Flesh and Stone

Michael Carpo #1

by Mark Miano

A body of a man is discovered entombed beneath the ice of the Central Park reservoir. His eyes are frozen in terror; and a scream has been carved into his face with surgical precision. The coldest night on record is about to chill New York to the bone...

Television newswriter Michael Carpo suspects that the murder is more personal than a random thrill-kill. Especially since the victim--an Upper East Side art dealer--was violated in ways that defy description. And especially since the victim's lover is a woman Carpo once knew intimately himself...

Caught in the middle of a sensational story that takes him from the city's mean streets to the shadowy corners of the Metropolitan Museum, Carpo discovers more than he ever wanted to know about murder and love...its betrayals and sometime fatal consequences.

Now, as Carpo gets closer to the killer, every secret will be exposed, every trust will be violated, and the private demons that haunt him will become as hard to outrun as the past.

282 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1997

Reviews

[Ice · Rating 4 out of 5]

New author Miano begins with a seemingly standard opening: noteworthy gallery owner Frank Werner arranges to talk to a television reporter, misses the appointment, then turns up dead. As the reporter, 28-year-old Michael Carpo, then struggles to find out who killed Werner, the plot develops vicious barbs. A vigilant enemy delivers Carpo's inside knowledge to rival news agencies, making his life miserable at work, exposing an important informant, and alienating ex-flame Karen (also a friend of the victim).

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid opening performance from a promising author.

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

July 2017 Michael Carpo is not my favorite mystery protagonist but the ending was good!