Cold Heart

Ending was totally incongruous. All I kept thinking toward the end was... this isn't right! Although I LOVE the narrator Lorelei King, which is the reason I chose this book, I doubt I'll listen to another book by this author. But.. it's just my opinion.

This was not a Lynda La Plante novel. It is soppy and circular and more like cheap chick lit. The plot is slack and unfocused. The ending schmaltzy, indulgent and frankly weird.
I have enjoyed La Plante books in the past, which have all been consistently enjoyable so I don't know how to explain this, except to ask Are there TWO Lynda La Plantes????

(WARNING: Quasi-spoiler ahead -- at least if you can read between the lines)

"Cold Heart" was the third in Lynda LaPlante's "Lorraine Paige" series, one in which LaPlante did a Conan Doyle, ala "The Final Problem". Outrageous, really. Why would a successful author with a much-loved heroine do such a thing?

So back in the 90's, I read the three books in order as they came out -- loved them, really loved them As I recall, I liked the second and then this third book so much I even paid for the hardcover, as soon as they came out. I was fascinated by the wounded Lorraine Paige, loved the story of her down-and-out days, her recovery, and now in "Cold Heart" her endless spending of the riches she acquired in one of her cases. Maybe in those days the notion of being able to plunk down the cash to buy a home in Venice (California, that is) on the water -- then to walk into a store and buy everything she needed, from bath towels to furniture and appliances, and have it all delivered so all she had to do was walk in..... . THEN to go on a clothes shopping spree in the finest boutiques...

It's kind of a fairy tale. Lorraine is a real Cinderella -- well, no prince, but with the wave of a wand, the char-girl who prostituted herself becomes a rich and beautiful woman. One day she's homeless, on the streets. Next? More money than she knows what to do with. Stories like that have been the basis of fairy tales for thousands of years.

But I'm older now, I don't know if the chronicle of Lorraine's reckless throwing around of money in this book holds as much appeal now as it did than -- it doesn't seem to, for Lorraine either. But another problem for me now is that I know how this book ends.

I couldn't really get into listening to this book -- no one's fault, not LaPlante's (I loved it, before) no problem with the narrator. To me, at this time, it seems pretty depressing throughout -- not just that every minute I'm waiting for the other shoe to fall, but that there's a lack of spirit through the whole thing. It's a downer, in so many ways. I'll probably finish it, but right at this moment, my heart is pretty cold about it.

If this series is new to you, by all means find the first two books first. I see Audible doesn't list them, but they're certainly available in print. All three are great, in so many ways, the troubled protagonist, the odd and funny characters -- ie, "Rosie" who finally finds happiness -- not to mention the plots themselves, which are action-filled, complex and unique. When you've read those first two -- and you're feeling strong yourself -- then go for this last book.