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Carlotta Carlyle #10
Deep Pockets
Harvard professor Wilson Chaney's position in life is hanging by a thread; his marriage, his reputation, not to mention his tenure at Harvard are in the hands of a blackmailer, someone threatening to sell Chaney's secrets at very high prices. His enviable life could disappear into thin air should the blackmailer's evidence - proof of his affair with a young student - become public knowledge.
So he hires Boston private investigator Carlotta Carlyle to track down the blackmailer and put a stop to the scheme. Can she do it? Of course, but should she? The professor doesn't inspire much loyalty-after all, he did commit adultery with one of his own students-but Carlotta agrees. Digging into the case, nosing around Harvard and the possible suspects from the rest of Dr. Chaney's life, she uncovers a suspicious death as part of the backstory to Dr. Chaney's situation. Suddenly Carlotta's sixth sense is telling her the case might be more complicated-and more dangerous-than it first seemed.
Fresh from the success of The Big Dig, the masterful Linda Barnes delivers a bold and engaging novel infused with the deft touch and intricate suspense that have become her trademarks.
So he hires Boston private investigator Carlotta Carlyle to track down the blackmailer and put a stop to the scheme. Can she do it? Of course, but should she? The professor doesn't inspire much loyalty-after all, he did commit adultery with one of his own students-but Carlotta agrees. Digging into the case, nosing around Harvard and the possible suspects from the rest of Dr. Chaney's life, she uncovers a suspicious death as part of the backstory to Dr. Chaney's situation. Suddenly Carlotta's sixth sense is telling her the case might be more complicated-and more dangerous-than it first seemed.
Fresh from the success of The Big Dig, the masterful Linda Barnes delivers a bold and engaging novel infused with the deft touch and intricate suspense that have become her trademarks.
320 pages, Paperback
First published March 19, 2004
206 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Linda Barnes
79 books224 followersLinda Barnes is an American mystery writer, born and raised in Detroit, and graduated from Boston University"s School of Theater. She is best known for her series featuring Carlotta Carlyle, a 6'1" redheaded detective from Boston. Carlotta Carlyle is often compared to the hard-boiled female detectives created by Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky. Her new novel, "The Perfect Ghost," which will be published in April, 2013, is her first stand-alone mystery.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
September 28, 2024
I used to read Barnes a long ago, but thought she occasionally struggled with balance between the personal storyline and the mysteries. This one, book #10 in the series, is back in balance. Carlotta is doing her PI thing when a man starts stalking her. It turns out, he wants to hire her but is deeply afraid of his professional reputation being tarnished. Unfortunately, truth will out.
"It takes a certain type of deed to provoke blackmail, and, more importantly, a certain type of person to attract it."
Like most PI mysteries, setting is a major player. Cambridge, MA, home of Harvard, and Boston play a role as Carlotta navigates around the city. Eventually, it takes her on the road to Maine, and Barnes does a nice job evoking lonely highways and the small-town feel.
"The building smelled musty, like old library books. Sunlight filtered through dusty casement windows on the staircase landing."
What I really enjoy is the writing. Carlotta has a generally grown-up voice, aware of her life experiences and looking at where other people are on the path with a somewhat jaundiced eye.
"Garnowski wasn’t dumb so much as he was lazy. And he wasn’t lazy so much as he didn’t give a shit."
But she doesn't exclude herself from judgement, which is refreshing. Ya gonna judge, you should at least be inclusive.
"It’s easy to misrepresent yourself with someone new. It’s not even lying. You simply don’t mention this error or that lapse. And it’s not really lying, because at that moment you figure you’ll never do anything that stupid again, won’t be that person anymore. You’ll be somebody who’s learned from her mistakes."
There's a twist or two, and I would definitely say it gets a little bit complicated, but I appreciated it. It's not nearly as convoluted as Sara Paretsky, who has absolutely Byzantine plotting.
So, yeah: decent plotting, decent writing, a reasonably intelligent PI, and a general lack of personal life drama made it very palatable and left me wondering why it's been so long since I read any Barnes.
three and a half stars, rounding up
"It takes a certain type of deed to provoke blackmail, and, more importantly, a certain type of person to attract it."
Like most PI mysteries, setting is a major player. Cambridge, MA, home of Harvard, and Boston play a role as Carlotta navigates around the city. Eventually, it takes her on the road to Maine, and Barnes does a nice job evoking lonely highways and the small-town feel.
"The building smelled musty, like old library books. Sunlight filtered through dusty casement windows on the staircase landing."
What I really enjoy is the writing. Carlotta has a generally grown-up voice, aware of her life experiences and looking at where other people are on the path with a somewhat jaundiced eye.
"Garnowski wasn’t dumb so much as he was lazy. And he wasn’t lazy so much as he didn’t give a shit."
But she doesn't exclude herself from judgement, which is refreshing. Ya gonna judge, you should at least be inclusive.
"It’s easy to misrepresent yourself with someone new. It’s not even lying. You simply don’t mention this error or that lapse. And it’s not really lying, because at that moment you figure you’ll never do anything that stupid again, won’t be that person anymore. You’ll be somebody who’s learned from her mistakes."
There's a twist or two, and I would definitely say it gets a little bit complicated, but I appreciated it. It's not nearly as convoluted as Sara Paretsky, who has absolutely Byzantine plotting.
So, yeah: decent plotting, decent writing, a reasonably intelligent PI, and a general lack of personal life drama made it very palatable and left me wondering why it's been so long since I read any Barnes.
three and a half stars, rounding up
April 7, 2018
This is my first reading of a Carlotta Carlyle book and will not be my last. The author has succeeded in presenting a Boston-based female PI with great appeal.
This can most certainly be read as stand alone as enough background information is provided along the way. How it was she morphed from cop to PI.
There is a mystery to be solved, and she does manage to stick it out through all of the challenges, managing to be the "last woman standing."
There is Harvard, pharmaceutical research/competition, con men/women trying to reap the harvest, threat to life for anyone delving into the real players and satisfying challenges of life as a single woman.
A fan after just one action-packed, well paced detective story.
This can most certainly be read as stand alone as enough background information is provided along the way. How it was she morphed from cop to PI.
There is a mystery to be solved, and she does manage to stick it out through all of the challenges, managing to be the "last woman standing."
There is Harvard, pharmaceutical research/competition, con men/women trying to reap the harvest, threat to life for anyone delving into the real players and satisfying challenges of life as a single woman.
A fan after just one action-packed, well paced detective story.
January 14, 2012
This sort of mystery is bread-and-butter to me; I grew up reading them. While I enjoyed it, this one didn't stand out from the crowd for me. Still, I am a Linda Barnes fan and will seek out others.
January 1, 2008
Nowhere near as good as most of the books in this series. Apparently Linda Barnes' editor was on vacation. Worth it for completists; everyone else should probably give it a miss.
October 7, 2020
A good story idea, but too complicated to follow.
December 31, 2009
Fun to read about Boston/Cambridge via a mystery!
June 14, 2024
“Don’t people deserve second chances?” he asked. A good question, I thought. But irrelevant. Who the hell gets what they deserve?
I like this series, not love, but like. It's easy to read and you know what's expected. In the midst of solving a minor mystery Carlotta will always be pulled into a bigger crime and she won't rest until she solves it. She'll mention something about Paolina and sleep with at least one guy. She'll get annoyed with Roz and then ask Roz for help. It's all pretty predictable.
Carlotta is hired by a professor to figure out who is blackmailing him. It involves an affair with a student, a suicide, and, eventually, a murder.
When a case comes down to murder, a professional ought to carry.
Things get a bit dicey for Carlotta in this one and Sam ends up coming to help her. Sam is another (not really) interesting piece of the story.
I am who I am with Sam; no temptation to reinvent myself by leaving out the ugly parts, retelling the tale. It’s easy to misrepresent yourself with someone new. It’s not even lying. You simply don’t mention this error or that lapse. And it’s not really lying, because at that moment you figure you’ll never do anything that stupid again, won’t be that person anymore. You’ll be somebody who’s learned from her mistakes. Sure. Bullshit. Excuse me, but ha.
I seem to be the only one bothered by the fact that he recently caved in to his mob-boss father and agreed to take his place in the Gianelli hierarchy.
I thought the blackmail angle was fun. There hadn't been one of those stories yet.
A well-constructed car, that Toyota. I felt a stab of keen regret, as if I’d survived a fall from a favorite horse, only to be told that the now-lame animal had to be put down.
This quote has nothing to do with anything, but I felt it in my soul. The very first car I bought on my own, after getting a grown-up job, was a Toyota Rav4 and I loved that thing. It was totaled a week after paying it off. I've never loved a car since.
I'll definitely finish reading this series, but I doubt I'll ever return to it again. I do enjoy the fact that it's set in the 80s/90s. Makes it a bit nostalgic.
I’ll take my happily ever after in small doses, thank you. I’ll take it when I can get it. No guarantees, no promises, day to day.
I like this series, not love, but like. It's easy to read and you know what's expected. In the midst of solving a minor mystery Carlotta will always be pulled into a bigger crime and she won't rest until she solves it. She'll mention something about Paolina and sleep with at least one guy. She'll get annoyed with Roz and then ask Roz for help. It's all pretty predictable.
Carlotta is hired by a professor to figure out who is blackmailing him. It involves an affair with a student, a suicide, and, eventually, a murder.
When a case comes down to murder, a professional ought to carry.
Things get a bit dicey for Carlotta in this one and Sam ends up coming to help her. Sam is another (not really) interesting piece of the story.
I am who I am with Sam; no temptation to reinvent myself by leaving out the ugly parts, retelling the tale. It’s easy to misrepresent yourself with someone new. It’s not even lying. You simply don’t mention this error or that lapse. And it’s not really lying, because at that moment you figure you’ll never do anything that stupid again, won’t be that person anymore. You’ll be somebody who’s learned from her mistakes. Sure. Bullshit. Excuse me, but ha.
I seem to be the only one bothered by the fact that he recently caved in to his mob-boss father and agreed to take his place in the Gianelli hierarchy.
I thought the blackmail angle was fun. There hadn't been one of those stories yet.
A well-constructed car, that Toyota. I felt a stab of keen regret, as if I’d survived a fall from a favorite horse, only to be told that the now-lame animal had to be put down.
This quote has nothing to do with anything, but I felt it in my soul. The very first car I bought on my own, after getting a grown-up job, was a Toyota Rav4 and I loved that thing. It was totaled a week after paying it off. I've never loved a car since.
I'll definitely finish reading this series, but I doubt I'll ever return to it again. I do enjoy the fact that it's set in the 80s/90s. Makes it a bit nostalgic.
I’ll take my happily ever after in small doses, thank you. I’ll take it when I can get it. No guarantees, no promises, day to day.
June 8, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In all honesty, something about the plot twist or reveal feels conventional, but I did not see it coming. Or, I was looking for zebras, not horses, but I digress. Regardless, there was suspense, good foreshadowing, and a great build-up, and all characters were well-developed and fleshed out. The main character is well-written and her negative and positive traits balance out realistically. Overall, this book aged well since it's about 20 years old, and putting this book down was difficult.
August 7, 2019
Carlotte gets hired by a Harvard University professor because he is being blackmailed. He had an affair with a student who died in a fire. But she didn't die, she just staged her own death as the Professor was inventing a new drug for ADHD and discovered that people on this drug also lost weight with no apparent side effects.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2022
Linda Barnes continues to provide a high class mystery and is willing to allow her herself to develop all the main characters in the process. My one gripe is the narrator of the audiobook I listened to seemed to be a lot older than the Carlotta Carlyle and lacked the urgency that the novel deserved.
December 29, 2022
Interesting mystery, with relationship woes wound in between. Dead bodies pile up and lots of misleads really had me guessing as to what was going on. There were times I couldn't put the book down. There are references to past books, but this is the first I have read in this series and I didn't feel lost.
March 8, 2024
a mystery way ahead of me
It is gratifying in the extreme to find a mystery able to sustain the mystery to the end of the story. I found I was unable to weasel out the truth before the end, even though each new piece of evidence was given fairly. The author is a clear and original thinker. I highly recommend this book.
It is gratifying in the extreme to find a mystery able to sustain the mystery to the end of the story. I found I was unable to weasel out the truth before the end, even though each new piece of evidence was given fairly. The author is a clear and original thinker. I highly recommend this book.
June 29, 2018
I've not read anything by Linda Barnes before, but she's good! Main character, Carlotta, is a little bit Kinsey Milhone, a little bit Stephanie Plum. Lots of twists and turns in a well developed plot. Very entertaining.
January 6, 2020
This book got closer to what I liked in the earlier books. Welcome back, Sam. The best books in this series include big doses of Roz, Sam, Mooney, Gloria and Paolina.
Deep Pockets dragged a little in places, but the storyline was interesting.
Deep Pockets dragged a little in places, but the storyline was interesting.
January 1, 2022
Far too slow, and literally nothing was at stake until far along in the novel - no risk to Carlotta, only the vaguest of dangers for the guy who hires her. And how in the world did a con artist manage to get into Harvard? This is never even remotely explained and it beggars belief. The scenes with Carlotta and her teenaged "Little Sister" were the strongest, which is the only reason I might read the next in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2018
This was a great story. Love the last few chapter. Keep me wanting to find out the ending.
May 30, 2019
I am enjoying this series very much, while not 5 star read they are comfortable and look forward to reading them to the end.
March 21, 2020
Good read. Predictable.
December 30, 2020
I read most of Linda Barnes' books several years ago. I found this one in the Book Bub ap and had not read it so picked it up. I enjoyed another adventure with Carlotta Carlyle. This series is similar to the Sue Grafton books, entertaining stories, fun to read.
January 30, 2021
GREAT STORYLINE
This book was well written. The storyline flowed smoothly until the end as the facts were uncovered. The characters were all interesting and mostly likable.
This book was well written. The storyline flowed smoothly until the end as the facts were uncovered. The characters were all interesting and mostly likable.
April 24, 2021
These stories hold up!
July 25, 2021
I couldn't finish this boring book! The author drags it on and on with no end in sight. There are too many books actually worth reading!
July 26, 2021
Well worth the read.
September 15, 2021
Solid Boston setting and engaging redhead female PI but rather dated.
Currently reading
April 29, 2023Slow start…first time reading Barnes. Am read reading.
November 6, 2023
reminds me of Sue Grafton who I LOVE. Good read
November 29, 2024
Good multi-faceted intrigue.
January 1, 2025
This is a really good one with lots o f twists and action.
July 20, 2010
Carlotta seems back to her old fun self in this good mystery...
We'll admit that the tall volleyball enthusiast, blues lover, and quirky lady PI (and part-time cabbie) Carlotta Carlyle is one of our favorite characters, having read all previous nine entries in this series. We enjoyed "Pockets" more than Barnes' just prior effort, "The Big Dig", as in that novel our familiar supporting cast were mysteriously all absent. Even Carlotta herself seemed a bit "off her game" though the story itself and her solving of the case concluded a decent enough plot. In this latest novel, our friends "little sister" Paolina, ex-lover Sam Gianelli, new boyfriend Leon, Cab company owner extraordinaire Gloria, and the wild housemate/helper Roz, all combine to add humor and interest to a clever story line that builds suspense as new clues come to light. Plenty of others have summarized the plot, but the gist of it is that a Harvard professor is being blackmailed for sleeping with a student (mostly at her initiative); he hires our Carlotta to see if she can get it stopped. The student commits a fatal arson/suicide; and then later the seeming blackmailer gets run over by the professor's stolen car in a hit and run. Sensing too many coincidences and a probable frame, Carlotta discovers a very interesting twist surfacing from the investigation into the mysterious student's background. Defining the real crimes and finding the real criminals concludes the entertaining tale, while some violence to Carlyle near the end adds to the suspenseful outcome.
Carlotta Carlyle is very much the competent leading lady in the ilk of Sue Grafton and V.I. Warshawski. To us, her endearing qualities and down to earth personality, along with a crew of helpers we have come to know and enjoy, contribute to a feeling that her stories are somewhat like letters home from camp -- while we don't always care exactly what happens, we enjoy hearing from our Linda Barnes friends and family!
We'll admit that the tall volleyball enthusiast, blues lover, and quirky lady PI (and part-time cabbie) Carlotta Carlyle is one of our favorite characters, having read all previous nine entries in this series. We enjoyed "Pockets" more than Barnes' just prior effort, "The Big Dig", as in that novel our familiar supporting cast were mysteriously all absent. Even Carlotta herself seemed a bit "off her game" though the story itself and her solving of the case concluded a decent enough plot. In this latest novel, our friends "little sister" Paolina, ex-lover Sam Gianelli, new boyfriend Leon, Cab company owner extraordinaire Gloria, and the wild housemate/helper Roz, all combine to add humor and interest to a clever story line that builds suspense as new clues come to light. Plenty of others have summarized the plot, but the gist of it is that a Harvard professor is being blackmailed for sleeping with a student (mostly at her initiative); he hires our Carlotta to see if she can get it stopped. The student commits a fatal arson/suicide; and then later the seeming blackmailer gets run over by the professor's stolen car in a hit and run. Sensing too many coincidences and a probable frame, Carlotta discovers a very interesting twist surfacing from the investigation into the mysterious student's background. Defining the real crimes and finding the real criminals concludes the entertaining tale, while some violence to Carlyle near the end adds to the suspenseful outcome.
Carlotta Carlyle is very much the competent leading lady in the ilk of Sue Grafton and V.I. Warshawski. To us, her endearing qualities and down to earth personality, along with a crew of helpers we have come to know and enjoy, contribute to a feeling that her stories are somewhat like letters home from camp -- while we don't always care exactly what happens, we enjoy hearing from our Linda Barnes friends and family!
December 1, 2007
I am baffled as to why Linda Barnes is not at the top of every mystery lover's list. Her character, Carlotta Carlyle, is like a blend of Kinsey Millhone and Stephanie Plum -- she's got chutzpah when it's needed, but there are some soft edges to her, too. Barnes' stories are impeccably plotted with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end. And her writing is smooth and fresh.
"Deep Pockets," the tenth in the series, is as complete a mystery package as anyone could hope for. All the quirky characters from previous novels (Leroy, Paolina, Sam, Roz, and more) make their appearances, and we get to see Carlotta continue to wrestle with her never-ending attraction to Sam. The relationship between Carlotta and her adopted little sister, Paolina, also matures. I appreciate how Barnes keeps these relationships growing and changing instead of letting them stagnate as mere backdrops to the storyline.
If you like Grafton, Paretsky, Muller, or Dunlap, try Barnes. You'll love her.
"Deep Pockets," the tenth in the series, is as complete a mystery package as anyone could hope for. All the quirky characters from previous novels (Leroy, Paolina, Sam, Roz, and more) make their appearances, and we get to see Carlotta continue to wrestle with her never-ending attraction to Sam. The relationship between Carlotta and her adopted little sister, Paolina, also matures. I appreciate how Barnes keeps these relationships growing and changing instead of letting them stagnate as mere backdrops to the storyline.
If you like Grafton, Paretsky, Muller, or Dunlap, try Barnes. You'll love her.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews