Long Time No See
In Susan Isaac'sLong Time No See, Courtney Logan, former  investment analyst, devoted mother, and Long Island housewife, leaves her home  on Halloween night for a quick trip to the grocery store. Five months later, her  badly decomposed body is found floating in the backyard pool, concealed by the  pool cover.Enter Judith Singer, who helped find a murderer in Isaac's 1978 bestseller,Compromising Positions.  Something about the Logan case doesn't make sense to Judith, and she becomes so  engrossed in the mystery that she actually knocks on the grieving husband's door  and offers to help exonerate him.Long Time No Seedraws on the best of  the light, character-driven mysteries, like those byJanet EvanovichandMary Daheim. Isaac's first- person heroine is impulsive enough to get herself into trouble, yet thoughtful  enough to invite confidences. And her voice is appealingly funny and honest.  "Since becoming a widow," she reflects, when faced with a twist in her  investigation,I'd tried hard  not to indulge in the lonely person's Happy Hour:  talking to oneself. About a year earlier, in the drugstore, I found myself  befuddled, dithering between a condom rack and a display of batteries, and was  startled when I heard my own loud voice demanding: 'Why am I here?' But now I  gave in and had a chat with me.Although clever and well-written, the novel's real strength lies in its  characterization and in Isaac's leisurely unfolding of the implausible dark side  of the perky blonde murder victim. This is a welcome outing from a deservedly  popular writer.--Regina Marler--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.