Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator (Catherine Winter Series) Paperback – September 17, 2009

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I'm not sure why I didn't. I think it was the setting and the tone. The setting seems to be present-day LA, but the tone reads almost from a traditional 50s-style detective fiction (complete with a newspaper morgue and cops who work in concert with the PI and not at odds.)The mystery was well developed, the conclusion was supported and wasn't telegraphed beforehand. My only quibble being Cherise's involvement and the lack of any use of the first clue, the note signed "Loverboy." If Cherise was supposed to only be a red herring or collateral damage, too much time was spent on her, if not, the reasons for her being followed, threatened and harmed (from the beginning, even before Lucy is) were never really fleshed out.I think was the dryness of the tone made the clues and their analysis seem repetitive and somewhat boring. I actually think this helped make the book seem much less salacious than it could have been given the twists and turns of the plot. Unfortunately, this also distanced the reader from the narrator.The relationship between Catherine and the police commander was, quite frankly, more boring than her interactions with the other cops. I loved the concept of Catherine, an older woman who is an experienced investigator, but the execution was somewhat lacking in this book.

I was doubtful on this one, I'm not a huge fan of mysteries with female leads, and/or written by women. They always seem a bit shallow and unrealistic to me. Too much silly 'girl' stuff, even for a girl lol. But for free- I said why not? I'm really glad I did.The character Catherine Winter is brilliant, the mystery is compelling and will keep you guessing right down to the end. There were quite a few different choices as to who the bad guy was, that kept me jumping to conclusions far before I should have. But that's a great thing- I hate books that are predictable, and this one wasn't. There were a lot of different things going on, that all lead to a shocking conclusion. I will be reading more from Linda Pendleton!

Not among the best - not among the worst. The writing is good as is the editing. Some of the character development is quite good, for instance we get to know Catherine Winter very well. It is also nice to see a P.I. who is not a gorgeous and silly young woman, and although a 'senior citizen', she has a brain and is not scattered all over the place like some of the senior mystery solvers in other books. Locales tended to jump around and some encounters were thinly described. Although the first victim turned out extremely flawed, there was almost too much description of the characters' flawed sex practices. Not really 4 stars, but better than three.

I loved Catherine. It was refreshing to read a story with a middle aged successful heroine, who had her life together. I enjoyed the setting, the mystery itself, the characters and most of all, the ending. I love a happy ending, where the good guys prevail! Good conclusion.

Was surprised at how many of the characters ended up being connected in some way. What a tangled web we weave.....

I found Shattered Lens: Catherine Winter, Private Investigator to be an original first novel that would make Don Pendleton proud! Catherine Winter is a fitting successor to Joe Copp and I think the two of them would get along well! The characters are engaging and make you care about them. The details of Los Angeles and Hollywood are vivid and gritty. If you like raymond chandler or Dash Hammett, you'll love Catherine Winters! Welcome Linda to the growing members of Crime writers!Bill Craig, Author of the Jack Riley Adventures, The Fantastic Adventures of Hardluck Hannigan, the Decker P.I. novels and The Butterfly Tattoo

I really enjoyed the characters and the story line - reminded me a little of the Kinsey Milhone stories. In the audio version, the "he said, she said, I said" type remarks became a little unnerving, but I believe that was mostly the fault of the narrator's tone.