BLINDMAN'S BLUFF & HANGMAN.

BLINDMAN'S BLUFF and HANGMAN by FAYE KELLERMAN.

Books 18 and 19 in the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series. Whilst each of the books deals with a separate case I strongly recommend that they be read in order (whilst I read books 1 to 15 pre-Pen and Paper my reviews of books 16 and 17 can be found here) as as well as the crimes themselves the books predictably follow family life in the Decker/Lazarus household, the earlier ones in particular dealing with Peter's journey into orthodox Judaism after he discovers his birth parents were Jewish.

SOURCE: Purchased from amazon.co.uk

THE BOOK: Details here.

FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter 1}: Ah, fantasy: the stuff of life.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 95}: "It helps to know as much about the victims as you can find out." Decker pressed the elevator down button. "They say dead men don't talk, but if you listen carefully, they sure as hell do."

MY THOUGHTS: Still not quite on track after what I felt was the somewhat disappointing Cold Case (Book 17 in the series). 

Whilst there is much to recommend Blindman's Bluff - Rina, their daughter (Hannah) and extended family members played more of a part, there was more of the Jewish element (I loved the baking of the challah bread) and the inclusion of a blind man (a potential witness Rina meets whilst doing Jury Service) tied in nicely adding an interesting aspect to the plot - I'm afraid the crime aspect of the novel was mediocre.

Way too many characters - made even more confusing by the fact that someone in the billionaire Kaffey family was obviously partial to names beginning with the letter G - the list of suspects with criminal records and/or gang connections (gangbangers, which by the way means a whole other thing in England, play a huge part) seemed never ending, the plot itself convoluted.

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SOURCE: A Christmas present.

THE BOOK: Details here.

FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter One}: The pictures had photographed her swollen, battered, and bruised - puffy lips, two black eyes, a bloated and bright face.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 166}: "That's a good idea," Marge said. "People are always exposing themselves metaphorically. These days privacy is as quaint as a Victorian swoon."

MY THOUGHTS: 'Brutal' claims the front cover. Whilst this is certainly one of the more graphic of the books as far as violence goes it still has quite a way to go to be what I'd describe as brutal.

A Decker & Lazarus novel that has it all - a good thriller, plenty of Pete, Rina and co. plus we get to see the return of some characters visited in previous books. With Hangman the author is back on form though it saddens to me think that having celebrated his 60th birthday the 'Loo' may well be nearing retirement and thus the end of the series (?) although as far as I know there are at least another 3 books to go.

Intertwining a murder (or two or three) mystery with the mystery of a missing person. The novel takes an interesting turn with the inclusion of Pete and Rina's unexpected house guest, Gabe, the 14 year old piano playing prodigy son of hitman Chris Donatti and, the aforementioned missing person, Terry McLaughlin who we first met (if my memory serves correctly) in Justice (Book 7) and then again in Stone Kiss (Book 14).