The Cold Blue Blood

I am not usually a cozy mystery fan. I like them hard-boiled to the extreme usually, and have little time for ¨The Cat who...¨ style mysteries, but David Handler´s characters are so real, biting, damaged and interesting and the setting (the blueblood Connecticut Gold Coast) is as much a character itself that I wasn´t all that bothered by the tea-and-crumpets trappings. I liked it very much even though the mystery wasn´t all that troubling

David Handler triumphed with his Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag mystery series, each novel more excellent than the one before. Handler ended that series 1997, leaving his fans bereft -- until the publication of The Cold Blue Blood, the beginning of a new series featuring Mitch Berger, "the lead film critic of the most prestigious -- and therefore the lowest paying -- of the three New York City daily newspapers," and Connecticut State Police lieutenant Desiree Mitry.

Berger, a widower for one year, is having a hard time getting on with his life. He undergoes an ephiphany and moves out of New York City to Dorset, Connecticut, landing in a refurbished carriage house on a island, Big Sister, that overlooks Long Island Sound. Soon after, while digging show more a flower garden, Berger discovers the body of a husband who was thought to have run off with another woman. It turns out the errant husband, Niles Seymour, was killed with the same gun as another murder victim. What is the connection between a waitress at a seedy roadhouse and the husband of a delicate WASP woman whose family roots in Connecticut dated to the 17th century?

Berger and Mitry join forces to find out, with Berger using inspiration while Mitry uses more conventional methods. The ending of The Cold Blue Blood will come as a great surprise. What won't come as a surprise is the budding but unlikely romance between the jocular Jewish Berger and the business-like African-American Mitry. I can't wait to read the next in the series, The Hot Pink Farmhouse. show less

I wasn't real impressed with the description of the book but again...it met a challenge, so I thought I can stand less than 200 pages so lets go for it. I'm glad I did. It's not often that a writer can make the reader feel completely immersed in a story...David Handler can. The only complaint that I had was that he tried to hard to make Mitry into the idea of what a black woman is supposedly suppose to sound like and act like. She was more well bred that that and he didn't really do her justice. For the first book in the series...the author did very well and I will find the others soon.

A great introduction to a charming series. I love the contrast between the schlubby New York film critic and the statuesque black state trooper. Not to mention the trooper's best friend/neighbor, who can provide her additional insights into the mind of a Jewish man. Their chemistry was done well.

The story was also enjoyable - not too obvious, many candidates for the murderer(s), interesting web of relationships between all the characters. I certainly didn't see the end coming, but I am pretty bad at figuring out mysteries. The portrayal of an insular New England blue-blooded enclave was a great choice for a cozy mystery. Made me want to move to the Connecticut coast.

I would recommend this one for anyone who enjoys a good cozy - show more especially if you also like the fish-out-of-water theme. show less

Cosa succede quanto un intellettuale new yorkese e un poliziotta in carriera s'incontrano ? Può succedere di tutto.
Diverte, personaggi con un buon spessore umano, un ritratto intrigrante di una cittadina del New England dove nulla è come sembra.

Funny, good psychological character construction. A pageturne

I have rarely been this impressed with the first book in a series, though it was not the author's first novel. The plot is good, and the characterization is outstanding. I have a feeling I just found the next series I'm going to obsess over until I've read them all.

Mitch Berger and Des Mitry are an odd couple but between them they are able to solve the mystery of several deaths. Set on the coast of Connecticut not far from New York City. Mitch is a film critic of national renown and Des (Desiree) a police detective.