After reading the first few pages of this novella, it struck me as the perfect easy, get-away-from-it-all story. With a nod to "Rear Window" and likable main characters it seemed like a great weekend read. But as I got into the book, I found the overall cadence of the book rather flat and predictable. The characters seemed somewhat 2-dimensional. The main character never struck me as particularly good at her job as an investigator, nor did the "big twist" in the plot seem all that surprising. So while I'd like to recommend the book, I'd have to say that overall it was just so-so and I wouldn't seek out other books in this series.

Overall, I enjoyed "The Bricklayer." The book introduces a character who is somewhat similar to Parker's "Spenser" or MacDonald's "Travis McGee" in that he is smart, very good a snappy comebacks, and always keeps a portion of himself very private. The story is good in the level of detail that is presented, making it quite believable, although somewhat predictable at times. There were a couple of places in the book where I found myself to be ahead of the characters. And I found it interesting that the women in the book were very strong characters. I would read another book in the same series. In general, a good, diverting read.

I enjoyed this book. The characters were believable and well developed. The story was interesting and moved along at a very good pace. The author did a great job of mixing in astronomy and astrology, keeping the topic at a level that I (no background in either subject) could understand and that was relevant to the overall story.
All in all a very enjoyable read.