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Flashpoint

by Linda Barnes

Among the plethora of mystery writers being published today – some good, some not-so-good – don't overlook Linda Barnes. Her novel, Flashpoint, is not only well written with a touch of humor, it also has all the ingredients of a fine mystery: Characters (and what characters!), a sub-plot concerning the 'Little Sister,' a bent cop and the murder of a stingy elder who was hoarding something she didn't want others to know about. Flashpoint is an engrossing book, difficult to put down.

Carlotta Carlyle is a red-haired private investigator whose one major asset is the big Victorian house her grandmother left her, situated in Boston, Massachusetts. Carlotta rents the top floor to Roz, in exchange for cleaning (which Roz does rather sporadically), other household chores (the same) and her computer savvy, which is unparalleled. Roz is an artist, currently involved in painting a ceiling mural featuring hamburgers, French fries and sneakers. She also has a steady stream of boyfriends. One happens to be inhabiting Carlotta's bathtub at the beginning of the story, naked and passed out.

Gwen Taymore is a black girl on Carlotta's volleyball team at the Y. Gwen tells Carlotta she's a home health aide, and knows this old woman named Mrs. Phipps who needs help with security. Carlotta tells Gwen security isn't really her thing, but agrees to see the old woman when Gwen says Mrs. Phipps will pay. When Gwen and Carlotta arrive at Mrs. Phipps apartment, they find her landlord, Tony Peritti, already at her door and trying to get in – past her accusations of forced entry and attempting to upset her. Mrs. Phipps is a nasty, tight-fisted old woman who initially doesn't want any advice from Carlotta because she's female instead of male, then cops a treasured photograph from Carlotta as 'collateral' for the money she reluctantly forks over.

A sub-plot consists of Carlotta's 'Little Sister' Paolina, in the child guidance program to which Carlotta belongs. Paolina is just emerging into her teenage years, smoking and dating older men behind Carlotta's back. Paolina's mother has moved away and left her to shift for herself, so Carlotta decides to have Paolina stay at her own apartment where she can keep an eye on her.

Carlotta returns to Mrs. Phipps' apartment with the security items she's purchased, ready to install them – but there's no answer when she knocks on the door. At last, using her illegal lock picks, Carlotta gets inside – and finds Mrs. Phipps' phone on the kitchen floor, smashed – then discovers a very dead Mrs. Phipps in the bathroom. A female cop called Theresa Kiley finds her with the body and over the barrel of her gun, tells Carlotta not to move. Later, Gwen is nowhere to be found, and no home health association has ever heard of her.

The resulting brouhaha after it's determined that Mrs. Phipps was murdered involves the landlord, who was trying his best to get rid of her so he could sell the building and make way for a much more lucrative real estate project, Carlotta's old boss, Lieutenant Detective Mooney, who is head of Boston Homicide and currently involved with Theresa Riley (much to Carlotta's disgust and jealousy), Peter Breeze, a columnist, Harry, who owns the hardware store where Carlotta bought her security equipment, Gwen Taymore, who eventually reappears, and Bronson Hohen of Hohen's Music, a world-famous agent. Add to that list several members of the Jewish Reclamation League, all working underground.

It seems that Mrs. Phipps had one valuable item in her possession, and several people had become aware of it – and wanted it. One of those people tries to burn down Carlotta's house – with her in it. When the dust settles and the murderer is disclosed, the reasons for everything become apparent, and the novel ends with Carlotta receiving money from Paolina's father (who happens to be a drug dealer in South America) for college.

In Carlotta Carlyle, Linda
Barnes has created a character similar to herself, with some Jewish ancestry (I don't know if Ms. Barnes hair is also red, like Carlotta's!). Feisty, with a sense of humor, caring and willing to use unorthodox methods to achieve success when it becomes necessary, the character of Carlotta Carlyle is among the very best of female sleuths in mystery fiction. Linda Barnes obviously has all the same qualities, expressing her written self in Carlotta's personality – although leaving out the corpses, we hope! Flashpoint is a very, very good read.

Alan Paul Curtis

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