FALSE PROPHET; GRIEVOUS SIN; SANCTUARY; as well as her New York Times Bestsellers, JUSTICE, PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD - listed by the LA Times as one of the best crime novel of 2001; SERPENT'S TOOTH; JUPITER'S BONES, THE FORGOTTEN, STONE KISS, STRAIGHT INTO DARKNESS, THE BURNT HOUSE, THE MERCEDES COFFIN and BLINDMAN'S BLUFF. . The novels, STALKER and STREET DREAMS, introduced Kellerman's newest protagonist, Police Officer Cindy Decker. In addition to her crime series, Kellerman is also the author of New York Time's bestseller MOON MUSIC, a suspense horror novel set in Las Vegas featuring Detective Romulus Poe, as well as an historical novel of intrigue set in Elizabethan England, THE QUALITY OF MERCY. She has also co-authored the New York Times Bestseller DOUBLE HOMICIDE, with her husband and partner in crime, Jonathan Kellerman. She has also written a young adult novel, PRISM, with her daughter, Aliza Kellerman

Faye Kellerman's highly praised short stories and reviews have been anthologized in numerous collections including two volumes of the notable SISTERS IN CRIME SERIES, Sara Paretsky's, A WOMAN'S EYE; THE FIRST ANNUAL YEAR'S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES; THE THIRD ANNUAL BEST MYSTERY STORIES OF THE YEAR; WOMEN OF MYSTERY AND DEADLY ALLIES 11. Her personally annotated collection of her award winning stories, THE GARDEN OF EDEN and OTHER CRIMINAL DELIGHTS, was published in August of 2006. H
Her other hobbies include gardening, sewing and jogging if her back doesn't give out. She is the proud mother of four children, and her eldest son, Jesse, has just published his fourth novel, THE EXECUTOR, from Putnam. She lives in Los Angeles and Santa Fe with her husband, Jonathan, their youngest child, and their French Bulldog, Hugo.

Reviews

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is only the middle of February and the month is beginning to drag. There are still ten long days left before the calendar turns to March and women's history month. I have a diverse lineup planned but I am still stuck in February waiting for it to mercifully end. With family members fighting off infections, I decided to back track and revisit a series that at this point is like a visit with family. I am up to date with Faye Kellerman's Decker and Lazarus series and am eagerly awaiting the next installment due out at the end of the summer, so I decided to go back and fill myself in with a case I hadn't read yet. As usual, the Lieutenant did not disappoint.

Lieutenant Peter Decker is about to turn sixty and at the top of his profession. Unbeknownst to him, his children and colleagues have planned a surprise party for him in honor of his birthday but not before work gets in the way. Decker receives a call from an old acquaintance Teresa McLaughlin who is the wife of hitman and Decker's nemesis the one and only Chris Donatti. Knowing that Donatti would make more than just a cameo appearance in this case had me giddy, but, unfortunately it comes on the heels of him hitting his wife and her fearing for her safety and that of her teenage son Gabriel. Decker agrees to facilitate a meeting between the couple, and all seems to go well until a panicked Gabriel calls the Lieutenant to say that his mother has disappeared. Wanting to stay a step ahead of Donatti, Decker agrees to take the case as well as bringing the teenaged Gabriel Whitman, who happens to be a piano prodigy, into his home.

On top of this case, Decker's long time colleagues Dunn and Oliver receive a call about a body found hanging from the rafters at a home site. The young woman appears to have died of asphyxiation, and the detective team takes on what appears to be a complex case. Adrianna Blanc had been a nurse at St Timothy's Hospital. Regarded in her field, she was in the midst of an unraveling relationship, and someone, either the boyfriend or rival, wanted her out of the way. A few days later, another friend of Blanc's is found strangled in her refrigerator, yet Dunn and Oliver keep questioning the same circle of friends and hope for a lead that will help them to crack this case. In most cases I sympathize with the victim, yet this time around the victim lead a raunchy social life amongst a millennial crowd who still drunk as though they were in college. Some of the women degenerated their bodies and enjoyed their double life outside of work. It is up to Dunn, Oliver, and the rest of their stellar detective team to find one of this crowd who was not either drunk or strung out on drugs willing to talk to them about the case, or else find a lead from an unexpected source.

Meanwhile the Lieutenant's birthday weekend goes as planned. All of his children gather for the occasion and there is enough food for the entire Los Angeles police department. The various Decker children are all about to experience milestones: Sammy is finishing medical school and about to get married, Hannah is graduating high school and leaving for a year in Israel, and Cindy and Koby are expecting twins. It is in this whirlwind of activity that Peter and Rina agree to take in Gabriel Whitman as their foster child, at a time of their lives when they are looking toward retirement and settling into a quieter life as grandparents. Yet, the Deckers will provide the younger Whitman more stability and a happy home than his parents ever would, so the Lieutenant, at a time when he is blissful at anticipating the arrival of his first grandchildren, defers to his wife and provides a safe home for another teenager. All this means is more Chris Donatti in the future, and, as scary as he is, that is a good thing as he adds spice to this series that is nearing its retirement years.

Having read the later books in this series, I know where Peter, Rina, and their children wind up. It is still fun to go back and read the installments that I may have overlooked. Each visit with the Deckers is like visiting old friends and family. I may have mentioned in previous reviews that I share a similar religious lifestyle to the Deckers and believe that we would be friends in real life, yet, for now I am willing to read about them in print form. With all of these life milestones ahead, Kellerman has plenty of material from which to work from in developing future cases. Until the latest installment is published, I am more than happy to fill myself in on older cases in this fast paced series filled with visits from family and friends.

3.75 stars

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

“He was tired of dealing with a psycho for a father, a totally unpredictable maniac with a violent temper.”

HANGMAN qualifies easily for characterization as a suspense thriller but it’s based on a pretty off-the-wall premise. Nah, let’s call it downright bizarre. Peter Decker, a successful detective, has maintained an ongoing relationship with Chris Whitman, an ex-convict who served a term in prison for the murder of his girlfriend. The bizarre part is that Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, recognize that Whitman (now operating under the name Christ Donatti) is a successful (and extremely dangerous) contract killer who launders money through the legal front of a string of brothels. What’s up with a police detective staying in touch with somebody like that?? When Donatti’s wife goes missing and Donatti disappears (well, of course … what else?), their musically-gifted son ends up in the Decker-Lazarus household as an ex-officio adoptee. (Is the needle on your credibility meter edging into the red zone yet?)

You’d think that would be enough fodder to fuel an entire novel but what suspense thriller worth its salt is allowed to have a mere single plot line? HANGMAN certainly doesn’t break that mold. A gruesome murder case in which a woman’s body is founding hanging from the framing of an active construction site seems to point in the direction of a bloodthirsty serial killer. Now that’s more like it! Decker on the track of a psychopathic serial killer while he’s looking over his shoulder for a contract killer who could endanger his family and reappear at any time to re-claim his son!

Insofar as a rating is concerned, … well, that’s simple enough. HANGMAN is gripping, compelling, and entertaining enough that I couldn’t dream of giving it an “average” rating of only 3 stars. On the other hand, I couldn’t award it a top drawer 5-star rating either with the general reservations I had about the premises underlying the entire novel. So, 4 stars it is! But, I’ll admit I came very close to ignoring those concerns and awarding 5 stars anyway on the basis of the brilliant character development of Gabe Whitman, the teenage “adoptee” and his love-hate relationship with a mostly absent father!

I’d be very pleased to see Gabe turning up as a secondary character in a subsequent Decker-Lazarus novel.

Definitely recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

In this 19th book in the 'Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus' series, Detective Decker looks for a missing woman and investigates two murders. The book can be read as a standalone, but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.



*****

LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker first met Terry McLaughlin and Chris Whitman fifteen years ago, when they were teenagers.



At that time, Chris went to prison for a murder he didn't commit, and when things were rectified, Chris and Terry married and had baby Gabe.

Chris subsequently changed his name to Chris Donatti, and became a gangster, hitman, brothel owner, etc.



For her part, Terry went to medical school and become a doctor.



Meanwhile, Gabe was growing up to become a gifted musician.



Chris and Terry had a rocky marriage, and Chris recently beat Terry badly. Since then, Terry's been staying in a luxury Los Angeles hotel with 14-year-old Gabe, and she's asked Lt. Decker to be present as she negotiates a separation from Chris.



Terry and Chris's conversation seems to go fine, but later that evening - when Gabe returns to the hotel from piano lessons - his mother isn't there and he can't reach his father. The upshot is that Peter and his wife Rina take Gabe into their home while Decker investigates the absence of Gabe's parents.





Decker fears Chris murdered Terry and skedaddled, but there's no proof of this. Unknown to Peter, Gabe has a few brief meetings and phone calls with Chris, who insists he didn't hurt Terry. (But Chris is a psychopath, so who knows?)

Meanwhile, the body of a woman is found hanging at a building site, where a house is being renovated. The woman turns out NOT to be Terry, but rather a pediatric nurse called Adriana Blanc.



Decker and his colleagues - Detectives Marge Dunn and Scott Oliver- interview Adriana's friends, family, and acquaintances. They learn Adriana and her boyfriend Garth Hammerling had a rocky relationship; Adriana liked to party; and Adriana was very dedicated to her job.





As the homicide investigation proceeds, there are unfortunate developments. First, the police can't find Adriana's boyfriend Garth Hammerling, who was last seen in Las Vegas; and second, one of Adriana's girlfriends is the victim of a bizarre murder. Moreover, witnesses withhold information and lie.

The murder inquiries spread to Las Vegas, where Marge and Oliver spend time looking for suspects, and take the opportunity to see a Cirque du Soliel performance.



Tensions escalate until there's finally a break in the case, and the killings are solved. Sadly, there are some VERY GRIM discoveries along the way. In the midst of this, the circumstances surrounding Gabe's parents are also elucidated.

The Decker/Lazarus books always include a large dose of family life, and this story is no exception. Peter and Rina observe Orthodox Jewish customs; eat kosher food - most of it deliciously prepared by Rina; and observe Shabbos (the Sabbath).



Peter's daughter Cindy (from his first marriage) is married and pregnant;



the Deckers' sons Samuel and Jacob fly in from New York to arrange a surprise party for Peter's 60th birthday;



and the Deckers' youngest daughter Hannah - a high school senior - goes to school, chorus and band practice. All this is a nice counterpoint to the murder inquiries.



I like Faye Kellerman's 'Decker/Lazarus' books but this isn't one of my favorites. The plethora of coincidences is too unrealistic, and Gabe's circumstances struck me as a bit unlikely. That said, it's always a pleasure to visit with the Decker clan.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com

[Jerry B · Rating 2 out of 5]

We’ve read every one of the Rina Lazarus / Peter Decker stories to date; and hate to say this was probably our least favorite. The 420 page book sees the first 50 pages set the scene, then the clues ever so painfully and slowly appear for 350 pages, followed by an intense 20-page ending that reveals all with little or no further work on the part of the detectives. Our high school English teacher would never have approved that outline !!

As usual, “Hangman”, mostly about a young female nurse hung from the rafters of a house under construction, is predominantly a police procedural with Decker and his two favorite “D’s” Marge and Scott doing all the grunt work. A missing friend is a sub-plot that is barely more than an excuse to have Gabe, the 14-year old son of Chris Donatti, a long-time Decker nemesis from earlier books, come to stay at the Decker’s, with daughter Hannah (gads – we remember when she was just born!) playing big sister as she finishes high school and heads to Israel to go to college. Presuming more books in this set, we suspect we’ll see more of Gabe, temporarily cancelling out the empty nest.

Three male suspects and a female colleague of the dead girl play a big role in the mystery, if you can get by all of the bedtime arrangements between these five and (uncharacteristically) the over-the-top amount of raw language throughout. The builder who discovers the body is yet another suspect, and his role remains unclear till very late in the going.

We suppose the Kellerman fan club will turn out in droves to add this to their reading list, but we were left wondering whether it’s getting to be time to call this series done. Decker himself celebrates his 60th birthday in the story, which makes taking in a stray non-relative teenager pretty far-fetched. Perhaps his several noises about a pending retirement will be a good thing?

[Paulo Pires · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.7

«Decker tem entre mãos duas investigações, por um lado investiga o desaparecimento de Terry após uma conversa no mínimo tensa com o seu companheiro Chris.

Como consequência deste desaparecimento surge Gabe, o filho de ambos, catorze anos e com um dote muito especial... E assim de um momento para o outro Decker e Rina vêem-se na eminente possibilidade de ter que acolher Gabe. Mas Decker não consegue deixar de se sentir a sensação que foi manipulado!


Por outro lado, Decker e a sua equipa investigam o provável assassinato de Adrianna Blanc, enfermeira, descoberta enforcada numas obras perto do hospital onde trabalhava. À medida que que a investigação avança começam-se a conhecer o circulo de amigos e as complexas e pouco convencionais relações de Adrianna! O que aumenta o número de suspeitos.



Não sei como vocês reagem a cheiros, mas posso dizer-vos que há cheiros que de imediato me invocam recordações, me transportam... O cheiro de terra molhada, por exemplo, traz-me a sensação de paz de espirito, relaxamento e conforto conceitos associados a férias em casa dos meus avós.


Essa mesma identificação acontece quando leio os livros de Faye Kellerman! Os meus sentidos ficam apurados e não consigo deixar de sentir um aroma caseiro e a sensação de reconhecimento! É um misto retorno às raízes, de conforto, de aconchego, de segurança! É tão bom ler Faye!


A história é dinâmica, e gostei do facto de o livro se dividir em duas investigações, porque nos impele sempre (mesmo que inconscientemente) a procurar relação entre as duas. O efeito é que nos desperta mais para a história e para os detalhes levando-nos a procurar pontos de intercepção, e com esta entrega, no final, ficamos com muito mais que uma pequena história. Cria-se aqui uma espécie de comprometimento entre autor e leitor, dar para receber!


Existe nos livros da autora, que tive oportunidade de ler, uma componente forte ligada à família. Mas não num sentido restrito ou preso a um conceito tradicional e estereotipado! É a família que Alvin Toffler profetizava na "Terceira Vaga", em que a família era composta por os cônjuges e filhos de casamentos anteriores de ambos além dos próprios, e todos com ligações muito próximas e enraizadas. O conceito intrínseco de família vertido neste livro é muito mais profundo do que qualquer pseudo-convenção da sociedade e trás ao leitor um sentimento de pertença e conforto digno de se dar nota!


Quanto às personagens:


Não há como não gostar de Rina, a preocupação natural com todos os seus membros. Um coração grande e genuíno que consegue sempre albergar mais um. E a comida que ela faz, meu deus, só de pensar nas refeições narradas deixam-me água na (...)

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Opinião: O Enforcado de Faye Kellerman |Livros e Marcadores

[Mª Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was nice to curl up with old friends, Loo and Rina, and go on one of their adventures. All the kids appeared in the book so that was great, Cindy only made a minor appearance which was good as I find her annoying.
This time the Loo has two cases to solve and one is very personal. The cases don't overlap which was a good touch. It didn't make it too cutesy-pie. Both had very intersting solutions and I read rapidly as I didn't want to put it down.
The biggest question I have is why Rina puts up with the Loo. He works from the moment he gets up until bedtime. The only time he sees her is for breakfast and when she brings food to the station house. He can't seem to delegate anything. He spent one whole day there as other detectives were searching for jewelry matches. Give it up, Loo, and spend some time with your lovely wife, Rina.

[Wendy'sThoughts · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Stars
* * * * 2010 Before Goodreads- On Sale $1.99 Now
Before Goodreads and Romance Reading in my life...The Kellermans were the bomb. I started with Jonathan Kellerman and when his wife starting writing, I was thrilled to see a woman doing thrillers, etc.

I have read her books about this team and can't remember much about this one...but when I saw it was on sale, it brought back my excitement to see Faye Kellerman's name on a book.

Hangman (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, #19)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

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[Wanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Faye Kellerman to me is pretty hit and miss. I will pick up one of her books when I know that I won't have much time to concentrate fully on a non-fiction (my preference.) This was a true MISS. Four and five stars -- really folks? It was slowwwwwwww and boring. The details are often irrelevant and trivial (i.e. who cares what Marge is wearing. Faye tells us repeatedly anyway. It doesn't move the plot forward to include those words. It's padding. As is her repeated reference to her claustrophobia) There is much repetition and virtually no action or suspense. To make matters worse the grammar is abyssmal, the typos abound, verb tenses fly all over willy nilly without logic, and please - who "graduates medical school?" They graduate FROM medical school. She AND the copy editors should be embarrassed. A spell check does not substitute for reading the manuscript.
The Donatti story line started out with a bang in previous books and this is its wimper.
Don't waste your money.

[Tita · Rating 4 out of 5]

O detective Peter Decker foi, há 15 anos, encarregado do caso de Chris Whitman, um jovem que esteve preso depois de confessar ter assassinado a sua namorada, para proteger a colega de turma Terry McLaughlin. Após a verdade ter sido reposta, Chris foi libertado e casou-se com Terry, que se encontrava grávida dele. Agora, Terry voltou e pede um favor a Decker, com quem sempre manteve contacto. Mas a situação complica-se quando, quer Terry quer Chris, desaparecem e deixam o seu filho Gabe, de 14 anos, sozinho. Peter Decker e a sua esposa Rina acabam por acolher Gabe em sua casa, enquanto o inspector investiga o desaparecimento de Terry.
Entretanto a jovem enfermeira Adrianna Blanc é encontrada assassinada e Decker e a sua equipa descobrem que, apesar de ser uma boa profissional também gostava de se divertir "à grande". Deste modo, Decker tem que conciliar os dois casos.
Foi um livro que me manteve sempre agarrada e que mistura um horrível assassinato com o desaparecimento de uma outra personagem. Com personagens muito bem desenvolvidas e que se tornam bem credíveis, com uma narrativa com muitas reviravoltas e que nos leva a virar páginas atrás de páginas, sem darmos pelo tempo passar.
Para além de irmos acompanhando os dois casos de Decker, conhecemos também a sua família e posso dizer que esta interacção familiar foi outro ponto positivo, e que nos permite conhecer melhor as personagens.
Gosto de livros assim. Histórias e personagens que poderiam ser reais e foi isso que aconteceu com este livro. Apesar de ter achado a solução do caso de Adrianna um pouquinho rebuscada demais, a verdade é que todo o processo de investigação me pareceu muito credível.
Para quem gosta de thrillers e investigações criminais, este livro é uma boa aposta.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It says much for a series author when the reader forgets that the characters aren't real. When I read the flap and learned this was a Chris Donatti novel, I had to think back to when Decker first met him. (Justice) and I mentally reviewed Decker's resume to determine where he was stationed. I was aghast to learn that Hannah was going off to college. I remember when she was born. Scary that these characters are so real, so believable. This was a terrific novel that intertwined a gruesome murder with a missing person, Terry McLaughlin, Chris's wife. She leaves behind a 14 year old son who has no one to turn to except Peter Decker, the one man Terry trusted. Decker turns 60 in this book and was looking forward to retirement. Gabe's unexpected presence is a twist for him. For his part, Gabe isn't a normal 14 year old. He's a piano prodigy and he knows he grew up in absolute disfunctionality. He doesn't want to be a burden but he craves the normality of the Decker household and while he isn't looking for new parents, he appreciates their stability. It's a very complicated series of threads that turned into a fast-paced read.

[Sherry Fundin · Rating 4 out of 5]

HangmanFaye Kellerman
A Decker/Lazarus murder mystery including not one,but two serial killers and a missing woman,leaving her teenage son left behind in the care of Decker. Faye Kellerman will never let you down when it comes to twists and turns just when you thought you figured it out.

[Charlotte Guzman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was picked for one of my book clubs.
This book was just ok for me. Too many storylines (two to three to be exact) and they didn't relate to each other in the end. The book was too long (400 pages).
I actually liked the characters but over all didn't like all the different storylines. 😖

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never fail to hold my attention and the plots are always well executed

[Dlora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Faye Kellerman's novels about detective Peter Decker. She combines the seamy grind of his policeman's job with the softer side of his personal life with wife, children, and friends combining Jewish and American culture. Both police and private sides feels authentic. A policeman's job is full of tedious tracking down of details and finding connections. And family life is not all smooth sailing either, needing work and give-and-take. In this story, the wife of a sociopathic killer disappears and Decker ends up with their brilliant son in his home while trying to find her before her husband does . . . unless, of course, it was the husband who "disappeared" her. In the meantime, his department is investigating the hanging of a young girl. More bodies show up and more information is unearthed but how does it all relate? In some detective novels, I can be sure that a clue at the beginning is going to be important later on, but not necessarily with Kellerman's stories. Dead ends and parallel stories and unfinished plot lines are all part of real life and Kellerman does a good job of incorporating that reality yet crafting a satisfying, rounded story.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another page turner by Faye Kellerman. I really enjoy reading the Peter Decker/Rina Lazrus mystery novels and the way Kellerman weaves the intensity of Peter's job with the soft side of his personal life as he relates to his wife, his children, and the outsiders he takes in. In this particular story Kellerman captures your attention as you try to figure out "who dunnit"; were there several serial killers? were they related? It's a fantasy world, but I like to believe Peter Decker's team is representative of how police detectives work in real life.

One thing you learn from this book, or are at least reminded of, is that you should always be careful of who you meet at bars, where you walk at night, and where you park you car! And, be careful, your best friend in college may not have your best interests at heart.

Kellerman does an outstanding job of educating the reading public in the history, mores, traditions and life style of adherents to the Jewish faith without being preachy.

[Bigsna · Rating 2 out of 5]

43% read and calling it quits on this one. I found it a rather bland read. The build up is too slow and there are too many unnecessary details that don't really add to the main plot. Even at the half-way mark the detectives are only getting started with looking for clues and suspects. And what seems to be a disconnected sub-plot isn't adding to the interest value either.
I was expecting this to be a runaway, fast paced police procedural. But its slow moving and I'm indifferent to how it unfurls.
So bye bye book. It didn't work out.

[Skip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit better than her last two books. Two decent plots, a young woman found hanged at a construction site takes up Peter Decker's invetigative time while he also has to help figure out whether his friend Terry was murdered by her professional killer husband, Chris Donatti and what to do with their musically talented son, Gabe, who was abandoned in his and Rina's care.

[Donna Herrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I appreciate the most about Faye Kellerman, one of my favorite authors, is how her stories blend a fast-pced crime plot with a story that exposes the happiest, most satisfying explication of the goodness and kindness of family life.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

Decker meets woman
Protects from abusive spouse
Then she disappears

Two parallel plots
Love that Decker takes in boy
Great family stuff

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus face another sociopath. A party-loving nurse is found hanging from the rafters of a house. Suicide?

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will be the last Peter Decker book I read.... I have read other, later ones. Peter, Rina, their blended family and their relationship to one another has grown and flourished, and it makes me smile. I consider them friends. I was introduced to the Peter & Rina series a generation ago by a very dear friend whose husband, like Peter, also took the Hebrew name Akiva. My friends identified with Peter and Rina; my husband and I loved our dear friends; I devoured the series and my husband read a couple of the books also; something he usually never did on my recommendation.

However, the world has turned over a dead leaf since then. My friend died. Her husband remarried and we lost touch. My husband and I had two children; we divorced. He died. Returning to the Deckers has been difficult for me on those levels. The Deckers have grown and changed too...they have grown stronger; added children and grandchildren; and moved from Los Angeles to the East Coast. Okay, nobody's perfect.

The series has changed. The novels have deepened their darkness. Children die and are killed and kill each other and themselves. I know well how this reflects life's realities. My own family has died off or thrown me away. I have parenting challenges no one can assuage. My professional world has changed. Goodness is so, so hard to find and yet I know it is out there. But I will not find it in reading the Decker series any longer. So I will bid this dear family adieu. I know they will be fine without me. I'm going to be fine, too. It's just that I'm a little sad that I would not be so fine if I stayed in their circle.

[Rosa Dracos99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leídos los cuatro libros traducidos de una saga protagonizada por un policía judío de Los Angeles. Cosas inexplicables de las editoriales, ya que corresponden a los libros del 18 al 21 de la serie original (¿que ha pasado con los 17 anteriores?).
Me han gustado. Los personajes son muy creíbles, las investigaciones bien desarrolladas; pero lo que me ha atraído es que no se limita a las tareas de investigación; sino que también desarrolla las relaciones entre los miembros del equipo y como se compagina con la vida personal de ellos.
Como comentario adicional, me ha hecho gracia saber que la autora es la esposa de John Kellerman, creador del psicólogo Alex Delaware; al que Faye hace aparecer tangencialmente.

[Mahoghani 23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mystery within a mystery. A double-edged story derived from lust, deceit, & murder with a twist of a missing person. The story starts out innocently enough but spasms into many directions & still the author captures the reader's attention to digest it all. I liked this book because there was more focus on the background noise in the book than the people. What I mean is there were several focuses directed throughout the book & the author enlightened the reader from not only the main character but also the supporting characters which enhanced the story.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying getting back into this series. In this one, Peter and Rina end up hosting a 14 year old musical prodigy whose parents basically dump him on them when his mother runs off to India to have another baby by a man other than his father (who is a criminal).Peter is trying to find his mom while also carrying his usual investigative load to solve the murder of a nurse who was found hanging in a construction site. It's a nice convoluted mystery which turns up not one but two murderers.

[Sunhawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way this series involves the policeman-hero's family. Now his eldest daughter's condition engages my interest: I want to see how that influences the next story (so I'm hooked.) This is an aspect of lengthy series that hasn't grabbed me before: the development over many books of a community of fictional characters that evolves and therefore has me anticipating my next read.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites of the series so far. I especially enjoy the personal\family side of the story in addition to the multiple mysteries.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Peter Decker series book that keeps your interest throughout the book. You get an idea of what will happen at the end but the book is lighthearted and intriguing and yet still wants to keep you interested in what is happening. Peter and his team investigate the crimes and keep you guessing.

[Jamilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uma leitura cansativa, hiper descritiva e o final não foi satisfatório, após uma leitura tão sacrificada

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Primo libro che leggo di questa scrittrice e mi e’ piaciuto molto. Ci sono due storie parallele che mi hanno spinta a continuare la lettura. Bella trama.