The Burnt House audiobook

An excellent mystery, complex and confusing, with some significant surprises. Not every plot aspect is resolved.

about the authorFaye Kellerman was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Sherman Oaks, California. She earned a BA in mathematics and a doctorate in dentistry at UCLA., and conducted research in oral biology. Kellerman's groundbreaking first novel, THE RITUAL BATH, was published in 1986 to wide critical and commercial acclaim. The winner of the Macavity Award for the Best First Novel from the Mystery Readers of American, THE RITUAL BATH introduced readers to Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, termed by People Magazine "Hands down, the most refreshing mystery couple around." The New York Times enthused, "This couple's domestic affairs have the haimish warmth of reality, unlike the formulaic lives of so many other genre detectives."There are well over twenty million copies of Faye Kellerman's novels in print internationally. The Decker/Lazarus thrillers include SACRED AND PROFANE; MILK AND HONEY; DAY OF ATONEMENT; FALSE PROPHET; GRIEVOUS SIN; SANCTUARY; as well as her New York Times Bestsellers, JUSTICE, PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD - listed by the LA Times as one of the best crime novel of 2001; SERPENT'S TOOTH; JUPITER'S BONES, THE FORGOTTEN, STONE KISS, STRAIGHT INTO DARKNESS, THE BURNT HOUSE, THE MERCEDES COFFIN and BLINDMAN'S BLUFF. . The novels, STALKER and STREET DREAMS, introduced Kellerman's newest protagonist, Police Officer Cindy Decker. In addition to her crime series, Kellerman is also the author of New York Time's bestseller MOON MUSIC, a suspense horror novel set in Las Vegas featuring Detective Romulus Poe, as well as an historical novel of intrigue set in Elizabethan England, THE QUALITY OF MERCY. She has also co-authored the New York Times Bestseller DOUBLE HOMICIDE, with her husband and partner in crime, Jonathan Kellerman. She has also written a young adult novel, PRISM, with her daughter, Aliza KellermanFaye Kellerman's highly praised short stories and reviews have been anthologized in numerous collections including two volumes of the notable SISTERS IN CRIME SERIES, Sara Paretsky's, A WOMAN'S EYE; THE FIRST ANNUAL YEAR'S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES; THE THIRD ANNUAL BEST MYSTERY STORIES OF THE YEAR; WOMEN OF MYSTERY AND DEADLY ALLIES 11. Her personally annotated collection of her award winning stories, THE GARDEN OF EDEN and OTHER CRIMINAL DELIGHTS, was published in August of 2006. HHer other hobbies include gardening, sewing and jogging if her back doesn't give out. She is the proud mother of four children, and her eldest son, Jesse, has just published his fourth novel, THE EXECUTOR, from Putnam. She lives in Los Angeles and Santa Fe with her husband, Jonathan, their youngest child, and their French Bulldog, Hugobook synopsis:At 8:15 A.M., a small commuter plane carrying forty-seven passengers crashes into an apartment building in Granada Hills, California. Among the dead inside the plane's charred and twisted wreckage are the unidentified bodies of four extra travelers. And there's no sign of an airline employee whose name was on the passengers list.L.A.P.D. Detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina, areprofoundly shaken by this terrible "accident" that has occurred frighteningly close to their daughter's school. And an irate call from the unaccounted-for flight attendant's stepfather further tangles an already twisted mystery. The man insists twenty-eight-year-old Roseanne Dresden was never on the doomed flight, but was probably murdered by her abusive, unfaithful husband—a revelation that propels Decker down a path of tragic history and deadly lies toward an unimaginable evil that will challenge his and Rina's cherished beliefs about guilt and innocence and justice.my rating : 5 starsGoodreads challenges: nonewhat did I think of the book:this was actually the first time I've ever picked up a book by this author and even if its not the first book in the series I loved it, it had every thing I want in a great book, it pulled me in, kept my kept my attention, and had me hooked from the start, there was one little thing that didn't make sense but I'm not going to say what it was because that would be a spoiler and I don't like giving those out, but after a few minutes I didn't give it any thought because the rest of the story just kept me pulled in to it, loved the characters , loved how it ended , while some would say the ending wasn't all at good and didn't make sense I actually loved how it ended, yes there was some questions but I still loved how it ended.

The Burnt House was a great read. Decker & Lazarus, long-time working duo of the series quickly become old friends and acquaintances to this first time reader. The book is so well-written, combining police procedure with family life, that I felt completely at home with the characters. The story starts off with a literal BANG!! as a commuter plane crashes into an apartment building. So many twists and turns begin when a search for the remains of one flight attendant purported to have been on the plane, becomes more complex with the appearance of another body in the rubble. Police procedure and how their families must cope became more real to me in this book than similar books I have read in the past. Just when I thought I had it all figured out (as did the team of investigators), it spun around in a completely different direction. I found the book at once believable yet surprising, and intricately woven. I am certainly going to search out more of the many earlier books featuring this duo.

I picked this book up on a whim... I'm a reader that if it his a Series that I read the book in order. Even though this is book is #16, I decided to read it anyway. I have so many books that I decided just to read this book with intent on not purchasing anymore of this New Author... This book was an an Incredible Story to the point I didn't want to put the book down till I was done.. Guess what? I am going to purchase more books by Faye Kellerman :-)

This is the first book I've read by Faye Kellerman and I like her style of writing. I will be looking into her other books. It was obvious that she does her research for her books, I liked the details explained about both investigations and how much time and energy it took the detectives to solve each murder.

#16 in the L.A.P.D. Lieutenant Peter Decker and wife Rina Lazarus mystery series. This is basically a police procedural mystery as the story slogs through all the nitty gritty investigative work police do to gather the evidence to solve the mystery. Rina Lazarus is not Decker's investigate police partner, she is a loving, intelligent, understanding, supportive wife who provides foundation for him and manages a Kosher household and the strains put on it by Decker's heavy involvement away from home police work.It begins with a small commuter plane crashes into an apartment building just after take off from Burbank, CA killing all on board plus people on the ground. Things take a turn when concern parents argue that their daughter wasn't on the plane (though she is listed on the passenger list) and that her husband murdered her instead. Two months after the crash, her body has not been found at the crash site. Rather the body of an unidentified female not on the flight and who may have died, murdered?, 30 years earlier. Suddenly Decker and his detectives find themselves with two murder cases.

The story flows and keeps your interest. It tried to teach some morals every now and then but failed as the police officer kept on discussing with his wife the cases he was investigating. Maybe the reader is supposed to experience the contradiction without the obvious having to be mentioned. The religious aspects seemed educational and a bit extraneous, but added no doubt some charm to the contents. I'll have to check one translation of a Yiddish saying that may have not been exact, but I often misinterpret Yiddish.Crime novels often contain unnecessarily detailed descriptions of how people are dressed, what they were eating and details that may have had more significance in an earlier draft. Even here, some scenes left you wondering why.In my last review I criticized the main characters as superficial and unsympathetic. Well, the heroes and family here were utterly likable and warmhearted. It's more pleasant to meet these people than the tough types, even though it's only in a book.

A plane carrying 40 odd passengers crashes into a residential area of Los Angeles. Lieutenant Peter Decker is called to help at the scene and hopes, as others do, that terrorism has nothing to do with it. It’s reported that Roseanne Dresden was a victim of the crash - she was a flight attendant on her way to work in San Jose but there is no official confirmation of this. Her stepfather and mother contact Decker and ask him to investigate as they’re convinced her husband has done something to her as she was seeking a divorce. When the last body is cleared from the site it becomes clear that they were right and Roseanne wasn’t on the flight as the body is that of a young woman who was killed nearly thirty years ago. Decker and his team end up working both cases and are amazed to find a connection between the two. I’ve read some of the Decker series by Faye Kellerman before and really enjoyed this one. Kept me guessing from start to finish.

This is an excellent Faye Kellerman book. There are numerous twists and turns that keep one guessing throughout the book. Faye Kellerman shows the reality of being police personnel. There is very little glitz and glamour, and most of the work is a hard slog. I love her characters - their funny quirks and annoying characteristics make them entirely believable and real. I also enjoy the bits and pieces about the Jewish faith that are interspersed all the way through the book. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable book, that I would not hesitate to recommend to other readers who enjoy murder mystery stories.

The author is among my favorite mystery writers because I appreciate the way she balances violence with ordinary busy family life. I also learn about Jewish tradition. Although this story is of brutal deaths, the reader learns about them from those involved, not directly as the horrors were committed. There was a nice touch of Mexican traditions here, too. The plot starts with a plane crash and focuses on a flight attendant who may or may not have been on the plane. After all the bodies have been identified, she remains missing. Through high tech sleuthing Detective Decker and his team piece together a complicated interface of all the players.

An airplane crashes into a neighborhood and during the identification of the bodies a stewardess who was reported to be on the flight was not found. She becomes a missing person and possibly a murder victim. (There are other complications that I found fascinating, but they might constitute a spoiler so I'll just skip that stuff.)Could this really happen? I remember the airplane crash in Cerittos, California. I used to do work in Cerritos, so I was especially interested in how a murder might be hidden during a major disaster. There are two major suspects and a surprise at the end. I'll definitely read this book again.

I particularly enjoyed this because it was set in the familiar San Fernando Valley. I also like the characters, the first time I met them, I believe. Years ago a small storefront church lost its savings to it's leader, Manuel. They had planned to finance an organic farm sometime in the early seventies. That's the backstory to a badly decomposed body wearing a pop rock star jacket. But the current case is a mysterious plane crash into a large apartment building and a missing flight attendant. I cared less about the mystery than the storytelling which means it was well written. Any further discussion will involve spoilers.

A woman goes missing in a plane crash and yet another woman's bones are found. Later on in the book another man comes up missing. Thought it was interesting on Decker and two of his detectives are flying all over the place interviewing people. Can't the local police interview the people and email the results back to Decker and his detectives? Got to be hard on the budget, flying all over the place. Decker never gets permission from his captain either. Otherwise pretty fast paced and a good read.