The Blood Red Indian Summer

August 1, 2011
Well-heeled white-bread Dorset, Conn., isn't exactly rolling out the welcome Range Rover for its newest residentsâsuspended NFL superstar Tyrone "Da Beast" Grantham and his extended family/entourageâand that's even before bodies start dropping in Edgar-winner Handler's engaging eighth mystery featuring Amazonian African-American state trooper Desiree "Des" Mitry and her schlubby film critic boyfriend, Mitch Berger (after 2010's The Shimmering Blond Sister). Already facing a massive civil suit for allegedly assaulting a nursing student at a pro-am golf tournament, Da Beast becomes the obvious prime suspect after his bloodied, barely breathing teenage sister-in-law, Kinitra, washes up on the beach near Berger's rented cottage. Before you can say "media circus," two of Da Beast's most vocal adversaries are slain execution-style, putting Desâand Mitchâin the middle of an explosive case. Handler's blend of suspenseful plot, skillful telling, and occasional splashes of comic relief add up to a heady cocktail of prime crime.

September 15, 2011
A suspended NFL superstar and his entourage move to Connecticut. Mayhem ensues.

Middle linebacker Tyrone "Da Beast" Grantham, father of six children by five women, could use both a course in anger management and an adding machine. He's settled his pregnant wife Jamella; her pretty teenage sister and singing sensation Kinitra; her father Calvin, a career criminal; his brother and financial advisor Rondell; his mother, a reformed prostitute; and assorted hangers-on in a 28-room beachfront mansion on Connecticut's tony Gold Coast. Winston Lash, a neighbor who's lost his sexual inhibitions to dementia, keeps sneaking onto Da Beast's property to ogle bimbos partying. Another neighbor, über-salesman Justy Bond, regularly calls the cops to complain about the noise and debauchery. State Trooper Desiree Mitry, arriving to cool things down, meets paparazzi in the driveway filming Stewart Plotka's rant about suing Da Beast for accosting his girlfriend in a restaurant encounter. The next day Des' lover Mitch and his parents rescue Kinitra from drowning. When Des questions her, however, she refuses to discuss her near-death and possible rape, leaving everyone to assume Da Beast attacked her. And when Plotka and his attorney are shot dead by a gun taken from Da Beast's nightstand, he's also in line for Murder One. Des' dad Buck, a Deputy Superintendent recovering from heart surgery, steps in to help, but it's movie critic Mitch who pieces everything together after another murder and an explosive suicide.

Des (black) and Mitch (Jewish) are more appealing than usual (The Shimmering Blond Sister, 2010, etc.) as they deal with her father's depression and his parents' relocation.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

August 1, 2011

Berger and Mitry (The Cold Blue Blood) return with a case involving an NFL player who sets up house in sleepy Dorset, and then his family runs into trouble.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
When suspended professional football star Tyrone Da Beast Grantham, along with his pregnant wife, moves to quiet Dorset, Connecticut, the media frenzy surrounding him as well as his lifestyle angers his neighbors. When Grantham's 18-year-old sister-in-law, Kinitra, turns up near death on the beach by movie critic Mitch Berger's house, resident Trooper Des Mitry investigates, even though Kinitra, who has clearly been sexually abused, insists there has been no crime. Was the abuser a member of the Grantham household, a guest at the party held the night before, the man who is suing Grantham for assault, or one of the neighbors? Mitry, along with fianc' Berger, solves the mystery, but not before several deaths occur. Des must also deal with her father, the deputy superintendent of the Connecticut State Police, who is living with her and seems to have lost his confidence after bypass surgery. The interracial relationship of Des and Mitch, both well-drawn characters, is richly portrayed, and details of state-police procedure help make the seventh entry in a consistently entertaining series a strong one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)