It's nice to catch up with an old friend and sad to know it's for the last time. Nice story that wraps many ends up nicely. ( )

This is both the first book I have read in the Sigrid Harald series and the first book by Margaret Maron. To be honest, hadn't I heard of Maron before I read this book. But, after finishing this book can I only say that Maron is an author that I want to read more books from.

It wasn't hard to get into the book, despite being book nine in a series that I previously didn't know a thing about. Vice versa, to be honest, I felt right from the start that this was a book just for me. I liked Sigrid Harald (One of the reasons I was curious to read this book her Scandinavian name), she's a tough cop, but the loss of her lover, Oscar Nauman, one year previously still rattles her. Especially when she learns something unexpected concerning Oscar Nauman in this book.

Then we have the murder of the two homeless men in West Village. I liked the case, the secrets the murders uncovered among the people that were interviewed and those among them that had a connection to either of the men. There are a lot of people in the book, but still, it wasn't so hard to keep track of them after a while.

Take Out turned out to be an excellent mystery book and I'm eager to get my hands on the rest of the books in the series.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

The final Sigrid Harald novel (although she appears with Deborah Knott in two of the entries in that series, which take place chronologically after this story). Sigrid is beginning to move on with her life after losing her lover and gaining a fortune, but a loose end she didn't know about needs to be tied up. Meanwhile a perplexing double murder occupies her professional time...who put warfarin in leftovers from a popular Italian restaurant and fed them to a couple of homeless bench warmers in the East Village, and why? Two of the prime suspects are elderly women who take the blood thinner in the form of Coumadin and regularly get take-out orders from the restaurant: a famous opera star, and a Mafia widow. There's a grand resolution, but you'll probably see some of it coming.
March 2020 ( )

According to Maron's notes at the end of the book, this is the last Sigrid Harald novel. In fact, she had not intended to write it but her readers had questions about what had happened to Sigrid after the previous novel so she decided to write one more 22 years later to clear up loose ends.

In Take Out Sigrid is still recovering from the sudden death of Oscar Nauman and the difficulty of selling off his possessions that she feels she will never us. There are all his paintings that she must deal with as well. While working on these personal issues, she is also trying to solve the murders of two homeless men who die on the same park bench from an overdose of Coumadin. Then a man arrives from Germany who thinks he may be Oscar's son so suspicions arise is he really a son and is he after some of Oscar's fortune.

Solving the murders leads to many suspects including the widow of a major Mafia figure, her godson, her personal assistant, and her gardener. There was also the inclusion of the mobster's mistress who was a famous opera singer and lives a few doors away from the widow.

This created a complicated narrative that makes one want to keep notes so the one can keep track of the various characters. Despite the cruel method of murder, I found this novel lighter in tone then other Sigrid novels as Sigrid herself is a much more pleasant character. ( )

The murder of two, seemingly strangers, men in an alcove between houses with some serious past connections provides the Lieutenant with an interesting crime scene. Lots of knots, with one t and no K for Sigrid and her team to untie; pun intended. Operatic innuendoes and Mafioso methods offer interesting tidbits to be stirred into the pot for additional flavor. Seemingly, a swan song for Sigrid, one hopes not, this is an excellent entry into the very interesting duopolic series Margaret Maron has created for us. ( )