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It's always a pleasure to catch up with Carlotta and her friends again, and DEEP POCKETS is no exception. The novel is set shortly after the events in the last book, THE BIG DIG, and sees Carlotta return to working as a PI, with her glorious red hair restored to its normal hue. Her relationship with Leon is still in its early days and there are some tensions to overcome, not helped by Carlotta still thinking about ex-boyfriend Sam Gianelli all the time. Out shopping in Cambridge one day, Carlotta realises she is being inexpertly tailed by a man. She gets away and doubles back until she catches up with him to find out what he is up to. It transpires that he is a Harvard Professor, Wilson Chaney, and a friend of Leon. He tells Carlotta that he is being blackmailed over a relationship with a student, Denali Brinkman, a beautiful scholarship rower who died in a recent fire shortly after their relationship ended a couple of months previously. Chaney hires Carlotta to recover the letters he had written to Denali and which the blackmailer is now selling back to him one by one. Chaney is not a sympathetic character and not very forthcoming with the facts. Carlotta quickly identifies a likely suspect but as she investigates further into Denali's death and Chaney's life, it becomes clear that other crimes may have been committed whilst others may still be in prospect. She must act fast to keep ahead of the police enquiry, to protect her client, and to establish the truth. Carlotta has a little police assistance in establishing some of the facts of Denali's death and her new boyfriend's background, and Roz helps her dig up a few facts on the internet and by making some phone calls. Gloria from the cab company and her brother Leroy also assist in places, and it's good to catch up with them, although pretty briefly this time. Meanwhile 'little sister' Paolina continues to grow up, she's 15 now, and dressing to kill, and I enjoyed the scenes Carlotta spent with her. Carlotta dominates the story though, and the plot develops at a rapid pace with Carlotta racing from meeting to meeting, and place to place, in and around Boston and Cambridge. The ending doesn't come as a complete surprise to the seasoned mystery reader but it's great fun getting there and fans of Carlotta will not be disappointed.
Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, March 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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