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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780553574586
ISBN number: 0553574582
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: March 31, 1997
Publishing house: Bantam
Release Date: March 31, 1997
Sale Popularity Level: 359357
Studio: Bantam
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Product Description:
While detective Kate Martinelli's lover Lee takes a vacation while his gunshot wound heals, Kate agrees to look after twelve-year-old Jules during her parents' absence, but during a visit with Lee, Jules vanishes and Kate races against time to find her before it is too late. Reprint. NYT. K. PW.
Amazon.com Review:
I can't think of any moments in recent mysteries that equal the sheer physical and emotional terror of Kate Martinelli's discovery--about halfway through this third book in Laurie R. King's excellent series, now available in paperback--that the 12-year-old girl she is looking after has disappeared. Kate, a just-out lesbian, is under fire for that and other reasons at the San Francisco Police Department, and the missing girl is the daughter of the woman whom Kate's work partner has just married. Kate's relationship with her life partner, Lee, is in serious trouble, and she has strong feelings about wanting children of her own. The motel from which the girl has vanished is in the middle of a notorious serial killer's terrortory. As she does in her equally smart and visceral series about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (The Beekeeper's Apprentice, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, A Letter of Mary), King balances all the elements perfectly, and keeps us involved every inch of the way. Her other Martinelli books are A Grave Talent and To Play the Fool.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is the third volume in Laurie R. King's Kate Martinelli novels. I admit to being a fan of the character, but this book is something of a let-down. Where the previous two volumes in this mystery series have presented a good character analysis of Inspector Martinelli, her companions, and her prey, this book is much more internal to Martinelli. And for some reason that rings hollow to me.
Kate's partner Al is getting married. And Kate is at loose ends with her lover, Lee, taking an extended breather up in Washington. Two and two is four--Kate strikes up a sisterly relationship with Al's stepdaughter Jules. This allows us our most in-depth examination of Kate's internal character so far in a very character-driven series, but all that goes by the wayside when Jules is kidnapped, possibly by a serial rapist and murderer.
This book is marketed as a mystery, which isn't unfair, but the real balls-to-the-wall whodunit doesn't begin until halfway through the book, and it comes to a very jarring halt. King introduces a lot of complications, especially when Kate gets the blame from Al's new wife. New characters are introduced remarkably late in the story, and new wrinkles in character relstionships which deserve to be at least addressed are left out in the air like a fresh bruise.
If this book had one more chapter, it could have been just right. We needed to learn about the short-term consequences of Kate's choices and get a hint at how they're going to affect the characters in the future. Instead, all these important threads are pushed on into the subsequent book, and we as an audience are left dangling.
Don't get me wrong, the novel isn't bad. Through most of it, readers who are committed to the characters and setting will find it very rewarding, and consistent with King's character-driven style. But the book is shot in the leg by an unsatisfactory ending that deserves to have more flesh on its bones.
If you're in love with King's writing or these characters, get the book. But expect to be disappointed until you get to the fourth novel, because there's simply too much left frayed and waiting to be knitted up.
Rated by buyers 
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Each of Laurie King's mysteries is notably different from the last; there is more variation in characters and style in her books than that of some other mystery writers, such as Martha Grimes. Yet King continues to amaze me with the range and quality of her work. Not only could I not put this book down, I feel it is every bit as good as "A Grave Talent." I was intrigued with the character Jules Cameron from that story and looked forward to reading another mystery involving her. "With Child" is largely about Jules. King's characters practically jump off the page--they are that vivid. Not only is this good entertainment, it is fine writing.
Rated by buyers 
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I have to confess that the very first part of the book, the story of Kate and her lover, her problems at work, at home were boring, but when you finish that part of the book is getting better and better until the end. The way she talk with Jules and the way she rescue her won't let you put the book down.
Rated by buyers -
This book was a little different than the very first two books, but I enjoyed reading it and finished it off rather quickly (a sure sign that it was good). I still have a hard time with the realities of Kate's job, but I can overlook some of that. I enjoyed this book a little more than the last, where I felt like I'd missed something. This book did a better job of filling in the "while you were away" time gap. Still think that more could be done with the intimacy in the relationship, but that's nitpicking.
Rated by buyers -
This is the most affecting of the Kate Martinelli mysteries I've read, both because of the heroine's physical and emotional vulnerability, and because of the sensitive handling of her bond with the missing girl. It compares well with A Grave Talent, and like it, presents a mystery focused on interpersonal, rather than more broadly social, issues.
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