Hot Stones: Cold Death (A Matthew Alexander Mystery)

by Barbara Fleming

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0970897006
• ISBN13: 9780970897008
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Silver Maple Pubns
• Length: 293 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Hot Stones Cold Death

Who would consider the Museum of Natural History in the Smithsonian Institution to be the site of murder and intrigue? Barbara Fleming's novel, Hot Stones Cold Death, proposes such a scenario. Detective Matthew Alexander leads a diverse slate of characters in a novel that is as much a tale of "who done it" as it is a tale of "how could it." Two dead men in a historical exhibit is mystery enough. Add to the mix the theft of a priceless emerald necklace, voodoo dust, and a fail-proof security system. Uncooperative witnesses, anal-retentive administrators, and an investigative detective who is harassed at work and misunderstood at home are all effective tools in Fleming's skillful hands. The author weaves an intelligent tale that incorporates crisp details, cultural relevance, African history and religion, gemology, and a keen eye toward the workings of a criminal investigation. The complications and road blocks build until a missing link shows up with questions that lead to some key answers. Hot Stones Cold Death leads the reader through a carefully plotted maze that fascinates at every turn. Reviewed by Chiquita Mullins Lee

Wow, a good whodunit!

Mrs. Fleming's publisher sent In the Company of My Sistah bookclub a copy to read and review.I finally go around to it. I enjoyed the novel soo much, I wonderwhy I waited.It opens with a bang!. Two bodies in the Smithsonian, WOW.Excellent writing. A good story line. A great whodunit. Thecharacters were believable. The portrayal of the bureaucrats and their actions were so on target.I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I am definitely recommending mybookclub and others read this mystery.Jo D Wright - ITCOMSitcoms_bc@yahoo.com

A pulse-pounding thriller of a read

Barbara Fleming's Hot Stones Cold Death is an outstanding mystery novel featuring Lieutenant Matthew Alexander, a homicide detective who must follow the theft of a prized necklace from the Smithsonian's gem collection and identify a ruthless murderer. Faced with walls of stony denial and mistrust, Matthew Alexander must navigate uncooperative witnesses and mounting danger to uncover the crux of the matter before it's too late. Hot Stones Cold Death is a deftly written, thoroughly exciting, cover-to-cover pulse-pounding thriller of a read.

Absorbing and Richly Detailed

Barbara Fleming has written a gripping novel that comes alive with the real voices of people. Dialogue is one of the author's great strengths, and through it she brings the reader into each vivid scene, beginning with the discovery of two grotesquely staged bodies in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and the realization that a priceless emerald necklace has disappeared from the museum's gem collection. The necklace, by the way, is real and is pictured on the cover of the novel by permission of the Smithsonian. Fleming's strong-willed detective, Matthew Alexander, probes other characters' motives and whereabouts while negotiating the tense, politically charged administrative levels of one of the nation's oldest and largest institutions.His stubborn digging takes the reader into mysterious circumstances at a local commune-temple, information gathering in a smoky bar and grill, a search for secret compartments in the gem curator's home, the discovery of a woman hunting for missing family members in a cheap rooming house, and some not-strictly-legal safe cracking. Punctuating these excursions are Alexander's all too few and often late-night pit stops at home, where he cuddles his children and spars with his sexy wife. Always, though, he is drawn deeper and deeper into a maze of detail that doesn't add up, while the reader is held in tantalizing suspense.Enjoy this rich plot, full of twists and turns, and savor the characters. This is likely to be the first in a wonderful series by a promising new author.

Hot Stones * Cold Death by Barbara Fleming

Many readers who approach mystery fiction are comforted by the ingrained notions that crime doesn't pay, the good are rewarded for their virtue, and evil-doers get their just deserts in the end. Some like to assume that there is in the universe an order which flows in the same direction as their cherished values and beliefs. However, author Barbara Fleming in her inaugural offering in the mystery genre, sorely tests the readers' notions about good and evil, crime and purnishment, and who pays the piper after the final accounting is taken. Set in the imposing Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History, "Hot Stones*Cold Death" opens prophetically with the discovery of two murdered intruders whose bodies are strangely placed in an African village exhibit as if they are nothing more than stage props in a compelling and bizarre theatrical event. Both men are young African-Americans dressed in African tribal village attire. Their identities unknown and their bodies unidentified, the murdered men come to function metaphorically as "X", the unknown quantities in a brutal and senseless crime that appears to lack both opportunity and means since no one at the museum claims to know them and no weapon is found. The victims themselves, however, provide motive for their senseless murders when a priceless and stunningly beautiful emerald necklace, stolen from the Smithsonian's fabulous gem collection, is found on one of the bodies. To compound the mystery: the gem collection is "protected" by the museum's high-tech, anti-theft security system. Thus begins an intriguing tale that upsets the otherwise orderly, generally non-exciting, civilized world inside one of America's most famous museum. For a first offering in the mystery genre, Barbara Fleming has written a satisfying, engaging, and detailed anatomy of a crime scene investigation that transports the reader beyond the usual hard-boiled jargon and investigative procedures of police work. She places her characters in very interesting contextual dimensions that extend beyond the typical homicide investigation by developing the relationships among the main characters in ways that make them appear more human with all their flaws, eccentricities, and unique character traits. For example, the hero of this exciting, fast-paced mystery is the young, assertive District of Columbia homicide division detective, Lieutenant Matthew Alexander, whose actions propel this tale to a surprising and satisfying resolution. The author also immerses the reader in politics, including the politics of race, class, crime, Afrocentrism, and power in a city where power rules absolutely. "Hot Stones*Cold Death" can be described in many ways, but I would describe it first, foremost, and last as a mystery well worth reading. The author, who lived in the nation's capital for a number of years, currently lives in Ohio. She is presently at work on her second novel to be called "A Case of Capital Murder". No