Sun 26 Mar 2017
A PI Mystery Review: LINDA BARNES – Steel Guitar.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[5] Comments
LINDA BARNES – Steel Guitar. Carlotta Carlyle #4. Delacorte Press, hardcover, 1991. Dell, paperback; 1st printing, January 1993.
In case you haven’t come across any of her cases before, Carlotta Carlyle is a tall red-headed female PI who drives a cab in her spare time (and to make a living) in the Boston area. Whether she ever met a gent named Spenser, I don’t know. I don’t really think so, but it’s fun to wonder whether or not they’d get along.
A lot of Carlotta’s past comes to the forefront of this one, as a blues singer named Dee Willis who’s now on the verge of becoming a huge success comes back into her life. They met in the folksinger days of their youth. Dee had a voice and a dream. Carlotta decided to pursue other goals, especially when Dee went off with her ex-husband, Cal.
It turns out, though, that Dee now needs Carlotta. She is being blackmailed for allegedly stealing the songs that made her famous, and she hires Carlotta to find the person behind it. When the bass player (female) in Dee’s band is found dead, thoughg, the stakes, Carlotta realizes, are suddenly a whole lot higher.
The show business portion of the plot seems authentic, especially when it comes down to old jealousies and friendships. Not as interesting is the real nuts and bolts of the motive, which is always present when there’s big money to be had.
Carlotta Carlyle’s career lasted for a total of twelve books. She wouldn’t have lasted as long if author Barnes hadn’t always had something to say, and the bittersweet ending added to this one gives it quite a poignancy that few PI novels ever come close to achieving.
The Carlotta Carlyle series —
A Trouble of Fools (1987)
Snake Tattoo (1989)
Coyote (1990)
Steel Guitar (1991)
Snapshot (1993)
Hardware (1995)
Cold Case (1997)
Flashpoint (1999)
The Big Dig (2000)
Deep Pockets (2004)
Heart of the World (2006)
Lie Down with the Devil (2009)
March 26th, 2017 at 12:58 pm
I read the first 4 or 5 and quit, just lost interest in the characters and moved on to other authors.
March 26th, 2017 at 3:11 pm
That’s why I thought to mention that there were 12 books in the series. That’s quite an achievement any more. Assuming that some readers drop out after a while, like you — and me too, truth be told — it has to mean that others must have joined in along the way.
March 27th, 2017 at 5:17 am
Me too. It’s another of those series that seemed to lose momentum – at least for me – along the way, until it (and I) ran out of gas. I made it through book 7 (COLD CASE) and haven’t been able to go back to it.
March 27th, 2017 at 7:54 am
I seldom read various series in order, but I may have made it through only three before I went on to other authors. This one I just reviewed is number four, and it’s the first time I read it.
March 27th, 2017 at 8:13 pm
Barnes is indeed very good.