Linda Barnes Books

There's a mysterious woman who speaks broken English sitting in Carlotta's office with a newspaper clipping about a mutilated corpse. Suddenly Carlotta is plunged into the desperate world of illegal aliens, the cold-hearted immigration agents who hunt them down, and the deadly "coyotes" who bring the innocents across the border.

A case almost a quarter of a century cold turns red-hot again as Linda Barnes's detective and parttime cabbie, Carlotta Carlyle, searches for the source of a manuscript in the unmistakable voice of Thea Janis, the stunning literary sensation who disappeared twenty-four years ago at the height of her fame. Who wrote the new manuscript? Who is sending it piecemeal to Thea's family, demanding chapter-by-chapter blackmail? Who is playing games with Carlotta with every loaded word? Is Thea alive or dead? Is the author a victim, a plagiarist...or a killer? Carlotta Carlyle confronts demons from the past and from the present as she peels back layer upon layer of a glittering family's dark secrets in Cold Case, her most gripping investigation yet.

The first installment in the Carlotta Carlyle series introduces readers to ex-Boston cop and private investigator Carlotta Carlyle, who recognizes trouble when it appears—like the elderly lady offering cash to locate her missing brother. After being dismissed from the Boston police for insubordination, Carlotta has become a private investigator, handling cases from lost pets to serious crimes. Standing six feet tall with striking red hair, she operates her business from home, where unexpected clients are rare. However, when the genteel Miss Margaret Devens approaches her about her brother Eugene's disappearance, Carlotta decides to take the case, despite her financial struggles and light caseload. She remembers Eugene from their time at Green and White Cab, thinking the investigation will be straightforward. But things take a turn when two thugs targeting her client send Miss Devens to the hospital. As Carlotta delves deeper, she uncovers that Eugene's involvement is far more dangerous than anticipated. Determined to find him, she is willing to work with the police, assume different identities, and even return to driving a cab to solve the mystery before it’s too late.

Tall, redheaded PI Carlotta Carlyle faces two cases of family obsession--a mother tormented by the suspicious death of her daughter and a daughter determined to find her elusive father--in her latest outing from the acclaimed author of Steel Guitar.

Boston P.I. Carlotta Carlyle's allegedly unfaithful fiancé disappears right after his supposed mistress turns up dead.

Written by the author of four Michael Spraggue Mysteries and the short story "Lucky Penny", featuring Carlotta Carlyle, which won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Short Story and the Anthony Award for Best Short Story, this is another story involving Carlotta Carlyle.

Carlotta thinks shes doing a friend a simple favor when she agrees to burglar-proof an elderly recluses apartment. But twenty-four hours later the woman turns up dead, her apartment ransacked, and Carlotta is left with entertainment moguls and real estate magnates breathing down her neck, as well as a lot of questions. Filled with gripping plot twists and razor-sharp dialogue, Flashpoint confirms Carlottas place as the hottest leading lady in detective fiction.

Carlotta Carlyle--part-time cab driver, full-time private eye--returns, taking on the night shift and a case that turns into a matter of life and death

Harvard professor Wilson Chaney's position in life is hanging by a thread; his marriage, his reputation, not to mention his tenure at Harvard are in the hands of a blackmailer, someone threatening to sell Chaney's secrets at very high prices. His enviable life could disappear into thin air should the blackmailer's evidence - proof of his affair with a young student - become public knowledge.So he hires Boston private investigator Carlotta Carlyle to track down the blackmailer and put a stop to the scheme. Can she do it? Of course, but should she? The professor doesn't inspire much loyalty-after all, he did commit adultery with one of his own students-but Carlotta agrees. Digging into the case, nosing around Harvard and the possible suspects from the rest of Dr. Chaney's life, she uncovers a suspicious death as part of the backstory to Dr. Chaney's situation. Suddenly Carlotta's sixth sense is telling her the case might be more complicated-and more dangerous-than it first seemed. Fresh from the success of The Big Dig, the masterful Linda Barnes delivers a bold and engaging novel infused with the deft touch and intricate suspense that have become her trademarks.

Carlotta's friend, Mooney, one of the few honest cops around in Boston, was buying a drink in a bar when he was attacked by a man with a knife. In self-defence he knocked him into a coma. His only hope is now to find the only witness he can remember. The author also wrote A Trouble of Fools.

"A fine job -- expertly written, with an ingenious wine caper set in the Napa Valley." The New York Times Book Review. A Michael Spraggue Mystery by the author of "Dead Heat." Michael Spraggue, a wealthy private eye turned movie actor, is in the middle of making a trashy Hollywood movie about -- what else? -- a private eye, when he gets a phone call from his sometime lover and current business partner in a California winery, Kate Holloway. Kate has troubling news. Not only has Lenny Brent, their volatile winemaker, vanished, but an unidentifiable corpse has appeared -- and Kate's the prime suspect! Spraggue hurries over in time to discover a second dead body -- that of Lenny. Can Spraggue solve this vintage mystery before he finds himself corked ?

A Michael Spraggue Mystery.Famed theater director Arthur Darien's production of "Dracula" is in trouble. Strange and macabre jokes -- including a batch of literally mixed Bloody Marys -- are unnerving the cast and threatening to close the play before opening night.Michael Spraggue enters the cast, but in a dual role unknown to most of them -- Arthur Darien has asked him to solve the mystery of the jokes before the jokes turn deadly. But Spraggue finds that he is not the only actor playing a dual role. Nobody is sticking to the script -- and a killer is bent on giving the performance of a lifetime!

"Barnes builds her plot like a fine pastry, layer by layer." Chicago Sun-Times A Michael Spraggue mystery. When the great chefs of New Orleans stage an elegant banquet, tempers burn hotter than cayenne pepper. Up-and-coming Cajun chef Joseph Fontenot is found with a slender French cooking knife through his heart, and all the evidence points to Dora Levoyer, sublime cook to Boston's wealthhy and eccentric Mary Spraggue Hillman. A guest at the banquet, Mary summons her nephew Michael Spraggue, actor-cum-private detective, to the scene. And soon Spraggue is investigating a murder case that will leave his mouth burning and his mind spinning. One thing is certain: the solution to the murder will make for a spicy mystery indeed!

Dee Willis, singer of the blues, is well on the way to becoming a star. Close friends from college, Carlotta and Dee have not met since Dee ran off with Carlotta's ex-husband, Cal. Now Dee wants help in a missing person's case and, against her better judgment, Carlotta accepts the job.

Carlotta Carlyle, Privatdetektivin in Boston, ermittelt in einem Korruptionsfall bei einem Straßenbauprojekt. Sie wird als Sekretärin in eine Baufirma eingeschleust, findet jedoch zunächst nichts Auffälliges. Als ein Bauarbeiter tot aufgefunden wird, erkennt sie, dass es um mehr als nur Korruption geht.

Carlottas Cartyle ist eine abgebrühte Taxifahrerin und die Straßen von Boston sind ihr Revier. Doch ihre wahre Leidenschaft gilt ihrem ganz und gar anderen Beruf: Mit durchtrainierten einsfünfundachtzig hat Carlotta Cartyle die Durchschlagskraft, die eine Privatdetektivin amerikanischer Provenienz auszeichnet. Zudem hat sie gelernt, sich als Ex-Cop und Ex-Ehefrau im Alltag zu behaupten. Erkennungszeichen der Teilzeit-Privatdetektivin sind die roten Haare, augenfälliger Beweis ihrer irischen Herkunft. Eine verzweifelte Latino-Frau bittet die abgebrühte, schlagkräftige Bostoner Taxifahrerin und Privatdetektivin Carlotta Cartyle, ihre verschwundene "Green Card", die permanente Auftenhalts- und Arbeitsgenehmigung für die USA, wiederzubeschaffen. Als die Karte neben der verstümmelten Leiche einer anderen Latino-Frau gefunden wird, beginnt Carlotta zu ermitteln, obwohl sie sich nicht in Mordfälle einmischen darf. Bals ist sie der üblen Schlepperorganisation des "Coyoten" auf der Spur, die Frauen an einen ausbeuterischen Fabrikbesitzer vermittelt - Frauen, die dort arbeiten, sterben. Die vitale und menschliche Detektivin ist ein Gewinn für die Frauen-Krimi-Szene