Widowmaker (Walker Mystery) - Hardcover

Appel, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802731937 ISBN 13: 9780802731937

Publisher: Walker & Co, 1994

Synopsis

Criminal psychologist Kate Berman and her medical examiner husband tackle the case of a killer who preys on married males--but it must be a transvestite or drag queen because there are no female serial killers--or are there?

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

How's this for a story idea? A victim of her father's physical and psychological abuse survives by retreating into an alter ego who goes around seducing and killing family men. Of course, you'd need to flesh out the characters, for instance by making the survivor, tropical-fish shipper Nina Benanti, a ``lame nun'' in a ``librarian's dress,'' and the alter ego, Carmina Rivincita, an exotic chameleon devoid of emotion who picks men up in bars, takes them back to her room, spikes their drinks with lethal doses of digitalis, and then sits back to enjoy their last gasps. As a plot complication, you might have shy Nina fall in love with stammering artist Paul Zahler, her last best hope for kissing off Carmina and leading a normal, decent life, if only she can quit at, what, half a dozen killings now? And then you'd need a high-profile pair of detectives--say, criminal psychologist Kate Berman and her husband, Josh, former New York City medical examiner (Whisper...He Might Hear You, 1991), whose jocular domestic life suggests a serial killer stalked by Blondie and Dagwood. And let's not forget the sensuous set pieces that are hallmarks of books like this: ``He pictured her naked lap sprawled and open as halved fruit.'' And the surefire tricks to heat up the suspense: the killer's escalating violence! the police commissioner's time limit!! the danger to our heroine!!! Computer-plotted pulp, except that the computer isn't one of the ones that wins chess games, but one of the ones that gets you out of the shower to ask if you'd like to change your long-distance service. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Appel's fifth novel, after Whisper... He Might Hear You, places criminal psychologist Kate Berman, her husband Josh, a retired New York City medical examiner, and their wry, weary friend Casey, NYPD's Chief of Detectives, in a plot that mixes sex and sadistic violence with forensics and procedural elements. Within the first few pages, readers know who is killing the men found dead of digitalis overdoses: all are married men who had been last seen with a beautiful woman and who died within minutes of sexual climax. Because of the FBI view that there are no female serial killers, police suspect a transvestite, possibly a gay murderer in drag. At Casey's request, Kate and Josh apply their talents to the case, an effort that draws Kate into chilling peril. With cinematic narrative cuts, sophisticated, elliptical dialogue and complex interpersonal relationships, Appel keeps his readers interested, despite the fact that they are, until the very end, a step ahead of the protagonists.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Walker & Co
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0802731937
• ISBN 13: 9780802731937
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 167