The Shimmering Blond Sister: A Berger and Mitry Mystery (Berger and Mitry Mysteries)

In this delightful new adventure featuring the mismatched crime-fighting duo of film critic Mitch Berger and Connecticut state trooper Des Mitry, Mitch’s New York City past and his Dorset present collide head on. Back when Mitch was a chubby thirteen-year-old living in Stuyvesant Town, Beth Breslauer, a lovely blond single mother, lived across the hall with her son, Kenny. These days, she’s a wealthy widow who owns a condominium in the Captain Chadwick House, the Dorset Historic District’s most exclusive condo complex. Kenny is engaged to marry Mitch’s yoga teacher, Kimberly Farrell. Kimberly’s parents are Beth’s neighbors. They are also social pariahs. Her father was one of the Wall Street power brokers responsible for the sub-prime home loan meltdown and her mother is praying that Kimberly’s elaborate engagement party will endear them to their lost friends. Meanwhile, Augie Donatelli, a retired police detective who manages the Captain Chadwick House, is positive he’s figured out the identity of the infamous Dorset Flasher, an elusive, ski-masked figure who has been terrorizing wealthy widows after dark. He also believes that Beth is the proud descendent of a long line of professional thieves. He demands that Des do something about it, but Des dismisses his charges as the wild rants of a lonely, bitter drunkard, which is rather unfortunate---because when Augie turns up dead, Des is included in the round-up of suspects. That leaves it up to Mitch to find out what really happened, even though it means he’ll have to find out more about the people in his life than he ever wanted to. The Shimmering Blond Sister is David Handler’s most emotionally gripping book in the series yet.

Police officer Desiree Mitry is under a huge amount of pressure to catch the Dorset Flasher, who has been terrorizing the wealthy dowagers of the Dorset Historic District every weekend. She becomes convinced that her man is Augie Donatelli. After the two have engaged in heated public quarrels, Augie turns up dead. Now Des will need Mitch Berger’s help proving she wasn’t the killer.

Publishers Weekly

In Edgar-winner Handler's enjoyable seventh mystery to feature New York film critic Mitch Berger and Dorset, Conn., police detective Desiree Des Mitry (after 2008's Sour Cherry Surprise), Des gets on the trail of a flasher who's been disturbing the genteel residents of Dorset's historic district. When someone bashes in the head of retired NYPD police officer Augie Donatelli, whom Des thinks is the flasher, Des finds herself a suspect because she had a public fight with the victim shortly before the murder. Her job is on the line, as well as the job of her father, the state's highest ranking black police officer. Meanwhile, members of the Seven Sisters crime family may be setting up in town. Once again, Mitch steps in to lend Des a helping hand. Series fans will have fun catching up with the latest twists in the always interesting relationship of this interracial couple. (Oct.)

"A man known as the Dorset Flasher has been terrorizing the wealthy dowagers of the Dorset Historic District every weekend after dark. Police officer Desiree Mitry is under a huge amount of pressure to catch the culprit. When Des herself becomes the target of one of his antics, she's convinced that her man is Augie Donatelli. Augie, a highly decorated and retired NYPD detective, is the caretaker of the Captain Chadwick House, the Historic District's most exclusive condo colony. It is Augie's passionately held belief that the Captain Chadwick House is actually ground zero for a vast ongoing criminal conspiracy. The two have engaged in heated public quarrels on the subject. This is rather unfortunate for Des, because when Augie turns up dead one night, she becomes a suspect in his murder. Mitch Berger must come to her aid and help her find the true killer."--FantasticFiction.com Under pressure to capture a flasher who has been targeting wealthy women in the Dorset Historic District, police officer Desiree Mitry becomes convinced about the culprit's identity and is wrongly accused of murder when her suspect turns up dead after a heated public confrontation.