- Paperback: 284 pages
- Publisher: Capital Crime Press (March 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0977627608
- ISBN-13: 978-0977627608
- Product Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.2 x 2.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,654,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Suicide or murder? Only the graphologist knows for sure in this dynamite debut, the first in a new series, from forensic handwriting expert Lowe (Handwriting of the Famous and Infamous). When celebrity publicist Lindsey Alexander drowns in her hot tub at her L.A. penthouse apartment, Lindsey's business manager, Ivan Novak, hires handwriting analyst Claudia Rose to look into the authenticity of the block-printed note left at the scene. Ivan believes it was penned by a murderer, not a suicide victim. Claudia, who was once Lindsey's friend before being alienated by her pathologically malicious behavior, isn't surprised to learn that Lindsey liked to blackmail her famous clients by threatening to tarnish rather than shine their images. When hunky LAPD detective Joel Jovanic enters the investigation, the "grapho lady" and the cop make a hot team, in and out of the sheets. The author's large nonfiction fan base augurs well for the series. Author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Handwriting expert Claudia Rose is asked to analyze her old friend Lindsey Alexander's suicide note by Lindsey's associate, Ivan Novak. Although her death has officially been ruled a suicide, Novak doesn't think the flamboyant, self-centered Lindsey would have killed herself. When Claudia goes to Lindsey's penthouse to meet Ivan, she finds him dying, and his killer fleeing. She discovers a flash drive under Ivan's body and impulsively takes it. The flash drive reveals that Lindsey was involved in a kinky sex scam with numerous prominent citizens as clients. Claudia shares the information with the detective in charge, Joel Jovanic, with whom she is developing a romantic relationship. Although the occasional plot element strains credulity--Joel taking Claudia along on official interviews, for example--debut novelist Lowe wins readers over with her well-developed heroine and the wealth of fascinating detail on handwriting analysis. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (34 customer reviews)
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Four and a half stars, April 30 2008
By W. Carter - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Poison Pen: A Forensic Handwriting Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a smart new mystery series but I can't agree with those who have tagged it as "cozy". I found it much too graphic, a little too "salty" if you will, with a considerable tendency toward violence for that description. What this does, however, is demonstrate Ms. Lowe's ability to turn out a page turner. The action is admirably paced and characters well developed. I was very pleased to see, as I got to the end of Poison Pen, that she is working on another in the Claudia Rose series. Speaking again of misleading tags, I don't understand several of those listed for this book. I realize I'm not here to review others' reviews except as how they may affect whether someone gives this book a try. There is nothing psychic involved--nor paranormal....!? The main character's occupation is analyzing handwriting. I highly recommend the book--it's a terrific mystery.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Handwriting is on the Wall - This is an Exciting New Mystery Series!, April 2 2008
By C. A. Hopkins - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Poison Pen: A Forensic Handwriting Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
Kudos to Sheila Lowe for giving us a new mystery series with an entirely fresh and new story line. Claudia Rose is a forensic handwriting analyst who is often called in to assist the police - both to identify handwriting as belonging to a specific individual as well as to give insight into the actual character, personality and current mental state of an individual who has penned a specific item.The story opens with Claudia and her best friend, Kelly Brennan, attending the funeral of their old friend, Lindsey Alexander, an influential PR maven who worked with many of Hollywood's elite. The three women had been very close at one time, but had had a falling out years earlier, and while Claudia still did occasional handwriting analysis for Lindsey, the three were no longer on friendly terms. Lindsey's death had been deemed a suicide, but Claudia and Kelly overhear an interesting conversation at the funeral that plants a seed of doubt, and at the reception following the funeral, Claudia is approached by Ivan Novak, Lindsey's business manager, asking her to prove that the suicide note hadn't been written by Lindsey - as he is convinced she was murdered.
Claudia decides to take the case but uncovers a WHOLE lot more than she bargained for regarding Lindsey's very messy past and a host of deviant sexual practices (including child sexual abuse, kiddy porn, bestiality, and S&M) among many of Lindsey's rich and powerful clients. When Ivan is attacked trying to pass along some information to Claudia, the entire story shifts into high gear and it becomes crystal clear that Claudia herself is in extreme danger - so much so, that even the talents of LAPD Detective Joel Jovanic might not be enough to keep her safe.
Ms. Lowe's forensic handwriting series promises us exciting new mysteries in the scientific slash police procedural vein. The plot is well written and the characters believable. This reader is definitely keeping an eye out for Written in Blood, the second book in the series!
Carol Ann Hopkins 4/2/2008
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great insight into handwriting analysis, April 6 2008
By Bruce Cook "Hollywood book doc" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Poison Pen: A Forensic Handwriting Mystery (Mass Market Paperback)
If you have read Ms Lowe's book Complete Idiot's Guide to Handwriting Analysis then you are aware that she has solid expertise in the field--court certified, thousands of analyses performed. That background is put to good use in this contemporary mystery. You will be intrigued by the clues her character Claudia Rose extracts from the notes and handwriting samples in the book. Highly recommended.
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