The Silver Chariot Killer: A Hobart Lindsey Mystery [Hardcover]

There's a lot to be said for the old-fashioned virtues of solid research, lucid writing and a strong narrative engine. Lupoff says them all in this latest entry in his satisfying series about insurance investigator Hobart Lindsey -- working this time to find out why a colleague was gunned down in a New York alley. The murdered man was an African American married to an Italian Jew, and their 10-year-old daughter's interest in history and computers are very helpful to Lindsey as he works his way through a plot that mixes a valuable Roman relic, a World War II art theft scheme and some contemporary New York politics. [Previous Lindsey books include The Cover Girl Killer, The Bessie Blue Killer, The Sepia Siren Killer.]

Lupoff, a prolific writer, captures lots of old-fashioned values in his series featuring insurance investigator Hobart Lindsey. In a narrative sense, these values include solid research, straightforward prose and a narrative engine that chugs along with reassuring strength. Without his former teammate, Berkeley cop Marvia Plum (she married someone else in The Cover Girl Killer, 1995), Lindsey here leaves Denver, where he's deputy director of the Special Projects Unit of International Surety, for frigid New York City to investigate the murder of one of the unit's own. Cletus Berry has been gunned down in an alley, along with a smalltime hoodlum. Determined to find out why, Lindsey becomes a thorn in the side of the NYPD?particularly the shapely side of a tough detective named Marcie Sokolov. Berry was an African American married to an Italian Jew, and they produced a fascinating 10-year-old daughter whose interest in history and computers are most helpful to Lindsey as he works his way through a plot that deftly blends a valuable Roman relic, a WWII art-theft scheme and contemporary New York politics. Lupoff doesn't spend many words describing Lindsey, but the dead man's brother gives a good picture: "You come on like Caspar Milquetoast, but inside that mild-mannered exterior lurks one crazy operator." He needs both sides of his character to solve this rich and rewarding story.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lupoff tells a terrific story, but his mysteries are also filled with subtle sidebars on history, art, culture, religion, and the human condition. Hero Hobart Lindsey, who at first seems slightly nerdy and pompous, eventually reveals himself as a character with depth, brains, and courage. In his latest outing, insurance investigator Lindsey investigates the murder of colleague Cletus Berry. Lindsey learns that the key to Berry's death may have been a priceless silver chariot that was once the plaything of Julius Caesar. The lost chariot, which reappeared briefly at the 1940 World's Fair, hasn't been seen for 50 years. Lindsey speculates that Berry was killed because he had a lead on the chariot's whereabouts. By the time Lindsey unravels the mystery, he has traveled to Italy, consorted with smugglers, and been shot at, but he's also made new friends, won his boss' gratitude, and landed a promotion. Another satisfying addition to this entertaining series. Emily Melton

The sixth outing for Denver insurance investigator Hobart Lindsey (The Cover Girl Killer, 1995, etc.) once again colors a modern mystery with historical sidelights. This time Lindsey is in Manhattan, where colleague Cletus Berry has been found shot in an alley, along with a small-time gangster. The chief clue? An insurance policy in Berry's computer, dating from the New York World's Fair circa 1940--when a priceless exhibit, a toy chariot once owned by Julius Caesar, disappeared on its way home to Rome. Maybe it's no coincidence, then, that Berry was with the US Army in Italy in the 1970s (where he met his Jewish-Italian wife). Or that the other alley victim had links to a shady Manhattan antique dealer. Or that a rising New York demagogue is using the Caesar chariot as his logo. So, as more bodies drop, the action shifts to Italy for a treasure-hunt finale--with Lindsey side-kicked by Berry's brother, a retired cop. (His usual sleuth-mate, Marvia Plum, is out of the picture, having married someone else.) Lupoff's latest concoction strains a bit under the weight of cutesy Maltese Falcon references, classical allusions, movie-trivia repartee, Holocaust-tinged secrets, and more. But, with quietly engaging Lindsey at the center, this leisurely, fanciful whirl of subplots and curious digressions holds some old-fashioned appeal, if few surprises. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

When Hobart Lindsey's roommate for a couple of training seminars is found murdered in Hell's Kitchen, Lindsey follows a lead to a antique toy chariot once owned by Julius Caesar that, in turn, leads him into the world of high art and politics.