Lethal Legacy (Alexandra Cooper Novel): A Novel

• Publisher:   Doubleday
• Number Of Pages:   384
• Publication Date:   2009-02-10
• ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0385523998
• ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780385523998

When Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper is summoned to Tina Barr’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she finds a neighbor convinced that the young woman was assaulted. But the terrified victim, a conservator of rare books and maps, refuses to cooperate with investigators. Then another woman is found murdered in that same apartment with an extremely valuable book, believed to have been stolen. As Alex pursues the murderer, she is drawn into the strange and privileged world of the Hunt family, major benefactors of the New York Public Library and passionate rare book collectors who may be willing to kill for their treasures.

Book Description
In Linda Fairstein’s outstanding new novel, the New York Public Library houses dazzling treasures—and deadly secrets.

When Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper is summoned to Tina Barr’s apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she finds a neighbor convinced that the young woman was assaulted. But the terrified victim, a conservator of rare books and maps, refuses to cooperate with investigators. Then another woman is found murdered in that same apartment with an extremely valuable book, believed to have been stolen. As Alex pursues the murderer, she is drawn into the strange and privileged world of the Hunt family, major benefactors of the New York Public Library and passionate rare book collectors.

Eventually Alex connects their internal family rivalries to a priceless edition of Alice in Wonderland, which also contains the world’s oldest map. Would one of the well-bred Hunts be willing to kill for the treasures? The search for the answer takes Alex and her team on a breathtaking chase from Manhattan’s grandest apartments to the secret tunnels and chambers of the New York Public Library, and finally to a nineteenth-century underground vault. There, in the pitch-black darkness, Alex comes face-to-face with the killer who values money more than life.

Featuring a cast of elite, erudite, and downright eccentric characters, and a complex trail of clues that will have you guessing until the final pages, Lethal Legacy is Linda Fairstein’s most beguiling thriller yet.

Okay, there are two kinds of people reading this review: those who have already read Linda Fairstein and her terrific series featuring sex crime unit ADA Alexandra Cooper and her sidekick, NYPD Detective Mike Chapman, a man so real to me I once had him help out one of my own fictional characters. And those of you who, uh, haven't.

For those who have, let's make this quick. Lethal Legacy is great. No worries. It is filled with what you already love about her books--the characters, the plot twists, the suspense, the heightened realism that only someone who has truly walked the walked (for those living in a cave, Linda Fairstein was the ADA who helped create the sex crimes unit in Manhattan) can provide.

On top of that, Fairstein had done some wonderful research on the New York Public Library. She weaves the lore of this legendary edifice into a nifty mystery that starts off as a harrowing missing-person-homicide case--but blossoms into something far deeper. I think I dug the parts involving the NYPL most of all.

In short, stop wasting your time reading this and dive in. You already know what to expect.

To those who haven't read Fairstein and thus haven't yet "chilled" with Cooper and Chapman, well, what's the deal? Lethal Legacy is a great place to start--my personal favorite in this New York Times bestselling series. Don't you love finding a new author with a big backlist? Me too.

So here's what you do. See that yellow box up in the right-hand corner? Click it now and see what the fuss is all about. You'll thank me later.

I'm a big fan of Linda Fairstein and her stories of crime rooted in New York City. Her ability to intersect New York history, medical information, and the criminal minds always amazes me. In Lethal Legacy, I again learned something new about the city's underground tunnels and the workings of the New York Public Library, even the names of the watchful lions, Patience and Fortitude.

Linda Fairstein's writings carry an authentic tone, due to her experiences as a district attorney in Manhattan for over twenty years. In Lethal Legacy, main character Alex Cooper's introduction to the wealthy, idiosyncratic Hunts family is centered at the heart of the New York Public Library; an incredible institution that houses a deluge of rare books and invaluable maps. Cooper delves into the world of extraordinary books, theft and murder while dragging the reader along for a crash course in the political workings of the library's inner sanctum controlled by some of the "respectable" New York families. Geographical and architectural details run throughout, providing an educational, entertaining reading.

I love all the Alexandra Cooper Novels - anyone who likes to visit New York City should buy them.
I wish there were more than 1 new book per year...

This is the second Fairstein book in a row that the plot plays second fiddle to atmospherics. From the first Fairstein novel until the last, the setting of the crime has always played an important part of the story. But in her last two novels the background has become more interesting than the plot. In fact, the plots are becoming more and more far fetched. In this novel, the central character is picked up by a fake cabbie who supposedly staked her out and timed her need for a cab on a busy mid-Manhattan street. Not believable in cab heaven New York.. Also, the trustees and the staff of the New York Public Library come off as a motley group of people. While Fairstein gives some insight into the world of book collecting she treats the Research Center of the New York Public Library much too roughly. Where a balanced touch was needed she uses a sledge hammer to make the same points over and over again. If you are new to Fairstein, I am fairly confident you will find this an entertaining read. But if you are a Fairstein fan you are likely to conclude she has done a better job in the past.

The most recent Alex Cooper novel was particularly resonant for me: it deals with books and libraries, but we don't discover this until a few chapters into the story.
A refresher: Alex is an ADA attached to the NYPD sex crimes unit. She works primarily with Detective Mike Chapman, who just might harbour an unrequited love for her. Alex and Mike are summoned to an apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side by a resident who fears that his neighbour may have been assaulted. But the young woman, Tina Barr, refuses to co-operate. The next day, a dead body is found in Tina's apartment, and Tina has disappeared. Then the investigators learn that Tina is a freelance rare book conservator who once worked at the New York Public Library. A jewel-encrusted prayer book is found with the body, who turns out to be the assistant of heiress Minerva Hunt, whose wealthy family have a collection of rare books and maps, some of which have been donated to the Library. It's at this point that the plot becomes a bit serpentine: Alex's crew suddenly need to find an old map which will give them a clue to the identity of the murderer. Their search leads them to interview book experts, old and young, rich and poor, honest and deceitful. There's a lot of interesting information here about the New York Public Library, about rare books and maps, about their history, conservation and storage. Fairstein's research is, as usual, impeccable. To a bibliophile like me, this story was fascinating, but I recommend it not only to other bibliophiles, but mystery and thriller lovers as well.

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