Hot Stones: Cold Death

Rating:
Summary: Gripping Mystery!!
Review: "HOT STONES, COLD DEATH was a fantastic read! I really enjoyed the suspense and getting to know the charcters' foibles and special interests. The pace was fast with enough twists and turns to keep the reader engrossed. Great book! Great mystery! Can't wait to have some of my friends read it so we can talk about it."

Rating:
Summary: Gripping Mystery!!
Review: "HOT STONES, COLD DEATH was a fantastic read! I really enjoyed the suspense and getting to know the charcters' foibles and special interests. The pace was fast with enough twists and turns to keep the reader engrossed. Great book! Great mystery! Can't wait to have some of my friends read it so we can talk about it."

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing and Richly Detailed
Review: Barbara Fleming has written a gripping novel that comes alive with the real voices of people. Dialogue is one of the author's great strengths, and through it she brings the reader into each vivid scene, beginning with the discovery of two grotesquely staged bodies in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and the realization that a priceless emerald necklace has disappeared from the museum's gem collection. The necklace, by the way, is real and is pictured on the cover of the novel by permission of the Smithsonian. Fleming's strong-willed detective, Matthew Alexander, probes other characters' motives and whereabouts while negotiating the tense, politically charged administrative levels of one of the nation's oldest and largest institutions.

His stubborn digging takes the reader into mysterious circumstances at a local commune-temple, information gathering in a smoky bar and grill, a search for secret compartments in the gem curator's home, the discovery of a woman hunting for missing family members in a cheap rooming house, and some not-strictly-legal safe cracking. Punctuating these excursions are Alexander's all too few and often late-night pit stops at home, where he cuddles his children and spars with his sexy wife. Always, though, he is drawn deeper and deeper into a maze of detail that doesn't add up, while the reader is held in tantalizing suspense.

Enjoy this rich plot, full of twists and turns, and savor the characters. This is likely to be the first in a wonderful series by a promising new author.

Rating:
Summary: A pulse-pounding thriller of a read
Review: Barbara Fleming's Hot Stones Cold Death is an outstanding mystery novel featuring Lieutenant Matthew Alexander, a homicide detective who must follow the theft of a prized necklace from the Smithsonian's gem collection and identify a ruthless murderer. Faced with walls of stony denial and mistrust, Matthew Alexander must navigate uncooperative witnesses and mounting danger to uncover the crux of the matter before it's too late. Hot Stones Cold Death is a deftly written, thoroughly exciting, cover-to-cover pulse-pounding thriller of a read.

Rating:
Summary: A Gem of a Mystery!
Review: Barbara Fleming's Hot Stones, Cold Death is a murder mystery featuring veteran Washington, DC Detective Matthew Alexander and his sidekick, Jake Jackson. The mystery opens with two black men found dead dressed in African warrior regalia in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Their bodies are curiously arranged in an African Village diorama complete with spears, shields, and a priceless emerald necklace. At first glance, it looks like a theft gone wrong, but something lies beneath the surface that does not sit well with Matt and Jake. The detectives are faced with few clues, airtight alibis, and a hostile environment in which the highly connected museum staff wants the case closed as soon as possible. They follow leads that take them all over DC; from posh Georgetown to the crackhouses of Florida Avenue. A lucky break, another body, and follow through on a haunting suspicion allow the detectives to apprehend the culprits and resolve the mystery.

There are many characters in this story and the author provides a great service to the reader by providing a list of primary characters and their roles at the beginning of the novel. Even with the helpful guide, the author's handling of dialogue between characters is somewhat awkward and cumbersome at times, especially when familiar characters referred to each other by first and last names. Despite the issues with dialogue, this reviewer found the plot to be original and very well paced. The author introduces twists and turns at appropriate intervals to keep the reader interested until the end. This is a light, easy read; appropriate for a summer afternoon.

Phyllis
APOOO BookClub, Nubian Circle Book Club

Rating:
Summary: From A Murder-Mystery Lover
Review: Hot Stones * Cold Death by Barbara Fleming is well worth your time. It has a great mystery plot. I welcomed the list of primary characters. Although, I didn't need it for long.

If you like/love mysteries, then you will definitely enjoy this book. The dialogue is witty. The characters are believable. The setting is realistic. Thank you Ms. Fleming for a story well done. I look forward to reading more of your work.

Rating:
Summary: In the middle of the Mall
Review: If you're looking for a classic whodunit with a no nonsense African American sleuth, Hot Stones, Cold Death may be just what you're after. Lieutenant Matthew Alexander is on the case when two young men are found murdered in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. The catch? They were dressed in tribal attire and positioned in the museum's African culture diorama. When a priceless emerald necklace is added to the equation, it's a race to find the thief and the killer.

I found this to be a quickly paced mystery. Fleming obviously knew the setting of the Smithsonian well, as she accurately described its bureacracy and landmarks with great detail and fluidity. The major difference I found in this book versus other African American mysteries is the fact that Fleming focused greatly on the case and the resolution of the crime as opposed to the sleuth himself. She constructed the characters well, but there were quite a few to keep up with, as is commonly the case with mystery novels. Overall, this was a good read that I would definitely recommend to mystery lovers.

Reviewed by CandaceK

Rating:
Summary: Hot Stones * Cold Death by Barbara Fleming
Review: Many readers who approach mystery fiction are comforted by the ingrained notions that crime doesn't pay, the good are rewarded for their virtue, and evil-doers get their just deserts in the end. Some like to assume that there is in the universe an order which flows in the same direction as their cherished values and beliefs. However, author Barbara Fleming in her inaugural offering in the mystery genre, sorely tests the readers' notions about good and evil, crime and purnishment, and who pays the piper after the final accounting is taken.

Set in the imposing Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History, "Hot Stones*Cold Death" opens prophetically with the discovery of two murdered intruders whose bodies are strangely placed in an African village exhibit as if they are nothing more than stage props in a compelling and bizarre theatrical event. Both men are young African-Americans dressed in African tribal village attire. Their identities unknown and their bodies unidentified, the murdered men come to function metaphorically as "X", the unknown quantities in a brutal and senseless crime that appears to lack both opportunity and means since no one at the museum claims to know them and no weapon is found. The victims themselves, however, provide motive for their senseless murders when a priceless and stunningly beautiful emerald necklace, stolen from the Smithsonian's fabulous gem collection, is found on one of the bodies. To compound the mystery: the gem collection is "protected" by the museum's high-tech, anti-theft security system.

Thus begins an intriguing tale that upsets the otherwise orderly, generally non-exciting, civilized world inside one of America's most famous museum. For a first offering in the mystery genre, Barbara Fleming has written a satisfying, engaging, and detailed anatomy of a crime scene investigation that transports the reader beyond the usual hard-boiled jargon and investigative procedures of police work. She places her characters in very interesting contextual dimensions that extend beyond the typical homicide investigation by developing the relationships among the main characters in ways that make them appear more human with all their flaws, eccentricities, and unique character traits. For example, the hero of this exciting, fast-paced mystery is the young, assertive District of Columbia homicide division detective, Lieutenant Matthew Alexander, whose actions propel this tale to a surprising and satisfying resolution.

The author also immerses the reader in politics, including the politics of race, class, crime, Afrocentrism, and power in a city where power rules absolutely. "Hot Stones*Cold Death" can be described in many ways, but I would describe it first, foremost, and last as a mystery well worth reading. The author, who lived in the nation's capital for a number of years, currently lives in Ohio. She is presently at work on her second novel to be called "A Case of Capital Murder". No doubt, the author's hero, dectective Lieutenant Matthew Alexander of the District of Columbia Police Department will be involved.

Reviewed by George ("G.T.") Johnson, Library Director (Retired)
Central State University.

Rating:
Summary: Wow, a good whodunit!
Review: Mrs. Fleming's publisher sent In the Company of My Sistah bookclub a copy to read and review.
I finally go around to it. I enjoyed the novel soo much, I wonder
why I waited.
It opens with a bang!. Two bodies in the Smithsonian, WOW.
Excellent writing. A good story line. A great whodunit. The
characters were believable. The portrayal of the bureaucrats and their actions were so on target.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I am definitely recommending my
bookclub and others read this mystery.

Jo D Wright - ITCOMS
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Wow, a good whodunit!
Review: Mrs. Fleming's publisher sent In the Company of My Sistah bookclub a copy to read and review.
I finally go around to it. I enjoyed the novel soo much, I wonder
why I waited.
It opens with a bang!. Two bodies in the Smithsonian, WOW.
Excellent writing. A good story line. A great whodunit. The
characters were believable. The portrayal of the bureaucrats and their actions were so on target.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I am definitely recommending my
bookclub and others read this mystery.

Jo D Wright - ITCOMS
[e-mail]