Lie Down with the Devil [Mass Market Paperback]

How do you top a great book like Heart of the World? You don't. But with a series, there's a sequel to be written anyway.

Paolina is still recovering from the trauma of her kidnapping and its aftermath in South America. The troubling part is that she's pushing Carlotta away.

Sam Gianelli, Carlotta's fiancé, is missing in action except for occasional telephone calls when he tells her to keep out of it. When Carlotta tries to get her old friend, Mooney from Boston PD, to tell her more, he keeps quiet.

Carlotta hasn't worked at detecting in some time, and Roz pushes Carlotta to take on a young woman, Jessica Franklin, who wants her fiancé tailed. Carlotta agrees. The woman heads for a meeting out of town while the fiancé starts meandering around after making a short stop in Kendall Square in Cambridge. The night becomes a long one as he then heads for the cape. What's going on?

As usual in detective fiction, nothing is as it seems. But no one is going to make it easy for Carlotta to find out. Her head is snapped out of her troubles when the young woman who hired her turns up dead in a local hit-and-run. That's really puzzling. She was supposed to be out of town.

Before long, Carlotta is getting the eye . . . and needs help. Who will step in?

Without giving anything away, Linda Barnes decides to take this series in a new direction with this story. It's a promising direction, one that makes me look forward to reading the next book in the series.

If you've enjoyed this series, don't miss Lie Down with the Devil. It'll keep your attention!

The plot has a lot of twists and turns, but they often felt forced. That's why I graded the book down one star. See what you think.

The latest in the series finds Carolotta estranged from nearly everyone and not by her choice. Sam Gianelli is on the run somewhere overseas and can't come home because of federal trouble in Vegas. He is refusing all help or contact and with things involving the feds, she isn't going to get much help from those she remains in contact with the Boston, PD.

Then there is the matter of Paolina. Like Carolotta who is dealing with flashbacks, Paolina is not dealing well with her recent kidnapping and forced travel to Cartagena, Columbia. A blood bath ensued and in the chaos, Paolina saw her father die. She came home and shortly there after began harming herself. Placed in treatment, she is refusing to see Carlotta.

Alcohol isn't helping Carlotta so Roz, her tenant assistant and just about everything else, decides it is time for Carolotta to work a case. Carolotta wasn't ready but her private investigator business is in shambles. At least working a case will keep her somewhat occupied and give her some sense of normalcy.

Jessica Franklin wants to know if her fiancé is stepping out on her. Instead of just asking him she wants to do things differently. All she wants is for Carlotta to follow the guy and see where he goes and who he meets if anyone. She doesn't want him investigated, just followed. Jessica is supposed to get married in less then 2 weeks and is clearly feeling the pressure. But, according to the note that says he will be cheating on her while she is gone the next night, she could have a good reason to be worried.

Carolotta takes the case and soon discovers everything she believed, both professional and personal, is nothing more than a lie.

The latest is the series is a complex mystery as well as a novel where the emotional psyche of the characters is of huge importance. The deep inner feelings and things that drive us to do certain acts, self destructive or otherwise, fuel this novel. Whether it is alcoholism and other acts in Carlotta's case, cutting done by Paolina, or Sam's notorious sexual escapades, the psyche and why these things happen are huge factors in the book.

So too is a case where Carolotta, who certainly isn't on her game initially, is constantly manipulated by everyone. Nothing is as it seems and friendships are strained and stressed in ways readers have not seen before.

At 292 pages this latest book in an overall very good series is a really good novel. From a reader's stand point, stressed characters always make for good reading and there are a lot of very stressed characters in this novel full of twists and double dealing right to the last page. Simply put, this is one of her best books in years and one you should definitely read.

Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2008

I love the Carlotta Carlisle series. But this one didn't begin to measure up. Carlotta was sour; Roz, Gloria and the rest were almost non-existent and Mooney has turned into a love sick puppy. Sorry this one's a miss.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 18 reviews  4.1 out of 5 stars