Rating: 
Summary: a great comeback by Susan Isaacs
Review: I've got a soft spot for Susan Isaacs and her writing: Since reading "Compromising positions" & "Almost paradise", years ago, I've become a fan, & have ordered everything coming out by her, months before it's actually in the bookstores. Some of her books I've loved, others I've merely liked. Never was there a book by Susan Isaacs that I've hated or been bored with. Even "Red white & blue", her weakest work to date, was finished in a matter of hours. "Long time no see" could be called a sequel, if we were to stretch the meaning of the word "sequel". In it, Judith Singer, housewife & recent widow, is slowly getting bored by single life & work at the local college. 20 years ago, she had helped solve a murder, by getting the detective itch. She gets the urge again, when learning about Courtney Logan's mysterious disappearance. She even, fearlessly, volunteers to help solve the mystery, working together with Courtney's father in law, gangster Phil Lowenstein. Part of the fun of S.Isaac's books is the terrific humour & the one-liners. Most of her heroines (and Judith more so than others) are wittier, more brave versions of everyday women. The actual mystery in this book is solved piece by piece, conversation by conversation, & we watch as, incredibly, Judith gets to the end of it. While she does this, she manages to have a reunion with her flame from long ago, Nelson Sharpe, who we last met in "Compromising Positions". 20 years may have passed, but (& this is part of Ms.Isaac's talent) it somehow seems natural for Judith & Nelson to get back together. Maybe, in the end, that's why I love Susan Isaacs: she takes everyday people, puts them into not-everyday situtations, and lets things happen.
Rating:
Summary: a great comeback by Susan Isaacs
Review: I've got a soft spot for Susan Isaacs and her writing: Since reading "Compromising positions" & "Almost paradise", years ago, I've become a fan, & have ordered everything coming out by her, months before it's actually in the bookstores. Some of her books I've loved, others I've merely liked. Never was there a book by Susan Isaacs that I've hated or been bored with. Even "Red white & blue", her weakest work to date, was finished in a matter of hours. "Long time no see" could be called a sequel, if we were to stretch the meaning of the word "sequel". In it, Judith Singer, housewife & recent widow, is slowly getting bored by single life & work at the local college. 20 years ago, she had helped solve a murder, by getting the detective itch. She gets the urge again, when learning about Courtney Logan's mysterious disappearance. She even, fearlessly, volunteers to help solve the mystery, working together with Courtney's father in law, gangster Phil Lowenstein. Part of the fun of S.Isaac's books is the terrific humour & the one-liners. Most of her heroines (and Judith more so than others) are wittier, more brave versions of everyday women. The actual mystery in this book is solved piece by piece, conversation by conversation, & we watch as, incredibly, Judith gets to the end of it. While she does this, she manages to have a reunion with her flame from long ago, Nelson Sharpe, who we last met in "Compromising Positions". 20 years may have passed, but (& this is part of Ms.Isaac's talent) it somehow seems natural for Judith & Nelson to get back together. Maybe, in the end, that's why I love Susan Isaacs: she takes everyday people, puts them into not-everyday situtations, and lets things happen.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Sequel
Review: If you have read Compromising Positions, you'll love this sequel. Judith Singer is once again trying to solve a murder, only she is 20 years older now. I love her character and that her and here old lover reunite in this story. Susan Isaacs writes so well, the characters come to life for me. I did like Compromising Positions a bit more than this one, but it is definitely worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Long Time No Good
Review: In this sequel to "Compromising Positions," Judith Singer is once more looking into a murder in her small suburban Long Island town. Around page 200 she complains frustratedly that she's spinning her wheels, that the case is going nowhere. I could relate. "When is something going to happen, here?" I was thinking. Finally Judith comes across some information that turns things around, and from then on the book flies by fairly quickly. (With a great jolt of a twist on page 298!) But, honestly, the first 200 pages are trying, especially when you realize (I hope I'm not giving away too much here) that they have NOTHING to do with the outcome of the mystery. Still, the 3 stars are for Isaacs deft writing, her wry one-liners. I won't say "Long Time No See" is a waste of time, but if there's a Number Three, I won't be buying the hard cover. That's what libraries are for, you know?
Rating:
Summary: SLEEP ROBBER
Review: It was hard to put this book down. Ms. Isaacs' wry wit, keen ear for dialogue, sharp chacterizations and interesting plot captivated me. I live in Ms. Isaacs town where I sell real estate so I see houses and meet people similar to those in her book. She has captured some of the flavor of the North Shore of Long Island with humor and sensitivity.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious and absorbing . . .
Review: It's been twenty years since the last appearance (in _Compromising Positions_) of Judith Singer, upper middle-class Long Island housewife and amateur detective. A lot has happened to her in two decades. She's now a widow, her husband having died suddenly of a stroke two years before. She's completed her dissertation and is now a professor of history at a small but well regarded college. Some things haven't changed, especially her love for homicide cop Nelson Sharpe, which she has kept carefully at bay all these years. Now, intrigued by the disappearance and murder of Courtney Logan, ex-investment banker and perfect mom, she finds herself semi-employed by Courtney's father-in-law, retired hoodlum Fancy Phil Lowenstein. Courtney's husband, the determinedly legit Gregory Logan, is the cops' favorite suspect, and Fancy Phil needs help finding evidence to clear him. It's right up Judith's alley -- until the case brings her into abrupt contact with Nelson and the old flame rekindles. Isaacs is always a hoot and a half, with a droll wit, a keen ear for dialogue, and a real talent for characterization. Every member of the large supporting cast is deftly drawn and entirely believable. So is the convoluted plot itself, as Judith works her way logically through the possibilities, borrowing her friends' talents and contacts to overcome obstacles and paying heed to that occasional flash of insight that keeps the investigation going. This is a terrific book.
Rating:
Summary: Romance, mystery and humor...what more could you ask?
Review: Judith Singer (first seen in Isaacs's Compromising Positions) has come a long way in 20 years. Her kids are grown, her husband has died and she's teaching English literature at a local college. But mostly, she feels at loose ends...that is, until a suburban housewife, Courtney Logan, is murdered. Courtney seems to be fulfilled in every way Judith is not, seemingly finding perfect fulfillment in being a stay at home mom, loving spouse and a housewife who could give Martha Stewart a run for her money.
But her murder puts Judith's sleuthing ambitions on full throttle, so much so that she actually knocks on Greg Logan's door (Courtney's husband) and offers her services as a private eye. While he is uninterested, his father, a mob bigwig, decides to hire her.
What develops is a mystery with more than a few twists and turns and unexpected surprises, all wrapped with a healthy dose of humor. A fun read!
Rating:
Summary: A perky mystery with a bit of spice.
Review: Judith Singer is a widow, but a long time ago, she had an outrageous and delicious affair which led her to fall in love with Nelson Sharpe, a former homicide detective. Knowing that being together and separating from their respective spouses would ruin too many hearts, they end the affair, with noone the wiser. Until now. A woman has disappeared in the neighborhood, and Judith, famous for having solved one old mystery a long time ago, just can't keep her passion for snooping away from this one. This leads her to a run in with a Mafia Leader who claims he is no longer one but wants her to find who killed his son's wife. When Nelson Sharpe discovers Judith is in touch with, and actually working for "Fancy Phil", he goes ballistic, and re-enters her life with an explosion heard as soon as you turn that particular page. Judith is fun, insightful, and someone you would feel you could not keep up with, but the mystery itself is agonizing, as author Susan Isaacs keeps a tight hold on all clues and manages to keep you turning those pages, if not for the romance involved, then definitely for the who-dun-it aspect.
Rating:
Summary: Ms. Isaacs continues the story, twenty years later
Review: Judith Singer, housewife/detective is now twenty years older. Her husband, the egocentric Bob has been dead for two years, a half day after running the NY marathon in just over 4 hrs. She is teaching history at a small catholic college and seems depressed bored and lonely. Then, just like twenty years ago, a headline catches her eye. A woman in her community of Shorehaven has disappeared without a trace. She finds it interesting, but does nothing until a body is found in the woman's swimming pool months later. Presumably, the body is that of Courtney Logan. Judith rather impulsively offers her services as a researcher to the grieving husband, and is rebuffed at the door. Shortly thereafter, his father, organized crime figure, Fancy Phil Lowenstein, shows up in her garage and asks for her help in solving the crime. This brings Nelson Sharpe, now in Special Investigations, back into her life and her investigation. All of the old characters from Compromising Positions are back, twenty years older. I was interested to find out how they all changed. The mystery in this book was much better than the last, and that one was very good. It was an excellent Long Island suburban mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Needs a Bit More Ooomph
Review: Long Time No See is a witty murder mystery narrated by Judith Singer, who we first met in Compromising Positions. I read that one ages ago, and I remember liking it a bit more than Long Time No See. LTNS, while funny, has a bit of a pacing problem. It starts off fairly well, but then, as soon as Judith gets involved in solving the murder mystery, the story drags. She interviews what seemed to be countless people who could tell her nothing. And then, in a whirlwind, the story is wrapped up. Not bad, just not great either.
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