The Third Deadly Sin (The Edward X. Delaney Series)

Author Lawrence Sanders died about 20 years ago, after publishing 25 or so books. Mostly mysteries, I think, the ones I read back when they were published in book form, were story-telling masterworks. Oh, the plots were the same old ones that all mystery writers seem to use, and the characters were fairly plastic, but somehow, Sanders put an interesting spark in his writing that made a reader want to read on... Now that ebooks are being published, Sanders' backlist is coming to your Kindle app. I recently bought and read Sanders' "Deadly Sins" series. I've read Second through Fourth and will go back and read "First". I want to review "Third Deadly Sin" as I think it was the most interesting of the three I've read.

New York City in the late 1970's is recovering from the Son of Sam murderer. People remember all too well the random murders - men, women, couples, were found shot to death all over town. "Son of Sam" was real; the murderer in "The Third Deadly Sin" is fictional, but plays off "Sam" and the terror he caused. These murders, which take place in hotels all over mid-town, are brutal ones. Men are found with their throats slashed ,and their genitals basically hacked off. Former police captain, Edward X Delaney is chafing in his retirement and the powers-that-be call on his expertise to advise the police task force on the killings. Sanders established the murderer early in the book and the reader becomes involved in both the killings and the police precedurals as the spree continues to terrorize New York City.

Lawrence Sanders also does an excellent job in moving Edward X Delaney's life and family and friends forward as the years pass. That's very important in series books which feature the same characters. And for today's readers, it's interesting compare today's policing methods with those in the 1970's. I was glad to go back and read Sanders' series and found them as enjoyable now as they were when I first read them.

Years after having read "First Deadly Sin," and being revolted by the last chapter, I decided to read "Second Deadly Sin." After all, I had loved his "Anderson Tapes" and all of the Mcnalley books. Unfortunately, I was somewhat offended by the almost (to me) obscene ending. If that had gone a different direction, I would have rated the book five stars. You may have a totally different evalution, so do not ignore this book because I did not like the ending.

The idea of a woman serial killer was good, but the characterization laeaves a lot to be desired. A puritan education, a failed marriage with a jerk husband, ok, but exactly why her resentment against men should prompt her to lure strangers in hotel bedrooms to kill them in a most gory manner is not sufficiently explained. Instead we have endless descriptions of the hygiene and cleaning products she uses and of her corny and implausible romance with a mousey boy called Ernest Mittle. Let's cast a pityful veil on the embarrassing considerations of the semi-retired Delaney on feminism, drawn out to unseemly lenghts. What is good is the police procedural part, how the investigators gradually zero in on the killer. If only we were spared the Author's mysoginy, homophobia and description of sandwiches eaten over the sink...

too much description & fillers.

Sanders always delivers. Anyone who likes mysteries will enjoy this novel and the series.
Well crafted, and complex characters, combined with a marvelous use of the language. What a vocabulary!

I read this for the first time almost thirty years ago while I was in college. After recommending it to a friend, we decided to read it together. What a great book. Engaging lead character and a story different than anything I've ever read. I highly recommend! We enjoyed it so much, we will be reading the fourth in the series together soon.

I just reread Third Deadly after 30+ years. It was not the book I thought it was going to be but I enjoyed it all the same. Still searching for another serial killer named Zoe......

I have read almost all Lawrence Sanders book by now and some written in his style by another author after he passed away .. I like almost all of them except the Tomorrow File that one was hard to get through

One of the best books I have read!

Well written novel