Coyote : a Carlotta Carlyle mystery /

Although the title may suggest a Western setting, Coyote brings back to familiar Boston territory six-foot-tall, flame-haired sleuth Carlotta Carlyle. This time 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 is at her best when she focuses on the personal plight of the individuals who make up the nameless legion of potential deportees. While discovering the truth about them, she convincingly provides wisdom and comfort to the child she adores. Mystery Guild main selection. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Boston private investigator/part-time cabbie Carlotta Carlyle's search for a frightened woman's green card involves her in an underground world of illegal immigration, labor exploitation, and gruesome mutilation murder. Working in tandem with buddy Lieutenant Mooney, upstairs tenant/free spirit Roz, and hunky-but-deceptive Immigration and Naturalization Service agent Clinton, the animated and energetic Carlyle discovers important information just about the time her beloved ``little sister'' Paolina disappears. Attractive, athletic, and human as always, Carlotta acts with unequivocal panache. A winning repeat performance for the heroine of The Snake Tattoo ( LJ 2/1/89) and A Trouble of Fools ( LJ 11/1/87). Mystery Guild main selection. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Boston's redheaded, six-foot ex-cop Carlotta Carlyle, now a private eye and part-time cabbie (The Snake Tattoo, etc.), faces a daunting puzzle after a visit from a frightened Spanish-speaking woman who says her name is Manuela Estafan--which is the name of a murder victim found in a local park. Manuela wants Carlotta to retrieve the green card that identified the corpse--the card that allows aliens to work and apply for citizenship--because, she says, it's rightfully hers. She then drops $500 on Carlotta's desk and disappears. Working past connections--as well as an old friendship with the police department's Lieutenant Joseph Mooney--Carlotta is gradually drawn into a case that's beginning to look like the work of a serial killer. There are other aspects too--some of them touching the lives of Carlotta's ten-year-old friend and protÉgÉe Paolina and her testy, harried mother Marta. Meanwhile, agents from Immigration and Naturalization are skulking the edges, one of them a handsome hunk from Texas who almost makes Carlotta forget lover Sam Gianelli, who's been too long absent in Italy. Four women are dead before the tense hostage confrontation in the heart of Boston's subway system wraps it all up, ending another winner for author Barnes and her indomitable but always human heroine. A sturdy plot, believable if sometimes bizarre characters, and an unflagging pace make this one a must. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.