Further Adventures of Carlotta Carlyle

Book excerpt: Available for the first time in one volume: three delectably puzzling mystery stories—including the Anthony Award–winning story “Lucky Penny”—starring the inimitable taxi-driving Boston private investigator Carlotta Carlyle Six-foot-tall, redheaded ex-cop and Boston-based private eye Carlotta Carlyle is “the genuine article: a straightforward, funny, thoroughly American mystery heroine” (New York Post). Struggling PI Carlotta Carlyle drives a cab at night to make ends meet. She’s almost done with the night shift when a fare tries to rob her, and her moonlighting gig becomes a crime scene. Unfortunately for the thief, nothing ruffles Carlotta. As she figures out why she was targeted, she uncovers startling information. Whether Carlotta is flying cross-country to safeguard a blues musician’s priceless guitar or stopping a killing at Fenway Park, this flame-haired, six-foot-one detective knows to never let a felony get in the way of a good time. In these three stories—“Lucky Penny,” “Miss Gibson,” and “Stealing First,”—acclaimed author Linda Barnes demonstrates precisely what makes Carlotta Carlyle one of mystery fiction’s most distinctive and engaging private detectives.