Ferrarella, Marie

Little detective work takes place on the page here, and the tactics employed by these detectives when they are working are likely to make true-crime aficionados cringe. Only those who are determined to read every book in this long-running series from Ferrarella (whose most recent entry was Cavanaugh Justice: Up Close and Deadly) are liable to get any real satisfaction from finishing this latest installment.

Ferrarella (Cavanaugh Justice: Up Close and Deadly) introduces readers to the new multi-author series “The Coltons of New York,” but unfortunately, neither the crime solving nor the romance are particularly believable in this one.

Bound to appeal only to the most die-hard series fans, the latest “Cavanaugh Justice” book (after Cavanaugh Justice: Up Close and Deadly) suffers from both a lackluster romance and an improbably motivated villain who doesn’t even make an appearance until the last chapter.