The Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries Series

This award-winning debut mystery introduces a Boston PI who’s “one of the most sparkling, most irresistible heroines ever to grace the pages of a whodunit” (Chicago Sun-Times).   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). Let go from the Beantown police force for insubordination, Carlotta Carlyle is ready for business. Her first client is the genteel and elderly Margaret Devens, whose brother, Eugene, one of the last in a handful of Boston’s aging Irish cabbies, has suddenly vanished.   The case should be a cinch. Carlotta knows the territory. She even knew Eugene. But when Margaret is attacked, Carlotta fears the disappearance is just one hitch in a bigger scheme. Trolling the local pubs for clues isn’t going to hack it. Especially when she finds herself at odds with the FBI and a Mafia-connected former lover. As a moonlighting cabbie, Carlotta knows the streets well. But even she has no idea just how dangerous a route she’s taken . . .   Winner of the American Mystery Award and nominated for both the Edgar and Shamus Awards, this first book in the series is “beautifully plotted, exciting, moving, and leavened with wit” (Robert B. Parker).

Hired to find a missing novelist, Boston private investigator Carlotta Carlyle gets tangled up in a cutthroat political campaign 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). Thea Janis was a literary Mozart. She published her first novel at age fourteen, shocking the upper crust of Boston with her frank depiction of blue-blooded indiscretions, and she seemed to have a magnificent career ahead of her. But before Thea could publish her follow-up novel, she mysteriously disappeared and was eventually named as a victim of a serial killer.   Twenty-four years later, an admirer of Thea’s comes to Carlotta claiming to have evidence that Thea is alive—and still writing. He begs Carlotta to find the onetime prodigy, but there are powerful people, including Thea’s prominent family of Boston politicians, who want Thea’s second book to stay buried. As a take-no-prisoners gubernatorial race speeds to its climax, Carlotta discovers a secret that could upend the campaign, endanger people’s lives, and rewrite literary history. Cold Case is the 7th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The award-winning author’s Boston PI returns in a mystery “destined to secure Barnes’ position in the hotshot ranks of detective fiction” (Arizona Republic). 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). Carlotta Carlyle is sorting through her junk mail when she finds a snapshot of a newborn baby she has never seen before. One week later, another arrives showing the same child one year older. The next week, a third arrives. As the deliveries continue, Carlotta becomes obsessed with this unnamed little girl and is drawn into one of the most dangerous assignments of her career.   The girl was named Rebecca and she died of leukemia at the age of seven. Her grief-stricken mother has never been able to accept what happened, so she hires Carlotta to investigate the highly regarded hospital where someone on staff seems to have forgotten the most important lesson of a doctor’s training: Do no harm. Snapshot is the 5th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A jittery bride-to-be draws the Boston PI into an “utterly compelling” case of betrayal and dangerous love (Publisher Weekly, starred review).   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).   On the outs with her secretive mob boss lover, Sam Gianelli, Carlotta occupies herself with a seemingly routine case. She feels an immediate bond with her new client, Jessie Franklin. Right now, both women are dealing with issues of trust. For Jessie, it’s the man she’s soon to marry. Tipped off that he’s cheating on her, she wants Carlotta to tail him. No sooner does Carlotta get a track on the likely cad, than Jessie is killed by a hit-and-run driver.   But when the accident is ruled a homicide, Carlotta discovers that Jessie has being lying about everything—including her name and her fiancé. But it’s the reason for roping Carlotta into the deception that has the sleuth on edge. Because Carlotta’s the number one suspect in the murder. Now she must investigate her own past—and Gianelli’s—to save her neck.   Only one thing is certain: “The course of mobbed-up love never runs smooth [in this] startling new chapter in the heroine’s checkered personal life” (Kirkus Reviews).   Lie Down with the Devil is the 12th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.  

The Boston PI tries not to get scorched when an arsonist targets her. “I’m crazy about Carlotta! More! More! More!” (Sue Grafton). 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). Carlotta Carlyle knows all about urban survival. That’s why she’s happy to do her neighbor, Valentine, a favor like this one. The elderly recluse needs help burglar-proofing her rent-controlled apartment. But it seems Valentine’s fears are more immediate and threatening than she’s letting on. Because just twenty-four hours later, the old woman turns up dead in her ransacked home.   Finding out who’d want to kill a nice old lady lands Carlotta on the heels of a hotshot music executive claiming to be Valentine’s last living relative, a real-estate mogul with a knack for eviction, and Valentine’s terrified healthcare worker. But when Carlotta becomes the target of an arsonist, she knows she’s on to something hot: a city-wide conspiracy that Beantown’s top brass want dead and buried—along with the woman who knew too much.   Delivering a “twisty plot, colorful language, and even more colorful characters” (The Dallas Morning News), “Flashpoint further cements Carlotta’s place in the pantheon of contemporary P.I.s” (Chicago Tribune).

A Boston PI tries to help a musician friend—and find a murderer—in this “gripping” mystery by an Anthony Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly).   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).   She may be Boston’s most tenacious private detective, but by night, Carlotta Carlyle is just another cab driver hustling for an honest buck. When blues superstar Dee Willis climbs into her cab, Carlotta isn’t starstruck—she’s shocked. The two women were friends in college, right up until the day Dee ran off with Carlotta’s husband. Now Dee is back in town to play a sold-out concert and Carlotta is too surprised to introduce herself—or to wonder why her old pal is asking to be dropped off in one of Boston’s roughest neighborhoods.   After saving the blues diva from being ripped to shreds, Carlotta agrees to help her track down an old friend. Soon, a blackmail plot concerning stolen song lyrics is uncovered and a corpse is found in Dee’s hotel room. Carlotta will have to work fast to keep her old friend from becoming yet another casualty of the blues.   Steel Guitar is the 4th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Hailed by Sue Grafton as “a true original,” ex-cop turned private eye Carlotta Carlyle risks her neck in Boston’s Combat Zone for two very different clients 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). Carlotta Carlyle is halfway through a pizza when her former boss, Lieutenant Mooney of the Boston Police, shows up at her door needing help even more than Carlotta needs a case. In a Combat Zone bar, Mooney got into a scrap with a stranger over a woman. Now the stranger is comatose, the woman has vanished, and Mooney has been suspended. He wants Carlotta to find the blond hooker with a snake tattoo who witnessed the brawl, and who can exonerate him.   Doing surveillance in the Zone, Carlotta gets a second case. A ritzy prep school kid with a bloody lip hires her to find his missing girlfriend. Drawn into two different yet equally dangerous worlds where dead bodies are showing up, Carlotta has only two weeks to save the most honest cop in Boston from going to jail, and to find a girl whose privileged parents don’t seem to care that she’s run away.   The Snake Tattoo was named an outstanding book of the year by the London Times. The Snake Tattoo is the 2nd book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Boston PI gets caught up in extortion, murder, and Ivy League secrets in a “poisonous . . . nail-biter” by the Anthony Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly).   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).   Harvard professor Wilson Chaney is in a comprising position. His marriage, his reputation, and his career are all being held hostage. Chaney needs Carlotta’s help to ferret out the blackmailer and retrieve the last of the incriminating love letters he sent freshman student Denali Brinkman—before she committed suicide in a Memorial Drive boathouse. It’s a nasty bit of business, but Carlotta reluctantly agrees to help the dishonorable mentor.   However, Chaney isn’t the only one with something to hide. Just as Carlotta closes in on the suspect, the case takes a stunning detour. It seems Chaney’s amorous indiscretions have a farther and more threatening reach than either he or Carlotta imagined. The PI now realizes that the going price for secrets has just gotten higher—because murder has become part of the deal.   “The most refreshing, creative female character to hit mystery fiction since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone” (People) is back in her “bold, powerful, and shattering . . . best to date” (Kirkus Reviews).   Deep Pockets is the 10th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Private investigator Carlotta Carlyle’s moonlighting job as a taxi driver turns into the most dangerous, high-octane case of her career 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). When Carlotta can’t sleep—or when money gets tight—she drives a cab. It’s always been a dangerous way to make a living, but lately it’s become truly terrifying. In the last two months, nine cabbies have been savagely beaten and robbed, and every time Carlotta gets behind the wheel, she knows that she could be next.   How then can she refuse when a rival taxi company hires her to investigate the assaults? Thinking she will be making the world a safer place for cab drivers, Carlotta doesn’t suspect that this new case will push her even closer to the edge. The company she works for is co-owned by Sam Gianelli, her sometime lover and a mob-connected businessman whose family knows how to get tough. Drawn into a tangled conspiracy of mafia secrets and high-tech espionage, Carlotta will have to drive faster than ever to stay alive. Hardware is the 6th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.  

The Boston PI tangles with the Colombian underworld in this “astonishing installment in . . . one of the best private eye series ever” (Harlan Coben).   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).   Carlotta is frantic. It appears that Paolina, a street-smart teenage girl she’s always thought of as a little sister, has run away. After dead-end investigations throughout Boston, Carlotta fears the worst. Especially when she connects the disappearance to Paolina’s biological father, Roldán Gonzales, a ruthless Colombian drug lord. To find Paolina, first Carlotta has to find Gonzales—but he’s vanished too. The official report is that he’s dead.   Warned against going to the police in Bogotá, Carlotta must trust her instincts as she follows in Paolina’s footsteps, which lead to the mountains of Colombia—Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the heart of the world. But will her rescue end up being a trap? The answer will “shock and surprise the reader” (Library Journal).   “This is her best.” —Michael Connelly   Heart of the World is the 11th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Boston PI and part-time cabbie is out to stop a serial killer targeting illegal immigrants in this “chilling and charming tale” (Cosmopolitan). 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). Carlotta Carlyle has just returned home when a dead woman walks through her door. Manuela Estefan is breathing, walking, and talking—but according to the newspaper in her hand, she was just found savagely murdered in a marshy park not far from Fenway. The deceased woman was carrying Manuela’s ID card, and Manuela now begs Carlotta to get it back. Boston PIs aren’t supposed to touch murder cases, but when Carlotta comes back from the kitchen with a glass of water, Manuela has vanished, leaving five crisp hundreds on the table as a silent plea for help.   But this is no ordinary murder case. The woman holding Manuela’s ID is only the first victim in what will prove to be a series of slayings carried out by a vicious maniac—someone who preys on Boston’s immigrant community, but who would not be above going after a tall, red-headed private eye. Coyote is the 3rd book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

As a former Boston cop, Carlotta Carlyle thought she had seen it all—but that was before she became a private eye . . . 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).  A Trouble of Fools: Recently fired from the Beantown police force for insubordination, the part-time taxi driver lands her first case as a private eye. Searching for a missing Irish cabbie leads her into a nefarious scheme that puts her at odds with the FBI and a Mafia-connected former lover, in this award-winning debut.   The Snake Tattoo: A London Times outstanding book of the year, Carlotta Carlyle’s former boss, Lieutenant Mooney, gets into a scrap with a stranger in a bar. When the stranger winds up comatose, Mooney is suspended, and he needs Carlotta to find the one woman who can exonerate him: a blond hooker with a snake tattoo.   Coyote: An illegal immigrant is mistakenly pronounced dead when her ID card is found on the body of a murdered woman near Fenway Park. Now she needs Carlotta to get her ID—and her life—back. But this wasn’t an isolated crime. A murderer is targeting Boston’s immigrant community . . . and could easily add Carlotta to the kill list.   Steel Guitar: Carlotta is shocked to see blues superstar Dee Willis climb into her cab. They were friends in college—until Dee ran off with Carlotta’s husband. Now, Dee’s in town playing a concert and wants Carlotta’s help tracking down a mutual friend. But when a blackmail plot is uncovered and a corpse is found in Dee’s hotel room, Carlotta will have to work fast to keep Dee from becoming another casualty of the blues.

The Boston PI excavates her city’s buried secrets in this “shrewd . . . smartly told” thriller by the Anthony Award–winning author (The New York Times).   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).   Boston’s largest urban renewal undertaking in modern history draws Carlotta into an undercover gig at the site. It comes at the request of a disgruntled hardhat who suspects the multibillion-dollar project has set off a groundswell of graft, kickbacks, and fraud. The case hasn’t unearthed anything but dirt, so Carlotta is tempted into moonlighting on another: a Beacon Street socialite who’s deeply concerned about her vanishing tenant, a dog groomer named Veronica James.   Since there’s no possible way Veronica would run off without her beloved Norwegian wolfhound, Carlotta’s suspicions are definitely aroused. And when her big-dig informant falls to his death in a highly dubious accident, Carlotta’s torn between two disparate investigations: an unlikely kidnapping and a likely murder . . .   Until they begin to converge, “and watching Carlotta tease out their deep, disturbing connections is pure pleasure” (Kirkus Reviews).   The Big Dig is the 9th book in the Carlotta Carlyle Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

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.  

“The most refreshing, creative female character to hit mystery fiction since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone” is back—in four more fast-paced crime thrillers (People).   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).   Snapshot: A series of strange photos draws Carlotta into a chilling case of medical malpractice.   “Snapshot is destined to secure Barnes’ position in the hotshot ranks of detective fiction.” —Arizona Republic   Hardware: After a series of assaults on cabbies, Carlotta’s moonlighting job as a taxi driver turns into the most dangerous, high-octane case of her career.   “Ms. Barnes makes a fist and puts some muscle in this strong plot about an extortionist scheme to corner the market in the taxi medallions.” —The New York Times Book Review   Cold Case: Hired to find a long-missing novelist, Carlotta gets tangled up in a cutthroat political campaign.   “With a stylish pro like Barnes doing the plotting, this chilling case won’t leave you cold.” —People   Flashpoint: Carlotta tries not to get scorched when an arsonist targets her.   “[Flashpoint] further cement[s] [Carlotta’s] place in the pantheon of contemporary P.I.s.” —Chicago Tribune