Deadbeat (An Angela Matelli Mystery) - Softcover

Wendi Lee

3.34

29 ratings by Goodreads

9780373263394: Deadbeat (An Angela Matelli Mystery)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0373263392 ISBN 13: 9780373263394

Publisher: Worldwide Library, 2000

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Boston private investigator Angela Matelli becomes involved in a murder while working a case for a client whose identity has been stolen in a credit card scam. Reprint.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

A third outing to Boston with p.i. Angie Matelli (Missing Eden, 1996, etc.) and her new client, investment counselor Cynthia MacDonald. Someone has been using Cynthia's stolen credit cards to run up thousands of dollars of debt in her name and push her credit to the max. Using a photo cleverly wangled from a car rental agency, Angie sets out to find the false Cynthia. Her quarry turns out to be Lisa Browning, mother of small daughter Jessica and divorced wife of Tim. Jessicas apartment boasts a brand-new TV and VCRboth bought at Technology Bytes in Methuen, one of a chain run by Spence Balczeck, whose salesman Jimmy Stiles owns a surprisingly expensive car. Lisa claims to be on her own, but is she only one part of a credit scam ring? The question seems answered when shes found beaten to death and Angie, teaming up with old friend Sergeant Dana Proux, tracks a killer on the prowl for his next victim. Angie's stereotypical Italian family takes up a lot of space, as do her endless phone calls, lunch dates, and trips around town. None of the above, or the breezy narrative style, is much help to the episodes hardworking but contrived and lifeless storyline or its unconvincing characters. -- Copyright �1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Boston PI Angela Matelli may be an expert at aikido with a wry sense of humor and a social conscience, but her engaging traits can't conceal the utter predictability of her third adventure (after Missing Eden, 1996). She is approached by an irascible, hostile and outraged client: someone has run up $75,000 in bills on her credit cards, destroying her credit rating. Angela uses her considerable street-smarts to quickly find the culprit, Lisa Browning, a vulnerable, appealing, financially strapped single mom who has been drawn into crime by more sinister players. When Lisa is bludgeoned to death, Angela suspects her surly client. After an attempt is made on her own life, however, she zeros in on the other members of the fraud ring. Although buoyed by a lively galaxy of Lisa's relatives (a relentlessly nosy mom, a charming brother who might be mob connected), this mystery fails to overcome its easily spotted culprit and far-fetched plot twists: Why, for instance, would a crack crime-scene unit overlook a vital phone tape, leaving it for Angela to discover?
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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