- MP3 CD
- Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD; MP3 Una edition (Jan 8 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1423349717
- ISBN-13: 978-1423349716
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13.7 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 68 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The sad, slow blues melodies that start and end every disk will get listeners in just the right mood for this lighthearted hard-boiled detective novel set in Depression-era California. Joyce Bean plays recently orphaned Kitty Pangborn as a perky, private school–educated young woman, who, though grieving the loss of her father, relishes her job as gal Friday to Dexter, a detective who is going steady with his whiskey bottle. Bean excels as the women characters. Rita, who reports her missing boyfriend and hires Dex, sounds every bit like a film noir dame. Brucie, a sweet-sounding woman on the lam, has a kittenish voice. Bean's male voices sound more like an adolescent boy trying to lower his voice. Since Kitty narrates the story—and does most of the detective work while Dex is sleeping off his booze—Bean keeps this frothy romp bubbling along. Thanks to the brisk, upbeat narration, this is a lark you won't want to miss.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Review
"You're about to meet a great new dame of crime fiction in Death Was the Other Woman. Linda L. Richards has created a stunning character with a voice and eye right out of a 1930s L.A. hard-boiled classic - guns and gams, booze and bodies, peepers and perps. Move over, Sam Spade - Kitty Pangborn's on the case."--LINDA FAIRSTEIN, author of Death Dance
"Reading Death Was the Other Woman was like stumbling across a long-lost and wonderful Orson Welles flick. It's a pitch-perfect story of Depression-era L.A. that's so damn good I recommend calling in sick to work and making a plate of sandwiches before you start reading, because you won't want to put it down for anything--including such petty concerns as food, drink, sleep, and oncoming Packards and locomotives."--CORNELIA READ, author of A Field of Darkness
“Death Was the Other Woman propelled me straight into Depression-era Los Angeles, a really stunning and exciting achievement. And the murder kept me guessing right to the page turning end. On top of that, the lively characters have walked off the page and now pursue me long after I've closed the book. A really stellar crime caper, a delight.”--LOUISE PENNY, author of Still Life
"With crackling dialogue, a Tommy-gun plot, and bang-on authenticity, Death Was the Other Woman engrossed me in a terrific, compelling mystery. With memorable characters and settings, Richards manages to dig beneath the surface of Prohibition-era Los Angeles and give a sense of its historical context. A great read!"--DANIEL KALLA, author of Pandemic and Blood Lies
“Sharp, vibrant, and crackling. One chapter in to Linda L. Richards’ sparkling 1930s Los Angeles mystery, Death Was the Other Woman, and we’d follow her smart, resourceful, spirited heroine, Kitty Pangborn, down any dark alley, any mean street."--MEGAN ABBOTT, author of The Song is You and Queenpin
“Kitty Pangborn, the narrator of Linda Richards' winning new mystery, Death Was the Other Woman, is just what every underachieving, over-imbibing, minimally employed, and maximally hard-boiled PI needs: that is, a decent secretary. … Death Was the Other Woman is a first-rate, rousing new take on the Southern California detective novel. Let's hope it's the beginning of a long series."--DYLAN SCHAFFER, author of I Right the Wrongs
"Linda L. Richards can grab her readers better than a slap in the puss or a slug from a forty-five. She breathes new life into the L.A. noir genre with an array of fresh characters and stylishly seedy neon-lit dives. More importantly, she moves the gritty crime genre on in the form of Kitty Pangborn, a well brought up young lady who gets a crash course in the dark underbelly of the City of Angels. She may be a longsuffering PA to a less than successful PI, but Kitty is no kitten. She's the broad with the brains, and readers will be left clamoring for more."--BRENDAN FOLEY, author of Under the Wire, director of The Riddle
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Delightful Character in a Terrific Series Debut,
By
This review is from: Death Was the Other Woman: A Mystery (Hardcover)
Twenty-three-year-old secretary, Katherine (Kitty) Pangborn, isn't impressed with her boss's new client, but private investigator, Dex Theroux, can't afford to turn business away. Rita Heppelwaite's hired Dex to find out if her rich boyfriend, Harrison Dempsey, is cheating on her. Needless to say, things don't go well. Kitty discovers Harrison's body in a bathtub. The next day, she and Dex learn that his body's disappeared and there's no trace of a murder at all.This is one of many plot twists in Linda Richards' terrific new series, Death Was the Other Woman. The story's set in Los Angeles in the early 30's, and while this setting might seem overdone to some mystery readers, Richards puts a modern spin on the classic detective novel by having Kitty do most of the sleuthing. But then Kitty doesn't have much choice. At age thirty-four, Dex is an alcoholic war vet struggling with personal demons. Kitty Pangborn is a delightful character: smart, educated, and raised in a wealthy environment until the stock market crash of 29 tore her world apart. Now on her own and poor, she's slowly adjusting to a working-class life filled with uncertainty while coping with moments of profound sadness and a longing for the past. But Kitty's determined, resourceful, protective, and above all, interesting. I can't wait to read more of her adventures.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews) 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lots to love about this book,
By Armchair Interviews - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Death Was the Other Woman: A Mystery (Hardcover)
Kitty Pangborn was raised to be a prim and proper lady of the house, meant to marry well and plan the perfect party. When the stock market crashed in 1929, and her father leaped from a window leaving her broke and without real-world skills, she had to make her own way. She may now only be Girl Friday to Los Angeles private investigator Dex, but when his bungling of the job puts her salary in jeopardy, Kitty will step up to solve the case on her own. Someone has to.I loved the voice of this book. You can almost hear one of the old silver screen actresses talking right off the page. Her wonderful first-person narrative was so true to voice as to lose those of us who aren't familiar with words like "mook" and "spondulix." But she helps us out with enough description that we can figure it out, if not exactly, in general. This was an especially fun read. I enjoyed the strong heroine and that her boss, though bumbling, was not entirely an idiot. And I really enjoyed learning more about LA during prohibition, too. The cast of shady characters was so great as to leave me completely in the dark about whodunit until it was time to know. There are so many twists and turns in this book that I even started suspecting the good guys. Whose side was everyone on, anyway? I couldn't help but to just keep turning pages. Even if you aren't typically into the mystery genre, I encourage you to pick up this book. Though there are many dead bodies, the book was not at all gruesome and considering all the two- and three-timing that was going on, and talk of melting lipstick, it was also surprisingly clean. Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
fine historical mystery,
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Death Was the Other Woman: A Mystery (Hardcover)
In 1931 Los Angeles cynical private investigator Dex Theroux runs a two person office. Whereas he does the leg work and takes the beatings, Kitty Pangborn runs the office and occasionally does safe field work. Dex is unsure why Kitty remains with him, as paying jobs are infrequent and he knows he is an alcoholic though with good cause.Wealthy Rita Heppelwaite hires Dex to report on what her married boyfriend, Harrison Dempsey is doing. Thinking this is an easy case and needing help on surveillance, Dex brings Kitty with him. However, their prey proves to be someone else's prey as the sleuth and his assistant finds the murdered corpse of Harrison. Dex wants to make money from his affluent client so he tells Kitty to say nothing about the dead body for now. Kitty is appalled by her boss' disregard of the deceased so she defies Dex and calls the cops. However, to her shock she soon learns that Harrison is alive making her wonder what is going on. With Madeline Carter on temporary hiatus, Linda L. Richards introduces readers to a new fascinating detective team in a fine historical mystery. The story line is fun, but not so much due to the mystery of Harrison and the corpse or depression Era L.A., but instead because of the bickering relationship between unethical Dex and the moralistic Kitty. They make the tale entertaining. Harriet Klausner 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect for fans of the gritty hard-boiled detective listen.,
By Midwest Book Review - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Death Was the Other Woman (Audio CD)
Linda L. Richards' DEATH WAS THE OTHER WOMAN provides veteran narrator Joyce Bean's smooth and compelling style as it tells of one Kitty, who needs a job and finds her hands full as a secretary to a tough PI in a challenging world. Kitty's efforts to keep her boss - and her salary - safe result in some dangerous action perfect for fans of the gritty hard-boiled detective listen.
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