Long Time No See

I almost didn't stick with this story because the first chapters paid so much attention to appearances, brand names, and blatant consumerism. I don't waste my time on books that laud wealthy people. However, Judith is more down-to-earth, accepting people as they are (who else would make friends with a mobster?), and despite her disorganized manner of research and continual rehashing of what she's learned so far, the story has some interesting turns. She made an interesting observation with her best friend about how the struggles of feminists to be accepted in more responsible jobs/fields seems to be disrespected by the current generation of women who don't have the same tenacity.

I read Long Time No See soon after Compromising Positions; however, the sequel is set 15 years after the murder and affair central to the first novel. By now, Judith Singer is no longer a desperate Long Island housewife; instead, she’s an adjunct professor at a small college and widowed. Daughter Kate has become a lawyer, and son Joey has grown from a preschooler into a film critic of sorts. But Judith’s not any more fulfilled than she was earlier. She’s just sleepwalking through life.

Until. Until a neighbor, the perky, perfectionist Courtney Logan, disappears just after trick-or-treating on Halloween 1999. Courtney tells the Austrian au pair that she’s off to pick up apples at the Grand Union … and is not seen again. Just as show more she had so many years ago, Judith is tantalized by this mystery. What became of this financier-turned-stay-at-home supermom? So many facets of the mystery don’t make sense, but Judith begins sleuthing once more. And readers will be so, so glad that she does. And will she cross paths with policeman Nelson Sharpe? We can only hope!

I can’t recommend this sequel enough: No sophomore slump here! Author Susan Isaacs has crafted a sequel as suspenseful a page-turner as the first in the series. Here’s to many more! show less

Love Susan Issacs! Can't believe I've never read her before. She managed to write a whodunit book that's not creepy or grotesque. Sometimes I'm reading it not even caring who was the murderer, as long as I got to read more about the crazy and funny characters. Even though the protagonist, Judith Singer, committed adultery, Isaacs made me unwilling to judge her too harshly. Judith's neurotic musings and one-liners kept the book at a brisk pace and made it such a good lunchtime read. Must get more of her books.

While it has been a few years since I read Compromising Positions, and this was the sequel that was twenty years in the making, I don't feel this was anywhere near the quality of the original. The main character has become a combination of whiny, late middle-age bimbo (she wasn't like that in her thirties) and the love interest doesn't appear to have changed (from the mental aspect) in all that time. The whodunit aspect was quite intriguing up to the midway point where it bcame predictable and plodding. Don't get me wrong, there are some interesting characters and some quick, if a bit biting, wit bandied about, enough to get you through the book.

It's been twenty years, and Judith's life has definitely changed. Now a history professor and a widow, she hasn't seen Nelson Sharpe of the Nassau County Police Dept. in all that time. But she still can't get her one-time lover out of her head. Her life takes an unexpected turn, however, when former investment banker turned suburban mommy extraordinaire Courtney Logan vanishes from Long Island into thin air.

Everyone suspects husband, Greg, the darkly handsome son of flashy Long Island mobster Fancy Phil Lowenstein. Ever the good neighbor, Judith offers her services to Greg, but he shows her the door, thinking she's just a nut. His father, however, isn't so sure--he just may have other plans for the wily Judith...

Wonderful characters, witty and skillful writing, great story. A little mystery, a little romance. Loved the book!

Worthy sequel to [b:Compromising Positions|291341|Compromising Positions|Susan Isaacs|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1348472621s/291341.jpg|869480].


I have glanced at some of the reviews and I am willing to bet that at least some of the lower reviews came from people under 40.