Mystery Crime Books

Liss MacCrimmon had to retire at the age of twenty-seven from Strathspey, a company of Scottish dancers that she was part of for years. She returned to her hometown of Moosetookalook, Maine where she co-owns with her aunt the Moosetookalook Scottish Emporium. She is very excited as her formers Dance Company is coming to town to perform at the student center of the University of Maine at Fallstown.

At a reception after a show, she is glad to see her old and trusted friends, but also sad as she misses performing especially on the road. Troupe manager Victor Owens is eating a special cocktail scone when he keels over and dies. Apparently the scone contained mushrooms, which he was allergic to. It seems obvious that someone murdered him. Liss questions each dancer individually and realizes that the victim was considered surly, sarcastic and abusive; those were his positive traits. He had plenty of people angry with his overall meanness and his ability to publicly humiliate his performers. When the lead detective realizes the troupe is hiding things, he asks Liss to assist him, but he only intended for her to help with the questioning not the dangerous sleuthing.

Kaitlyn Dunnett has written a character driven regional cozy that provides the audience with an interesting look at a traveling dance troupe. Sub-genre fans will appreciate SCONE COLD DEAD as the story line contains enough suspense to keep the reader alert (and avoiding mushrooms) yet a strong local and visiting cast makes for a delightful read. Although why a professional would ask an amateur to help on a homicide investigation even if he does not understand the vernacular or the reticence of the dancers seems a stretch; this technique enables the audience to see behind the scenes of the troupe. Filled with plenty of local characters also, perhaps Ms. Dunnett might consider a side series starring the townsfolk in their own tales.

Harriet Klausner

I'm using this book for a Detective Literature class. It covers the three genres of detective fiction and includes some superb critical essays. The stories are well chosen and the book is laid out well.

I will keep this book and read the rest of it when I get the time.

Really bad writing. I could read through the "surprise" way before the ending. Threw the book away after that.

This is the second Lehane I have read, following Mystic River (before the movie came out), and I wasn't at all disappointed. The theme of this book is very different from Mystic River in that it is less realistic, but I found myself buzzing right through it. I was always looking to figure out the next turn. I am a person who bores with books very easily (I can't even count the number of books I have read half of), but this book really kept my attention and interest. The end, when everything is pulled together, is pretty brilliant as well. Looking forward to Scorcese's movie.

I solved the anagram on page 205 and from that I predicted the entire last half of the story. LeHane should have hidden such a revelatory clue a little better. It is like a major spoiler right in the middle of the story, making the last half a bit of a chore instead of the breathless progression it was intended to be. The finale still stung my heart, but if I had learned the twists when they were properly revealed, I would have called this story a masterpiece.

This book is well written, yes. At several points it had me frightened, and caught between dying to turn the next page and too scared to. It got my blood pumping, got me angry, I think, as it was intended to. I cared about Teddy, and I really liked Chuck. Cawley and Naehring were delightfully mysterious and sinister. A number of the surprises were fairly organic and quite shocking.

I know what you're thinking. How did this idiot manage to click one star, when he's obviously writing a five star review. You would be right to think this. However, you are wrong. This is a one star review, and here's why:

DO NOT READ THE BACK OF THE BOOK!!!!!!! To any person with half a brain (I know, not THAT many people have that much of a brain) the book description will give it ALL AWAY.

DO NOT READ THE BLURBS IN THE BOOK!!!!!!! To any person with half a brain that can add, after reading the back of the book, two and two, will immediately get four.

If you read these, you will know EXACTLY what's going to happen within the first couple of pages. And it will make you mad, just waiting for it, hoping that, praying that, this isn't the case. Its a trick. Please, God, let it be a trick. Its not. That's what's going to happen.

Now, for those that have NOT read the back of the book or any of the blurbs. You will have a little more fun. You will enjoy the first fourth of the book. Then you'll know too. You'll know exactly what's going to happen. Maybe you'll be like me. You'll think its a trick. A red herring. Again, I say, ITS NOT!!!!!!!!

Scorsese's movie I know will be good. Perhaps he and the screenwriter will think up a way to make the ending more organic. But, I don't think that's possible. Regardless, I can't wait to see how atmospheric and shocking the movie will be. I mean, look at what Eastwood did with Mystic River. The book was good, yes, but my God, man, not in a thousand universes could coincidences stack up like that. When everything fits like a jigsaw puzzle, you lose large amounts of realism, and tend to make people weary, and you take a lot of the punch out of it. But Eastwood's film had a transcendence to it (I'm picturing the scene at the end where Sean Penn has his arms spread like a shrugging Christ as he drinks his way from all this. . . coincidence). And Scorsese is at least twice the filmmaker Eastwood is. So, here's hoping. . . . . .

This is my first Dennis Lehane novel, and I read this because I know this is the next Scorsese/DiCaprio movie. And having read this novel, I think this will be the first and LAST Dennis Lehane I'll read.

The story starts off VERY slowly--two US marshals investigate the disappearance of a crazy woman who'd killed her three kids. This woman is in the loony bin on Shutter Island, where the story takes place exclusively.

So the beginning unfolds, and I can say this much: Dennis Lehane is not a great writer. His dialog is often witless and overly long, and his prose quite pedestrian. When he tries to be poetic, he is often pretentious and nonsensical, like writing "he had a silkworm of a smile." And structurally the story would've been better if he'd sped up the pace a bit.

Then the middle act is absolutely terrific when we find this giant conspiracy, and Teddy and his partner Chuck (the protagonist and his sidekick) have to escape the entire island because of this giant conspiracy. Yes, Lehane's prose is still pedestrian, but you can write inelegant prose and the novel can still pack a wallop. So I was very excited reading this middle part.

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

Finally, though there's the climax, and when Teddy gets to the lighthouse and confronts the mad doctor, and the mad doctor starts babbling away, I was like, You got to be kidding me?!! This is A TOTAL RIP-OFF of the 1920s movie The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari! I was like, No, it can't be. At some point, we would see the mad doctor truly IS the mad doctor, and he's just trying to trick Teddy into thinking he's insane. But noooooo, Teddy really is insane, and everything in the story is just his delusion. Even cheesy action movies like Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall don't stoop to: "Ohhh, everything's just a dream." I mean, this is grade-school storytelling!

Cop-out ending + ripping off a famous movie = a crappy novel. I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 because Lehane had me fooled it was a decent novel in the middle.

Probably, I liked this one better than The Godfather, only because no animals were killed in it. This and The Godfather are Puzo's best books. Omerta was terrible...

This was my first Puzo book. I was expecting an entertaining read. Instead, I found the book to be a confusing chain of family dramas involving numerous un-engaging characters, plodding towards a conclusion that was less than exciting. Paricularly annoying were the in-depth, opinionated (introspective?) analysis of the world of hollywood film making.

Maybe the choppiness and numerous twists and mini-dramas is just the nature of mafia stories. Maybe I am just reading the wrong genre. Because the only real thrill I got was upon completion of this book.

"God's world was a prison in which man had to earn his daily bread, and his fellow man was a fellow beast, carnivorous and without mercy." Mario Puzo imparts that blend of anthropology, Catholicism, and Sicilian folklore that comprise the Mafia ethos, this time set in Hollywood and Las Vegas --two worlds that he knew well in real life. Two of the characters are a screen writer and a novelist; I suspect that much of their interaction and musings are autobiographical, and touch on the struggles of writers in general. A good half of the story is how things are in the movie business, where sex is currency. As always, his magical choice of words appealed to my senses, but be warned: this story has an especially generous helping of colorful language. My rating is in comparison to his other novels. This is the first one (of the five I've read) that did not "hook" me on the first page, but it is still a good story.

Just finished the novel last night. Puzo's story-telling still is first-rated. And the plot is very cohesive, which makes you less inclined to stop in the process.

Before reading it, "The Godfather" and "The Sicilian" are two best novels from Puzo, IMHO. But this novel is also a hit, althouthgh maybe not as good as the above two.


To Roger J. Buffington:
Here in Singapore (just several weeks ago), a husband stabbed his wife (8-month pregnant) to death with a sword, yet he was judged to insanity at that moment and went free.

I was very angry at the the acquitting of the man, so everyman can go out and kill someboday and then bribe a doctor to prove that he is insane at the special moment and can hold no responsibility? How ridiculous!

Singapore is famous for its strict law, yet such thing happens.

Then i don't have any slightest doubt on what Puzo described in the book.

It is unfair to compare The Last Don with The Godfather because The Godfather was in, and still remains, in a class all by itself in this genre. That being said, The Last Don is still a first-class, engaging and entertaining read.

Don Domenico Clericuzio is a sagely, ruthless man in his dotage who is anxious to see his family go "legit," divesting themselves of all of their unsavory holdings in order to establish themselves in society. Not wanting his progeny to continue committing the sins of the fathers, the Don begins to parcel out his empire. As the deus ex machina of the only remaining crime family, he ensures that the Clericuzio beak will still be wet long after the divestiture.

His vision for a peaceful transition to legitimate society, however, is endagered when a horrifying family secret threatens to set off a civil war between two blood cousins.

Without going into any more details, which would spoil the book's ending and would take away from the engrossing plot structure, The Don has his way in the end and an all-out bloodbath is averted. The Don can goes to the hereafter secure in the knowledge of a "life well lived," and his wishes have been carried out.

Mario Puzo weaves a rich tapestry which, of course, contains the main plot and various sub-plots that accent the main storyline giving it a fuller, more robust feel. The same can be said of the major and minor characters.

What I loved most about this book is the way Puzo ties everything up at the conclusion of the book, leaving no loose ends. There is a tidy ending that is logical, without being cliche'. You'll finish this book having been totally entertained, suprised, and satisfied.

Again...a very engaging, engrossing, and entertaining book. 5+ stars.

Could not put this book down. Very exciting as only J.D. Robb can do it.

Although I enjoyed the first "In Death" book, I have to admit it's getting old. I keep getting this distinct feeling of deja vu everytime I read another book in the series. It's time to stop using the same recycled plot and change it up a little. This series has a lot of potential, but it seems that the author is too comforatable in the plot outline she is using now. A realize a lot of people love this series, but I'm finding it difficult to understand why. It took me three months to finish this book! Why? The explanations are too vague, the dialogue is too boring, and the plot is too predictable.

For those readers hooked on Robb's characters, Rapture in Death is a great contribution to the series. It focuses heavily on the just-post-marriage relationship of Eve and Roarke, especially Eve's struggle to come to terms with the strength of her feelings for Roarke (and his for her). It also includes some interesting developments in Mavis's career as a performer.

The mystery is interesting, but not quite up to the level of some of the other books in the series. It's pretty easy to see which possible bad guy is the red herring and which isn't, and the red herring gets drawn out a bit long in my opinion.

Since we're on the fourth book of the series, it can start to feel a little bit unlikely that so many of Eve's cases have ended up tied to people she knows so well. On the other hand, Robb knows her audience: people follow these books for the larger-than-life character drama as well as the mystery, and the way to do that is to give Eve a personal stake in her cases. So while the practical part of me balks a little at the coincidences, I have to admit that it's a very effective way to draw her particular audience in.

All in all, while this isn't my favorite book of the series, I definitely enjoyed reading it. As always, there's some hot & heavy sex between our favorite billionaire and cop, so it's for adults only!

How thrilled I was to receive so promptly my copy of Rapture in Death. I thank you so much for the great service.

BORING-get a life Ms. Roberts, were I your agent not one of your books would have been published. Did you invent "reality TV"? 'If you have half a brain' (credit to Rupert Holmes)you too will fall asleep reading this author's books. So I can say something nice, her works are better than sleeping pills. I wish that I had originally known what her other name was years before I purchased the #1 of this series, I also wish I had known that each book is a carbin copy of the others, victim name changed, sometimes, to protect the innocent reader, and purely for greed.
I did give 1 star (there was no lower one to choose) as I respect all books and wish more people would read books.

The stories in the book should each be taken singularly. The writing itself is pure nostalgia. You should be warned: if you're easily offended by racial slurs - this book may not be for you. The writers use words appropriately to set the mood. A couple of stories have surprise endings!

The other reviewers misunderstand "Pick Up", (****warning -- spoiler****) which is a fascinating novel because the narrator is mentally disturbed and completely unreliable. This fact explains the "twist" ending, a number of apparent editing errors and the unlikely events that occur throughout.

In this area of noir, I suggest starting with Raymond Chandler. If you've whipped through his books, like me recently, as well as those of Micky Spillane and Dashiell Hammett, then you are definitely ready for this collection and its partner volume of crime novels from the '30s and '40s. I need to mention, in particular, a real treasure in this collection, which is The Real Cool Killers by Chester Himes.

At this point, allow me a brief political comment. These days, when I see an anthology of five books, and one of the authors is a woman and one is an African-American, perhaps you will forgive me if I guess that something other than storytelling merit went into the selection process. Too harsh? Keep in mind that we are talking about a genre (in this case, hard-boiled crime stories from the 1950s) where you don't exactly expect to see a rainbow coalition of gender and ethnicity. What's more, my suspicion was initially confirmed by reading The Talented Mr. Ripley, which is clearly the weakest story in the collection, and only then observing that this was the first novel in the field I had seen written by a female author.

That introduction brings me to the Real Cool Killers, by Chester Himes. I have since learned that he was an African-American author who wrote many books. But I will fight it out with anyone who claims that Real Cool Killers was selected because of Himes' race. This story is the best of the lot, and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future. In fact, our era of political correctness in literature and academia probably means that Himes does not get nearly the attention he deserves. He is wonderfully impartial when it comes to skin hue in his presentation of nasty characters and their evil deeds. He is equally impartial in his socio-economics. The poor are not automatic angels; the police and the wealthy are not cardboard oppressors. Himes is just a great writer. His novel, which is the last in the book, was a surprising treat.

This book is the second volume in the Library of America set on American crime noir. I enjoyed the first volume so much that I decided to read the second one during Christmas break. Once again, the LOA has done a nice job of collecting a fine series of stories. These stories were written during the 1950's and 1960's. The book is nice to look at too; it's covered in red cloth with a cloth bookmark.

The first story is from the demented mind of Jim Thompson. This story, called The Killer Inside Me, is much better than The Grifters, a book by Thompson that I read some time ago. The Grifters seemed to be pretty one-dimensional with respect to its characters. This story is the exact opposite. A deputy sheriff in a Texas city has a terrible secret. He plays dumb on the outside, but inside he is a cunning sociopath. A long simmering resentment leads to a terrible revenge. Bodies quickly stack up as a result. This seems to be the story that Thompson is best known for and it's no surprise why. This is a dark, twisted tale with a grim ending.

Patricia Highsmith wrote a whole series of stories concerning Tom Ripley. The one included here is The Talented Mr. Ripley, probably better known due to the recent film with Matt Damon. This tale isn't as noir as I would have liked, but it still has enough twists and turns to keep anybody in suspense. Ripley is a low class conniver who ingratiates himself into a wealthy family who wants him to go to Italy and bring back their son. Ripley sees the potential for bucks and meets up with the kid and his lady friend. Of course, things take a turn for the worse and the bodies start stacking up. This story was probably my least favorite out of the entire collection.

The next story, Pick-Up, by Charles Willeford, is a depressing tale about two alcoholics who go bump in the night. The story follows the adventures of this alcoholic couple as they attempt suicide, check themselves into a mental hospital, and drink themselves into a stupor. After the female half of the couple dies in another suicide pact, the story switches to a prison tale. The end is somewhat of a twist, but really doesn't impact the story that much, in my opinion. Again, not really noir as noir can be, but still a fine story that can stand by itself.

Down There, by David Goodis, is a wild ride of a tale. Full of suspense and death, this is a great story that deserves to be included here. A family of ne'er-do-wells drags their talented piano-playing brother into their personal problems. The background information on Eddie, the piano player, is phenomenal. The tragedy that has struck him once is bound to repeat itself again. This story has great bit characters that really liven up the background.

The final story, by Chester Himes, is The Real Cool Killers. This is noir on acid: pornographic violence, massive doses of grim reality, and characters you're glad to see get killed. The story is set in Harlem and involves two tough cops named Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. Someone kills a white guy in Harlem and the cops try and track them down. This story contains one of the funniest descriptions of a person falling off a balcony that I've ever read (and I've read a few, disturbingly enough). The writing has enough similes and metaphors to give Raymond Chandler an apoplectic fit. A cool story that certainly deserves a place in this book.

If you like noir, read these two LOA novels. They are long (together they're almost 2000 pages) but it is definitely worth the effort. These kinds of stories are just a great way to while away some free time and relieve stress.

"Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950's" is the second and last volume of the hardboiled anthology published by the Library of America starting with the volume devoted to the genre in the 30's and 40's. This follow-up continues the saga of run-down characters hardened by experience and tough luck. The familiar cast of roguish males, femme fatales, and temperamental and violent detectives set the stage for a diverse and entertaining ride into the depths of the underworld.

"The Killer Inside Me" - Jim Thompson's most popular work is a memorable tale of a Texas law enforcer with a sinister past whose dark and psychotic nature is cunningly veiled behind a genial facade that barely contains "the sickness" which the main character has successfully concealed. A sudden turn of events unleashes the beast inside leading to a tragic odyssey of disillusion, violence, and murder. Pioneering in it's time for revealing the inner mind of the serial killer, the bracing prose and chilling character development makes this work one of the best in the genre.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" - Tom Ripley is a con artist successfully making ends meet through one of the most reprehensible professions in New York City. A drifter and social outcast, one night in a bar he comes across a parent of an old acquaintance he barely recalls and is asked to do a favor. When he consents, his true nature unfolds in this story of murder, sexuality, and identity. Made into film in 1999 starring Matt Damon in the leading role, this cosmopolitan travelogue with a Decadent touch in the end introduced the world to one of the most oddly sympathetic and diabolical characters in Literature.

"Pick-Up" - Charles Willeford's winning style successfully conveys the sad and tragic tale of two lost alcoholics in the skid row section of San Francisco in the 1950's. Scene by depressing scene the author chronicles the faith, hope, and disillusionment of a couple whose time revolve around the contents of a bottle. The engrossing prose is marred unfortunately with an unbelievable twist and dissapointing ending.

"Down There" - The best selection of the entire series, "Down There" is an unforgettable account of a barroom piano man whose days of glory were ended by tragedy. Rendered indifferent to life by his soul-breaking experiences, he meets an equally lost soul and together they encounter adversity supporting each other as only similarly dark-fated individuals can. The heartbreaking ending still haunts me whenever I think about it.

"The Real Cool Killers" - Blaxploitation on speed! The talented Chester Himes vividly conjures this adrenaline yarn of two black detectives taking on the streets of Harlem in no holds barred action. Race, violence, and loathsome scenemakers feverishly grapple in this heat-inducing neon nocturne of urban society. Black humor at one of it's very finest.

Flawed but highly readable, these long forgotten and out of print works have been handsomely restored and given ample tribute by the laudable Library of America. Wanting to familiarize myself with the enduring genre, reading the two vols. of the "Crime Novels" series has been a pleasant introduction and reading experience to me.

Dorothy Gilman is one of my favorite mystery writers. I've read all of her first nine books many, many times, and highly recommend them. In this book and the ones that follow the author's voice shifts so completely, I wonder if she is actually the one continuing to write them. Mrs. Pollifax's character changes, she is "cross" several times in the first few chapters and the old Mrs. Pollifax was curious and philosophical and observant. This philosophical bent disappears entirely from these later books.

The adventures no longer sizzle along. An early chase in this book is poorly crafted; as it happens it is described without enough detail to make it interesting or suspensful and we are told Mrs. Pollifax looks back on it as a "nightmare," when there is no basis for this in the story. The earlier Mrs. Pollifax would roll with the punches and reserve "nightmare" for full fledged torture. These later books are so disappointing because the first nine are so wonderful....

Of course, I love all of Mrs. Pollifax's adventures! I want to be her when I grow up;) But this one had wonderful, colorful (to say the least) characters, plot twists, and bits of Sicilian culture that made for a overall very enjoyable read.

Mrs. Pollifax, intrepid Garden Club member and holder of a brown belt in karate, has gone on several assignments to exotic places for the CIA. In this book, she is called by old friend John Farrell to help him in his latest predicament. He is a former CIA agent who is now an art dealer and he has been asked to authenticate the signature of Julius Caesar on a document. In the process of doing so, he has been chased and shot at and he is currently in hiding. Mrs. Pollifax shows up with a young woman named Kate who has been assigned to help her. When they have trouble finding a safe haven, Kate takes them to her aunt's house. Mrs. Pollifax finds all sorts of interesting activities going on there and learns more about the people who are chasing Farrell. This story has the amusing complication of having Carstairs assign a person to follow and protect Mrs. Pollifax. She is not aware of this and she levels the poor man with a well-placed karate chop. Mrs. Pollifax fans will not be disappointed in this entry in the series.

I just finished listening to Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief on audio, and I must say, I was disappointed. I had to force myself to listen to it all the way through. This is definitely the worst Mrs. P, book I've listened to.. Why? Too many irritating minor characters. Not enough suspense, and, unbelievably stupid villains. Usually I can expect a TAD more realism than this from a Gillman book, but, this book was just plain silly and tried too hard to be cute.

Yes, it starts out okay, with Mrs. P, getting involved in the rescue of an old friend, Farrell, who owns an art gallery. We are led to believe that Farrell is some sort of super-agent, and super handsome, but instead he's just super annoying. Mrs. P, teams up with a spunky blonde agent, soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery surrounding an ancient roman scroll, art theft, and murder. Can Mrs. P and her gang of friends save the day?

By the end of this novel, I just didn't care. Farrell, was the world's most irritating character.All he does is whine and complain. The spunky blonde agent who was Mrs. P's sidekick would never pass any Intelligence Agency's background check with a family like hers... And Aristotle? This villain was silly, *choke* get real.

Overall, I'd give this one a pass. I've listened to much better Gillman books, and this one was beyond disappointing.

The first 4 or 5 books in the Pollifax series are wonderful. This is the worst of those that follow. I think the problem that I am having is that Mrs. Pollifax no longer seems to be the author of her own success. Lucky chance may be the reason she wins through in the end, or some individual she meets up with does it all for her. And I don't care for these partnerships, especially with Farrell. The wonderful thing in the past was how Mrs. Pollifax would come to a case with lovely excitement and by being herself assemble a group of unusual people around her and inspire them to great things. The recent Pollifaxes have seem tired and dependent.

I've no idea why Ms. Johansen does this. It's not the first time. She comes up with a very good story for a novel. The author then peppers most of the story with a romance dialogue between the two main characters. The drivel is repetitious & endless. It's the same dialogue over & over & over. Incidentally, it carries over to her son & mother in law as well.
Seth & his contacts are very good. Kate Denby, the heroine, is a doctor who will simply give you a headache rather than cure one. The heroine becomes tiresome, boring, & annoying.
I found myself mostly scanning the book every time I saw the word Kate.
The story does have a nice little twist toward the end which I almost scanned over since Kate was involved.
Ms. Johansen needs to decide if she's writing a suspense thriller or a romance novel since she can't seem to tie the two together. Why does she need to say the same thing repeatedly? I gave it 3 stars for the story. The story saved it from 2 stars

I don't often read a Johansen novel, in fact I think I've read two, but both have been pretty interesting and decent reads. That being said, Long After Midnight was a pretty good book. It wasn't the best suspense novel I've read this year, nor was it the worst. I think the main thing that sticks out about this book for me, since I read it two months ago, was just that the characters were very likeable and the plot was intriguing enough that you wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen. At times it moved fast, other parts seemed to drag a bit, but over all it was a good book. I might pick up another of her books, we'll see.

This book grabs you and keeps you hanging on. Very well-written... you won't be able to put it down!

You'll get hooked since the first page and you wouldn't be able to put it down till you finish it. All the time you'll think that Kate is kind of ruthless. But at the unexpected end you'll see all the truth about her and her heart. Six stars for IJ.

Long After Midnight is only the second novel by Iris Johansen I have gotten around to reading. I loved everything about this book. Kate was a very likeable character. She was strong but towards the end willing to admit she needed help. Seth was great. At first I thought I wouldn't like him but he turned out to be good guy. Kate ended up with the right guy. Noah was to like herself. Ishmaru was a very creepy bad guy. The whole Indian mysticism was kind of scary coming from him. Some people take things to far. The only thing that wasn't plausible was RU2, it seems kind of unbelieveable. But all and all it was a very suspenseful journey.

In my opinion this series and specifically this book has turned into a lame excuse to generate revenue for the writer! Too bad I can not get a refund for this trash! I have written the author but no reply. Like I really expected a reply. The first three books in the series were good. The first book was great. The second two books had a strange fascination with homosexual tendencies but beyond that the story, back ground and setting were a good read. Now the series has evolved into a low level, my first book, get-the-money-while-I-can drivel. I am embarrassed that I am admitting that I was sucked into buying this boring, uninteresting, waste of time attempt at a novel. I was thinking that maybe the author had gotten back to the roots of the character, the roots that I found so enjoyable to begin with. I had the same thought and hope with the previous book. Well, I have been burned twice. Your books suck. Never again. Bye-bye.

I was worried after the last novel that Sano Ichiro was done for. This novel, with its varied perspectives on the murder make it a true who-done-it.

If you like the Sano Ichiro series, as I do, you will like this book. It keeps to the storyline of her previous books. Holds your interest. Written in the same style I have become accustomed to. Not her greatest work but a good read.

I like a good mystery. The cover information for this book made it seem like this would be an author I might want to follow. Unfortunately I will not be reading another one of Ichiro's novels. The characterization was superficial. No one engaged me. Lady Mori was particularly unbelievable. It seemed at first that she might be a strong female character who could hold some real reader interest. However, Ichiro has Lady Mori waffling back and forth and back and forth about what she knows about her own actions and this ultimately spoiled any positive feeling I had about her. In addition, her ventures into mysticism, as a woman, give her no resolution, while Hirata's, as a man (after almost as much waffling) is a turning point in the novel. Very irritating. I was very disappointed in this book and sorry not to find a new author to read.

Reader, be prepared to be jerked around by the writer. This is the first (and will be the last) book in the series I've read. I like thrillers with exotic (for me) settings, but this one was way over the top. There were unfortunate lapses into contemporary English vernacular (like "Hey!" coming from one of Sano's subordinates). Stage machinery was way too evident, and the "acting" by the principles, by Lady Mori and her servant, was overwrought and operatic. Perhaps, as other reviewers have noted, the writer was forced into getting the book to the publisher before it was ready. (I'm surprised she even found a publisher.)

Loved it! The suspense was great - I usually can figure out the killer mid way through the book, not this time. I was guessing all the way to the very end. Loved the continuation of the characters - Dallas & Genny, Caleb & Jazzie and Jacob & Reve. Jacob & Reve fought their attraction to the very end, but when the finally do unite, it's amazing!

After I got pass the southern accents and the fact that having a trailer trash status was accepted by the characters(this is a first), the story got ok. I was pleasantly surprised when the author stuck to the suspense/mystery story instead of trying work a mystery around lusty scenes. Instead, it was the opposite & the love scenes actually flowed smoothly. And nicely! I was very satisfied with the results of this "thriller".

Very well written.....From the first page until the last, the Author keeps you wanting to turn the next page. I've now read several of her books and find that each one seems better than the last..I will continue to look forward to the next.....

This is the third story of a trilogy set in Cherokee County, TN. Each involve a set of lovers and a serial killer. Three serial killers in one small county is a bit much, but okay if the stories are good. The first book was good enought to stir interest for the second, which was not quite as good. The third is the worst. All the books feature unhappy marriages between older couples although they are not the main story. Actually, they may be as by the third book, there seems to be more of them written about than the young couples. It almost makes you want to run fast from the opposite sex if things are going to turn out like this. All that misery becomes too much over time, with the love scenes, not quite enough to make up for the rest.

Barton is a good writer. I just hope she gets writes other themes with a little more joy in them.

"As Good as Dead" is the third in a series of three novels set in the small town of Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee - a town rife with serial killers, and a police force that seems to rely heavily on the clairvoyance of one of it favorite daughters to solve crime.

Billed as a romance for Sheriff Jacob Butler, the story actually is more of a continuation of the previous novel, "The Last to Die," with the relationship of Jazzy and Caleb taking more of a center stage then Jacob's reluctant love interest, snobbish Reve Talbot, who has just discovered through DNA testing that she and Jazzy are twins separated at birth. The romance is insignificant, undeveloped, and almost forced upon the reader.

The much more interesting story is how the two were separated in the first place, as well as who their parents are. There is yet another serial killer on the loose and his prey of choice is red headed women of shall we say "loose" morals. Red-head Jazzy has an undeserved reputation, and by default, Reve is also targeted by the assailant.

Once again, Barton pens a story with plenty of potential suspects, and then chooses the most improbable one of them all, as Jazzy and Reve elude the killer and solve the mystery of their parentage. It falls a little short of the first novel, and may be a little hard to follow if you have not read the rest of the series.