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| The Mercedes Coffin: A Decker and Lazarus Book (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels) | 
 enlarge | Author: Faye Kellerman
Publisher: William Morrow
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $2.95
You Save: $23.00 (89%)
New (67) Used (68) Collectible (4) from $2.59
Avg. Customer Rating:  36 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Home Library Edition Doubleday LARGE PRINT
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0061227331
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061227332
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 36 | | ... 8 NEXT » |
Fails to engage November 14, 2008
Through the years the strength of this series has been Faye Kellerman's ability to engage the reader and cause him/her to care about Peter Decker and his family and the victims of the crimes in Decker's police cases. Somehow she fails to do either in this latest book in the series.
The title of the book refers to two murders which occur 15 years apart. In both murders the victim is put in the trunk of a Mercedes-Benz after being shot execution-style. The first victim is a well-liked teacher, Dr. Ben Little, and the second is an unscrupulous music producer named
Primo Ekerling. Decker and his cohorts spend the majority of the book looking into possible connections between the two murders. Scenes in the Decker home are brief and uninspiring with wife Rina's appearances being short and without much substance. Hopefully author Faye Kellerman will rediscover the formula of blending Peter Decker's home and professional life in a way which is more appealing to readers in the future.
 Too many characters November 13, 2008
As others have said, there are too many characters in this book. Each one is referred to by first name, last name, and often a nickname - sometimes in the same paragraph. There's a Rudy and a Ryan, Melinda and a Marilyn, not to mention Cal and Cal J (a red herring that went nowhere), and so many times I said to myself "Who's Mudd again?" I love the series, but the last two books have gone downhill.
A chilling police thriller November 12, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The scene is set, a brutal murder that bares a chilling resemblance to a murder committed almost fifteen years ago. Genoa Greeves is a successful computer entrepreneur who after reading the daily post discovers the brutal scene of Primo Ekerling. Late last night, three shots were fired execution style into the head of the famous music producer and he was left in the trunk of his car. This takes Ms. Greeves on a flashback to the unsolved murder of her school teacher. But unlike last time Ms. Greeves has the wherewithal to make a realistic attempt at solving Ekerling's death and maybe that of her favorite teacher.
Well, when you're throwing around such money, results are a guarantee. Enter Lieutenant Decker. He forms a task force and begins by interrogating members of the police who were on the force for more than fifteen years. But just before this investigation was to be under way, a long standing police officer is murdered. What is going on here? Faye Kellerman does a good job creating this police chiller and all the characters are well developed which is typical for Ms. Kellerman's writings.
Double M.O. Triggers a Cold Case Investigation October 11, 2008
When the police see a crime that's unusual, they check their records to see if there are any other similar crimes. When the details match, they often find that the same person was responsible. Career criminals frequently repeat themselves. What's rare, however, is when 15 years separate the two incidents. What does it mean then?
That's the question that Lieutenant Peter Decker faces when the LAPD is offered a large reward for finding the murderer of a well-beloved teacher, Bennett Little (Dr. Ben to many of his students), that occurred 15 years earlier. To make matters a little simpler (or more complicated?), Decker's daughter caught the squeal on the second murder.
From there, the book settles down into a slow-moving police procedural where you have to keep track of all the connections among the various people to make sense of the mystery. Even then, the results may seem a bit speculative until just near the end.
Normally, I like the slow unpeeling of the onion in a police procedural, but this one just didn't do it for me. Several parts of the story didn't ring true, even after thinking about them for a few days after I read the book. The characters who were introduced just for this story didn't always ring true to me either.
If you don't want to take a chance on this book, there's nothing of series significance that happens. So you have the option to skip this one, even if you are a dyed-in-the-wool Faye Kellerman fan.
 Glad I borrowed it and didn't purchase it ;0( October 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First and foremost I have to say that I am a big fan of the authors. I have followed this series forever. I was so excited to see a new novel with this cast.
The reality of it is that the only enjoyable part of this book was kind of catching up with the cast.
The whole story dragged and was so confusing with the million and one characters. I found that the story was slow to develop and many times I had to re-read a section just to wrap my mind around the cast of characters. There were just too many names being thrown around. Essentially I would say there were too many threads being pulled on at once. I didn't enjoy the book at all and although I am an avid reader it was like pulling teeth to get myself to finish reading it.
Hopefully she can do better in the next installment.
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