Shell Game

The second Kathleen Mallory entry mentioned, as an off-stage character, a legendary magician whose signature trick was to make his audiences believe that his dead wife was with him, as a ghost. In this outing, the magician is the center of attention.

Kathleen Mallory is convinced that the death of a magician during his recreation of a trick famed for being dangerous was murder. She is also convinced that the bullet that brought down the balloon of America's most loved cartoon character during Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was fired in another murder attempt. She spends most of the novel in a mental chess game with the Great Malakhai, whom she believes is planning to murder the man who murdered his wife. She fails, rather refreshingly.

But show more she also finds a way to win. That is one of the things I disliked about this effort; I would have liked seeing the little monster made more vulnerable. I will admit that the book did humanize her more. The old man doesn't seduce her sexually, but he does get her to fall for him on some level, although he can't get her to abandon her duty. He also diagnoses her more convincingly that her psychologists did when she was eleven. He thinks she is ruthless, not psychopathic, the latter being the opinion of her friends and admirers, and I do believe he is right. Her ruthlessness is can still be jaw-dropping. I am starting to like the character as much as I do her adventures. I think that started when the old man got her a little drunk and persuaded her to wear a top hat as she talked to him. show less

Kathy Mallory takes on the world of professional magicians in an intriguing mystery.

For those unfamiliar with the character, she is a sort of Dexter, a semi-sociopath with a leavening of strong devotion to a saving father figure and the rules of her chosen police environment. Beautiful, implacable, fierce, and troubled.

This book is one of a series of books by Carol O'Connell about a beautiful, damaged, maverick, and almost sociopathic detective named Kathleen Mallory (who insists on being called simply "Mallory"), and the people that love her despite her flaws: Charles, an intelligent, rich, but ugly family friend; Lou, the cop that takes her in; and Riker, her adopted father's partner. The relationships that develop between these characters as they solve crimes together are the focus of the series.

This story (the fifth in the series), has Mallory investigating a magician's murder; it is an involving story, with interesting supportive characters.

One of my favorite series. This is where O'Connell really shone, with a protagonist and characters who were both sympathetic and adversarial. I'm looking forward to going back and re-reading all of her Kathleen Mallory stories. They are exceptional.

After Stone Angel, this books is a little too technical for my tastes. Too much a pure puzzle.

I didn't like this as much as others in the Kathy Mallory series.

Kathy Mallory, computerexpert bij de afdeling bijzondere misdrijven van de politie van New York, is de geadopteerde dochter van de befaamde inspecteur Louis Markowitz. Hij is de man die haar heeft geleerd zich te verplaatsen in de gedachtewereld van een criminele geest, een kunst die zij nu als geen ander beheerst.

Dat bewijst zij op niet mis te verstane wijze als tijdens de uitvoering van de beruchte Verloren Illusie de illusionist Oliver Tree op spectaculaire wijze om het leven komt. Iedereen is ervan overtuigd dat Oliver een fatale vergissing heeft gemaakt, maar Mallory weet intuïtief dat het om moord gaat. Mallory vermoedt dat het motief moet worden gezocht in goochelaarskringen.

Tot haar ongenoegen krijgt ze echter van haar show more superieuren een verbod opgelegd zich met de zaak te bemoeien. Vastbesloten haar gelijk te halen, begint Mallory op eigen houtje aan een onderzoek en begeeft zich in een magische wereld waar alles draait om illusie en bedrog.

Al gauw ontdekt ze dat de moordenaar een meester is in de kunst van de misleiding en er een onmenselijk genoegen in schept haar keer op keer op het verkeerde been te zetten. Maar Mallory laat zich niet intimideren - ze weet dat er een moment zal komen waarop de dader in zijn overmoed zijn hand zal overspelen. show less