Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Review: Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein


When Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper is summoned to Tina Barr’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she finds a neighbor convinced that the young woman was assaulted. But the terrified victim, a conservator of rare books and maps, refuses to cooperate with investigators.

In this beguiling mix of history and suspense, the New York Times bestselling author of Killer Heat truly outdoes herself as she takes readers on a breathtaking ride through the valuable first editions, lost atlases, and secret room and tunnels of the great New York Public Library.

This was my first Linda Fairstein book, but it won't be my last. I don't usually start a series in the middle, but I had heard such good things about this series that I made an exception, and I wasn't disappointed. I could tell that there was some history with the characters that I was missing out on, but it didn't distract from the mystery.

For a book lover like me the behind-the-scenes look into the New York Public Library was fascinating. The detail on the rare books and maps really added to the story, and the few details I looked up proved to be well researched.

One thing that I found slightly distracting was that ADA Alex Cooper seemed to be right in the middle of crime scenes. There were a few times that I found myself thinking she shouldn't touch that...Since I am not in law enforcement all of my (very limited) knowledge comes from books and TV so I may be wrong, but it did catch my attention.

This was a well done mystery, and even though I hardly need another series to keep up on, this is one that I will be following from now on. 4 stars

Order Lethal Legacy

5 comments:

Sandy Nawrot said...

I LOVE the Alex Cooper series, and all her little friends that come with it. I think I have read most of them, but I generally lag one or two behind what she has published, and I don't think I've read this one. You are so right...she gets in the middle of everything, and I often wonder if this is really realistic. Do they let people in her profession poke around on crime scenes like this? I've just overlooked this quirk, which is probably just a way to write Alex into the action time and time again. I still love her!

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Oh, I LOVE the Alex Cooper series, too! I am a few books behind, but Entombed is sitting behind me, waiting for me.

Do catch up on the series. It's a worthwhile one. And Linda herself is really awesome, too.

Lenore Appelhans said...

I'd love to go behind the scenes of a library, so this sounds like a great one.

Literary Feline said...

I am looking forward to reading this one. I enjoy the series quite a bit, although I admit that Mike gets on my nerves now and then. I am so glad you enjoyed it!

Melissa said...

I'm definitely going to get caught up on this series. I was actually looking through my bookcases the other day and found another book in the series that I didn't even know I had!