Another 4 Star Review for The Abattoir (An Ellie Danson Mystery)

Lindsay Horne 

The Abattoir received another 4-star review this week from Lindsay Horne, whose blog, Everyday is an Adventure is one of the most thoughtful book blogs that I have seen so far. I hope that you will check it out for yourself and see all of the interesting reviews of books in a wide-range of genres that she has posted to the site. She reviews, young adult, fantasy, mystery and a host of others. I enjoy reading it often and I'm sure that you will too.

Rizzoli & Isles Episode 4, 'Brown-Eyed Girl'

The Girls Are Back for Season 2

The fourth episode of Rizzoli and Isles’ second season was by far its best IMO. It used the ticking clock device to add suspense to an episode taut with white-knuckle tension. A thirteen year old girl, Amanda Matteo, is kidnapped in a child abduction case that brings to mind the real-life cases of Jaycee Dugard and Elizabeth Smart. A welcome addition to the cast as a guest star was Max Martini (The Unit) as Dan, a former partner of Rizzoli’s who is the father of the missing Mandy. Another welcome sight was Anne Wersching of 24 fame as the mother of the missing girl.

The episode was the first truly serious show of the season in my opinion. Gone for the most part was the playful banter of opposites attract between Rizzoli and Isles that have marked most of the episodes this season and in its place was a thrilling story line that was a bit frightening for anyone with children. The abduction of Mandy was done very well, with the late reveal of her abductor rising from the back seat of the vehicle giving the teaser a terrifying kick that sucks the viewer in right from the start.

The investigation itself was also much more creative than anything we’ve seen in the first three episodes too. Angie Harmon was brilliant as an angry, disgusted Rizzoli wondering how a woman could be so heartless as to be part of an abduction of a young girl. Sasha Alexander was very good too as she explained how psychologically damaged women like this tend to be. The use of everything from a broken muffler, to a license plate and finally the water quality of surrounding counties and their effect on a child’s teeth as clues in the investigation really gave you the impression that here were investigators at work instead of the rather tired plot devices used to ‘solve’ cases in the first three episodes penned by series creator Janet Tamaro. I mean the way the last episode ended, with Frost and Korsak finally coming to the realization that the rapist/killer wasn’t a real Naval officer, seemed to take forever, especially when I came to that realization after the show’s first act.

Needless to say, this episode filled me with new hope that the show is finally back on track after last year’s brilliant finale. I definitely look forward to seeing it again next week.  Let’s hope that Julie Hebert has written more episodes this season like this one. She’s the cat’s meow when it comes to writing episodes of great police procedurals. She did a great job on other shows like ER and Numb3rs back in the day and she's clearly lost none of her touch with this week's effort. Janet Tamaro? Not so much. This episode’s grade: a solid A.