What do you think?
Rate this book
Lieutenant Luis Mendoza #35
Destiny of Death
Luis Mendoza and the Los Angeles Police Department attempt to solve a variety of crimes ranging from the petty to the passionate
- GenresMystery
227 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
21 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Dell Shannon
154 books23 followersPseudonym of Elizabeth Linington.
Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington (March 11, 1921 – April 5, 1988) was an American novelist. She was awarded runner-up scrolls for best first mystery novel from the Mystery Writers of America for her 1960 novel, Case Pending, which introduced her most popular series character, LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza. Her 1961 book, Nightmare, and her 1962 novel, Knave of Hearts, another entry in the Mendoza series, were both nominated for Edgars in the Best Novel category. Regarded as the "Queen of the Procedurals," she was one of the first women to write police procedurals — a male-dominated genre of police-story writing.
Besides crime, Linington also took interest in archaeology, the occult, gemstones, antique weapons and languages. Linington was also a conservative political activist who was an active member of the John Birch Society
Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington (March 11, 1921 – April 5, 1988) was an American novelist. She was awarded runner-up scrolls for best first mystery novel from the Mystery Writers of America for her 1960 novel, Case Pending, which introduced her most popular series character, LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza. Her 1961 book, Nightmare, and her 1962 novel, Knave of Hearts, another entry in the Mendoza series, were both nominated for Edgars in the Best Novel category. Regarded as the "Queen of the Procedurals," she was one of the first women to write police procedurals — a male-dominated genre of police-story writing.
Besides crime, Linington also took interest in archaeology, the occult, gemstones, antique weapons and languages. Linington was also a conservative political activist who was an active member of the John Birch Society
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 30, 2021
Action packed crime stories including con-men, a series of brutal campus rapes, the robbing of a blind man and killing of his guide dog, a foster child kidnapped years ago finds her twin, and a fellow cop is murder.
November 18, 2022
police procedural. I remember reading the first Luis Mendoza mystery many years ago...this is the 35th in the series. hard to find now. Good story still. Re-read November 2022.
September 6, 2023
Getting close to the end of this series. *sigh*
As usual, this book is full of various cases, simple, complex, silly, terrifying.
Amongst the heisters:
A very polite Negro gentleman who offers elderly ladies assistance with their groceries--then knocks them down and robs them.
A juvenile with a S&W .32 and a nervous trigger finger.
A very large and scary looking heister known as "The ape man." After terrorizing a number of victims--including a situation where he was surrounded by a number of strong and healthy men who could have ganged up on him--he gets taken out by a small female with some knowledge of judo and a terrible temper.
A gas station heister who thwarts any potential pursuit by forcing his victims to strip. The cutsey monicker "Jack the Stripper" won't be so funny in the next book.
A pair of B-girls who lure men out of bars and then pounce.
A more ambitious heisting of a jewelry store nets a stack of gold coins, among other things. In this situation, a man is killed, but manages to wing one of the heisters. His blood-stained raincoat is found with a doctor's appointment card in the pocket....
A tragic situation when two men rob a blind man and kill the guide dog attempting to defend him.
On the other side of Robbery-Homicide:
A pair of truly vicious rapists prowling the USC campus. One woman is killed, another savagely maimed--but she is able to pass on some vital information on one of the attackers.
The book-length puzzler--a man crippled with arthritis is found dead in his house. He is absolutely the last man to kill himself, despite his affliction. Plus, his wife keeps no alcohol in the house, so where did the bottle of drugged whiskey come from? This one is solved by information given by an expert witness. I have to say, I didn't like the overall ending of this one. I kept wishing that someone would come up with some irrefutable evidence that would really nail it.
A case that's no puzzle at all, but which leads to a lengthy investigation anyway. A woman found dead outside of her home, stabbed. Her killer is inside, having been peeling potatoes when her tormentor started in on her. ("If I'd known it was that easy, I'd have done it before....") The more they learn about this more-or-less accidental killer, the more hair-raising it becomes. This is the second situation in which Wanda notes that a goverment agency is handing out money just for the asking, without getting any background information. Wanda is the one who sticks with the case and sees it to its amazing conclusion.
A really horrifying case of a three-year-old snatched and brutally killed. Again, this one is solved quite easily, but there will be repercussions....
A blow-up at the Hall of Justice. Higgins happens to be present when it begins. Two thugs awaiting their hearing get hold of a bailiff's gun while the other bailiff is away. ("A guy's got to go the bathroom, doesn't he?") They are recaptured, not by routine police work, but by an angry wife who learns that her fugitive hubby is planning to leave the country...with someone else. The classic "woman scorned" quote comes up, but for a change, Mendoza actually gets the quotation correct, which virtually no one ever does!
On the personal front:
We get a lot of scenes with Sgt. Lake--and regular readers will know what that means. Lake is annoyed because his wife wants him to give up smoking, and he's got enough problems with his weight as it is. Lake seems to have forgotten that he originally took up smoking to lose weight. (I am going on the assumption that Dell Shannon herself was a smoker, because she was always brushing off the dangers. In this case, the danger ends up coming from a different direction.) We learn that Lake has been in the Homicide office even longer than Mendoza.
The Landers have a little girl, Sara Ellen, and, just as Tom Landers feared, the house in Azuza is just too far away. They are desperately--and rather hopelessly, considering how long the house was on the market--attempting to sell it.
Little Margaret Emily Higgins, surrounded by family members who all call George "George" has started calling him that, too. Mary thinks it's improper, but George thinks it's funny.
Sgt. Barth, of the Hollywood division, has finally retired, and is no doubt thankful that he is out of the former "creampuff" beat.
Something that occurred to me in this one: El Senor knows the meaning of the word "drink" and unfailingly rushes to get his share. You would think that the other cats would recognize the word too, and hide themselves, because whiskey always makes Senor belligerent.
Alison Mendoza, long ago, had decided that she wanted to have four children. She has the twins, Terry and Johnny, and little Luisa. And there has been something going on around the office....
As usual, this book is full of various cases, simple, complex, silly, terrifying.
Amongst the heisters:
A very polite Negro gentleman who offers elderly ladies assistance with their groceries--then knocks them down and robs them.
A juvenile with a S&W .32 and a nervous trigger finger.
A very large and scary looking heister known as "The ape man." After terrorizing a number of victims--including a situation where he was surrounded by a number of strong and healthy men who could have ganged up on him--he gets taken out by a small female with some knowledge of judo and a terrible temper.
A gas station heister who thwarts any potential pursuit by forcing his victims to strip. The cutsey monicker "Jack the Stripper" won't be so funny in the next book.
A pair of B-girls who lure men out of bars and then pounce.
A more ambitious heisting of a jewelry store nets a stack of gold coins, among other things. In this situation, a man is killed, but manages to wing one of the heisters. His blood-stained raincoat is found with a doctor's appointment card in the pocket....
A tragic situation when two men rob a blind man and kill the guide dog attempting to defend him.
On the other side of Robbery-Homicide:
A pair of truly vicious rapists prowling the USC campus. One woman is killed, another savagely maimed--but she is able to pass on some vital information on one of the attackers.
The book-length puzzler--a man crippled with arthritis is found dead in his house. He is absolutely the last man to kill himself, despite his affliction. Plus, his wife keeps no alcohol in the house, so where did the bottle of drugged whiskey come from? This one is solved by information given by an expert witness. I have to say, I didn't like the overall ending of this one. I kept wishing that someone would come up with some irrefutable evidence that would really nail it.
A case that's no puzzle at all, but which leads to a lengthy investigation anyway. A woman found dead outside of her home, stabbed. Her killer is inside, having been peeling potatoes when her tormentor started in on her. ("If I'd known it was that easy, I'd have done it before....") The more they learn about this more-or-less accidental killer, the more hair-raising it becomes. This is the second situation in which Wanda notes that a goverment agency is handing out money just for the asking, without getting any background information. Wanda is the one who sticks with the case and sees it to its amazing conclusion.
A really horrifying case of a three-year-old snatched and brutally killed. Again, this one is solved quite easily, but there will be repercussions....
A blow-up at the Hall of Justice. Higgins happens to be present when it begins. Two thugs awaiting their hearing get hold of a bailiff's gun while the other bailiff is away. ("A guy's got to go the bathroom, doesn't he?") They are recaptured, not by routine police work, but by an angry wife who learns that her fugitive hubby is planning to leave the country...with someone else. The classic "woman scorned" quote comes up, but for a change, Mendoza actually gets the quotation correct, which virtually no one ever does!
On the personal front:
We get a lot of scenes with Sgt. Lake--and regular readers will know what that means. Lake is annoyed because his wife wants him to give up smoking, and he's got enough problems with his weight as it is. Lake seems to have forgotten that he originally took up smoking to lose weight. (I am going on the assumption that Dell Shannon herself was a smoker, because she was always brushing off the dangers. In this case, the danger ends up coming from a different direction.) We learn that Lake has been in the Homicide office even longer than Mendoza.
The Landers have a little girl, Sara Ellen, and, just as Tom Landers feared, the house in Azuza is just too far away. They are desperately--and rather hopelessly, considering how long the house was on the market--attempting to sell it.
Little Margaret Emily Higgins, surrounded by family members who all call George "George" has started calling him that, too. Mary thinks it's improper, but George thinks it's funny.
Sgt. Barth, of the Hollywood division, has finally retired, and is no doubt thankful that he is out of the former "creampuff" beat.
Something that occurred to me in this one: El Senor knows the meaning of the word "drink" and unfailingly rushes to get his share. You would think that the other cats would recognize the word too, and hide themselves, because whiskey always makes Senor belligerent.
Alison Mendoza, long ago, had decided that she wanted to have four children. She has the twins, Terry and Johnny, and little Luisa. And there has been something going on around the office....
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews