Blindman's Bluff

I've written before about books as comfort food and Faye Kellerman is on that list for me. She writes smart, complicated crime fiction and I just love her primary series characters, Pete Decker and Rina Lazarus. If she's got a new book on the shelf, I'm reading it.

As with any series some books are better than others. I found Blindman's Bluff to be quite satisfying with just enough of the elements needed to make it an entertaining escapist read.

I'm back and forth on the aging of this series' characters. On the one hand it's natural and seems much more real than books where the next one is a week later. Everyone's sort of perpetually 25 and too many things happen every week. It stretches credulity. On the other hand, I'm kind of sad to show more see Pete and Rina aging. They should, but something about it feels as if it's going to be harder and harder to get stories out of them. In some ways I'd almost like Ms. Kellerman to let them go and start working on one of her other characters. It's not that older people can't be in thrillers, but at some point the body wears down and you can't go dashing around the city on coffee and cigarettes. Realistically at some point people go behind a desk or retire and move on to gardening or opening their second business or consulting or traveling the world.

As always a great read, but I'm beginning to wonder if Kellerman is writing herself into a corner. It'll be interesting to find out. show less

Decker finds himself in the middle of a murdered family - with the exception of one son - still alive but badly wounded. What makes this so spectacular is that the murder husband and wife are rich, rich and that they had a ton of bodyguards taking care of them. As Decker and his crew are called to investigate, we will find a maze of guilty parties, of people who may be innocent but are not and a family that has more secrets than the Manson family.

This book is a good read, and it is highly focused on the detective work - there are no huge car chases or other surprises that will make this book move at a quicker pace. If you like procedural looks at an investigation then this is a great book to read.

In Blindman’s Bluff, an extremely wealthy family is gunned down at their ranch. The son survives but is in serious condition. Peter Decker and his team of detectives are in charge of the case. In addition, a couple of the guards go missing. It’s pretty clear early on that this was an inside job, and the person ultimately responsible is someone who is a member of the family. Decker’s wife gets in the middle of it when a blind man working at the court where she is doing jury duty overhears a couple of gang members talking about what went down. This information and the ridiculous follies of the criminals involved lead Decker to learn who is responsible for the killings.

This was a very ordinary and average mystery novel. There is show more nothing remotely exceptional about the novel. The worst aspect of the novel was the dialogue. It didn’t sound like actual people talking and sounded very sugary and something out of a day at a Disney theme park. The criminals seemed like a bunch of idiots, making mistake after mistake and not getting simple tasks done. They were built up to be hardcore gangsters, but they were actually depicted as hardcore bozos. Having said that, the novel still had entertainment value and could be read for that.

Carl Alves – author of Conjesero show less

Blindman's Bluff by Faye Kellerman
Published by Harper Collins
ISBN 978--06-170241-9
At the request of Bestsellersworld, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Review format at the request of Bestsellersworld.
Detective Lieutenant Peter Decker, LAPD Homicide, and his wife Rina Lazarus are awakened to a late night call. As Rina hands him the phone, knowing that this is going to bad for the force to call "The Loo" during the night. And she was right. Not only does he come upon a gruesome multiple homicide but it's of a very well known, high profile and extremely wealthy family. The CEO and real estate tycoon, Guy Kaffey, his wife, Gilliam, and one of his son's, Gil, are shot during what appears to be a robbery as they sat show more in the massive home's living room. Bodyguards and staff have also been killed. But Gil, one son, is critically injured but has survived and gives the police a few things that he remembers from those awful seconds. But how could this have happened with so many types of security in place? Could this be an inside job? Guy has very strong family bonds and believes in giving some a second chance. Was that his downfall? Mace, his brother, and other son Grant, travel immediately to LA from the East Coast, where they oversee the family's holdings there.

As Decker and members of his force are working around the clock to solve this murder, with a laundry list of suspects and growing, of what also resembles another type of family, his wife Rina is sitting on the jury of a local trial. Rina and some of the jurors notice a man, as they nickname him Mr. Tom (for Tom Cruise), in court everyday, smartly dressed, his dark tinted glasses and his bright smile. Who is he? Why is he in the courtroom? Why the glasses? A mystery in itself until he approaches Rina to ask her to describe two men that he has just overheard talking about a murder. Within days, he contacts Rina at her home because he feels he is being followed. And has he now put Rina in danger?

Can these two mysteries be connected? What constitutes family loyalty? Who is "the boss" of this operation? Who can be trusted within each family? And the biggest question, why? Can Detective Decker protect the innocent and locate the guilty in time before another attempt is made?
Another true to form, Decker and Lazarus Novel that will have you turning the pages.
My Rating: 3 show less

This was a very gripping reading. A tycoon, his wife and some of the staff are murdered whereas his sons and other members of the staff got badly injured. It looked like it was an inside affair but because most people of the household were dead or injured, it made it difficult for Peter Decker and his team to find the solution of this case. It was the way how to solve this puzzle which gave me the eagerness and therefore I had to read it straight through. There were such a lot of twists and turns that it kept me guessing until the very last page.

A wealthy Californian family is murdered at their supposedly secure sprawling ranch home and Lieutenant Peter Decker of the LAPD is the lead investigator hoping to find their murderers and the reason for it. Through some old-fashioned police work, Decker and his team eventually identify the gang responsible and the person who hired them. Kept me turning the page, with some decent plot lines and characters, although it was sometimes hard to keep track of who was who. A good holiday read and I'll probably try some other books by the same author.

Blindman's Bluff is a good story proving that it takes a very long time to solve a case. Then once the case is solved, there are attorneys who can manipulate the law to their advantage. It is nice to learn here that the good guys did win. Four stars were awarded to this book. The settings and characters were all believable, as well as the story.