East Hartford, CT, United States | Member Since 2010
"I must be the only person in the entire world..."
to think this was a little too dramatic (wink). Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it, but following the reviews I was expecting life changing literature.
I apologize to anyone offended by this review but it felt a little too much like Hollywood book to movie for me. A good movie probably, but not what I was expecting.
"This is where it started to come together"
This is the book that really hooked me on the series. Grimes spread her wings and it shows in character development and dialog. Just the right amount of sweet, sad and dry humor.
This series won't be for every mystery lover, lots off British colloquialisms and I'm sure some people will be offended by Ash the Flash in this very sensitive century. This book was written in1983 and even with Ash the Flash in my very humble opinion is not dated.
"Not my cup of coffee"
But well written, funny, interesting and overall not disappointing.
That said, not really my type of storyline, I just don't find supernatural stuff that credibly explained within day to day life. It wasn't as well done as Harry Potter, but not as bad as the vampire tripe and zombie garbage that is being churned out by the bookstoreful.
What made it truly enjoyable was the tongue in cheek style. It was also historically interesting.
"Not his best"
I loved his Hollywood Station series, but this was a little dated. The dialog felt very heavy bogged down with metaphor and simile instead of actual conversation. In all the other stories I've read by Wambaug it didn't seem crass or vulgar for the sake of a laugh.
Overall I did enjoy the story and pace, he does set a scene nicely I just wish the dialog was as crisp as the Station series. The intersecting stories, character development and underlying humor saved it for me, but Lynne was unlikable, plain and simple.
When an author is capable of writing like "The Onion Field" and "Choirboys" (both very bleak looks at humanity), its hard to believe the same author wrote this book.
A beach listen, not much more.
"Hill is a great author"
Another great stand alone novel, a little sad as usual, but not grim. This is an older novel and I think as with a lot of novels of its era and place there is some reference to the IRA. However, it is not over political so it can be enjoyed for its wonderful writing.
"I really liked this but can't give it 4"
This has a good storyline decent procedural steps with semi accurate if sometimes unbelievable police actions for Louisiana and the south during the time period. Something bothered me and I still can't figure it out. Maybe the narration? There was one glaring contradition but it was inconsequential to the story so it didn't rate. Maybe it was the girl, or the lack of other strong fleshed out characters.
Anyway, Dave is kind of the southern version of Harry Bosch. I enjoyed listening and will look forward to reading the next in the series.
"decent"
A decent story, seems a little dated, but not horrible.
If you are offended by chauvinistic thinking roll your eyes and keep reading. Overall it was a nice break from the endless serial killer books that seem to be the only reading on the market.
I welcome suggestions on a good old fashioned mystery series that develops the characters maybe has one or two serials in the series but doesn't balk at a real whodunit and isn't cheesy or gimmicky.
"I stumbled onto this series 20 years ago"
Waited and waited for it to come to audible, only her last was on audible and without having read the series people might not really have developed the fondness for Jury and Plant that develops when reading a series.
The books are witty and dry without being too graphic. Not as cutesy or silly as cozy mysteries tend to be; the gimmick is the inns so it doesn't seem as childish or staged.
These are not modern mysteries with psycho serial killers and ritual murders, just plain old fashioned murder with a little wit and sadness.
The only flaw is that after waiting soooo long, they picked the worst narrator. The dry humor is still there but he is so annoying it detracts from the overall enjoyment of the story.
"Waited so long"
For Martha Grimes Jury series on Audible, I love this series and it only gets better. However, the narrator is all wrong, he misses the wit and nuance. The humor is dry and smart, the narrator is not.
Good mysteries, but I'm not sure I'll keep buying if they are all narrated by West.
"Performance was so so"
I love the story and listened to a couple of samples, this seemed like it would be okay, it was just that, okay.
If you haven't read the book, I'd suggest a different version. The women sounded ridiculous.