nomadreader

The backstory: Deadfall  is the 19th mystery featuring Alexandra Cooper. I've read them all and reviewed a lot of them . The basics: Killer Look  ended with quite a cliffhanger, and Deadfall  picks up right where it left off, so spoilers of Killer Look  abound in this review. My thoughts: Over the years I've criticized Linda Fairstein a bit for how little things change in this series. There's comfort in that, sure, but as someone who has been reading this series for fourteen years, I would love to see more time pass in Alex's life. Fairstein upped the ante with the ending of Killer Look --the murder of Manhattan District Attorney Paul Battaglia. Battaglia's demise had been coming for a few books, but the surprise at the end of Killer Look  was a great one. Deadfall  seeks to solve his murder. As always, one New York City landmark serves as the focus of the book. In Deadfall , it's the Bronx Zoo. Fairstein infuses current issues about illegal animal tr...

The backstory: Killer Look is the eighteenth mystery in Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series. I've read them all and reviewed a lot them . The basics: Each Alexandra Cooper novel offers some piece of New York to serve as a backdrop. In Killer Look , it's New York Fashion Week. The hook is the apparent suicide (and possible murder) of a very high profile fashion designer. My thoughts: Fairstein has been ending the most recent novels with wonderful (or terrible, given we have to wait a year for the next installment!) cliffhangers, and   as with novels past, Killer Look  opens very soon after the events of the last novel, Devil's Bridge . Alex is not yet back at work, which is a big difference from the rest of the series. Naturally, she still finds a way to help Mike and Mercer with this case. I won't say I necessarily missed the courtroom element of this case, but I did miss seeing Alex in her element. Given the events of the last book (vague spoilers), she...

The backstory: Devil's Bridge is Linda Fairstein's seventeenth mystery to feature New York City sex crimes ADA Alexandra Cooper. I discovered this series early in 2003, when The Bone Vault , the fifth book was released. I quickly read all five, and since then, I've eagerly awaited the publication of each book. Alexandra Cooper has been in my life longer than Mr. Nomadreader has. This review will contain minor spoilers from earlier books, particularly Terminal City   and where Alex's romantic life stood at the end of that novel . The basics: Devil's Bridge  opens up a few weeks after Terminal City . Mike and Alex are slowly feeling their way into a relationship that's new, even if they've been close friends for many years, and they're fielding questions most people get to avoid in the early weeks of new relationships. Early in the book, (minor spoiler) Alex is kidnapped, and Mike begins narrating the search for her. My thoughts: I didn't know ...

The backstory: Terminal City  is the sixteenth mystery in Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series. Cooper runs the Manhattan D.A.'s Special Victims Unit, a unit Fairstein herself ran for many years. The basics: A woman is found raped and murdered at the illustrious Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Soon thereafter, another body appears outside Grand Central Terminal, and Alex, along with good friends and detectives Mercer and Mike, is drawn into the self-functioning city of people who call the ground underneath Grand Central home as they try to solve these murders. This review will contain minor spoilers from previous Fairstein novels, particularly Death Angel . My thoughts: I, like many long-time readers, celebrated a certain development in Alex's personal life that appeared frustratingly close to the end of Death Angel. As excited as I always am for a new Fairstein novel, this year I was most excited to see what was happening in Alex's love life. The events in Termin...

The backstory: Death Angel  is the fifteenth (!) mystery in Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series. I've read (and loved) them all.  (A series note: while you could enjoy this mystery if you haven't read others in the series, the personal storylines likely won't be nearly as satisfying to new readers.) The basics: When the body of a young homeless girl is found in Central Park, detectives Mercer Wallace and Mike Chapman, along with prosecutor Alexandra Cooper, work quickly to identify her and figure out if there's a connection to a series of cold cases in New York City's lowest crime area. My thoughts: Fairstein's mysteries all feature a deep history of one aspect of New York. In Death Angel , it's Central Park, something most readers think they're familiar with. When Fairstein is at her best, which she certainly is in Death Angel , the New York history is as riveting as the mystery (or in this case mysteries) itself. I discovered this ...

The backstory: Night Watch  is the fourteenth mystery in Linda Fairstein's Alexandra Cooper series. Cooper is an ADA in the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit, just as Fairstein herself was for twenty years. I discovered this series in the spring of 2003 and have read them all. Here are links to my prior reviews of Fairstein's series: Final Jeopardy , Likely to Die , Bad Blood ,  Lethal Legacy ,  Hell Gate ,  and   Silent Mercy . The basics: Alex is vacationing in France with Luc, her French chef boyfriend, when a young woman is found dead in the sleepy town. Soon thereafter, word breaks that Mohammed Gil-Dasin, known to most as MGD, has been accused of raping a maid at a hotel in New York City. MGD is head of the World Economic Bureau. My thoughts:  I'll begin with the good, as Fairstein is one of my favorite mystery writers, and this series is near and dear to my heart. As always, the banter among Alex, Mercer and Mike is a delight. I enjoyed them working both...

The backstory: Silent Mercy  is the thirteenth Alexandra Cooper mystery novel. The basics: My library catalog sums it up well: "Prosecutor Alex Cooper dives deep into the Byantine, sinister world of New York City's powerful religious institutions to find out why the body of a young woman has been decapitated, set on fire, and left on the steps of a church." My thoughts: I've thoroughly enjoyed this series since I discovered it in January 2003. (I remember the date because it was the first Sunday after I moved into my first post-college apartment, and I spent five hours reading my apartment-delivered copy of the Sunday New York Times . There was a full-page ad for the latest book in the series.) Each winter, I eagerly await the newest novel. I woke up at 6 a.m. to start Silent Mercy  the day it was released (oh, how I adore Kindle pre-orders!) Typically, I love series for the character development and cringe at the thought of reading them out of order. I've ...