Second in the Fritz Malone mystery series set in New York. With a popular late-night television star on trial for the brutal murders of two of his ex-girlfriends, the city is shocked when a third, and then a fourth murder using the same MO are discovered with the main suspect in custody. Fritz gets involved because the first of the post-arrest victims was a woman he’d unofficially consulted with about security concerns. Now, I loved the first book in this series, but this one I’d have to demote to “liked a lot.” Part of the reason is that Charlie, Fritz’s girlfriend’s father and his mentor, doesn’t appear in the book at all. He’s a wonderful character, so that was a shame. Plus, he and Margo are on the ‘outs’ and their relationship in the first one was a big part of the book, and an enjoyable, refreshing part at that. The humor was also a bit flat this time. I figured out the bad guy almost from the moment he was introduced, too—even with all the intriguing red herrings, I just knew who it was. And though some of the side plots were quite interesting, it seemed like they took us too far afield and some of the doings were quite implausible, too. Don’t get me wrong—I like Fritz a lot, and will happily read anything this author puts forth. (Including anything featuring Hitchcock Sewell, the main character of a series he writes in his other guise—hint, hint!!) I just hope Fritz is more on form again by the next book. This one left me feeling a bit dissatisfied on the whole--but I still love this author, his writing style and his characters. Maybe that means I hold him to a higher standard, I don't know. ( )

Good story, but I had a problem with the structure of the book. To me the best part of this book (and its predecessor) is Fitz Malone. And I like the parts that Fitz tells. But the book jumps back and forth to third person narration and I found that jarring. And the time line took a major jump. On page 75 a corpse is found but shows up again, very much alive, on age 205. It wasn't until then that I figured out that Part II is not only entirely third person narration, but it also jumps back in time. If another Fitz Malone book comes out, I'll read it. But I probably won't read this one a second time. ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/3646 ( )

http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/2007/03/cold-day-in-hell.html ( )