Lie Down with the Devil
Read Lie Down with the Devil Online
Authors: Linda Barnes
Log on and learn more about:
The Labyrinth!
Sign up for this monthly newsletter and get your crime fiction fix. Commentary author Q&A, hot new titles, and giveaways.
MomentsInCrime:
It’s no mystery what our authors are thinking. Each week, a new author blogs about their upcoming projects, special events, and more. Log on today to talk to your favorite authors.
www.MomentsInCrime.com
GetCozy:
The ultimate cozy connection. Find your favorite cozy mystery, grab a reading group guide, sign up for monthly giveaways, and more.
www.GetCozyOnIine.com
Outstanding Praise for Linda Barnes
and Her Mysteries
“All the action and suspense you expect from a Linda Barnes book are here in spades.”
—
BookPage
“Carlotta Carlyle was one of the first female private detectives…and her 12th outing shows why she’s still one of the standards against which subsequent female PIs measure themselves.”
—
Baltimore Sun
“Things get moving quickly…It’s still Carlyle’s show; her courage and vulnerability are both on full display as she grapples with a change that promises a refreshing…shift in her already turbulent life.”
—
Booklist
“A startling new chapter in the heroine’s checkered personal life.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“This mystery has both timeless and contemporary appeal…a winner.”
—
Boston Herald
“An emotionally cliff-hanging ending.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“The breakout book of the series…that will shock and surprise the reader. Essential reading.”
MORE…
—
Library Journal
“With every novel, Linda Barnes reminds us of two key facts—she was one of the first and she remains one of the best.
Heart of the World
has everything that Carlotta Carlyle fans have come to expect from this seminal series. Barnes has never been better, and that’s saying a lot.”
—Laura Lippman, author of
To the Power of Three
“Linda Barnes has long been one of the most skilled and artful writers of the crime novel. With
Heart of the World
she proves it and takes it up to a new level. This is her best.”
—Michael Connelly, author of
The Lincoln Lawyer
“Heart of the World
illuminates the power of our deepest regrets and the fleeting chances we sometimes get to fill the emptiness in our souls. Writing with sensitivity and grace, Linda Barnes once more demonstrates why ex-cop Carlotta Carlyle has become a treasured mainstay in the field of crime fiction.”
—Robert Crais, author of
The Forgotten Man
“[There’s] plenty to keep a reader chasing after the delightful Carlyle while she chases after the bad guys.”
—
Entertainment Weekly
“Barnes weaves an intricate web with a pleasingly poisonous spider at its center…Barnes makes superb use of the town-gown tensions…the twists and turns in this nail-biter are at once startling without ever becoming absurd.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“With
Deep Pockets
, Barnes locks in her position as one of the foremost practitioners of middle-of-the-road, character-based mystery…I suppose I could have put it down. But I didn’t want to.”
—Orson Scott Card
“Pure pleasure.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“A true page-turner…nobody knows Boston like Linda Barnes’s red-haired private investigator Carlotta Carlyle…Barnes’s knack for crisp, snappy dialogue, and devising a mystery that has both timeless and contemporary appeal, is a winner.”
—
Boston Herald
“Barnes grabs the detective genre by the throat but rarely lets style overtake substance. The plot is thick and original and sure to surprise.”
—
Washington Times
“Carlotta Carlyle combines the sensitivity of Robert Parker’s Spenser with the stubbornness of Paretsky’s V.I. Warshawski and she’s rapidly carving out a place of her own.”
—
Chicago Tribune
“A shrewd piece of writing, well-researched and smartly told.”
—Marilyn Stasio,
The New York Times Book Review
“Carlotta is an engaging narrator with a brisk, easygoing style…a worthy competitor in the private eye business.”
—
The Washington Post
“[A] vivid puzzler and a walloping good read…lay in the supply of midnight oil before you pick up this book.”
—
Albuquerque Journal
“A satisfyingly complex tale!”
—
Entertainment Weekly
“A must for every mystery fan. Barnes is a master storyteller, and her latest—in a series that just keeps getting better—is a riveting read that is at once poignant, funny, sad, suspenseful, and hopeful.”
—
Booklist
“Barnes continues to write some of the best female detective mysteries on the market today. Readers will dive into the action from start to finish. Carlotta is a great female sleuth and the supporting cast adds dichotomous local color to the tale.”
—Harriet Klausner,
Painted Rock Reviews
“Engrossing…. The pages keep turning.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“Compelling.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“Absorbing…Barnes keeps readers flipping pages…. The quickly paced tale neatly balances thought and action, past events and present consequences.”
—
Orlando Sentinel
“Cold Case
is as good as it gets! Linda Barnes is one of today’s best authors, mystery or not. Each new book gives us the best in writing, plot and character development.”
—Kate’s Mystery Books
“Ms. Barnes makes a fist and puts some muscle in this strong plot about an extortionist scheme to corner the market in the taxi medallions.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
“Warning, this is a difficult book to put down!”
—
Kansas Ledger
“Barnes’s knack for crisp, snappy dialogue and devising a mystery that has both timeless and contemporary appeal is a winner.”
—
Boston Herald
“More than Grafton and far more than Paretsky, Barnes manages to overcome the too-tough tendencies of her detective with salvos of self-deprecating wit.”
—
Booklist
“Barnes’ best work yet…some of the best detective fiction you’ll read.”
—
Detroit Free Press
“A stunner!”
—
Denver Post
“Irresistible!”
—
Chicago Sun-Times
“Barnes scored a direct hit with
Steel Guitar
, and her P.I. is in top form here.”
—
Chicago Tribune
“Snapshot
is destined to secure Barnes’ position in the hotshot ranks of detective fiction.”
—
Arizona Republic
BY LINDA BARNES
Lie Down with the Devil
Flashpoint
Heart of the World
Deep Pockets
The Big Dig
Cold Case
Hardware
Snapshot
Steel Guitar
Coyote
The Snake Tattoo
A Trouble of Fools
LIE DOWN
WITH THE
DEVIL
Linda Barnes
St. Martin’s Paperbacks
NOTE:
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
LIE DOWN WITH THE DEVIL
Copyright © 2008 by Linda Appelblatt Barnes.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2008018091
ISBN: 0-312-35645-5
EAN: 978-0-312-35645-3
Printed in the United States of America
Minotaur Books edition / August 2008
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / August 2009
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Luis Gabriel
The author would like to thank many of the usual suspects, including Richard Barnes, Sam Barnes, Gina Maccoby, Kelley Ragland, Matt Martz, and Sarah Smith. She would also like to thank Kate Mattes for book signings, Christmas parties, and moral support.
ONE
When my fare hauled himself out of the cab near Up-hams Corner, I took it as a sign, but face it, even if the fat man’s destination had been fifty miles from my goal, I’d have found another convenient omen. I’d made the decision late last night. I needed to have it out with Mooney.
The rump end of a minor hangover beat a tattoo in my left temple, and I knew that if I didn’t take action, I’d stay home tonight, sprawled on the sofa like a dead-beat, watching old movie reruns, pouring too many Rolling Rocks down my throat. Again. Since it’s my considered opinion that it’s better to do anything than nothing, I was determined to find out why Mooney wasn’t answering his phone, why he hadn’t replied to my increasingly urgent messages. Mooney’s a guy you can count on, reliable as taxes, so his unresponsiveness was alarming.