Rating: 
Summary: Very strong in entertainment value
Review: After serving as teammates in a volleyball game, Gwen Taymore asks private investigator Carlotta Carlyle to provide security services to elderly Valentine Phipps. Securing a residence is not Carlotta's expertise, but the mention of a fee entices Carlotta.. Reluctantly, she agrees to help the senior citizen feel safer in her rent controlled apartment in the Fenway (not the ball park) section of Boston. Carlotta's efforts fail as someone murders Valentine a day after the sleuth met the retired person. The police feel Gwen is the prime suspect. Unable to fully accept the seemingly shy and kind Gwen as a killer, Carlotta makes inquiries. On the way, she picks up a new client interested in everything and everyone related to Valentine. As Carlotta digs deeper into the death of Valentine, the case takes many twists, not the least being the police's desire to keep Carlotta away from the crime scene. However, the courageous Carlotta will never allow bureaucratic officialdom or even threats to her to halt her investigation. The eighth Carlyle mystery, FLASHPOINT, is an entertaining who-done-it due to the antics of the lead character and her support cast. The murder mystery is engaging except for the out of control climax that actually subtracts from a well-designed plot. The sidebars involving Carlotta's personal life, her little sister, and her tenant Roz add depth to the protagonist and help bring vivid life to Boston. Linda Barnes provides her fans with an enjoyable entry in a pleasurable series. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Not a page turner.
Review: Although the book wasn't too bad, it didn't seem to flow very smoothly. The storyline seemed choppy and the characters didn't seem to mesh. The premise for the story was good, but the style of writing did not make for a real page turner. The series of events which led up to Valentine Phipps having possession of the 'item of value' was interesting, and gives us a glimpse into history of how people came to hide items of value during wartime.
Rating:
Summary: Not a page turner.
Review: Although the book wasn't too bad, it didn't seem to flow very smoothly. The storyline seemed choppy and the characters didn't seem to mesh. The premise for the story was good, but the style of writing did not make for a real page turner. The series of events which led up to Valentine Phipps having possession of the 'item of value' was interesting, and gives us a glimpse into history of how people came to hide items of value during wartime.
Rating:
Summary: First time reader didn't find this series appealing...
Review: Am I ever glad I read this book before I read most of these reviews! Different people have different tastes, which makes life more fun, but I just can't agree with the negative reviews this book has piled up. Flashpoint shows another level of depth for Carlotta, and masterfully weaves the "usual" characters in with the new ones. Maybe she didn't have quite as much "fun" as she usually does, but business hit her right up front and demanded her attention; can't argue with that. I eagerly await the next. Please keep at it, Ms. Barnes!
Rating:
Summary: Reinforcement of why I don't believe reviews
Review: Am I ever glad I read this book before I read most of these reviews! Different people have different tastes, which makes life more fun, but I just can't agree with the negative reviews this book has piled up. Flashpoint shows another level of depth for Carlotta, and masterfully weaves the "usual" characters in with the new ones. Maybe she didn't have quite as much "fun" as she usually does, but business hit her right up front and demanded her attention; can't argue with that. I eagerly await the next. Please keep at it, Ms. Barnes!
Rating: 
Summary: a disappointing, disorganized imitation of previous reads
Review: as much as i have enjoyed reading barnes books in the past, that's how disappointed i was in this book. its almost as if she felt obliged to keep her name current with no thought given to organization, rhyme or reason. thoroughly unlike barnes like.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Entertaining Mystery
Review: Carlotta Carlyle is a six-foot-tall, red-haired, half Irish-half Jewish, independent private investigator, who is a former Boston cop and she is currently without a client, a steady paycheck or any other visible means of support. She was briefly married a decade earlier and she isn't having much luck with the current crop of men in her life. She goes to the gym regularly, where she plays on a volleyball team, but doesn't know her teammates outside of the gym. One particular teammate, however, a shy young woman named Gwen, asks Carlotta to have coffee with her. It turns out she's a home care volunteer and she's worried about an old woman, named Valentine Phipps, she has been taking care of in a seedy apartment building. Valentine says someone has been trying to get into her apartment. Carlotta doesn't take her fears too seriously, but agrees to help burglar-proof her home. However Valentine dies, seemingly from natural causes, before she has a chance to install new locks. However her death is suspicious, because she appears to have been reaching for pills. Carlotta learns that Valentine was the last tenant still under rent control and she starts to get suspicious. Then it looks like Gwen is being accused of the crime, she's black with priors, after all. So now Carlotta is on the job. I found this book to be highly entertaining. I especially liked the way Ms. Barnes played all the multicultural characters off against each other, it really helped this interesting and exciting mystery come to life.
Rating:
Summary: Another Gem In Carlotta's Collection
Review: First of all let me say this: How anyone could possibly give this book, or any other Carlotta Carlyle mystery a bad review is so entirely beyond me. I think these people must be aliens from a distant and uncultured, illiterate planet, where they read the trash of such authors as William Faulkner that are supposed to be out-of-this-world brilliance. I think not.
This Carlotta Carlyle is not, in any way, bad or under-written. Barnes consistenly slams us with an enormously entertaining Carlotta novel. And "Flashpoint" is no exception that literarily-gifted rule.
Whenever I mention Linda Barnes to my friends or family, bringing up her mysteries in a conversation with my best friend's mother, I refer to her as my "beloved" Linda Barnes, same as authors like Joan Hess (only in reference to her Claire Malloy books since I loathe Arly Hanks), Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, and Mary Higgins Clark.
"Flashpoint" is no way a bad novel. Read this book, and all other Carlyle mysteries by Barnes. I believe that "The Snake Tattoo" was the first in this series. ~Steven Harvey
Rating:
Summary: Carlotta: Always outnumbered, never outdone
Review: Having read the five previous unfavorable comments submitted by readers to Amazon, my enthusiasm about "Flashpoint" was dampened prior to beginning the book. I've always enjoyed Carlotta's exploits and novel detectival methods(ie. hiding her treasures in the cat box under the litter). However, in spite of my skepticism about this particular adventure, I was quite pleasantly surprised. The narrative never falters as we wander through a tangle of new and established characters. Some of the regulars carve new edges and dimensions to their persona beyond, and often in defiance of, the roles established in earlier books. As the plot twists and turns, Carlotta herself is often baffled as she stumbles through quite a few misleading clues and potential suspects. Although Paolina's drug-lord father has provided Carlotta with substantial funds for his daughter, Ms. C. has been determined to keep their existence a secret throughout this series. In "Flashpoint" she divulges their existence to both Paolina and her mother, Marta, with a pragmatic reluctance. Carlotta realizes that the money, though tainted, is most likely the only realistic way Paolina and Marta can attain a decent quality of life without resorting to crime and prostitution. This sad commentary on our society strikes a chord of verisimilitude. The exploration of the Jewish Reclamation Fund's activites likewise illustrates the realities of striving to achieve some justice for the many neglected, persecuted, but highly deserving segments of humanity. I look forward to the next installment in Linda Barnes's ever evolving Carlotta Carlysle series.
Rating:
Summary: Carlotta: Always outnumbered, never outdone
Review: Having read the five previous unfavorable comments submitted by readers to Amazon, my enthusiasm about "Flashpoint" was dampened prior to beginning the book. I've always enjoyed Carlotta's exploits and novel detectival methods(ie. hiding her treasures in the cat box under the litter). However, in spite of my skepticism about this particular adventure, I was quite pleasantly surprised. The narrative never falters as we wander through a tangle of new and established characters. Some of the regulars carve new edges and dimensions to their persona beyond, and often in defiance of, the roles established in earlier books. As the plot twists and turns, Carlotta herself is often baffled as she stumbles through quite a few misleading clues and potential suspects. Although Paolina's drug-lord father has provided Carlotta with substantial funds for his daughter, Ms. C. has been determined to keep their existence a secret throughout this series. In "Flashpoint" she divulges their existence to both Paolina and her mother, Marta, with a pragmatic reluctance. Carlotta realizes that the money, though tainted, is most likely the only realistic way Paolina and Marta can attain a decent quality of life without resorting to crime and prostitution. This sad commentary on our society strikes a chord of verisimilitude. The exploration of the Jewish Reclamation Fund's activites likewise illustrates the realities of striving to achieve some justice for the many neglected, persecuted, but highly deserving segments of humanity. I look forward to the next installment in Linda Barnes's ever evolving Carlotta Carlysle series.
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