Reviews of Amiable Child

Guilty Mind

Consider the Alternative

Praise for Agatha Nominated
The Death of An Amiable Child

�Irene Marcuse makes an auspicious debut with this well-crafted novel. Her heroine is beguiling, her plot is convincing and her insights into how society treats (or mistreats) its elderly poor are both informative and dismaying.��The San Diego Union-Tribune

�A complicated and intriguing plot. A fine first novel.��Cleveland Plain Dealer

�A vibrant milieu, a caring and determined protagonist, and a deceptively simple plot result in a winner.��Library Journal

�An intriguing, spiffy first mystery. The characters are full and quirky, the New York ambience honest and affectionate, and the details and shadings just right.��Booklist

�Bravo to Marcuse for this entertaining and engrossing puzzle.��Publishers Weekly

�Demands a return visit.��Houston Chronicle

�A good mystery keeps calling you back even when you don�t have time to read it. It keeps hanging on the edge of your thoughts, posing questions. Such is the power and suspense in Irene Marcuse�s novel.��The Tampa Tribune-Times

"Irene Marcuse's first novel is a delicately delineated triumph ... The sights, sounds, and smells of New York 's Upper West Side permeate the book.  The city bustles and hums, stretching out before Anita and the reader in an intoxicating, vibrant landscape...Marcuse's affectionately drawn characters, canny dialogue, and adept sense of pace set The Death of an Amiable Child far above the usual cadre of earnest but awkward first novels. Readers should look forward with eager anticipation to Anita Servi's next urban appearance." �Kelly Flynn, Amazon.com

"An intriguing, spiffy first mystery...the novel's depth comes from its delicate tracery of relationships: a white couple with a black child; office mate grins and gripes; good, bad, and downright evil neighbors; a young Latina and older Irish cop trying to get it right under the usual trying circumstances. Anita is a small, sharp woman with a fine New York sense of both irony and tenderness. The characters are full and quirky, the New York ambience honest and affectionate, and the details and shadings just right."� GraceAnne A. DeCandido, Booklist

Praise for Guilty Mind

"The nuanced and fraught intimacy between couples who have been married a long time, secrets never told between couples and between parent and child, and a gentle but honest look at racial assumptions in the city are all skillfully woven into a bang-up cozy with vivid police-procedural elements. Much is left open at the end, leaving readers eager for the next installment in the lives of these easy-to-love but difficult-to-peg characters."�GraceAnne DeCandido, Booklist  

"In this second Anita Servi thriller (after The Death of an Amiable Child), Marcuse explores the doubts a wife has when faced with the unexpected, and the suspicion and distrust that may poison a marriage...[E]njoy the vibrancy of the Manhattan scenery along the way."�Publishers Weekly 

Praise for Consider the Alternative

 "The rich personalities of the elders here, as well as Anita's own family--her cabinetmaker spouse and their nine-year-old, Clea, still not quite adopted--match the rich New York ambience, from Mama Joy's Deli to the Vermont Christmas tree sellers who set up on Broadway each December. This one's a bit more ruminative than the previous titles in the series but no less absorbing and city focused."�GraceAnne DeCandido, Booklist