Rating: 
Summary: Great Read if you like mystery
Review: Although I prefer a bit of mystery combined with humor a la Evanovich, this was a tightly written story with believable and interesting characters. The plot is good, and is not revealed until the very end, at which point things do fall into place. Barnes has many suspects in the story, but you're never quite sure until the end. Aha's! occur at that point for the reader. She ties the info together without losing the reader's interest or understanding. I like the character Barnes writes about. She's strong, and tough but not inhuman, and intelligent and savvy -- a female character worth reading about.
Rating: 
Summary: Carlotta has two clients at once
Review: As usual Carlotta Carlyle is on the lookout for new clients. Suddenly there is an embarrassment of riches and she has two clients. The first one is Eddie Conklin, an ex-cop who is now working for a national security firm. He asks Carlotta to investigate some shady doings at the "Big Dig", Boston's over-budget tunnel project which is supposed to alleviate traffic problems in the city. The second client is a wealthy woman named Dana who wants Carlotta to find her missing tenant. Both of these cases are just the tip of the iceburg of bigger, more serious problems which Carlotta uncovers. I agree with some of the other reviewers that this book suffers a bit because Carlotta's usual supporting cast members are either missing (Mooney) or given small parts (Roz). Paolina is becoming more obnoxious with each passing book, which is a shame since her relationship with her Big Sister was once a very appealing part of the series. Also, in this book Carlotta is so busy running around solving mysteries that she doesn't have time to hang out with her volleyball-playing buddies. Fans of Barnes will want to read this book, but it's not the best in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Carlotta Digs Up All the Dirt!
Review: Carlotta Carlyle is one of my very favorite detective characters. Everything about her is intensely real, from her six-foot height to the red hair atop her head. No way she's going to blend in. Life is difficult for her, and she finds herself scrounging to make ends meet. Driving a cab to moonlight is one choice, and doing multiple full-time detective jobs is another. You've got to love this hard-working woman.As someone who has been living through the Big Dig project in Boston for many years, I was thrilled when Ms. Linda Barnes decided to build a story around it. All we could see during the construction was a big mess that moved daily, disrupting all traffic and making it impossible to know how to go anywhere. Mention Boston and public works, and the idea of corruption may cross your mind too. After all, Mayor Curley served Bean town from a jail cell during his administration. So when Carlotta is hired to look into Big Dig corruption, I had the story all set in my mind. Carlotta would find the corruption and it would lead right back to the Commonwealth's most well-heeled and established citizens. Wrong! There's a lot of humor in this story as Carlotta tries to look inconspicuous, yet find out what's going on at the work site. Someone has called in a tip that things are rotten in Denmark. She hasn't found out much by the time that a mysterious death occurs. At the same time, she takes on an unusual missing person's case. A young dog handler has gone astray, while leaving her dog behind. It doesn't make much sense . . . and Carlotta cannot turn up many leads. So for most of the story, you see Carlotta having problems rather than being a Superhero Wonder Woman detective. I find that refreshing. Then, late in the book, the plot develops at a breakneck pace . . . and I couldn't read the remaining pages fast enough to find out what was going on. I was particularly pleased to see that the solution to the mystery themed into another Boston tradition, celebrating Patriot's Day. Weaving all of the threads together is done masterfully. Even if you usually only like to read about male private detectives solving crimes, you should try this book. I'm sure you'll like it! After you finish enjoying Big Dig (which is slowly drawing to an end now that the tunnels are open for traffic), I suggest that take a copy with you the next time you are in Boston and imagine the scenes taking place while the main construction was going on. It would make for a great Halloween night!
Rating: 
Summary: Tense, entertaining mystery with a likable heroine
Review: Carlotta Carlyle, a former cop and a private investigator, is short on funds. Therefore, she eagerly accepts a new assignment: investigation of possible wrongdoings at the enormous Boston project call the Big Dig. She also take on a seemingly routine missing persons trace on the side. For a while, the two jobs offer little excitement. However, a deadly accident starts things moving, and soon Carlotta has her fill of suspicious clues--on both jobs. The plot in this mystery is an entertaining one, with only one whopping coincidence. Everything proceeds in a logical fashion, with both the pace and the tension accelerating through the book. Carlotta herself is an attractive heroine, principled but human in her minor failings, intelligent but not clairvoyant. In other words, the reader proceeds at about the pace of Carlotta--always a good sign. The other characters are believable if less richly defined. The book provides solid entertainment, with plenty of suspense and a feeling of satisfaction at the end. --inotherworlds.com
Rating:
Summary: Great Addition to the Series
Review: Even though the plot was a bit overwhelming at times (too many key people to remember--but maybe that's just me), this was a snappy, fun read, and a worthy addition to the Carlotta Carlyle series. The story concerns some nefarious goings-on at Boston's Big Dig, which I knew nothing about before reading this book, and now want to research further. Unlike the often boring preachiness of authors like, say, Linda Fairstein in her Alexandra Cooper series, Barnes manages to pack a lot of interesting background and information into this book without once distracting the reader from the plot. And what a plot it is: Carlotta is working two jobs at once, one as an undercover secretary on one of the Dig sites; the other a mysterious missing persons case for a wealthy Boston blueblood. Add in a lot of dogs, a hot new love interest, some spooky rats, and a murder or two, and you've got a fast-paced mystery. I missed some of the regulars in this book: Mooney (mentioned only in passing), Gloria, Sam (some surprises about him, but I won't say what) and--believe it or not--Paolina, although she has not been easy in the last few books. For die-hard readers like me, there is a hidden piece of information about Carlotta's past that completely blew me away--it occurs in a single sentence, and provides a great clue into Carlotta's makeup. If it has been mentioned in earlier books, I certainly missed it. And I have read every one. New readers: This is a good place to start, although you will miss some of the regular characters who make the series tick. Regular readers: Grab this one. You'll love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Where was Carlotta?
Review: I adore Carlotta. She's a character with lots of depth and personality. She has friends that I look forward to seeing. I don't understand what happened in The Big Dig. I couldn't find my friend Carlotta. I saw Roz briefly, but not the Roz I was expecting. Mooney? Gloria? Poulina? All missing. I'm going to pretend I never read The Big Dig. It isn't a typical Linda Barnes book. It was good, but it wasn't WONDERFUL like Linda's usual work. I want all my deep, richly drawn characters back! I know they are there in Linda's pen.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I can't believe all these readers didn't like this. It was a page turner from the start. All of the parts hung together and it made sense. Wow! So, okay, there were some coincidences that people less willing to suspend their disbelief might not buy, but I bought them. Who cares when you're having this much fun reading? Yes, this Carlotta did seem a bit more staid without her red hair and her taxi, and I did think it read like Sara Paretsky. But who wouldn't want to be compared favorably to Paretsky? I've read all the rest of the Carlottas, by the way, and as with most series, the earliest are the best.
Rating: 
Summary: BORING!
Review: I hate to say it because Barnes was my very favorite mystery author, but I think this series is dying.I actually fell asleep 4 or 5 times while reading this latest book. There is little suspense or tension & very little of anything interesting to keep one's attention at all.Carlotta has became just another adult PI & all the funny minor characters are either missing or given short shrift. It feels like Barnes has lost all enthusiasm for her character. So sad to see this happen because she is a very good writer.
Rating:
Summary: Good Stuff, Like the Early Robert B. Parker's Spenser Novels
Review: If you like private eye stuff, particularly set in Boston, be sure to take a look at this one. As the review title suggests, this book reminded me of Parker's early Spenser books, before Spenser became bosom buddies with the cops who used to loathe him, and before, in George V. Higgins' words, Spenser started flying, "off to London like he was trying out for his own TV series." Linda Barnes is not Robert B. Parker, and this fact does not leave me in sorrow's clutch. Barnes knows contemporary Boston, and writes about it well, though I have to admit, there's not enough Big Dig in this for a Big Dig freak like me. There is, however, a good story, starting simply, but quickly becoming complicated. Barnes' PI Carlotta Carlyle, like Spenser a former cop, like Spenser obstinate and determined to get her own questions answered, is a PI you want to stick with, one you can admire. Carlotta gets out there and ruins her pantyhose if necessary to get the job done (though she does cuss about the cost, and remind herself to dress down the next time she has to wiggle under a fence in the mud). Bluntly, don't get this one for the Big Dig. Get this one for a first-rate job of storytelling, and a terrific character. If Julianne Moore isn't looking at at least one screen treatment based on Carlotta, there's no justice in Hollywood (OK, I know).
Rating:
Summary: This book is stagnant and full of annoying redundancies
Review: In her ninth Carlotta Carlyle mystery, Linda Barnes sends the red-headed, six-foot tall private investigator undercover on a Big Dig. The place is Boston, " ... the Big Dig, formally known as the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project, [is] the biggest urban construction project in the history of the modern world, no less, a mega-dollar boondoggle to some, a brilliant and farsighted plan for Boston's transportation future to others." In response to a call to the fraud tip line, Carlotta is hired by her buddy ex-cop cum security businessman, to ferret out what is really happening on the various construction site locations. When she gets to her third job site, she is hired as a secretary, which puts her in the office and allows her to snoop in files and records. But, the CFO and CEO of Horgan's Construction are having problems that far exceed those on the site. At first, Carlyle thinks they are having marital difficulties; then, she slowly learns that they are caught up in a far more nefarious plot. Carlotta, who is not above moonlighting as a cab driver when she needs to pick up a few bucks, decides to take a second assignment: find a missing woman named Veronica. And here is where the book begins to fall apart. Linda Barnes is known for her gritty noir-like mysteries, but in the BIG DIG, she asks readers to buy into a truly unbelievable plot full of holes you could drive an earth mover through. And, by the time she delivers the denouement, so much ancillary activity has taken place that it is very difficult to take anything that happens afterward seriously. In a previous book Carlyle is shot, and she keeps referring to her scar and the fact that it interferes with her mobility. Unfortunately, the BIG DIG has the same problem. It is stagnant and full of annoying redundancies, not the best Barnes can offer by a long shot.
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