Jack Q. (AlabamaJack) reviewed on 8/12/2006 + 170 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Boston PI Carlotta Carlyle is doing some big digging of her own in this 11th adventure. This time, however, the case is a very personal one. Paolina, Carlottas teenaged Little Sister whom she loves like a daughter, has disappeared and no one except Carlotta seems to care. Carlyle, a part-time taxi driver and part-time PI is very believable in her native Boston as she struggles with her relationship with Mafioso Sam Gianelli. Unfortunately, she doesnt seem to travel well. It doesnt take long for Carlyle to begin to suspect that Paolina didnt run away on her own, but was in fact kidnapped. She hopes the kidnappers were in the employ of Paolinas biological father, a Colombian drug lord known as Roldan. However, there is the possibility that it was enemies of Roldan who engineered the snatch. Carlotta travels first to Miami and tracks down Roldans lawyer and from there it is on to Bogota. While well written, as were previous Carlyle adventures, it is here that the story begins to break down a bit. With her height and red hair, Carlotta fits pretty well into Irish dominated Boston. In Bogotá both work against her, even though she conveniently speaks Spanish. In the midst of all this Sam decides to propose to Carlotta, which leads to an emotional ending that screams for a sequel soon. Overall another good entry from Ms. Barnes, but I would suggest that future adventures remain fueled on New England clam chowder.

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