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Title: Long Time No See by Susan Isaacs ISBN: 0-06-103043-0 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 02 July, 2002 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.79 (38 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Hilarious and absorbing . . .
Comment: It's been twenty years since the last appearance (in _Compromising Positions_) of Judith Singer, upper middle-class Long Island housewife and amateur detective. A lot has happened to her in two decades. She's now a widow, her husband having died suddenly of a stroke two years before. She's completed her dissertation and is now a professor of history at a small but well regarded college. Some things haven't changed, especially her love for homicide cop Nelson Sharpe, which she has kept carefully at bay all these years. Now, intrigued by the disappearance and murder of Courtney Logan, ex-investment banker and perfect mom, she finds herself semi-employed by Courtney's father-in-law, retired hoodlum Fancy Phil Lowenstein. Courtney's husband, the determinedly legit Gregory Logan, is the cops' favorite suspect, and Fancy Phil needs help finding evidence to clear him. It's right up Judith's alley -- until the case brings her into abrupt contact with Nelson and the old flame rekindles. Isaacs is always a hoot and a half, with a droll wit, a keen ear for dialogue, and a real talent for characterization. Every member of the large supporting cast is deftly drawn and entirely believable. So is the convoluted plot itself, as Judith works her way logically through the possibilities, borrowing her friends' talents and contacts to overcome obstacles and paying heed to that occasional flash of insight that keeps the investigation going. This is a terrific book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Sassy sequel to "Compromising Positions".
Comment: Two decades ago, I read Susan Isaacs's wonderful "Compromising Positions". I fell in love with the saucy and witty Judith Singer, amateur sleuth and canny critic of the Long Island social scene.
Judith is back. Two years widowed, she has a doctorate in history and she teaches at St. Elizabeth's College. Her kids are grown and gone. She has a little time on her hands. So what would be a good use of her spare time? Isn't it obvious? She should investigate another Long Island murder, of course!
It seems that a young wife and mother named Courtney Logan has mysteriously disappeared and Judith, who had no personal contact with the victim, has appointed herself unofficial sleuth to find out what really happened to Courtney. Judith has the help of "Fancy Phil Lowenstein," erstwhile mobster and father-in-law of Courtney.
To complicate matters, Judith still holds a torch for Nelson Sharpe, the hunky cop whom she had fallen in love with so many years ago. He reappears in her life and, lo and behold, the spark is still there.
"Long Time No See" is a delightful souffle. Isaacs knows the Long Island social scene. Her hilarious observations on interior decorating, fashion, child-rearing and infidelity, Long-Island style, are sharply satirical. She makes the most of her motley group of characters, from Courtney's female associates, to Fancy Phil (who is constantly weighed down with tasteless gold jewelry), to Courtney herself, a beautiful cipher with a mysterious hidden life.
It is great fun to be in Judith's company. She is self-effacing, insatiably curious, nosy and always lively. Isaacs inserts some poignant observations about the loneliness of widowhood. It seems that Judith misses her late husband, even though her marriage had long since become stale. I enjoyed the interplay between Judith and the love of her life, Nelson. Will they be able to pick up where they left off?
A weakness in the novel is Isaac's handling of the mystery of Courtney's disappearance. Judith wears herself out questioning dozens of people at length and it gets a little tedious after a while. Why would these people be so forthcoming to a total stranger without any credentials?
In addition, the ending of the novel is formulaic and way over the top. The solution to the mystery makes little sense. However, in spite of these flaws, this book will be a huge success and I recommend it. Light mysteries with protagonists as delightful as Judith Singer do not come along very often.
Rating: 4
Summary: pulled me in like a fish to the bait
Comment: I really enjoyed this book. It took me a little bit to get into the story but when I did, I kept on reading until I finished the book.
Courtney Logan, who retired from a financial occupation to stay home with her family and, as a sideline, had developed a small business of her own, has disappeared. She went to get some apples and although her vehicle was found in the garage she disappeared. Five months later her body is found in the pool under the pool liner with two bullet wounds to her head.
Judith, who is a history teacher and had lost her husband two years earlier, is a curious person. Since the loss of her husband she has been at loose endes and finds she needs something to give her life meaning. Years ago she had helped solve a mystery and felt the same stirrings in her to help get to the bottom of this one. During the other case, she had an affair with a cop for six months and then broke it off because they didn't want to hurt their families and now he, Nelson Sharpe, is back on the scene. They still have that old attraction to each other but will they follow their desires?
The police are looking at the husband but she doesn't think he did it and goes to him, Greg Logan, to offer her assistance. He runs her off, but his father, "Fancy Phil" Lowenstein, a mob boss, finds out and asks her to help. Greg had changed his name so that people wouldn't know who his father was and be judged because of his father's occupation. He was trying to lead a clean, honest life.
Judith questions several of Courtney's friends and acquaintances
and finds a wide variety of descriptions of what kind of person Courtney was like. Each person seemed to see her a little differently. Who was she? Judith keeps digging for the truth and finds more questions than answers.
She portrays her characters in a realistic manner with a good dose of humor, by which I mean, they are colorful characters who could have had better morals, but people we see all around us at times. Hopefully not as frequently as we read in the book, but then this is only a book.
I highly recommend the book. It is very entertaining.
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Title: Compromising Positions by Susan Isaacs ISBN: 0515093025 Publisher: Jove Pubns Pub. Date: August, 1994 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Magic Hour by Susan Isaacs ISBN: 0061099481 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Lily White by Susan Isaacs ISBN: 0061093092 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Close Relations by Susan Isaacs ISBN: 0061099473 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: After All These Years by Susan Isaacs ISBN: 0061091790 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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