The Nitrogen Murder: A Gloria Lamerino Mystery

by Camille Minichino

Book Overview

In the latest installment of Camille Minichino's fun, fast-paced Periodic Table mystery series, retired physicist Gloria Lamerino and her fianc?, homicide detective Matt Gennaro, attend the wedding of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373265638
• ISBN13: 9780373265633
• Release Date: January 2006
• Publisher: Worldwide
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Great science mystery without being too scientific for lay people

Retired physicist Gloria Lamerino and her homicide detective fiancé Matt Gennaro are in Berkley, CA, to help her friend Elaine prepare for her wedding. Elaine's fiancé, Phil, is a fellow scientist, but he rubbed Gloria wrong from the minute she met him. Phil's daughter's EMT work partner is shot dead by what is believed to be a mugger. Gloria is soon suspicious because of the information Phil seems to have about the shooting and the patient his daughter was helping transport when her partner was shot. Gloria's suspicions of Phil soon alienate Elaine, but when Phil goes missing, everyone joins together to try to locate him. Plus Gloria is sure that this has something to do with his work and the shooting. Can she find him in time to save the wedding? I really like Gloria. Even though she is a scientist, I don't feel these mysteries are written so that laymen can't understand even the scientific talk. I like that. This is a great cozy series that is such an easy read. This one being set in California was fun. It was Gloria's old stomping grounds from years ago, so she knew people and places. Made it all more believable. I highly recommend this book and the series.

Two Murders, Stolen Drugs, Secret Nitrogen Files, and a Missing Scientist

Retired physicist Dr. Gloria Lamerino is visiting California with her fiance, Revere Police Detective Matt Gennaro. Gloria's best friend Elaine Cody is getting married in two weeks, and Gloria and Matt are in Berkeley to help with the celebration and have a little vacation. Just as soon as Gloria and Matt arrive in California, though, trouble strikes when they learn that Tanisha Hall, a young paramedic gunned down at the door to an Oakland hospital is the partner of Elaine's future daughter-in-law. The plot thickens when they learn that the patient being transported to the hospital (who later dies of his wounds) is an Indian scientist working on highly classifed research pertaining to powerful new explosives using newly discovered nitrogen molecules. Gloria and Matt begin to suspect that Elaine's fiance Phil Chambers might be involved in the two murders. When Phil suddenly disappears, no one is sure if he's just gotten cold feet about his wedding or if he is running from the law. There's a lot of interesting and well-tied together plot lines in this book. In addition to the mystery of the two murders and the missing Dr. Phil Chambers, there are some missing drugs and medical supplies, stolen from the ambulance company, which are found in the murdered paramedic's home. As in all the stories in this series, author Minichino sprinkles in a healthy dose of scientific knowledge. The information she gives on newly found nitrogen compounds and their use in new powerful explosives is really fascinating. The characters in this series are well-developed and very believable. Being a former resident of the California Bay area myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the Berkeley setting. Whether or not readers are familiar with the previous books in this series, I highly recommend "The Nitogen Murder" as a very entertaining mystery.

superb scientific mystery

Retired scientist Gloria Lamerino and her fiancé Matt Gennaro are in Berkley California to attend the wedding of her close friend scientist Elaine Cody to retired chemist Phillip Chambers, a consultant to Dorman Industries. Phil's daughter Dana is still traumatized by seeing her EMT partner gunned down while bringing their patient Lakesh Patel to the hospital. Mr. Patel dies in the hospital and the killer makes off with his duffel bag but Dana brings home his briefcase what contains severed ID's under different names including access to Dorman Industries. When Phil and Gloria meet, she isn't impressed with him but her mild feelings of disdain turn to severe anxiety when Dana confides that somehow the briefcase wound up in her father's apartment. Patel and Phil collaborated on several papers involving nitrogen weapons research. When Phil disappears, Gloria and Matt work together to try and figure out the connection between the dead scientist, the stolen research and the multiple identifications that Mr. Patel carried. There are very few mystery authors today who can incorporate a lot of scientific data into the story and make it part of a one sitting thriller as Camilla Minichino consistently does. She makes the science understandable so reader can learn while they are being entertained. The protagonist of THE NITROGEN MURDER is spunky, strong-willed and totally loyal to her friends, which endears her to the audience. The relationship between Gloria and Matt is believable and affirms that there is life after retirement. Harriet Klausner