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COLD BLUE BLOOD, THE
by David Handler
St. Martin's, October 2002
304 pages
$6.50
ISBN: 0312986106


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Mitch Berger, film critic for a prestigious New York newspaper, is mourning the death of his wife by doing what he likes best, eating junk food and watching movies (and thinking about writing another book, this one a reference book on westerns), when his editor visits him with the news that she is sending another critic to Cannes and Mitch is to go to Connecticut to do a weekend getaway piece for the travel section.

In Connecticut, Desiree Mitry, Juno-esque West Point graduate, now a lieutenant in the Connecticut State Police Serious Crimes Squad. the only black woman to achieve that rank, and her elderly widowed neighbor, Bella Tillis, are rescuing feral cats, taming them, and finding them homes. Des is divorced and is not completely accepted by the mostly white, mostly male, mostly Italian, police force for which she works. Currently, she is working on the murder of a single mother, who has left an orphaned mixed race 5-year old; a child who is wanted by neither set of grandparents.

Mitch, a child of New York City, discovers that life on the gold coast of Connecticut appears to be like a Rockwell painting. Everything is clean, quiet and quaint. He is looking out toward a private island when Dolly Seymour appears and asks him if he has come about the carriage house. Mitch rents the house, furnishes it with scraps and bits, brings a few of his treasures from his NY apartment, and settles in. Mitch starts to dig a garden when he uncovers a body. Des is put in charge of the investigation, and she and Mitch find themselves strangely attracted to each other. Then a third body appears, and Des is sure that they are all connected.

Handler deftly builds detailed descriptions of appearances and lives of his characters and the surroundings. We even get the back story of each of the people, so by the time the narrative starts to wind down, we can just about figure out the resolution of the mystery, because we know each of the characters so well, and know what each will do in a given situation. There are very few authors who get it all right: characterization, sense of place, and a good story. He does.

Note: This review was written originally for about.com and is based on the hardcover edition from Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press

Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, July 2001

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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