The Man Who Cast Two Shadows - Carol O’Connell

Written by Carol O’Connell
Read by Madelyn Buzzard
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

The Man Who Cast Two Shadows (aka The Man Who Lies to Women)

Kathleen Mallory Series, Book 2
Length: 9hrs 49min.
Publisher: NLS Washington, D.C. Library of Congress, 1995/2012.

O’Connell’s second novel (after Mallory’s Oracle) brings back NYPD Sergeant Kathy Mallory, plunging this tough-minded yet soulful heroine into another convoluted case.

When a woman killed in Central Park is mistakenly identified as Mallory, the former street urchin and computer whiz sets herself up as bait by moving into the apartment building that houses her three main suspects. Using a computer and the building’s electronic bulletin board to psych out the killer, she stirs up more than she bargained for–including someone who wants her dead. Other elements in the intelligent plot include a crime of passion, a suspenseful cat-and-mouse game and a boy who may be telekinetic and whose stepmothers keep dying. The dialogue is crisp, the prose supple, but the overall tone is dour, sometimes, in fact, mournful.

This Kathleen Mallory book is a character study revealed by those in her orbit. From the mistaken identity beginning to the poker table discussions to tap-dancing with a fellow dark traveler, we learn more about Mallory from Charles Butler, Slope, Riker who whisper to us what they think they know—but maybe not. O’Connell is letting us in on what she knows about Mallory, enticingly like a magic trick performed slowly. The crimes are the stage.

The only commercial recording of this book is a 2hr 40min abridgment. Thanks again to the giver for this book.