The VOYEUR: A J.C. Kaminer Mystery - Hardcover

Moriarty, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684804255 ISBN 13: 9780684804255

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1997

Synopsis

Ronald Manes, a wealthy basketball player, becomes the patient of psychiatrist J. C. Kaminer, but when Ronald's wife is stabbed to death and suspicion falls on him, Kaminer must find the real killer. A first novel. 15,000 first printing.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

If it weren't for the prefatory disclaimer, you'd swear actor Moriarty's debut novel was an outcropping of the O.J. Simpson case instead of its prophetic hint. Not that the similarities are all that deep--the accused is a volatile black basketball player, his alleged victim his high-living white wife- -but there's not much else to this slender tale except for that old reliable, sexual promiscuity, and that new reliable, incest. As psychiatrist J.C. Kaminer digs into his celebrity client's past, he learns that ``Wizard'' Manes got cuckolded more often by his late wife Charlotte than he got sent to the free-throw line. But you can't really blame kittenish Charley, because she was abused by her mousy father--or she seduced him, depending on who's telling the story--and then embarked on a quest to couple with every warm body that crossed her path, from her ex-therapist to Wizard's bodyguard to Dr. Marion Brockman, the colleague (and former lover) J.C. sent her to. J.C. himself is an urbane, self- involved narrator whose ceremonious manner and arch dialogue (``You believed in God at one time?'' ``No. My parents led me to believe I did'') smilingly struggle to conceal the fact that he doesn't have much of a story to tell. Genial plugs for Ralph Lauren, Kurt Masur, and the Big Apple--as well as that not-another-Simpson headnote--substitute for any hint of mystery or suspense. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

Charles Manes is a black sports star with a beautiful but unfaithful white wife. When the wife is slashed to death, the husband, known to be violent and jealous, is the prime suspect. Sound familiar? Actor Moriarty, former star of television's Law and Order, adapts the bare bones of the O. J. case for his first novel. As narrated by New York psychiatrist J. C. Kaminer, who was treating the accused, this is murder as puzzle not mayhem. Assisted by family counselor Marion Brockman, Kaminer comes to the aid of his patient by finding the real killer. His primary weapons are a sharp tongue, a deductive mind, and a self-deprecating wit. Kaminer and Brockman reveal the source of Charles' anger and the real killer in a conclusion that's both surprising and logical. Moriarty's entertaining debut has about it the sophisticated atmosphere of Nero Wolfe's New York. Murder Lite: all the death but with half the violence of the other leading brands. Wes Lukowsky

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0684804255
• ISBN 13: 9780684804255
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224