Foul Play: A Sofie Metropolis Novel (Sofie Metropolis)
by Tori Carrington
List Price:
Our Price: $3.26
You Save: $3.73 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Tori CarringtonEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-01
ISBN: 0765356783
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Tor Books
Book Reviews of Foul Play: A Sofie Metropolis Novel (Sofie Metropolis)
Book Review: A Fun Read
Summary: 4 Stars
Foul Play is the third Sofie Metropolis mystery (after Dirty Laundry and Sofie Metropolis). Tori Carrington -- the husband and wife team of Lori and Tony Karayianni -- made their mark on the publishing world writing Harlequin romance. For the Metropolis books they've combined the romance formula with that of the mystery genre and come up with something, if not quite original, then at least sure to appeal to readers of mysteries and romances alike. References to what has gone before are made in Foul Play, but in such a way that it is not necessary to have read the first two novels.
The romance comes in the form of Dino, a young Greek owner of a chocolate shop, whom Sofie's parents endeavor to match to her younger sister, Efi. But it's Sofie on whom Dino has his eye. Although Sofie describes Dino as delicious as one of his shop's confections with his suggestive grin, single dimple, great body and dark eyes (is it merely the romance genre in which women are allowed the freedom to be as visual as men, or are women in general dishonest when they purport that looks aren't important?), her heart is taken by Jake Porter. Porter, who, the text alludes, played a much larger role in one of the previous books in the series, makes an all too brief appearance in Foul Play, but his showing does little to further the story or his (past or future) relationship with Sofie.
The mystery comes in the form of Reni Venezuela, the Mets' newest pitching sensation whose strange behavior inspires his wife to hire Sofie, herself a Mets fan, to uncover the truth behind her husband's uncharacteristic behavior as of late. As the Mets' post season hopes rest on Venezuela's arm, what Sofie at first thinks a simple case of marital infidelity is anything but as she notes the normally ambidextrous Reni has pitched the last four games left-handed. (As an aside, several major leaguers have delivered the baseball with both arms; however, the only major league pitcher in the modern era to pitch from both sides of the slab was Greg Harris. A natural right-hander, by 1986 Harris threw well enough with his left hand that he felt capable of pitching with either hand in a game, although he wasn't allowed to throw left-handed in a regular-season game until September 28, 1995, the next-to-last game of his career, when he was pitching for the Montreal Expos.)
In addition to the Venezuela case are a couple of other minor cases, one involving a series of missing pets from the Astoria neighborhood in which Sofie lives as well as a couple suing the owner of a neighborhood diner for serving soup that purportedly contained a portion of a human ear.
Where James Garner as Jim Rockford typically got his a-- kicked for snooping around where he didn't belong, he used well-honed PI skills (as well as his connections with nefarious ne'er-do-wells such as Angel) to solve his cases, Sofie, a self-proclaimed novice in her grandfather's business, often trusts her gut and, in her own words, "luck" in putting together pieces of the proverbial puzzle.
The narrative is deftly written in Sofie's own first person, a tip of the creative cap perhaps to those who blazed the trail -- Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and Rex Stout -- and while the uninitiated may find appealing her snappy repartee and self-depracating humor, it pales somewhat beside the brilliance of the aforementioned masters (consider Chandler's prose from The Big Sleep: "The gentle-eyed, horse-faced maid let me into the long gray and white upstairs sitting room with the ivory drapes tumbled extravagantly on the floor and the white carpet from wall to wall. A screen star's boudoir, a place of charm and seduction, artificial as a wooden leg."). Still, readers of this genre will find Sofie a likeable protagonist and the narrative fast-paced, a fun summer read.
Although the denouement is a trifle over the top, it sets the stage nicely for Working Stiff, scheduled for release in September 2008.
J. Conrad Guest for The Smoking Poet, Summer 2008 Issue
Summary of Foul Play: A Sofie Metropolis Novel (Sofie Metropolis)
After shooting one of her own clients and accidentally getting involved with the mob, Sofie Metropolis is finally starting to get the hang of the PI business. She?s just landed her first high-profile case.
The wife of Reni Venezuela, a pitching phenom just signed by Sofie?s beloved New York Mets, arrives on Sofie?s doorstep in a gigantic bright yellow Hummer and declares that something is wrong with her husband. Can Sofie find out what?
Things are heating up between Sofie and sexy Greek baker Dino. The moment her mother finds out, wedding invitations will be in the mail, something Sofie so isn?t ready for. And what if Australian mystery man Jake Porter hears of Sofie?s entanglement? She might lose any chance she has with a man who makes her tingle just by saying ?hello.?
What?s wrong with Reni? Will the truth cost her team the World Series? Will it cost Sofie her life?
The wife of Reni Venezuela, a pitching phenom just signed by Sofie?s beloved New York Mets, arrives on Sofie?s doorstep in a gigantic bright yellow Hummer and declares that something is wrong with her husband. Can Sofie find out what?
Things are heating up between Sofie and sexy Greek baker Dino. The moment her mother finds out, wedding invitations will be in the mail, something Sofie so isn?t ready for. And what if Australian mystery man Jake Porter hears of Sofie?s entanglement? She might lose any chance she has with a man who makes her tingle just by saying ?hello.?
What?s wrong with Reni? Will the truth cost her team the World Series? Will it cost Sofie her life?
Women Sleuths Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Women Sleuths Books
T is for Trespass (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)by Sue Grafton
Putnam Adult; Published: 2007-12-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 13)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-06-17; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.20
Price in other shops:
Plum Boxed Set 3 (7, 8, 9): Contains Seven Up, Hard Eight and To The Nines (Stephanie Plum Novels)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2007-06-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.44
Price in other shops:
Plum Boxed Set 2 (4, 5, 6): Contains Four to Score, High Five and Hot Six (Stephanie Plum Novels)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2007-06-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.94
Price in other shops:
Bones to Ashes: A Novel (Temperance Brennan Novels)by Kathy Reichs
Pocket Star; Published: 2008-06-24; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.66
Price in other shops:
The Miracle at Speedy Motors: The New Novel in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency)by Alexander Mccall Smith
Pantheon; Published: 2008-04-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
Plum Boxed Set 1 (1, 2, 3): Contains One for the Money, Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly(Stephanie Plum Novels)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Paperbacks; Published: 2007-06-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.30
Price in other shops:
Plum Lucky (A Between-the-Numbers Novel)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-01-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.30
Price in other shops:
7th Heaven (The Women's Murder Club)by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-02-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.80
Price in other shops:
Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 14)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-06-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Plum Lucky (A Between-the-Numbers Novel)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-01-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Spying in High Heelsby Gemma Halliday
Making It; Published: 2006-08; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
Undercover in High Heelsby Gemma Halliday
Making It; Published: 2007-08-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.55
Price in other shops:
Killer in High Heelsby Gemma Halliday
Making It; Published: 2007-02-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.26
Price in other shops:
Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 13)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2007-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.97
Price in other shops:
Working Stiff: A Sofie Metropolis Novel (Sofie Metropolis)by Tori Carrington
Forge Books; Published: 2008-09-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.28
Price in other shops:
Alibi in High Heelsby Gemma Halliday
Making It; Published: 2008-02-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 14)by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-06-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops:
Sofie Metropolis - A Sofie Metropolis Novel (#1)by Tori Carrington
Tor Books; Published: 2006-04-04; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.48
Price in other shops:
Dirty Laundry: A Sofie Metropolis Novel (Sofie Metropolis)by Tori Carrington
Forge Books; Published: 2006-05-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: