Rating: 
Summary: Susan Mystery Fan
Review: A great read. Her previous series (Christine Bennett, former nun) was getting a little tired, but with this novel she proves to be a great and versatile writer.
Rating:
Summary: exciting, stimulating gritty urban noir police procedural
Review: After almost twenty years in the New York City Police Department, Detective Jane Bauer is near retirement and ready to start a cushy job in an insurance company. Her last three months will be spent on the newly formed cold case task force. She is assigned the case of Arlan Quill, who was killed in the entranceway of his apartment building. When she goes to talk to some of Quill's neighbor, she learns that every tenant who lived in the building while Quill resided there is gone.Nobody leaves a rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan and further investigation shows that all the former tenants except one are dead and circumstances taken as a whole make it look like wholesale contract killings. Jane traces the last tenant to Omaha where she learns that he is scared for his life. Shortly afterward, he is beaten with in an inch of his life, which means there is a mole in the department who had Jane followed to her witness. When Jane returns home, she traces the killer to one of his lairs and almost loses her life in the process. Lee Bennett, the author of the cozy Christine Bennett mysteries, has written an exciting, stimulating gritty urban noir police procedural that displays the wide range of the author's talent. The heroine is a three dimensional character whose personal life shows she is a caring person while as a cop she is a dedicated pro who goes all out even with her career winding down. The plot is fast paced with never a dull moment but the heart of MURDER IN HELL'S KITCHEN are the men and women in blue who risk their lives to keep the streets safe. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: exciting, stimulating gritty urban noir police procedural
Review: After almost twenty years in the New York City Police Department, Detective Jane Bauer is near retirement and ready to start a cushy job in an insurance company. Her last three months will be spent on the newly formed cold case task force. She is assigned the case of Arlan Quill, who was killed in the entranceway of his apartment building. When she goes to talk to some of Quill's neighbor, she learns that every tenant who lived in the building while Quill resided there is gone. Nobody leaves a rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan and further investigation shows that all the former tenants except one are dead and circumstances taken as a whole make it look like wholesale contract killings. Jane traces the last tenant to Omaha where she learns that he is scared for his life. Shortly afterward, he is beaten with in an inch of his life, which means there is a mole in the department who had Jane followed to her witness. When Jane returns home, she traces the killer to one of his lairs and almost loses her life in the process. Lee Bennett, the author of the cozy Christine Bennett mysteries, has written an exciting, stimulating gritty urban noir police procedural that displays the wide range of the author's talent. The heroine is a three dimensional character whose personal life shows she is a caring person while as a cop she is a dedicated pro who goes all out even with her career winding down. The plot is fast paced with never a dull moment but the heart of MURDER IN HELL'S KITCHEN are the men and women in blue who risk their lives to keep the streets safe. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A new series by a great mystery author
Review: Detective Jane Bauer is pulled of what she believes to be the case of her career to work with a special unit tackling unsolved crimes. She is planning to leave the NYPD soon for a desk job with an insurance company. Her new partners are Gordon Defino and Sean MacHovec. It is soon evident that MacHovec prefers to stay in and work the phones. Defino and Jane do the legwork. They were to re-investigate the death of Arlen Quill. Quill had been found stabbed to death in the entry of his apartment building. When they begin investigating, they find that everyone has moved from the apartment building. Considering that it is a rent-controlled building, this alone is suspicious. Then they find out that there were other deaths that in and of themselves were not suspicious but when you put them all together, they were. On top of all this, Jane is going through some changes in her life. Recently she split up with Hack. He's married and his daughter was getting suspicious. And she's moving into a new apartment. Then the letter arrives and complicates her life even more. She ends up going to Omaha to try to find one of the former tenants who might have much needed information. From that trip, she is concerned that she was followed. The case takes on a different tempo. She ends up putting herself in danger in her attempts to solve it. I really like Jane. She is a complex character but yet she is human. New York is always a great setting for a mystery with a detective for the protagonist. The plot takes many twists and turns before everything is discovered. It is very well written. I have always enjoyed Lee Harris' other series starring ex-nun Christine Bennett. The two series are very different and I think that is a good thing. I highly recommend this new series and cannot wait for the next book to be published.
Rating:
Summary: A new series by a great mystery author
Review: Detective Jane Bauer is pulled of what she believes to be the case of her career to work with a special unit tackling unsolved crimes. She is planning to leave the NYPD soon for a desk job with an insurance company. Her new partners are Gordon Defino and Sean MacHovec. It is soon evident that MacHovec prefers to stay in and work the phones. Defino and Jane do the legwork. They were to re-investigate the death of Arlen Quill. Quill had been found stabbed to death in the entry of his apartment building. When they begin investigating, they find that everyone has moved from the apartment building. Considering that it is a rent-controlled building, this alone is suspicious. Then they find out that there were other deaths that in and of themselves were not suspicious but when you put them all together, they were. On top of all this, Jane is going through some changes in her life. Recently she split up with Hack. He's married and his daughter was getting suspicious. And she's moving into a new apartment. Then the letter arrives and complicates her life even more. She ends up going to Omaha to try to find one of the former tenants who might have much needed information. From that trip, she is concerned that she was followed. The case takes on a different tempo. She ends up putting herself in danger in her attempts to solve it. I really like Jane. She is a complex character but yet she is human. New York is always a great setting for a mystery with a detective for the protagonist. The plot takes many twists and turns before everything is discovered. It is very well written. I have always enjoyed Lee Harris' other series starring ex-nun Christine Bennett. The two series are very different and I think that is a good thing. I highly recommend this new series and cannot wait for the next book to be published.
Rating:
Summary: This is a GREAT book!
Review: I read a lot of mystery books. And most of them are about women and/or by women. And I've read all of the Lee Harris Christine Bennett books. But this book is the best mystery I've read in a long, long time! And nothing against the Bennett books but this one is a cut way above them. It is much more than a police procedural - but it is that, too. Great and evolving characters, good mystery - if this is the beginning of a series, I can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: This is a GREAT book!
Review: I read a lot of mystery books. And most of them are about women and/or by women. And I've read all of the Lee Harris Christine Bennett books. But this book is the best mystery I've read in a long, long time! And nothing against the Bennett books but this one is a cut way above them. It is much more than a police procedural - but it is that, too. Great and evolving characters, good mystery - if this is the beginning of a series, I can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent New Series!
Review: I was very pleased with this new series from Lee Harris, since I felt the Christine Bennett series had gotten stale and silly about three books ago. Jane is a very likeable character, as is the entire supporting cast. I was a bit put off by the violence towards the end of the book, but I also realized it was necessary to the storyline. The whole thing wrapped up nicely, and it was a book I read at night until I fell asleep with it in my hand. I look forward to Jane's next adventure.
Rating:
Summary: A new female detective
Review: I will admit I bought this book thinking it was another Christine Bennet book, which I had been waiting for. I have read all Ms. Harris' chapters in the life of that interesting woman. But I had only read three pages before I became lost in the world of Jane Bauer, a new and thoroughly likeable new heroine. This is not a bloody book, not a violent book, although people do die. But I like Jane (with maybe a reservation or two about her romance with a married man, although I'm sure this part is rather true to life) and I like Ms. Harris' writing style. You enter Jane's world and you could be walking right along beside her. You wll enjoy the journey and you won't have nightmares at night. A most enjoyable read that leaves you wanting to know how Jane will resolve her personal issues and what twists and turns her professional life will take. I'm ready for another episode in the life of this likeable policewoman.
Rating:
Summary: Romantic story
Review: The five stars are granted for reason that this is not only an excellent procedural but a romantic story. The romance snaps into place at the end. I won't disclose the details. Jane Bauer is concerned with something known as the City Hall Park case. She is taken off that case and put on a task force to solve old homicides. It seems to Jane that the initial session is all hype and cheer-leading. She wonders if other groups got more promising cases. Her team's case is set in a rent-controlled building. Four and a half years later all of the former tenants have moved. Such attrition is unusual. It is a truism that a detective never loses interest in his old cases. Jane talked to Bracken, the investigating officer, about their case, termed the Quill case. It turns out that suspicious circumstances followed other in habitants of Quill's building. Jane had grown to love her job in the police force. Retiring from it could be a problem for her. She is to move to a new expensive apartment and is slated to start a new job as an insurance investigator. She likes the havoc below 14th Street. Most of the people in Quill's building had been sad older people, but not Jerry Hutchins. One of the original investigators thought that he did not fit. She flew to Omaha to pursue the investigation. She was in search of Hutchins. The officer assisting Jane in Omaha is injured. A badly beaten Hutchins is located, eventually. Obviously someone in New York City knew that the trail of the case had shifted to Nebraska. A child Jane gave up for adoption surfaces. The real victim in the cold case used an alias. The plot is exciting and satisfying.
| 
