Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Billionaire genius Genoa Greeves never got over the shocking death of her favorite teacher, Bennett "Dr. Ben" Alston Little, murdered execution-style and stuffed into the trunk of his Mercedes-Benz. No arrests were ever made, no killer charged for the brutal crime. Fifteen years later, the high-tech CEO reads about another execution-style murder; this time the victim is a Hollywood music producer named Primo Ekerling. There is no obvious connection, but the case is eerily similar to Little's and Genoa feels the time is right to close Dr. Ben's case once and for all—offering the L.A.P.D. a substantial financial "incentive" if justice is finally served for Little.

Lieutenant Peter Decker resents having to commit valuable manpower to a fifteen-year-old open case simply because a rich woman says "Jump!" Still, the recent murder of Primo Ekerling does bear a disturbing resemblance to Little's case, even though two thug suspects are currently behind bars for the Ekerling murder. Decker can't help but wonder about a connection. His first phone calls are to the two primary investigators in the Little case, retired detectives Calvin Vitton and Arnie Lamar. Lamar is cooperative, but Vitton is not only reluctant to talk, he winds up dead of a suspicious suicide twelve hours later. Plunging into this long-buried murder, Decker discovers that even though the two slayings are separated by a decade and a half, there is still plenty of greed, lust, and evil to connect the dots.

Decker's team of top investigators not only includes his favorite homicide detectives, Scott Oliver and Marge Dunn, but also his newly minted Hollywood detective daughter, Cindy Kutiel, whose help proves to be invaluable. His wife, Rina Lazarus, continues to be his backbone of support, offering a cool, rational outlook despite her growing concern for her husband's welfare and safety. Rina's worries and fears begin to build at a fevered pitch as past and present collide with a vengeance, catapulting an unsuspecting Peter Decker closer and closer to the edge of an infinite dark abyss.

A relentlessly gripping tale spun by a master, Faye Kellerman's The Mercedes Coffin races through a dangerous urban world of fleeting fame and false dreams, making heart-pumping hairpin turns at each step of a terrifying journey, where truth and justice are fine lines between life and death.

Average Customer Rating:

Fails to engage

Customer Rating:

Through the years the strength of this series has been Faye Kellerman's ability to engage the reader and cause him/her to care about Peter Decker and his family and the victims of the crimes in Decker's police cases. Somehow she fails to do either in this latest book in the series. The title of the book refers to two murders which occur 15 years apart. In both murders the victim is put in the trunk of a Mercedes-Benz after being shot execution-style. The first victim is a well-liked teacher, Dr. Ben Little, and the second is an unscrupulous music producer named Primo Ekerling. Decker and his cohorts spend the majority of the book looking into possible connections between the two murders. Scenes in the Decker home are brief and uninspiring with wife Rina's appearances being short and without much substance. Hopefully author Faye Kellerman will rediscover the formula of blending Peter Decker's home and professional life in a way which is more appealing to readers in the future.

Too many characters

Customer Rating:

As others have said, there are too many characters in this book. Each one is referred to by first name, last name, and often a nickname - sometimes in the same paragraph. There's a Rudy and a Ryan, Melinda and a Marilyn, not to mention Cal and Cal J (a red herring that went nowhere), and so many times I said to myself "Who's Mudd again?" I love the series, but the last two books have gone downhill.

A chilling police thriller

Customer Rating:

The scene is set, a brutal murder that bares a chilling resemblance to a murder committed almost fifteen years ago. Genoa Greeves is a successful computer entrepreneur who after reading the daily post discovers the brutal scene of Primo Ekerling. Late last night, three shots were fired execution style into the head of the famous music producer and he was left in the trunk of his car. This takes Ms. Greeves on a flashback to the unsolved murder of her school teacher. But unlike last time Ms. Greeves has the wherewithal to make a realistic attempt at solving Ekerling's death and maybe that of her favorite teacher. Well, when you're throwing around such money, results are a guarantee. Enter Lieutenant Decker. He forms a task force and begins by interrogating members of the police who were on the force for more than fifteen years. But just before this investigation was to be under way, a long standing police officer is murdered. What is going on here? Faye Kellerman does a good job creating this police chiller and all the characters are well developed which is typical for Ms. Kellerman's writings.

Double M.O. Triggers a Cold Case Investigation

Customer Rating:

When the police see a crime that's unusual, they check their records to see if there are any other similar crimes. When the details match, they often find that the same person was responsible. Career criminals frequently repeat themselves. What's rare, however, is when 15 years separate the two incidents. What does it mean then? That's the question that Lieutenant Peter Decker faces when the LAPD is offered a large reward for finding the murderer of a well-beloved teacher, Bennett Little (Dr. Ben to many of his students), that occurred 15 years earlier. To make matters a little simpler (or more complicated?), Decker's daughter caught the squeal on the second murder. From there, the book settles down into a slow-moving police procedural where you have to keep track of all the connections among the various people to make sense of the mystery. Even then, the results may seem a bit speculative until just near the end. Normally, I like the slow unpeeling of the onion in a police procedural, but this one just didn't do it for me. Several parts of the story didn't ring true, even after thinking about them for a few days after I read the book. The characters who were introduced just for this story didn't always ring true to me either. If you don't want to take a chance on this book, there's nothing of series significance that happens. So you have the option to skip this one, even if you are a dyed-in-the-wool Faye Kellerman fan.

Glad I borrowed it and didn't purchase it ;0(

Customer Rating:

First and foremost I have to say that I am a big fan of the authors. I have followed this series forever. I was so excited to see a new novel with this cast. The reality of it is that the only enjoyable part of this book was kind of catching up with the cast. The whole story dragged and was so confusing with the million and one characters. I found that the story was slow to develop and many times I had to re-read a section just to wrap my mind around the cast of characters. There were just too many names being thrown around. Essentially I would say there were too many threads being pulled on at once. I didn't enjoy the book at all and although I am an avid reader it was like pulling teeth to get myself to finish reading it. Hopefully she can do better in the next installment.