Deadly Advice (An Advice Column Mystery) | 
 enlarge | Author: Roberta Isleib
Publisher: Berkley
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 170622
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0425214745
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780425214749
ASIN: 0425214745
Publication Date: March 6, 2007
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Book Description
As a clinical psychologist and author of an online advice column, Dr. Rebecca Butterman is supposed to help people resolve their internal conflicts-not stir up her own. But when trouble strikes very close to home, Rebecca's investigative instincts make it hard for her to maintain appropriate boundaries... Dating can be deadly After her young next-door neighbor, Madeline, is found dead from an apparent suicide, Rebecca can't believe that she, a trained professional, missed the signs. But not everything is adding up... Madeline's mother insists the suicide note wasn't written by her daughter. Rebecca puts that down to denial-until she finds Madeline's blog, a zippy chronicle of dating adventures that suggests anything but depression. When Rebecca's editor assigns her to do a column on the modern singles scene, Rebecca finds herself re-tracing the Madeline's steps into the dating world, looking for clues to the mystery of the young woman's death. There, over-eager suitors are the least of her worries. Dr Butterman is about to discover just how deadly some advice can be...
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 Well Done May 19, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Dr. Rebecca Butterman is used to helping people - she's a clinical psychologist and the author of an on-line advice column, so when Madeline, her next door neighbor is found dead from an apparent suicide, Rebecca wonders if she could have done something to help her. When Madeline's mother insists it couldn't be suicide, Rebecca agrees to look into the death. Rebecca soon realizes that Madeline was not all she seemed to be and as she investigates the on-line dating world for a writing assignment, she realizes the two are linked. The more she looks into both cases, the more she puts herself into danger, danger she may not escape from.
"Deadly Advice" is a well written and well plotted mystery. Rebecca is a nicely done, complex heroine, recently divorced and just starting to get her life back together. She is not perfect and her own personal therapy sessions help develop her character. While her advice column is interesting to read about, as were her attempts at on-line dating, what I liked best about the book were the details about her home life - her cooking, her taking in Madeline's cat, and her neighbors and the condo meetings they had. Rebecca's neighbors - especially Mts. Dunbarton, Peter Morgan, and Babette Fnster - are all well done. The mystery itself is well written and well plotted with plenty of red herrings and readers will have a hard time figuring out who the killer is. While author Roberta Isleib flirts with the almost standard mystery plot device of a romance between Rebecca and Detective Jack Meigs, she adds a welcome wrinkle to that formula. And, while the book seems on the surface to be a cozy mystery, it's a bit too gritty to fit that definition.
"Deadly Advice" is well done.
More than a cozy April 28, 2008
Deadly Advice by Roberta Isleib is a fast, page turning read. The protagonist is Dr. Rebecca Butterman who is a psychologist. She also writes an online advise column. Don't expect to read a story about a psychologist who has all the answers. There is so much more to Rebecca. Moving into the condo community after the divorce from her husband, Rebecca leads a busy life. When her neighbor next door is found dead, Rebecca is shocked and also feels guilty for not being friendlier and getting to know the woman who died, Madeline, better.
Madeline's mother asks Rebecca if she will help in finding out what happened to Madeline. The police are claiming suicide, Rebecca is not so sure. She begins her journey to find out who Madeline really was and enters the world of internet dating.
The author weaves an intricate story of deception and how events in ones life may affect them. My only problem with this book was there were too many psychological comments that could have been left out of a mystery novel. I recommend this book. I do not consider it a cozy but a unique mystery .
More Please April 12, 2008
Wow! As an ardent mystery reader, GUPPY mystery writer, AND a Pyschotherapist, I loved this new series. I stumbled onto the first, Deadly Advice and then grabbed the next one. Rebecca rings true as a therapist who has relationship problems, both present and past. The writing is excellant and, while the plot has been done before, I didn't guess 'who done it' until the villian was revealed. And I usually see it coming. I can not wait for the next one. Thanks Roberta.
 Psyched out... March 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Author Roberta Isleib is a psychologist as is her heroine Rebecca Butterman in the mystery novel Deadly Advice. Dr. Butterman is also an advice columnist. This is the first in the Advice Column mystery series. The storyline has Rebecca in a quandary over her neighbor Madeline's suicide. As a psychologist, Rebecca feels guilty (even though she wasn't well acquainted with Madeline) because she didn't see the suicide coming. When Madeline's seeming frail mother tells Rebecca she doesn't believe her daughter committed suicide, Rebecca finds herself drawn into an investigation.
Everywhere she looks, Rebecca finds contradictory evidence. Her neighbors don't agree on who had been seen coming and going from Madeline's condo. The police declare the death a suicide and tell her not to be involved with a closed case. Yet Rebecca learns that they are still actively investigating the case. Madeline's brothers try to talk Rebecca out of searching for more clues. Family secrets cloud the issues. Rebecca finds a secret blog that shows another, darker side of Madeline and reveals her involvement in questionable singles' activities. It seems she loved to kiss and tell.
Add all this to an assignment from her editors to look into the singles' dating scene, and Rebecca finds herself in some interesting and somewhat dangerous places. Just getting over a divorce, Rebecca knows that this is the last thing she wants to do, but she can use the assignment as a guise to further her investigation of Madeline's life and death. The ensuing events involve both comedy and peril, and situations where Rebecca finds she doesn't know whose motives to trust.
At first, I found the story slow-moving, but I continued to read because I wanted to know how what came next. I concluded that the story wasn't slow but rather intricately crafted--a mystery that remained a mystery until the end. The plot had subtle twists and turns that hold one's interest.
Isleib portrays her main character as a skilled and compassionate professional who is, like all of us, human and flawed, dealing with the baggage of a recent divorce and a not-so-great childhood, and actually in therapy herself. Rebecca is a believable character, not a perfect cardboard caricature nor a bumbling incompetent. According to Isleib, this was a conscious aim: "...I have the chance to dream up psychologist characters who can help solve mysteries without stumbling too hard over their own personal issues, crossing ethical boundaries, or imploding with self-importance." When asked how her own profession influenced her writing, Isleib said "Believe it or not, the work of the detective in a mystery has quite a bit in common with long-term psychotherapy. You start with a problem, then follow the threads, looking for clues, and gradually fill in the big picture." (from author's website)
What is a natural progression for Isleib translates into a quite enjoyable read for mystery lovers.
by Susan Ideus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
 Unexpected twist! February 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I must admit, as a teen, I'm usually not into books with a main character over 30. And I'm also not used to all the talk of marriage and cheating and such and such, however, the one thing I did enjoy was the amazing twist at the end which saved this novel for me. It was a good ending, and an unexpected one. However, it doesn't quite save this novel from getting over 3 stars. Maybe this book is just not my cup of tea, I like murder mysteries, I just don't like all the excess stuff that was added to this novel...I believe that it's because this novel is aimed at older and more mature audiences. So read if you can relate, or if you're just into mature fiction.
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