The Big Dig (Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries)

The most refreshing, creative female character to hit mystery fiction since Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone. --People

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

Carlotta is an engaging narrator with a brisk, easy-going style...a worthy competitor in the private eye business. --Washington Post

A shrewd piece of writing, Well-researched and smartly told. --Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

Like the best of the new detectives, V.I. and Kinsey, [Carlotta Carlyle] is a woman of wit and gravity, compassion and toughness, a heroine worth spending time with.... [Those of us] who yearn for whodunits with character as well wrought as plot, can only thank Linda Barnes. --Susan Isaacs, The New York Times Book Review

Move over Spenser, make permanent room on the streets of Boston for another sleuth who's big (six feet one), strong and tough as nails but soft at the core. --Entertainment Weekly

Her first person prose is well-honed, and her touch is sure enough to float her fast-paced narrative while still allowing for sharp development of an intriguing cast of characters...Best of all, Barnes can turn a phrase well enough to make even Paretsky and Grafton jealous. --Houston Chronicle

It's always a pleasure to spend time with this zesty detective...Carlotta has class and spirit to spare. --Baltimore Sun

Linda Barnes is the author of eight previous Carlotta Carlyle mysteries and winner of the Anthony and American Mystery Awards. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and son.