The Deadhouse

September 3, 2001
When archeologist Lola Dakota is found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in her apartment building on Manhattan's Upper West Side, assistant D.A. Alexandra Cooper takes on one of her darkest cases yet in this compelling mystery from bestseller Fairstein (Final Jeopardy). Alexandra, aided by homicide detective Mike Chapman, must sift through the testimonies of Dakota's close-mouthed colleagues at small, experimental King's College. Despite bitter December weather, the professor was engaged in an archaeological dig on the city's Roosevelt Island for clues about the criminals and mental patients shipped there a hundred years ago and left to die. Cooper, who had been working with Dakota to apprehend her abusive husband, now reaches out to Lola's resistant family and legal counsel in New Jersey, where she has been hiding out. And what of Charlotte Voight, a young woman who disappeared several months ago? The city is ablaze with holiday lights and cheer, Mike is acting peculiarly, team member Mercer Wallace—injured in Final Jeopardy—rejoins them late in the game, and Alex and new love Jake, a news correspondent, might be breaking up. Fairstein weaves present and past woes to good effect, while her focus on Roosevelt Island will intrigue New Yorkers who know little about its shameful former uses. A somewhat abrupt resolution, as well as a few loose strands, will leave the reader eager for a later date with the D.A. (Oct. 2)Forecast:Several factors will recommend this book to a broad audience: Manhattan D.A. Fairstein bears the mark of authenticity; all three previous titles in the series were bestsellers; and
Linda Fairstein's Final Jeopardy was an ABC-TV Movie of the Week in April. A six-city author tour and two floor displays will further boost sales.

October 2, 2017
The self-confident, in-control attitude Fairstein’s series protagonist, Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper, usually displays has wavered over the past few entries. Cooper, thanks to the venerable work of voice actor Rosenblat, sounds extra vulnerable at the start of her new adventure, which opens with the kidnapping and murder of her longtime boss and friend, D.A. Paul Battaglia. The trauma of his death leaves Alex uncertain and confused, which Rosenblat conveys in a slightly slurry speech, sometimes dreamy, other times rising in anger. She becomes overly dependent on her friends and her gruff-voiced, extremely attentive paramour, homicide detective Mike Chapman, even as she tries to seek justice for Battaglia’s murder. Fairstein’s New York–centric mysteries always provide a special tour of a local landmark. Here it’s the Bronx Zoo that figures into a plot involving the illegal exotic animal trade, with Chapman doing the lion’s share of the sleuthing. Rosenblat pulls off a variety of accents, including Nigerian and East Indian, some elegant, some street. It’s an entertaining and colorful performance, even if the series protagonist is not on her A-game. A Dutton hardcover.