In this delightful adventure featuring the mismatched crime-fighting duo of film critic Mitch Berger and Connecticut state trooper Des Mitry, Mitch's New York City past and his Dorset present collide head on.
Back when Mitch was a chubby thirteen-year-old living in Stuyvesant Town, Beth Breslauer, a lovely blond single mother, lived across the hall with her son, Kenny. These days, she's a wealthy widow who owns a condominium in the Captain Chadwick House, the Dorset Historic District's most exclusive condo complex. Kenny is engaged to marry Mitch's yoga teacher, Kimberly Farrell. Kimberly's parents are Beth's neighbors. They are also social pariahs. Her father was one of the Wall Street power brokers responsible for the sub-prime home loan meltdown and her mother is praying that Kimberly's elaborate engagement party will endear them to their lost friends.
Meanwhile, Augie Donatelli, a retired police detective who manages the Captain Chadwick House, is positive he's figured out the identity of the infamous Dorset Flasher, an elusive, ski-masked figure who has been terrorizing wealthy widows after dark. He also believes that Beth is the proud descendent of a long line of professional thieves. He demands that Des do something about it, but Des dismisses his charges as the wild rants of a lonely, bitter drunkard, which is rather unfortunate—because when Augie turns up dead, Des is included in the round-up of suspects. That leaves it up to Mitch to find out what really happened, even though it means he'll have to find out more about the people in his life than he ever wanted to.
The Shimmering Blond Sister is David Handler's most emotionally gripping book in the series yet.
The Shimmering Blond Sister
Berger and Mitry Mysteries Series, Book 7
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
October 12, 2010 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781429949699
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781429949699
- File size: 287 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
September 20, 2010
In Edgar-winner Handler's enjoyable seventh mystery to feature New York film critic Mitch Berger and Dorset, Conn., police detective Desiree "Des" Mitry (after 2008's Sour Cherry Surprise), Des gets on the trail of a flasher who's been disturbing the genteel residents of Dorset's historic district. When someone bashes in the head of retired NYPD police officer Augie Donatelli, whom Des thinks is the flasher, Des finds herself a suspect because she had a public fight with the victim shortly before the murder. Her job is on the line, as well as the job of her father, the state's highest ranking black police officer. Meanwhile, members of the Seven Sisters crime family may be setting up in town. Once again, Mitch steps in to lend Des a helping hand. Series fans will have fun catching up with the latest twists in the always interesting relationship of this interracial couple. -
Kirkus
September 1, 2010
Even in toney Dorset, background checks are advisable.
Connecticut state trooper Des Mitry has her hands full. A flasher is spending his weekend nights ringing the doorbells, but not the chimes, of the town's rich old ladies. He leaves no clues, escapes notice by everyone but his targets and evades both prowl cars and stakeouts. But Des thinks she has a fix on Dorset's wanker: Augie Donatelli, a retired New York City cop who became the live-in caretaker at the luxe Captain Chadwick House condos in the historic district, where he drinks too much and insults the residents. Des herself had a serious run-in with him, so when he's killed by a baseball bat just ahead of where she'd been out of sight tailing him, she becomes suspect No. 1 in his death. Her lover, Mitch Berger, a movie critic and sometime sleuth (The Sour Cherry Surprise, 2008, etc.), thinks the flashing and the killing are unrelated, but to prove it, he'll have to sip many iced teas with the local gentry, which include a childhood crush of his and the town's leading lady, and chug a few beers with Des and a cop on vacation from the Big Apple. Meanwhile, unseemly family pedigrees come to light. Des and Mitch romp in the shower, on the beach and between the sheets. And Dorset is once again restored to New England picture-postcard tranquility.
Though you're not likely to share Des and Mitch's infatuation with each other, you might just learn not to take everyone at face value.
(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
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Library Journal
September 1, 2010
Black police officer Des Mitry (The Sour Cherry Surprise) is tired of chasing after the Dorset Flasher, who is terrorizing the matrons of the small wealthy Connecticut community. But when her prime suspect is murdered, she becomes the number one suspect. Now she needs ex-lover and Jewish film critic Mitch Berger's help, and the duo have their work cut out for them. With his interracial sleuths, Handler gives himself lots of room to exercise his sly wit in depicting the culture of an upscale, mostly white town. What the author does best is get into his characters' minds and make them real for the reader. VERDICT Gentler than William G. Tapply and less insightful than Philip R. Craig, Edgar Award winner Handler's seventh series entry is a good choice for a quiet evening.
Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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