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Linda Barnes was one of the female crime writers who hauled me into the genre. The others were Sara Paretsky, Marcia Muller and Sue Grafton. It may be significant that the only two I've kept up with are Paretsky and Muller, who've done a good job of keeping their characters growing and moving. I lost track of Barnes two or three books ago and while there is a lot to admire in HEART OF THE WORLD, I didn't feel inclined to rush off and fill in those gaps. It's certainly not a bad book, but for whatever reason it just didn't quite engage me enough. HEART OF THE WORLD is a mystery in that Carlotta is on the trail of her missing adopted little sister Paolina. But in reality much of it is a geography and anthropology lesson, thinly disguised as crime fiction. One of the reasons for reading anything is to learn about people and places outside of your sphere. But it's a balancing act, especially with genre fiction where the reader is probably going to want the plot moved on a bit sharpish and probably isn't very keen on having indigestible chunks of history plonked in front of them. The book is perfectly readable, but I never really connected with it. This might be partly because children in crime fiction don't do much for me (and no, I don't go ga-ga over cats or dogs either!) In HEART OF THE WORLD Paolina disappears and Carlotta must find out if she's been abducted or whether she's run away. And there's the issue of how involved Paolina's Colombian drug baron father is. The book soon moves into thriller territory. But the early part lacks tension -- it's almost too frenetic. The tense scenes in the mountains later on, though, go a long way towards rescuing it. If you've liked the series and want to see how Carlotta functions outside of her native Boston, you'll probably enjoy the book. It does, though, remove her from the very strong supporting cast of Gloria, Roz and Mooney. Yes, they appear at the end of a telephone, but it's not the same thing. The ending wouldn't be out of place in a Lee Child novel. And what happens in the last few pages leaves Carlotta with a personal dilemma -- and with a bit of luck will reinvigorate the next book in the series.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, May 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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