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Carlotta Carlyle #3
Coyote
When a mysterious woman asks Carlotta to help locate her missing immigration card, it looks to be a pretty straightforward assignment. That is, until the lady disappears, and the card turns up in the possession of another woman...who just happens to be dead. Suddenly the case is far too intriguing for Carlotta to drop-and when her investigation indicates that her client was somehow connected to her inner-city "little sister" Paolina, Carlotta's got an even bigger stake in seeing it through. Alongside a handsome immigration agent with some secrets of his own, she follows her leads into the treacherous underground world of illegal aliens and those who mercilessly prey upon them. It's a lawless, dangerous territory: a place where the only thing Carlotta can rely on is her own wits, and where nothing-from innocence to life itself-is sacred...
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
About the author
Linda Barnes
67 books225 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 61 reviews
January 29, 2025
“ it’s not that I despise protective gestures; it’s just that they infringe on my freedom. Maybe what I’m insisting on here is the right to get mugged at night in a bad neighborhood, but what the hell, it’s my call.”
July 27, 2012
Another piece of the puzzle is put together as more is revealed about Carlotta Carlyle’s intriguing world while reading this 3rd book in the series, especially about her little sister Paolina (from the Big Sisters program). Carlotta takes her responsibility towards her little “sister” very seriously. She has been a big sister to Paolina since the little girl was 7 and has spent a lot of time with her, trying to teach her self-worth, taking her out to various educational and fun activities, trying to let her see things beyond her own little world, also teaching her that women can fend for themselves something Paolina’s own mother Marta, coming from her very traditional Latino world isn’t teaching her daughter.
But first of all, let’s not forget that Carlotta is an investigator, and this time the case begins when a young immigrant woman comes to Carlotta and asks for her help in recovering a green card which she claims is hers and which was found on a woman who was brutally murdered. When Carlotta begins investigating, she becomes embroiled with Immigration officials, drug lords, and so-called "coyotes" who make a profit from people who are desperate to enter the U.S. She senses that Paolina is somehow involved and this puts up a wall between Paolina, her mother, and Carlotta. Adding a little spice is the handsome young INS man who flirts with Carlotta and tempts her to betray Sam, who is on a trip abroad. This wasn’t perhaps the best plot I read, but it’s good enough and I liked it.
Carlotta Carlyle is certainly one of my favorite female investigators (private or otherwise). Her world, her friends, her relatives are quite unconventional and interesting. I especially like Mooney, her friend and ex-colleague cop. I like it that they still work together and help each other. Carlotta is a tall, red-headed, wisecracking, volleyball-playing private investigator who drives a cab on the side, and I really like her sense of loyalty, devotion and honour.
But first of all, let’s not forget that Carlotta is an investigator, and this time the case begins when a young immigrant woman comes to Carlotta and asks for her help in recovering a green card which she claims is hers and which was found on a woman who was brutally murdered. When Carlotta begins investigating, she becomes embroiled with Immigration officials, drug lords, and so-called "coyotes" who make a profit from people who are desperate to enter the U.S. She senses that Paolina is somehow involved and this puts up a wall between Paolina, her mother, and Carlotta. Adding a little spice is the handsome young INS man who flirts with Carlotta and tempts her to betray Sam, who is on a trip abroad. This wasn’t perhaps the best plot I read, but it’s good enough and I liked it.
Carlotta Carlyle is certainly one of my favorite female investigators (private or otherwise). Her world, her friends, her relatives are quite unconventional and interesting. I especially like Mooney, her friend and ex-colleague cop. I like it that they still work together and help each other. Carlotta is a tall, red-headed, wisecracking, volleyball-playing private investigator who drives a cab on the side, and I really like her sense of loyalty, devotion and honour.
October 9, 2019
Now that I’ve read three of the first books in this series, I’ve requested two more from the library. Written in the late 1980s, This one is as current as if it had been written yesterday. About coyotes - not the animal that runs wild, but the animal that runs people across the border into our country. People so desperate yet innocent as the ten year old in this story. Good plot with characters you seem to know.
June 9, 2020
I'm a massive Linda Barnes fan and re-reading her Carlotta Carlyle stories again has been a joy. I still don't know why they are not seen at the same level as Sue Grafton as the audiobooks appear to be more difficult to find in the UK. This third book brings out Carlotta's relationship with her 10-year-old 'little sister' Paolina, as she is paid to investigate an illegal immigration scam which leads to murder. The Coyote in the title is the handler who brings imigrants to the USA so they are forced to work in low paid sweat shops. The book is totally engrossing and frightenly real and will keep the reader engrossed until the final page.
March 16, 2017
A new favorite detective series
This book has Interesting believable characters, an atmospheric Boston setting and a thoughtful storyline about South American immigrants. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This book has Interesting believable characters, an atmospheric Boston setting and a thoughtful storyline about South American immigrants. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
September 15, 2020
This entry in the Carlotta Carlysle series is a bit slower and there's a plot twist that you can see coming about a mile down the road. I'll continue the series, though, because the regular characters are interesting and compelling.
May 18, 2017
I like her Carlotta series, and she's a savvy detective and she drives a cab when money is tight.
May 3, 2021
Carlotta gets drawn into a case involving illegal aliens and a serial killer. Moves quickly. Quite enjoyable (for a murder mystery, of course).
June 16, 2021
Been about 20 years since I read a Carlotta Carlyle mystery. It felt comfortable going back in. Very well plotted.
September 28, 2021
Third in series.
February 20, 2026
A solid entry in Linda Barnes' series about six-foot-one, red-headed private eye and part-time Boston cabbie Carlotta Carlyle, although you'll be able to spot the killer a mile away.
Carlotta is contacted at her house by a Hispanic woman who says her name is Manuela and she lost her green card and now the cops have it and she wants it back. How did the cops get it? It was found on the body of a dead woman who's been murdered and her hands cut off. Before long, Manuela is dead too, and in the same particularly gruesome manner. Turns out there are other victims, too.
Carlotta takes Manuela's $500 and starts to dig into the subculture of undocumented immigrants. Although this book came out in 1990, it takes on added significance now with the ongoing (and mostly illegal) immigration crackdown that's been targeting anyone with Black or brown skin, regardless of their criminal record or whether they're citizens or not.
We get glimpses of how the immigrant women live and work, and it's none too pleasant. Neither are the men taking advantage of them and one INS agent who's pursuing the case. Fortunately for Carlotta, her cop pal (who'd like to be more) Mooney is involved as well. She also meets and is attracted to another, smoother INS agent.
In the end, the trail leads back to Carlotta's "Big Sister-Little Sister" pal Paola, who's put in jeopardy by the killer, which leads to an exciting scene in a train station at the climax of the plot. Paola turns out to be suffering an identity crisis because of something she wasn't supposed to hear, and Carlotta does a fine job of advising her about the problem. In a way, that quiet scene is the best in the book. The half Irish half Jewish Carlotta is definitely a mensch, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
Carlotta is contacted at her house by a Hispanic woman who says her name is Manuela and she lost her green card and now the cops have it and she wants it back. How did the cops get it? It was found on the body of a dead woman who's been murdered and her hands cut off. Before long, Manuela is dead too, and in the same particularly gruesome manner. Turns out there are other victims, too.
Carlotta takes Manuela's $500 and starts to dig into the subculture of undocumented immigrants. Although this book came out in 1990, it takes on added significance now with the ongoing (and mostly illegal) immigration crackdown that's been targeting anyone with Black or brown skin, regardless of their criminal record or whether they're citizens or not.
We get glimpses of how the immigrant women live and work, and it's none too pleasant. Neither are the men taking advantage of them and one INS agent who's pursuing the case. Fortunately for Carlotta, her cop pal (who'd like to be more) Mooney is involved as well. She also meets and is attracted to another, smoother INS agent.
In the end, the trail leads back to Carlotta's "Big Sister-Little Sister" pal Paola, who's put in jeopardy by the killer, which leads to an exciting scene in a train station at the climax of the plot. Paola turns out to be suffering an identity crisis because of something she wasn't supposed to hear, and Carlotta does a fine job of advising her about the problem. In a way, that quiet scene is the best in the book. The half Irish half Jewish Carlotta is definitely a mensch, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
December 26, 2023
I liked this book better than the first two. It was also the first book where I didn't find Paulina completely annoying, and that's because this is the first book she actually became a real character. We get to know her, her mom, and her background. That's so much more interesting then just hearing Carlotta say "Paulina is my little sister and I'd murder for her" over and over and over again.
An illegal immigrant comes to Carlotta asking for help. The woman is scared and doesn't want the police involved. Unfortunately, that isn't going to be an option because the woman ends up murdered, along with several other immigrant women. The murders are brutal and horrible. Carlotta knows she shouldn't get involved, but she can't help herself. She also has no idea why the woman came to her in the first place.
There is also some personal trouble brewing, Paulina has run away. It takes everything Carlotta has not to panic.
Another reason I liked this book better - no Sam. He's off in Italy doing mob stuff, or something. I'm wondering if there will be a book about Sam, like there was about Paulina. Maybe I'll like him better.
Overall there was just a lot less annoying stuff in this book. It was more polished and flowed easier. Hoping book 4 will be even better!
An illegal immigrant comes to Carlotta asking for help. The woman is scared and doesn't want the police involved. Unfortunately, that isn't going to be an option because the woman ends up murdered, along with several other immigrant women. The murders are brutal and horrible. Carlotta knows she shouldn't get involved, but she can't help herself. She also has no idea why the woman came to her in the first place.
There is also some personal trouble brewing, Paulina has run away. It takes everything Carlotta has not to panic.
Another reason I liked this book better - no Sam. He's off in Italy doing mob stuff, or something. I'm wondering if there will be a book about Sam, like there was about Paulina. Maybe I'll like him better.
Overall there was just a lot less annoying stuff in this book. It was more polished and flowed easier. Hoping book 4 will be even better!
October 16, 2018
The book was very disappointing. The main reason is that Carlotta is basically doing nothing special to solve the mystery, she just happens to be there and everything is coming magically to her.
Without spoiling much, let's just mention that someone calls her to tell her where a crime is happening, then someone indicates to her a factory where she should go, and even the murderer calls her to explain everything from A to Z at the end of the book.
Forget about the the nice deductions from a Sherlock Holmes or a Poirot, with an ending where things are cleverly explained, and where little details from the book suddenly make sense. Here we don't feel that Carlotta has any special talent, unfortunately.
The second reason is that the style of writing is very casual, in the sense that every few lines there is a comment that sounds like random coffee machine discussions. It's sometimes kind of funny, but a lot of times not.
So in the end, I'm miles away from the feelings I had when reading Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, James Ellroy..
Without spoiling much, let's just mention that someone calls her to tell her where a crime is happening, then someone indicates to her a factory where she should go, and even the murderer calls her to explain everything from A to Z at the end of the book.
Forget about the the nice deductions from a Sherlock Holmes or a Poirot, with an ending where things are cleverly explained, and where little details from the book suddenly make sense. Here we don't feel that Carlotta has any special talent, unfortunately.
The second reason is that the style of writing is very casual, in the sense that every few lines there is a comment that sounds like random coffee machine discussions. It's sometimes kind of funny, but a lot of times not.
So in the end, I'm miles away from the feelings I had when reading Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, James Ellroy..
July 19, 2023
Among the ranks (now copious) of so-called hard-boiled female private eyes, one of my favourites is Carlotta Carlyle, the tall, flaming-haired, blues guitar playing protagonist of Linda Barnes’s books. Formerly a cop, she is now an independent investigator, although she supplements the irregular income that that yields by occasional shifts as a cab driver in her native Boston.
This book opens with a prospective client meeting her and, in broken English, pleads with her to investigate the death of a woman found murdered a few days ago. It seems that the dead woman had had the client’s green card. Meanwhile, the police find themselves roped in to help a major operation launched by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), whose agents believe they have uncovered a new conduit for smuggling illegal migrants into the city.
This would really be a rather humdrum, journeyman novel without Caroltta, but she is such a vibrant and empathetic character that my attention was caught and held, and I am keen to reader further volumes.
This book opens with a prospective client meeting her and, in broken English, pleads with her to investigate the death of a woman found murdered a few days ago. It seems that the dead woman had had the client’s green card. Meanwhile, the police find themselves roped in to help a major operation launched by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS), whose agents believe they have uncovered a new conduit for smuggling illegal migrants into the city.
This would really be a rather humdrum, journeyman novel without Caroltta, but she is such a vibrant and empathetic character that my attention was caught and held, and I am keen to reader further volumes.
March 4, 2026
It was nice to be back with Carlotta in Boston, driving cab and private investigating as usual.
No one is telling her the truth about a woman who came to her for help getting her green card back from a recently killed victim. Even Marta and Paolina keep lying to her.
Several more women's bodies are found and there is involvement with INS agents. Carlotta relies on her police contacts to follow their official investigation and do some investigating on her own.
Someone is bringing workers from Texas and killing them when they learn too much about those involved.
A quick read and a satisfying resolution.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
No one is telling her the truth about a woman who came to her for help getting her green card back from a recently killed victim. Even Marta and Paolina keep lying to her.
Several more women's bodies are found and there is involvement with INS agents. Carlotta relies on her police contacts to follow their official investigation and do some investigating on her own.
Someone is bringing workers from Texas and killing them when they learn too much about those involved.
A quick read and a satisfying resolution.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2017
Here the title 'Coyote' has to do with a conductor for illegal immigrants rather than being a clue that the book is set in the US southwest.
In fact it is set in Massachesetts, where a PI and part time cabbie gets sucked into the desperate world of preyed-upon illegal aliens.
A well done, very readable book.
In fact it is set in Massachesetts, where a PI and part time cabbie gets sucked into the desperate world of preyed-upon illegal aliens.
A well done, very readable book.
February 26, 2020
Enjoyable series!
April 9, 2022
2,7*
Tựa tiếng Việt: Nhân chứng bảy tuổi
NXB Công an Nhân dân
Tựa tiếng Việt: Nhân chứng bảy tuổi
NXB Công an Nhân dân
February 21, 2023
Just a superb page-turner of a detective novel.
June 1, 2023
Good characters, good narrator but not her best plot as the bad guy was fairly obvious. Really 3.5 *
October 17, 2023
A little draggy, but not horrible and I like the characters more. I’m not ready to give up on the series yet. 2.5 stars.
September 10, 2025
Short read
September 1, 2009
#3 Carlotta Carlyle mystery featuring the PI and sometime-cabbie in Boston, MA. A young Spanish-speaking woman, possibly an illegal from some Central American country, comes to Carlotta as a walk-in client. She has with her one of Carlotta's business cards and a newspaper, pointing to an article about a dead woman named Manuela Estefan. The woman claims in halting Spanish that the dead person isn't Manuela Estefan--SHE is, and the woman had her green card. She wants Carlotta to get it back without involving the police, and she seems decidedly afraid. When Carlotta leaves the room briefly, the woman disappears, leaving behind an envelope with five crisp hundred-dollar bills behind, but no way to contact her. She turns up dead a couple of days later, much the same way the original woman was killed--with her hands cut off!
Tackling a big social issue of essentially slavery of illegals for cheap labor, this book tells the story of how a "coyote" operates, helping get people to the country and then basically using them for whatever they want to. Meanwhile, Carlotta's "little sister" Paolina--her sister from the Big Sisters program--has returned from Columbia with her mother, where she's been visiting for several weeks. Paolina, now almost eleven, seems changed--she's started back-talking, skipping school, and where the relatively happy and enthusiastic girl had been is a dejected, sullen one and she won't talk to Carlotta about it or explain why. Paolina's behavior and the murder investigation ultimately end up tied together.
I didn't figure out the bad guy in this one til very near the end, and I've enjoyed getting to know Carlotta a little better with each book in the series. This was the first one I'd read in print (I listened to the others in audio) and liked the smooth, easy-reading style just as much as I enjoyed listening to the others.
Tackling a big social issue of essentially slavery of illegals for cheap labor, this book tells the story of how a "coyote" operates, helping get people to the country and then basically using them for whatever they want to. Meanwhile, Carlotta's "little sister" Paolina--her sister from the Big Sisters program--has returned from Columbia with her mother, where she's been visiting for several weeks. Paolina, now almost eleven, seems changed--she's started back-talking, skipping school, and where the relatively happy and enthusiastic girl had been is a dejected, sullen one and she won't talk to Carlotta about it or explain why. Paolina's behavior and the murder investigation ultimately end up tied together.
I didn't figure out the bad guy in this one til very near the end, and I've enjoyed getting to know Carlotta a little better with each book in the series. This was the first one I'd read in print (I listened to the others in audio) and liked the smooth, easy-reading style just as much as I enjoyed listening to the others.
May 30, 2016
#3 in the Carlotta Carlyle series.
Carlotta Carlyle series - the ex-cop and sometime cab-driver prowls overcrowded apartments where illegal aliens rest--and sometimes find their final resting places--after their ill-paid labors. Carlotta's latest case is neatly tied in with her sensitively depicted relationship with Paolina, a child she has befriended through the Big Sister program who has led a troubled alien, Manuela Estafan, to Carlotta. But when Manuela disappears and her I.D. is found on the mutilated body of a murder victim, Carlotta's investigations--running parallel to work done by her cop-friend Mooney--reveal the work of a ``coyote''--one who exploits illegal aliens. The case also teaches Carlotta a surprising lesson: much like male private eyes of yore, Carlotta looks at the opposite sex in sexually stereotyped terms. When her libido overcomes her better judgment she makes an error that could prove fatal.
Carlotta Carlyle series - the ex-cop and sometime cab-driver prowls overcrowded apartments where illegal aliens rest--and sometimes find their final resting places--after their ill-paid labors. Carlotta's latest case is neatly tied in with her sensitively depicted relationship with Paolina, a child she has befriended through the Big Sister program who has led a troubled alien, Manuela Estafan, to Carlotta. But when Manuela disappears and her I.D. is found on the mutilated body of a murder victim, Carlotta's investigations--running parallel to work done by her cop-friend Mooney--reveal the work of a ``coyote''--one who exploits illegal aliens. The case also teaches Carlotta a surprising lesson: much like male private eyes of yore, Carlotta looks at the opposite sex in sexually stereotyped terms. When her libido overcomes her better judgment she makes an error that could prove fatal.
September 28, 2011
I bought this book several years ago, was attracted by the description on the back side and the comments of literary journalists.
The back side said it was a 'quick, well written story'. The subject: detectives, immigrants, murder. But nevertheless the story didn't catch me. I found Carlotta Carlyle, the main character, a detective, very annoying, chaotic, not a character that I found anything in common with.
I gave it a try, and a second read, but now I got to page 89 I decided to stop reading and send out the book via bookcrossing. I hope it'll find someone who likes it better than me.
The back side said it was a 'quick, well written story'. The subject: detectives, immigrants, murder. But nevertheless the story didn't catch me. I found Carlotta Carlyle, the main character, a detective, very annoying, chaotic, not a character that I found anything in common with.
I gave it a try, and a second read, but now I got to page 89 I decided to stop reading and send out the book via bookcrossing. I hope it'll find someone who likes it better than me.
January 19, 2009
PROTAGONIST: Carlotta Carlyle, cab driver and PI
SETTING: Boston
SERIES: book #3
RATING: 3.0
I like the protagonist in this series, but sometimes struggle with the secondary characters. The plot in this one has to do with illegal immigration. A large part of the book deals with the problems of Carlotta's Little Sister, Paolina. I'm not overly fond of this relationship. The plot is average.
SETTING: Boston
SERIES: book #3
RATING: 3.0
I like the protagonist in this series, but sometimes struggle with the secondary characters. The plot in this one has to do with illegal immigration. A large part of the book deals with the problems of Carlotta's Little Sister, Paolina. I'm not overly fond of this relationship. The plot is average.
September 10, 2013
Illegal immigration is such an icky, hot-button, no win issue. Green cards and using illegal workers were the focus of Coyote by Linda Barnes, and these issues touched the people close to PI Carlotta Carlisle. I did not enjoy this 3rd book in the series because of the subject matter. I also think I wasn't in a hard-boiled mystery mood. I would continue reading this series at a later time as I still like the characters, even when the subject matter is uncomfortable.
July 7, 2014
This is the 3rd book in the Carlotta Carlyle series. I am really enjoying these books. Carlotta is my summer book companion this year. The setting of the book was the late 80s but the immigration issues are still relevant today. It is funny to have a detective running around without a cell phone and using a dial up computer connect and only having access to AOL but the stories are compelling and the characters engaging.
July 4, 2015
Finished rereading 09/29/2011. Carlotta wonders why her "little sister" Paolina is so distant after her return from her mothers visit to Columbia for her Marta's father's funeral. C.C. is hired to find an immigrant's green card after a murder. She becomes involved with an investigation into illegals working in a local sweat shop and four murders of these women. She with the help of Mooney finds that all the trouble turns around a rogue INS agent.
October 20, 2008
When you find a new mystery writer, or, rather, randomly pluck one from the infinite sea of mystery writers, there's a favorable glow glossing over their work. Unless they get better, though, you will lose interest the longer the series goes. Book three is a good one to bet on--the first caught your attention. The second was probably much like the first. The third is where they will take chances.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews