Book Review: The Deadhouse

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Deadhouse     Amazon US PB Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada PB
Linda Fairstein
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Hard Boiled
Series: Alexandra Cooper # 4
Scribner, Sept 2001, $25.00, 414 pp.

When Professor Lola Dakota finally had enough of her husband’s abuse she agreed to work with the New Jersey District Attorney’s office to put him behind bars. They set up a sting operation using undercover police officers masquerading as hitman. When they show Lola’s husband Ivan on a videotape of them "killing" her, he pays them their fee. The police arrest him.

Unfortunately, later that day Lola’s body is found in the elevator shaft of her Manhattan apartment building. The police declare it a homicide. Alex Cooper, New York’s assistant district attorney is handling this homicide in conjunction with the police. With so many suspects and so little hard evidence, Alex has to work doubly hard to solve the case while avoid getting killed by some people who want to see her dead.

THE DEADHOUSE shows how the district attorney’s office and the police department work closely together while trying to find the perpetrator of a homicide. Familiar characters from previous books in this series give the audience a feeling of being reunited with dear and cherished friends. Linda Fairstein is a talented writer who sets up a story line with so many twists and red herrings that the reader won’t be able to rest until they find out who the culprit is.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner