The Deadhouse ( Alexandra Cooper #4 )

One of the most haunting buildings in New York City, and perhaps the most dramatically beautiful, the Deadhouse sits on a small island in the middle of the East River. The abandoned structure, like the ghostly remains of a castle, plays in the imagination as a site of mystery and intrigue...a likely place for murder.Following on the bestselling success of Cold Hit, Likely to Die, and Final Jeopardy, top Manhattan sex crimes DA Linda Fairstein brings her unique blend of authenticity and style to a mesmerizing tale of murder and deceit.It's the holiday season but there's little reason for cheer at one of New York's most elite colleges. A respected professor is dead; strangled and dumped in an elevator shaft. Lola Dakota's lifeless fingers clutch a few strands of hair, and a piece of paper in her pocket reads "The Deadhouse."What brought a distinguished academic to such a tragic end? Opportunistic murder seems unlikely as assistant DA Alexandra Cooper, working with detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, uncovers a distressing pattern of betrayal and terror.There's proof that Lola's husband, Ivan, wanted her dead. He has an alibi, but could he have hired a killer ? Or could one of Lola's colleagues have erupted into unexpected violence ? Some of their stories don't quite ring true. And why did Lola have a photograph of twenty-year-old Charlotte Voight pinned to her office bulletin board ? Charlotte left her dorm room eight months ago and vanished into the night. Is she dead ? Could she and Lola have become victims of the same predator ?Perhaps most puzzling of all are the words "The Deadhouse." What was Lola's connection to this desolate place where people once endured slow and agonizing deaths ? And what danger awaits Alex there or on the streets of Manhattan as she targets Lola's killer ?A richly nuanced synthesis of history and suspense, The Deadhouse showcases Linda Fairstein's immense talent as never before. It's the holiday season but there's little reason for cheer at one of New York's most elite colleges. A respected professor is dead; strangled and dumped in an elevator shaft. Lola Dakota's lifeless fingers clutch a few strands of hair, and a piece of paper in her pocket reads "The Deadhouse." What brought a distinguished academic to such a tragic end? Opportunistic murder seems unlikely as assistant DA Alexandra Cooper, working with detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, uncovers a distressing pattern of betrayal and terror. There's proof that Lola's husband, Ivan, wanted her dead. He has an alibi, but could he have hired a killer? Or could one of Lola's colleagues have erupted into unexpected violence? Some of their stories don't quite ring true. And why did Lola have a photograph of twenty-year-old Charlotte Voight pinned to her office bulletin board? Charlotte left her dorm room eight months ago and vanished into the night. Is she dead? Could she and Lola have become victims of the same predator? Perhaps most puzzling of all are the words "The Deadhouse." What was Lola's connection to this desolate place where people once endured slow and agonizing deaths? And what danger awaits Alex there or on the streets of Manhattan as she targets Lola's killer? Lola Dakota had to call in the police several times to restrain her abusive husband, but he always returned, so when they got wind of his plan to hire a hitman to kill her she agrees to play her part in the sting which would see both men arrested. It proves to be a great success, but several hours later and when her husband is under lock and key, Lola is truly dead - and by someone's hand. The police team on the original sting are in disarray, so Alex Cooper and Mike Chapman are swiftly in place to take over. Looking beyond her husband into her professional life, they discover a university department riddled with jealousies, extra-marital affairs, swindled funds and the unexplained disappearance of a student known to be a drug user. The one thing which seems to link all the players with all the misdemeanours is the university's research site on an island off Manhattan where they were investigating the remains of the Victorian isolation hospitals and lunatic asylums and the morgue - the deadhouse. But why Lola's murder is connected to the place is not so easy to prove, nor the identity of her killer. Formats : EPUB Assistant D.A. Alexandra Cooper investigates the murder of Manhattan professor Lola Dakota, a crime whose only clue lies in "The Deadhouse," the Roosevelt Island site where smallpox patients were sent to die in the nineteenth century