It Happens in the Dark (A Mallory Novel) - Hardcover

O'Connell, Carol

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399165398 ISBN 13: 9780399165399

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2013

Synopsis

The astonishing new Mallory novel from the New York Times–bestselling author and one of the most acclaimed crime writers in America.

The reviews called it “A Play to Die For” after the woman was found dead in the front row. It didn’t seem so funny the next night, when another body was found—this time the playwrigh himself, his throat slashed.

Detective Kathy Mallory from the NYPD Special Crimes Unit takes over, but no matter what she asks, no one seems to be giving her a straight answer. The only person—if “person” is the right word—who seems to be clear with her is the ghostwriter. Every night, an unseen backstage hand chalks up line changes and messages on a blackboard. And the ghostwriter is now writing Mallory into the play itself, a play about a long-ago massacre that may not be at all fictional. “MALLORY,” the blackboard reads. “TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT. NOTHING PERSONAL.”

If Mallory can’t find out who’s responsible, heads will roll. Unfortunately, one of them may be her own.

About this title

About the Author

CAROL O’CONNELL is the author of eleven Mallory novels, most recently The Chalk Girl, and two stand-alones. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

This latest addition to the popular Mallory series, launched in 1995 with Mallory’s Oracle, seems almost like a send-up of the tough detective novel, so over the top are Mallory’s appearances and other people’s reactions to her. Kathy Mallory is an NYPD detective whose beauty and insight overwhelm everyone. As does her rudeness: Mallory’s way of ordering people around more befits a traffic cop than a detective. This one has a Broadway background: two deaths occur in two nights in the audience of a play; the second one is that of the playwright. O’Connell resurrects the Phantom of the Opera device of having notes delivered to the actors; here, someone writes threats and directions on a backstage blackboard. This does intensify the suspense but in a somewhat formulaic way. Not at the level of some other Mallory mysteries but necessary reading for devoted fans. --Connie Fletcher

Edition details

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399165398
• ISBN 13: 9780399165399
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368