Big Dig The (Cloth) (Hardcover)

In this installment, she's been hired by a larger P.I. firm which is investigating irregularities on an extremely large construction project, the Big Dig of the title. Basically, they're building a freeway system *under* Boston, so that the traffic won't interfere with the city as much. There's supposedly some sort of fraud going on at a particular construction site, and Carlotta goes undercover to investigate, posing as a secretary.

When she gets there she's bored silly by the case, and on impulse takes a second investigation on. In this second investigation, a woman is looking for her tenant, a younger woman who apparently sat for her dog and acted as her companion, and who has driven off with the client's car and not sent word back as to where she is. Carlotta is for a while baffled by this.

When things begin to sort themselves out, the book is interesting and the solution satisfying and intelligent. It does take the story a while to get going though (hence only four stars) and there are perhaps one too many coincidences for me. I did enjoy the story, though, and would recommend it.

He wants her to help investigate possible fraud at a variety of construction sites at "The Big Dig" in Downtown Boston. "The Big Dig" is officially named "The Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project" and is a massive road-building project in the heart of Boston. The project has been beset by cost overruns and construction delays as well as allegations of fraud and organized crime. In response, a hotline of sorts where folks can call in complaints has been setup and one of the complaints has been assigned to Eddie.

He wants Carlotta's help because the allegation is against Horgan Construction. Eddie knows the Horgan family pretty well and believes that the allegation is false. He wants Carlotta to go undercover and investigate in exchange for a steady paycheck and more work after this case is solved. She agrees and before long has some vague suspicions about certain things but no real proof of a problem. With the sudden apparent accidental death of an employee on site, it becomes clear that Eddie hasn't been totally upfront and honest about the situation and may not want the truth after all.

Frustrated, she quickly agrees to take as second case from a potential client that would not have anything to do with Eddie's situation. While she appreciates the paycheck, she wants the freedom to work a case her way and does so involving a missing roommate. She believes she can work that case in her off hours when she isn't working the other one with no one being the wiser. The two cases pull her in opposite directions leaving her spinning her wheels in each and becoming increasing frustrated with the shallow characters that populate the novel around her.

According to the book jacket this novel is "Suspenseful, unpredictable, and vivid, The Big Dig is a startling return to form for one of the masters of the crime genre." Actually, this book is not any of those things in any way, shape or form. While promotional statements on book jackets are bound to be excessive at times, the reality of the book makes the above statement a damnable lie.

This is an extremely slow moving book where Carlotta through sheer dumb luck stumbles her way to solving the case. It always helps if the criminals are too stupid to be believed and in this case, their ignorance suspends the believability of the book. Furthermore, the plot and the resulting storylines are weak, the action is tepid at best, the solitary sex scene is gratuitous and amazingly weak in its conception as well as being an insult to reader intelligence, and the characters are shallow and very predictable in their actions. The end result of this 275-page novel is crushing boredom and at least one very, very disappointed Carlotta Carlyle fan.