A Trouble of Fools: A Carlotta Carlyle Mystery

Linda Barnes's A Trouble of Fools is the book that introduced readers to ex-Boston cop and PI Carlotta Carlyle, who knows trouble when she sees it like the old Irish lady offering a grand in cash to find her brother...

TROUBLE...
Since being bounced from the Boston police for insubordination after six years of service, Carlotta Carlyle has set up shop as a private investigator ready to deal with anything from lost pets to substantially grander larcenies. Though Carlotta, a six-foot-tall, redheaded ex cop, part-time cabbie, and neophyte private eye, works out of her home, it's rare that clients stop by unannounced. Especially clients like the genteel, reserved, elderly spinster Miss Margaret Devens.

ALWAYS COMES...
With cash flow problems and a caseload so light that she's taken to reading her cat's mail, Carlotta accepts the case of Miss Devens's missing brother Eugene. Oddly enough, Carlotta knew Eugene when they worked together back at Green and White Cab. As far as Carlotta sees it, this case should be a pinchuntil two thugs looking for money send her client to the hospital.

WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT...
The old lady's missing brother seems to have been involved in something much more dangerous than simply driving a cab. Carlotta is determined to do whatever it takeswork the cops, pose as a hooker, and even drive a cab againto find Eugene before it's too late.

She is one of the most sparkling, most irresistible heroines ever to grace the pages of a whodunit.
Chicago Sun-Times

All elements are skillfully woven together in a book that has just about everything.
Denver Post