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Charlie Resnick #1
Lonely Hearts
Shirley Peters is dead. Murdered. Her body is found twelve hours later in her own home. Just one of the many sordid domestic crimes hitting the city.
Tony Macliesh, her rejected boyfriend, is the obvious prime suspect and he's just been picked off the Aberdeen train and put straight into custody. But then another women is sexually abused and throttled to death. And suddenly there appears to be one too many connections between these seemingly unrelated crimes.
Because Detective Inspector Resnick is sure that the two murders are the work of one sadistic killer - two lonely hearts broken by one maniac. And it's up to Resnick to put the record straight - and put the bastard where he belongs.
Tony Macliesh, her rejected boyfriend, is the obvious prime suspect and he's just been picked off the Aberdeen train and put straight into custody. But then another women is sexually abused and throttled to death. And suddenly there appears to be one too many connections between these seemingly unrelated crimes.
Because Detective Inspector Resnick is sure that the two murders are the work of one sadistic killer - two lonely hearts broken by one maniac. And it's up to Resnick to put the record straight - and put the bastard where he belongs.
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
153 people are currently reading
1812 people want to read
About the author
John Harvey
276 books203 followersaka Jon Barton, William S. Brady (with Angus Wells), L.J. Coburn (with Laurence James), J.B. Dancer (with Angus Wells), John B. Harvey, William M. James (with Terry Harknett and Laurence James), Terry Lennox, John J. McLaglen (with Laurence James), James Mann, Thom Ryder, J.D. Sandon (with Angus Wells), Jon Hart
John Harvey (born 21 December 1938 in London) is a British author of crime fiction most famous for his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels, based in the City of Nottingham. Harvey has also published over 90 books under various names, and has worked on scripts for TV and radio. He also ran Slow Dancer Press from 1977 to 1999 publishing poetry. The first Resnick novel, Lonely Hearts, was published in 1989, and was named by The Times as one of the 100 Greatest Crime Novels of the Century. Harvey brought the series to an end in 1998 with Last Rites, though Resnick has since made peripheral appearances in Harvey's new Frank Elder series. The protagonist Elder is a retired detective who now lives, as Harvey briefly did, in Cornwall. The first novel in this series, Flesh and Blood, won Harvey the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2004, an accolade many crime fiction critics thought long overdue. In 2007 he was awarded the Diamond Dagger for a Lifetime's Contribution to the genre. On 14th July 2009 he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Nottingham in recognition of his literary eminence and his associations with both the University and Nottingham (particularly in the Charlie Resnick novels). He is also a big Notts County fan.
John Harvey (born 21 December 1938 in London) is a British author of crime fiction most famous for his series of jazz-influenced Charlie Resnick novels, based in the City of Nottingham. Harvey has also published over 90 books under various names, and has worked on scripts for TV and radio. He also ran Slow Dancer Press from 1977 to 1999 publishing poetry. The first Resnick novel, Lonely Hearts, was published in 1989, and was named by The Times as one of the 100 Greatest Crime Novels of the Century. Harvey brought the series to an end in 1998 with Last Rites, though Resnick has since made peripheral appearances in Harvey's new Frank Elder series. The protagonist Elder is a retired detective who now lives, as Harvey briefly did, in Cornwall. The first novel in this series, Flesh and Blood, won Harvey the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2004, an accolade many crime fiction critics thought long overdue. In 2007 he was awarded the Diamond Dagger for a Lifetime's Contribution to the genre. On 14th July 2009 he received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Nottingham in recognition of his literary eminence and his associations with both the University and Nottingham (particularly in the Charlie Resnick novels). He is also a big Notts County fan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 140 reviews
December 1, 2023
This is a gripping crime novel about two separate and seemingly unrelated sadistic domestic killings, which DI Charlie Resnick suspects were committed by the same perpetrator… The Resnick series of crime thrillers, of which this is the first, are all set in Nottingham and feature Charlie, who loves jazz, sandwiches whose fillings end up all over his ties, and who leads a shambolic personal life, like all great sleuths. The story is written with great style and urgency, yet also with human insight and humour. I worked and lived in Nottingham for many years and there is something especially poignant about reading a book set in familiar surroundings. Harvey is one of the masters of British crime writing.
March 21, 2019
Having read Harvey's last Charlie Resnick mystery and one in the middle (No. 6), I've decided to go back and march through from the beginning.
In this first entry, Charlie, a detective inspector in Nottingham, is confronted with the bodies of two women. At first they appear to be separate cases, but eventually, as the title suggests, they are linked to Lonely Hearts letters, the forerunners to Tinder and Match.
Besides carefully unfolding the evidence of the crimes, Lonely Hearts also introduces us to the central cast of cops in the series: Lynn Kellogg, a young detective in a loveless relationship; Dipak Patel, the immigrant family detective who is nerdy and studious; Graham Millington, the ambitious by-the-book sergeant; Mark Divine, a crude, narrow minded detective; and Kevin Naylor, newly married and a negative nellie. The interplay of their personalities plays as big a part in the crimes as the actual detection.
There is also, of course, a love interest, Rachel Chaplin, a social worker who is breaking up with a possessive boyfriend and first jousts with Charlie, then falls for him.
As the police investigation intensifies, Charlie also hews to old-fashioned detection and hunches about people, in contrast to statistical patterns and the obvious, red herring suspects. In the process, Harvey creates a creepily amoral killer.
Harvey's dialogue, sense of place and pacing are just superb. On to the next.
In this first entry, Charlie, a detective inspector in Nottingham, is confronted with the bodies of two women. At first they appear to be separate cases, but eventually, as the title suggests, they are linked to Lonely Hearts letters, the forerunners to Tinder and Match.
Besides carefully unfolding the evidence of the crimes, Lonely Hearts also introduces us to the central cast of cops in the series: Lynn Kellogg, a young detective in a loveless relationship; Dipak Patel, the immigrant family detective who is nerdy and studious; Graham Millington, the ambitious by-the-book sergeant; Mark Divine, a crude, narrow minded detective; and Kevin Naylor, newly married and a negative nellie. The interplay of their personalities plays as big a part in the crimes as the actual detection.
There is also, of course, a love interest, Rachel Chaplin, a social worker who is breaking up with a possessive boyfriend and first jousts with Charlie, then falls for him.
As the police investigation intensifies, Charlie also hews to old-fashioned detection and hunches about people, in contrast to statistical patterns and the obvious, red herring suspects. In the process, Harvey creates a creepily amoral killer.
Harvey's dialogue, sense of place and pacing are just superb. On to the next.
February 19, 2017
I have read several books in the Charlie Resnick series and have truly enjoyed them. But I had never read the very first one until now. It was disappointing although it may have been because as the series progressed, the major characters were fully developed and Harvey's writing improved.
There is a lot going on in this story which should have made it a good read but it just didn't come together. The premise was good.......lonely women writing to the personal column in the local newspaper and ending up murdered.........but there didn't seem to be any cohesion to the narrative. It wandered along until the rather ambiguous ending and that was it. Certainly not one of Harvey's best by any means but I guess it was good enough to give birth to what is now a successful series.
There is a lot going on in this story which should have made it a good read but it just didn't come together. The premise was good.......lonely women writing to the personal column in the local newspaper and ending up murdered.........but there didn't seem to be any cohesion to the narrative. It wandered along until the rather ambiguous ending and that was it. Certainly not one of Harvey's best by any means but I guess it was good enough to give birth to what is now a successful series.
September 11, 2020
Dreary British police procedural.
A woman is murdered, and the police assume it's a domestic violence type of deal. Then a similar murder happens. There's a lonely hearts murder on the loose.
This series gets a lot of positive reviews, but apparently it's just not for me.
A woman is murdered, and the police assume it's a domestic violence type of deal. Then a similar murder happens. There's a lonely hearts murder on the loose.
This series gets a lot of positive reviews, but apparently it's just not for me.
November 23, 2013
“Got to be more to life than sex and violence, hasn’t there?”
Lonely Hearts, from British author John Harvey, is the first novel in the long-running Charlie Resnick series. With interesting characters, the book is a good beginning, and the emphasis is on a handful of Nottingham based police detectives who work for Resnick. These detectives have an array of personal problems which become glaringly apparent as Resnick’s team try to solve the vicious murder of a young woman.
PC Patel is making routine inquiries regarding another crime in a neighborhood when a vague suspicion sends him into a house where he discovers the body of Shirley Peters, strangled with her own scarf. At first, the murder seems like a nice, tidy “open and sodding shut” case. Shirley’s ex boyfriend is violent and jealous, and he has a history of stalking Shirley. But then a second murder occurs–even more violent than the first, and a forensic match tells Resnick that the two women were murdered by the same man. A little digging uncovers the clue that both women advertised in the ‘lonely hearts’ column of the local paper, and Resnick suspects that the killer selected his victims from these encounters. The second victim even kept a pile of letters from the men she met–43 letters total. Resnick’s case isn’t easy. One of the women met a man a week. So Resnick’s team painstakingly tracks down the many men who answered ads placed by the two victims.
Against the backdrop of the murders of these two lonely women, John Harvey creates Resnick, a man who understands loneliness; he’s divorced, middle-aged and lives with four cats for company. While he’s a good detective, he neglects himself, so he often turns up in rumpled clothing, and at one point has a food-stained tie. Resnick’s neglect of himself is becoming so obvious that he’s beginning to generate comments. Resnick, deep in middle-age, has neglected his body, and since he eats badly (he eats heavy meals irregularly), he’s beginning to turn to fat. Resnick is every bit as lonely as the dead women who placed the ads.
Another theme of the novel is abusive relationships, and there’s certainly more than one of those here. Resnick is scheduled to appear and testify in a sickening child abuse case, and it’s a situation in which he finds himself considering how the ‘law’ doesn’t equal ‘justice.’ He meets and becomes attracted to Rachel, a social worker, whose relationship with her live-in boyfriend is going south. Lonely Hearts shows how relationships that go wrong can so easily flip into violent abuse when one partner refuses to accept that it’s over. But even the non-abusive relationships in the novel seem to be examples of people ‘settling’ for another person who’s little more than a warm body–anything except be alone. So on one hand, we see characters who are seeking love, companionship and sex, and on the other hand we have characters who have partners who occupy a space in their lives but little more. Many of the couples seem to be together out of habit and are so plagued with inertia, they lack the energy to leave.
The ending of the novel was too Hollywood/sensationalistic (read unrealistic) for my tastes, and Rachel was a rather annoying character. The best part of the novel for this reader, and it certainly promises more for the series, are the interesting characters surrounding Resnick: there’s Divine, an old school sexist detective who harasses his married partner, Kevin Naylor. Kevin Naylor is distracted by the sudden overwhelming requirements of married life and its endless demands. He feels somewhat disoriented by the sudden new path his life has taken as if he took the wrong escalator and can’t get off. In many ways Naylor, who keeps his problems to himself, envies womanizer Divine:
"Why couldn’t he be like Divine? The world divided into three equal parts: you drank it, fly-tackled it, or got your leg over it."
Of course, men like the crass Divine want men like Naylor to envy them. Then there’s Lynn Kellogg, a young policewoman from Norfolk whose instincts indicate that she’s going to have a stellar career. There’s some unspoken antagonism between Lynn and Divine, and there’s a question about who ripped off Divine’s beloved girlie posters off the wall. Resnick is considering reshuffling partners as the story plays out, and that should make for some intriguing sequels. Lynn, in many ways, is a female Resnick; her energy and her passion centre on her career, and she’s just one of the characters who evaluates a tepid relationship.
This has been made into a TV film with the excellent Tom Wilkinson as Resnick.
Review copy.
Lonely Hearts, from British author John Harvey, is the first novel in the long-running Charlie Resnick series. With interesting characters, the book is a good beginning, and the emphasis is on a handful of Nottingham based police detectives who work for Resnick. These detectives have an array of personal problems which become glaringly apparent as Resnick’s team try to solve the vicious murder of a young woman.
PC Patel is making routine inquiries regarding another crime in a neighborhood when a vague suspicion sends him into a house where he discovers the body of Shirley Peters, strangled with her own scarf. At first, the murder seems like a nice, tidy “open and sodding shut” case. Shirley’s ex boyfriend is violent and jealous, and he has a history of stalking Shirley. But then a second murder occurs–even more violent than the first, and a forensic match tells Resnick that the two women were murdered by the same man. A little digging uncovers the clue that both women advertised in the ‘lonely hearts’ column of the local paper, and Resnick suspects that the killer selected his victims from these encounters. The second victim even kept a pile of letters from the men she met–43 letters total. Resnick’s case isn’t easy. One of the women met a man a week. So Resnick’s team painstakingly tracks down the many men who answered ads placed by the two victims.
Against the backdrop of the murders of these two lonely women, John Harvey creates Resnick, a man who understands loneliness; he’s divorced, middle-aged and lives with four cats for company. While he’s a good detective, he neglects himself, so he often turns up in rumpled clothing, and at one point has a food-stained tie. Resnick’s neglect of himself is becoming so obvious that he’s beginning to generate comments. Resnick, deep in middle-age, has neglected his body, and since he eats badly (he eats heavy meals irregularly), he’s beginning to turn to fat. Resnick is every bit as lonely as the dead women who placed the ads.
Another theme of the novel is abusive relationships, and there’s certainly more than one of those here. Resnick is scheduled to appear and testify in a sickening child abuse case, and it’s a situation in which he finds himself considering how the ‘law’ doesn’t equal ‘justice.’ He meets and becomes attracted to Rachel, a social worker, whose relationship with her live-in boyfriend is going south. Lonely Hearts shows how relationships that go wrong can so easily flip into violent abuse when one partner refuses to accept that it’s over. But even the non-abusive relationships in the novel seem to be examples of people ‘settling’ for another person who’s little more than a warm body–anything except be alone. So on one hand, we see characters who are seeking love, companionship and sex, and on the other hand we have characters who have partners who occupy a space in their lives but little more. Many of the couples seem to be together out of habit and are so plagued with inertia, they lack the energy to leave.
The ending of the novel was too Hollywood/sensationalistic (read unrealistic) for my tastes, and Rachel was a rather annoying character. The best part of the novel for this reader, and it certainly promises more for the series, are the interesting characters surrounding Resnick: there’s Divine, an old school sexist detective who harasses his married partner, Kevin Naylor. Kevin Naylor is distracted by the sudden overwhelming requirements of married life and its endless demands. He feels somewhat disoriented by the sudden new path his life has taken as if he took the wrong escalator and can’t get off. In many ways Naylor, who keeps his problems to himself, envies womanizer Divine:
"Why couldn’t he be like Divine? The world divided into three equal parts: you drank it, fly-tackled it, or got your leg over it."
Of course, men like the crass Divine want men like Naylor to envy them. Then there’s Lynn Kellogg, a young policewoman from Norfolk whose instincts indicate that she’s going to have a stellar career. There’s some unspoken antagonism between Lynn and Divine, and there’s a question about who ripped off Divine’s beloved girlie posters off the wall. Resnick is considering reshuffling partners as the story plays out, and that should make for some intriguing sequels. Lynn, in many ways, is a female Resnick; her energy and her passion centre on her career, and she’s just one of the characters who evaluates a tepid relationship.
This has been made into a TV film with the excellent Tom Wilkinson as Resnick.
Review copy.
December 17, 2016
I randonly picked up the eight in this series and liked it so much I went back to the first Chrlie Resnick Mystery. Set in a CID headquarters in England's Midlands, this first novel introduces Charley Resnick forty, a little overweight, underexercised, divorced with four cats. He loves food and American jazz and is the only child of Polish immigrants. His first case involves two women murdered by someone and the only connectuion between the two is they placed ads in the newpapers in a loney hearts section. Charlie is an endearing character who loves his job and is compassionate and smart. Charlie meets Rachel who works for social services while testifying against a father accused of molesting his seven-year-old daughter. The have immediate chemistry and their relationship grows during his search for the killer of the two women. Much detail is spent on the machinations of police procedures. Ready for the next Charlie detective novel.
February 12, 2014
Is this a serial killer mystery? I couldn't tell you. Who killed Shirley Peters? I don't know. Who killed Mary Sheppard? I don't know. Did the same person kill them both? Was it the college professor with the scarf in the living room? Uh, could be. Was it the mentally deficient guy with something heavy enough to crush a woman's skull in the back garden? Doesn't that seem unlikely? Well justice isn't necessarily about truth. What does child abuse have to do with it? What does a young woman, very unlike the other victims, who gets put into critical condition have to do with it? At least she tells us who hurt her. Although the person who hurt her is evidently wanting to be hurting someone else; so why doesn't he? Is he punishing the first woman or just practicing for his next intended victim? Why is there no similarity in the crimes if the same person is responsible for all the crimes? Is the clue in academic theories? What was in the way of the door in the final scene? Beats me, and why don't I know? Because it is never explained or because I am just a dense reader?
The only character who is likeable is Charlie Resnick, he reminded me of Swedish detective Kurt Wallender. Actually detective Lynn Kellog is also likeable but we don't spend a lot of time with her. Patel was OK but we see him even less than Lynn. This story is Incredibly Inconsistent!! And Horribly Unhappy!! Hated Rachel, everyone else is looking for love, she is throwing it away. And by the way, who wrote the Lonely Hearts Ad for Rachel? Was it Rachel? Nothing made sense.
The author is not without talent and he had the potential for a good book here, but like Rachel throwing away love, the author throws all the potential for a good book away. Too bad. I think I will go read other readers reviews and see if I can get a clue as to what actually happened in this book.
I think this book spawned a migraine in my poor head but after reading other reviews I've decided to accept the one serial killer premise here, unlikely as I find it. But that ending? I don't think so.
The symbolism, the room Charlie kept making up as a nursery, just too much. I couldn't take it.
The only character who is likeable is Charlie Resnick, he reminded me of Swedish detective Kurt Wallender. Actually detective Lynn Kellog is also likeable but we don't spend a lot of time with her. Patel was OK but we see him even less than Lynn. This story is Incredibly Inconsistent!! And Horribly Unhappy!! Hated Rachel, everyone else is looking for love, she is throwing it away. And by the way, who wrote the Lonely Hearts Ad for Rachel? Was it Rachel? Nothing made sense.
The author is not without talent and he had the potential for a good book here, but like Rachel throwing away love, the author throws all the potential for a good book away. Too bad. I think I will go read other readers reviews and see if I can get a clue as to what actually happened in this book.
I think this book spawned a migraine in my poor head but after reading other reviews I've decided to accept the one serial killer premise here, unlikely as I find it. But that ending? I don't think so.
The symbolism, the room Charlie kept making up as a nursery, just too much. I couldn't take it.
November 4, 2021
My heart is beating so fast at the end of the book. I'm taking a moment to understand the ending. It's jarring, yet, succeeding in going over my head. Now that I think about it, the end was disappointing. As much as it rattled something in me, it seemed rushed and the writer left it over to our imaginations. To imagine how it happened. After waiting till the very last chapter, for some type of action, you can imagine how I'd felt.
Ignoring that, I liked how the investigation had pulled through. Also, how it was not easy to know who the murderer was. You could draw hypothesis, but wouldn't quite get a hang of the truth. The thirst to know would pull you through to the last page.
Resnick is quite a DI, but his personality can be perplexing. Though, the cats may cheer you up, if you're a lover then. All in all, I'm glad that those women brutally murdered by that evil entity, would have peace, knowing he is where he belongs. I honestly think Rachel might be scarred in the process. It gives a cliffhanger for the next book.
Ignoring that, I liked how the investigation had pulled through. Also, how it was not easy to know who the murderer was. You could draw hypothesis, but wouldn't quite get a hang of the truth. The thirst to know would pull you through to the last page.
Resnick is quite a DI, but his personality can be perplexing. Though, the cats may cheer you up, if you're a lover then. All in all, I'm glad that those women brutally murdered by that evil entity, would have peace, knowing he is where he belongs. I honestly think Rachel might be scarred in the process. It gives a cliffhanger for the next book.
November 1, 2016
An enjoyable read. Plot not too obvious. Good trail of evidence to follow. The first of the Resnick series and one that I will follow again. A good detective novel.
May 12, 2014
I was a little slow to connect with (and warm to) both this book and to Nottingham UK's D.I. Charlie Resnick, but I did. Glad I persevered. Written in 1995, it has a period feel to it and at times that period felt more like the '50s, odd... but in a way added to the intrigue. Resnick is divorced with four cats, the son of Polish immigrants, gone to seed a little physically, attracted to a woman in a way that seems unlikely to end well.
Women die, serial killer is pursued. Yet, the plotting wires cross in an intriguing way. No spoilers...let's just say that after reading the climax and putting the book down, I wasn't sure what had just happened. Initially, I felt a soupcon of frustration. Then, I felt compelled to dip back into the book, looking for answers I might have missed. Nope. So, it is, ultimately, a book that (for me anyway) still has question marks about the actions of one key player and about quite what had been done by whom. But that's okay. (I DO wonder if book #2 clears up the mystery and will likely read it to find out.) Overall, enjoyable and quite compelling.
Women die, serial killer is pursued. Yet, the plotting wires cross in an intriguing way. No spoilers...let's just say that after reading the climax and putting the book down, I wasn't sure what had just happened. Initially, I felt a soupcon of frustration. Then, I felt compelled to dip back into the book, looking for answers I might have missed. Nope. So, it is, ultimately, a book that (for me anyway) still has question marks about the actions of one key player and about quite what had been done by whom. But that's okay. (I DO wonder if book #2 clears up the mystery and will likely read it to find out.) Overall, enjoyable and quite compelling.
February 3, 2012
Staring at the beginning of Harvey's crime career, having read the Elder ones.
I have to say this is plodding and rather poor. Nothing much happens, little character development and no red herrings or twists.
Its like a boring few days at work for resnick.
He investigates the murder of a two women in sex attacks. Both have advertised in the lonely hearts column and are attacked by the only credible suspect - a local professor who bizarrely seems to kill himself when he attacks Resnicks would be squeeze - local social worker Rachel.
Some nice black humour and a very downbeat feel to things but it was just not engaging enough for.
I have to say this is plodding and rather poor. Nothing much happens, little character development and no red herrings or twists.
Its like a boring few days at work for resnick.
He investigates the murder of a two women in sex attacks. Both have advertised in the lonely hearts column and are attacked by the only credible suspect - a local professor who bizarrely seems to kill himself when he attacks Resnicks would be squeeze - local social worker Rachel.
Some nice black humour and a very downbeat feel to things but it was just not engaging enough for.
April 11, 2011
I found this very slow going with the action mainly happening in the last five pages. I found the way the author jumped from character to character was confusing together with his habit of listing the dialogue with no indication of who was speaking. The book is also showing its age as it was written in the 1980s in the days before mobile phones and internet. It is like stepping back in time. Nevertheless the main character was interesting and I shall probably continue with the series although I'm glad I borrowed it from the library rather than purchasing it.
July 24, 2012
I know this series has gotten lots of rave reviews, but it's just not my "cup of tea". Charlie Resnick is a detective in Nottingham, not a very happy man, aging, divorced, etc., with his cats his only redeeming feature! I found the book to be grim and depressing and couldn't force myself to care about any of the characters. I doubt I'll read any more, but you never know.
March 18, 2018
Lonely Hearts by John Harvey is the first book of the Charlie Resnick mystery series set in late 20th century Nottingham (Midlands) England. Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick is middle-aged, divorced, living alone with his cats. He doesn't take care of himself: runs to flab, dresses in shabby clothes, but he's a kind man, understanding of the foibles of the detectives who report to him.
This first book of the series introduces a crew of detectives with quirky (some stereotypical) personalities: an arrogant womanizer sexist pig; a faithful married man about to become a father; a female detective growing in assertiveness along with success in her cases; a rookie battling racial discrimination, whose instincts show tremendous potential.
Active cases include investigating serial murders and testifying at the trial of a child molester. Charlie becomes friends with social worker Rachel, who oversees the abused child's wellbeing. Rachel is in a destructive personal relationship, undermining her self confidence. But there's an undeniable spark between Rachel and Charlie, two loners ("lonely hearts").
The first two murders at first do not seem related. Once Charlie learns both victims placed "Lonely Hearts" ads, he knows to look for a serial killer; a subsequent murder proves him right. Detectives have a tough chore to investigate all the advertisements and letters sent/received by victims; clearly showing that detective work can be a long slow tedious dreary slog.
I decided to read Lonely Hearts after enjoying John Harvey's first book in the Frank Elder series. The plot of Flesh & Blood held my interest all the way, I liked the main character (a retired police detective), and I look forward to finishing the series. Not so with Lonely Hearts; I agree with another reviewer, who described it as "dreary". Charlie and Rachel live dreary lives, saddled with dreary cases; the murder victims were equally dreary characters making dreary choices. Too depressing to continue reading for entertainment. Puzzling that the Charlie Resnick series is a long one, while the Frank Elder series has only 3 books.
This first book of the series introduces a crew of detectives with quirky (some stereotypical) personalities: an arrogant womanizer sexist pig; a faithful married man about to become a father; a female detective growing in assertiveness along with success in her cases; a rookie battling racial discrimination, whose instincts show tremendous potential.
Active cases include investigating serial murders and testifying at the trial of a child molester. Charlie becomes friends with social worker Rachel, who oversees the abused child's wellbeing. Rachel is in a destructive personal relationship, undermining her self confidence. But there's an undeniable spark between Rachel and Charlie, two loners ("lonely hearts").
The first two murders at first do not seem related. Once Charlie learns both victims placed "Lonely Hearts" ads, he knows to look for a serial killer; a subsequent murder proves him right. Detectives have a tough chore to investigate all the advertisements and letters sent/received by victims; clearly showing that detective work can be a long slow tedious dreary slog.
I decided to read Lonely Hearts after enjoying John Harvey's first book in the Frank Elder series. The plot of Flesh & Blood held my interest all the way, I liked the main character (a retired police detective), and I look forward to finishing the series. Not so with Lonely Hearts; I agree with another reviewer, who described it as "dreary". Charlie and Rachel live dreary lives, saddled with dreary cases; the murder victims were equally dreary characters making dreary choices. Too depressing to continue reading for entertainment. Puzzling that the Charlie Resnick series is a long one, while the Frank Elder series has only 3 books.
March 15, 2022
┊ 結婚感覺起來像在是拼命想在水底下呼吸。┊
怎麼看都像是羅曼史小說的書名和設計，卻是謀殺犯罪故事。刑事偵查部督察查理•芮尼克系列的第一集。
個人超喜歡這本書♡♡
常常在讀犯罪推理小說時覺得書裡除了案情以外都沒有其他敘述，人物的個性也沒那麼豐富會覺得有點無趣。
芮尼克身為主角未免太親人！不是那種戴著高帽住在豪宅個性古怪的類型；他養了四隻貓、微胖，愛吃三明治，領帶上還會有污漬。
雖然是三十年前出版的作品讀起來也不太會有違和感，除了沒有手機和行動網路以外。書中人物還有點種族歧視的意識反而寫成變成笑點。
主角和女主角的對話、思考中還不時想著婚姻是什麼？生小孩到底是為了什麼？也是很發人省思而且很貼近現實的議題。
┊ p.378 你知道我對你來說是什麼嗎？我是個閒置的子宮。是個為了結婚而存在的子宮。
怎麼看都像是羅曼史小說的書名和設計，卻是謀殺犯罪故事。刑事偵查部督察查理•芮尼克系列的第一集。
個人超喜歡這本書♡♡
常常在讀犯罪推理小說時覺得書裡除了案情以外都沒有其他敘述，人物的個性也沒那麼豐富會覺得有點無趣。
芮尼克身為主角未免太親人！不是那種戴著高帽住在豪宅個性古怪的類型；他養了四隻貓、微胖，愛吃三明治，領帶上還會有污漬。
雖然是三十年前出版的作品讀起來也不太會有違和感，除了沒有手機和行動網路以外。書中人物還有點種族歧視的意識反而寫成變成笑點。
主角和女主角的對話、思考中還不時想著婚姻是什麼？生小孩到底是為了什麼？也是很發人省思而且很貼近現實的議題。
┊ p.378 你知道我對你來說是什麼嗎？我是個閒置的子宮。是個為了結婚而存在的子宮。
November 23, 2021
Started out pretty good but then it started to slow down. I liked Inspector Resnick but the side stories of the romances and this person and that person and the other person gets to be a bit much. As is common it started to get better midway but then started to slow down again. The last hundred pages I thought were going to get better again and it briefly did but several times I was groaning from tedium. Fairly good intense Grand Finale. Wish I could rate it three and a half stars.
January 20, 2019
Rather late to the John Harvey table, I really enjoyed this first Resnick novel, particularly the ambiguity of the ending and those charismatic cats. Delighted that I have a donated second hand full set to keep me going as the year progresses... and looking forward to getting to know him better!
March 6, 2009
LONELY HEARTS (Pol Proc-DI Charlie Resnick-England-cont) - G
Harvey, John - 1st in series
From Fantastic Fiction: Shirley Peters is dead. Murdered. Her body is found twelve hours later in her own home. Just one of the many sordid domestic crimes hitting the city. Tony Macliesh, her rejected boyfriend, is the obvious prime suspect and he's just been picked up off the Aberdeen train and put straight into custody. But then another woman is sexually abused and throttled to death. And suddenly there appears to be one too many connections between these seemingly unrelated crimes. Because Detective-Inspector Resnick is sure that the two murders are the work of one sadistic killer - two lonely hearts broken by one maniac. And it's up to Resnick to put the record straight - and put the bastard where he belongs.
A bit hard to follow but very well written. I want to see where this series goes.
Harvey, John - 1st in series
From Fantastic Fiction: Shirley Peters is dead. Murdered. Her body is found twelve hours later in her own home. Just one of the many sordid domestic crimes hitting the city. Tony Macliesh, her rejected boyfriend, is the obvious prime suspect and he's just been picked up off the Aberdeen train and put straight into custody. But then another woman is sexually abused and throttled to death. And suddenly there appears to be one too many connections between these seemingly unrelated crimes. Because Detective-Inspector Resnick is sure that the two murders are the work of one sadistic killer - two lonely hearts broken by one maniac. And it's up to Resnick to put the record straight - and put the bastard where he belongs.
A bit hard to follow but very well written. I want to see where this series goes.
October 7, 2023
Dedektif Charlie Resnick serisinin ilk kitabı. Serinin dört kitabı Türkçe yayımlansa da ulaşmak mümkün değil. Resnick polisiyede alışık olduğumuz üzere hayatı yolunda gitmeyen bir dedektif. Tek başına dört kedisiyle yaşayan biri. Farklı olarak işini gönülden sevmektedir.
Romanda evde ölü bulunan bir kadının cinayeti araştırılıyor. Şüpheli kadının reddettiği biri. Ama şüpheli gözaltındayken tecavüze uğrayarak öldürülen başka bir kadın daha bulunuyor. Soruşturma sırasında iki kadının da gazetedeki yalnız kalpler köşesine yazdığı ortaya çıkıyor. Bu noktada şüpheli sayıları artıyor ve kitap zenginleşiyor. Dedektifin özel hayatındaki değişimleri görüyor ve ekibindekileri tanıma fırsatını yakalıyoruz. Polisiye olarak doyurucu buldum. Konuyu da beğendim ama anlatım stili zorlayıcıydı. Bölümlerde çok fazla atlama yapıyor. Bu geçişler daha yumuşak yapılsa çok keyifli olurdu.
Romanda evde ölü bulunan bir kadının cinayeti araştırılıyor. Şüpheli kadının reddettiği biri. Ama şüpheli gözaltındayken tecavüze uğrayarak öldürülen başka bir kadın daha bulunuyor. Soruşturma sırasında iki kadının da gazetedeki yalnız kalpler köşesine yazdığı ortaya çıkıyor. Bu noktada şüpheli sayıları artıyor ve kitap zenginleşiyor. Dedektifin özel hayatındaki değişimleri görüyor ve ekibindekileri tanıma fırsatını yakalıyoruz. Polisiye olarak doyurucu buldum. Konuyu da beğendim ama anlatım stili zorlayıcıydı. Bölümlerde çok fazla atlama yapıyor. Bu geçişler daha yumuşak yapılsa çok keyifli olurdu.
June 2, 2019
This is the first Charlie Resnick mystery. Resnick is a Detective inspector working out of CID in Nottingham, England. He and his team are tasked to solve the murders of two women. The link is that both of them subscribed to a Lonely Hearts page in the local paper and may have been killed by the same person. The investigation is a bit of a jumble, but I liked the pace, the reality of the investigation and especially some of the team; especially Kellogg and Patel. The investigation is always ongoing and interesting but as well, we get to meet and know the characters better and I liked that aspect of the story. No great revelations, just an interesting case and story. I will read more of this series now that I've tried it.
February 28, 2009
This is the first Charlie Resnick book. Harvey was a guest of honor at Bouchercon in Baltimore 2008. I learned I was one of the few people in the mystery community who had yet to read Harvey. He was charming, funny, whitty, and engaging speaker. Having liked Mr. Harvey so much, I was pleased to like Lonely Hearts. Charlie Resnick is a very likable main character. He's a British police officer, single, has 3 cats and loves sandwiches. This is a good solid police procedural mystery. I definitely want to read more Resnick books and try some of Harvey's others.
October 24, 2011
The tagline on the cover calls Lonely Hearts one of the "Bloody Brits" series, and this book lives up to both monikers with lonely people and blood in abundance. I will read more of this series about the typically brooding police detective Charlie Resnick, set in Nottingham as a nice change of pace from London. I give kudos to the author for deftly weaving an enduring hope through several memorable characters, among them Charlie and his cats, Charlie's Polish friend Marian, and his fellow detective Patel. Read the other reviewers comments for excellent descriptions of this story.
February 16, 2016
This book is set in the 1980s before DNA testing and mobile phones. There are a lot of characters which is a bit confusing and the author jumps between them frequently often without any obvious reason. This make for a book which is more than a bit disjointed. The ending is also very abrupt with no explanation of why it ended the way it did.
May 27, 2020
Michael Connelly you lied
April 10, 2022
I like to read the first book in any series to get the feel of how it will progress. I found this book maddeningly difficult to follow. Detective Inspector Charlie Resnick is likable enough. He is a divorced man who desperately wanted children with his wife, but she had different goals. He is disheveled and distracted, but evidently a good boss. He has 4 cats and I kept wondering how his house must smell since taking care of himself seemed to be such a low priority. How could he keep a house with that many cats clean when he couldn’t be bothered to wear a clean tie? His team is quirky - his Sergeant feels under appreciated; his young Constable is painfully insecure; his female detective is underused; one detective is a stereotypical male chauvinist, the final member is distracted by his marriage and pregnant wife. The story begins with the murder of a single woman. The obvious suspect is her violent ex. But while he is being questioned a second single woman is found murdered. Even though the method of murder is different, the team scrambles to find the connection. It turns out that the women wrote lonely hearts ads in the local paper. So the team is looking at all the lonely heart ads to find if the two women dated the same man or men. A secondary story involves Charlie testifying in a sexual abuse case where a father stands accused of assaulting his own 7 year old daughter. Charlie meets the social worker assigned to the case and he is smitten. He and Rachel finally develop a relationship but it seems doomed to me. Eventually the shy Constable and the woman detective zero in on a suspect, but it is mostly intuition rather than evidence that leads to the suspicion. Charlie agrees, but they don’t have evidence. The ending is dangerous. What I hated about this book was the constant switching scenes from one paragraph to the next. It was so annoying to be reading along and without a smooth transition it switches to another setting or character. It really dislike having to figure out where the story is at any given moment.
March 17, 2022
Promising first volume in a long-running series, with an attractive lead detective, and cast of intriguing back-up characters.
Suffers a bit from "first-in-a-series-itis": perhaps working a little too hard to make Resnick interesting, different and quirky (His family were Polish immigrants! He likes jazz! He loves cats!!! What the heck is it with quirky detectives and jazz? I would pay good money to read about a detective who hates jazz ....)
Also, perhaps too many back-up characters and their quirks, personal problems, and personalty flaws to keep track of (in addition to all the victims, their family, the red herrings, etc etc)
A true police procedural: in fact my husband and I were wondering if this might be one of the very earliest series that looked at the work of a CID team, rather than a brilliant misfit or a lone wolf (assisted by a much-put-upon junior). The team, and its dynamics, is as much a character as the quirky lead ...
As a true police procedural, I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this isn't a "Murder on the Orient Express" scenario, with the murderer narrowed down from the ranks of a small group of suspects -- the murderer could be just about anyone in this Midlands town, and the "pleasure" comes from seeing how the CID narrows it down, through slog, inspiration, luck. And so, the ending is, yes, a little odd: Harvey manufactures some drama and suspense, which doesn't entirely convince.
But it's very well-written, very readable. Looking forward to following up on the series ...
Suffers a bit from "first-in-a-series-itis": perhaps working a little too hard to make Resnick interesting, different and quirky (His family were Polish immigrants! He likes jazz! He loves cats!!! What the heck is it with quirky detectives and jazz? I would pay good money to read about a detective who hates jazz ....)
Also, perhaps too many back-up characters and their quirks, personal problems, and personalty flaws to keep track of (in addition to all the victims, their family, the red herrings, etc etc)
A true police procedural: in fact my husband and I were wondering if this might be one of the very earliest series that looked at the work of a CID team, rather than a brilliant misfit or a lone wolf (assisted by a much-put-upon junior). The team, and its dynamics, is as much a character as the quirky lead ...
As a true police procedural, I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this isn't a "Murder on the Orient Express" scenario, with the murderer narrowed down from the ranks of a small group of suspects -- the murderer could be just about anyone in this Midlands town, and the "pleasure" comes from seeing how the CID narrows it down, through slog, inspiration, luck. And so, the ending is, yes, a little odd: Harvey manufactures some drama and suspense, which doesn't entirely convince.
But it's very well-written, very readable. Looking forward to following up on the series ...
February 5, 2025
2.5 stars. Hmm. This one was often difficult to like, partly because it was published in 1989 and it super duper shows in the depictions of both women and people of color. It's also partly because the tropes trotted out to describe our hero detective are so cliched and so tired (he loves jazz! he has cats!!). And it's partly due to the unbelievably abrupt ending of the book, so abrupt that I skipped back several times to make sure I hadn't missed a page or pages. And yet - there's also something here that makes me want to read the next book in the series. As cliched as the hero sometimes was, he was also often interesting and surprising. The depiction of the day-to-day work of a police investigation was engrossing. And the portrayal of the victims of the crimes was sympathetic without being saccharine. Am I just a glutton for punishment for wanting to read on? Or is there a glimmer of something that could become much, much better in future books here?
September 27, 2017
4 stars - yes (I know) high praise. Gee whiz I like this guy Harvey and I like his Charlie Resnick.
Read Harvey's short story book before this and - for the first time - read the stories cover to cover - not skipping a one. Picked up this - his first Charlie Resnick (1989) and really liked everything about it. One reviewer said they liked the "everydayness of ..." What an insightful description of how Harvey presents his characters. You can almost hear the background noise of their lives. Is Charlie a typical crime book UK police inspector? Maybe. But who cares. I liked every character in this story. Everyone was alive ... if you know what I mean.
Now all I have to do is try to find more ... they seem to be like hen's teeth in my Library system.
DD@Phila
Read Harvey's short story book before this and - for the first time - read the stories cover to cover - not skipping a one. Picked up this - his first Charlie Resnick (1989) and really liked everything about it. One reviewer said they liked the "everydayness of ..." What an insightful description of how Harvey presents his characters. You can almost hear the background noise of their lives. Is Charlie a typical crime book UK police inspector? Maybe. But who cares. I liked every character in this story. Everyone was alive ... if you know what I mean.
Now all I have to do is try to find more ... they seem to be like hen's teeth in my Library system.
DD@Phila
February 22, 2020
A woman is found dead, dressed as if she’d just returned from a date. What appears to be a random incident, is soon overshadowed by a second, more violent murder of another woman dressed similarly. The two incidents are found to be related, but let’s not give too much away. This is the first book in the wonderful Charlie Resnick series by Jon Harvey which I’ve just discovered. It’s not only that Harvey’s writing is so good, focused and precise, at times noir like, at times comforting. It’s that he’s used this writing to fashion characters which make the book so inviting. You want to keep reading just to learn more about them and Resnick’s world. My only complaint about the book is the ending, too fast and abrupt for me. I know it’s stylistic, but maybe I just didn’t want the story to end. How could I want to close the book on Resnick and his four cats. I mean really, what could be better than four cats...
I rated the book a 4 mainly because of my quibble with the ending. But truth be told, I can’t wait to read more of what I’m sure will be a fantastic series.
I rated the book a 4 mainly because of my quibble with the ending. But truth be told, I can’t wait to read more of what I’m sure will be a fantastic series.
March 15, 2022
Good Stuff
Maybe it was just me, but I had trouble tracking who was who in this mystery. Mystery fatigue perhaps? Good thing for Kindle versions, you can search names or highlight words you don’t know about. There are rough similarities between Resnick and Rebus. Both have Polish backgrounds, they both start their series at age 40, and both of their first mystery/thrillers series start with a serial killer. Rebus’ had a more personal vendetta than Resnick’s. And from what I understand from the blurbs, Resnick ages in his series just like Rebus. Fantastic. I love this type of series.
Maybe it was just me, but I had trouble tracking who was who in this mystery. Mystery fatigue perhaps? Good thing for Kindle versions, you can search names or highlight words you don’t know about. There are rough similarities between Resnick and Rebus. Both have Polish backgrounds, they both start their series at age 40, and both of their first mystery/thrillers series start with a serial killer. Rebus’ had a more personal vendetta than Resnick’s. And from what I understand from the blurbs, Resnick ages in his series just like Rebus. Fantastic. I love this type of series.
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