Another excellent NYC detective Sigrid Harald mystery. This one involves Cribbage. It's interesting to read a story written before cell phones and much use of computers. Always well written and smart.
well-developed mystery, interesting recurring characters, good series but each book also stands alone.
Great Read............
Fourth in the Sigrid Harald series. Lt Harald's partner, Detective Tildon, was participating in a cribbage tournament in a posh hotel in New York when a bomb explodes at his table. Two are killed; Tildon along with his opponent, a Navy commander, are gravely wounded. Harald, despite a stab wound she incurred breaking up a kidnapping attempt, is determined to work the case herself. It's a nice classic whodunit that also builds up details of Harald's personal life, her friends and family. Set in the mid 80s, there's more emphasis on investigative footwork than forensics plus we get a lot of cribbage trivia. Maron starts off the book with short POV chapters from most of the involved characters and gives us a lot of potential suspects. I did figure out the villain about 3/4 of the way through, with what seemed like a really obvious clue, so perhaps Maron meant it to be that way. I like how she's slowly giving Harald more of an emotional life, with her housemate Roman and SO Nauman (I've read the series before, so I know what's coming up too) and I thought the whole jealousy thing with the Navy officer and Nauman was pretty funny. I found myself wanting more exploration of Commander TJ and her niece although it wasn't germane to the story. A nice entry to the series. A new reader could start here, it stands on its own very well.
This book is the fourth in the Sigrid Harald series that Margaret Maron began writing before her very popular Deborah Knott series.
It takes place in New York City and features the quirky but brilliant homicide detective Sigrid Harald. I truly enjoyed the book when I read it in the 1990s and, having just re-read it, enjoyed it just as much although, of course, technology is outdated as are some other aspects of procedures and the city of itself. Still, Sigrid is a strong character and the mysteries involved are well constructed and not predictable. I highly recommend this book and the series.
Plus! I read that Maron is now going to treat us with a new Sigrid Harald book now that she's retired Deborah Knott.
It takes place in New York City and features the quirky but brilliant homicide detective Sigrid Harald. I truly enjoyed the book when I read it in the 1990s and, having just re-read it, enjoyed it just as much although, of course, technology is outdated as are some other aspects of procedures and the city of itself. Still, Sigrid is a strong character and the mysteries involved are well constructed and not predictable. I highly recommend this book and the series.
Plus! I read that Maron is now going to treat us with a new Sigrid Harald book now that she's retired Deborah Knott.
