New Orleans Mourning

The story is good, but it is very tiresome listening to characters who are all depressed and drunk all the time. They're the whiny and miserable because their parents didn't love them. Yikes.

While I listened to this book until the end, I couldn't wait for it to stop. It appeared that every character was depressed because their parent(s) didn't love them. It was a very whiny book.

I didn't know Julie Smith, but New Orleans is an enchanting backdrop, so I took a chance. Now I'm going to read everything Smith has written. Once she convinced me that the NOPD chief would assign a rookie patrolwoman to assist detectives on a murder case--and she did in short order--this mystery unfolded with convincing verisimilitude.

Guys are not easily captivated by social nuance, yet this book sucked me right into the juicy entanglements of Big Easy society.

But it's no story for sissies. It's a runaway freight train ride. It never slows down. I don't rate many detective stories five stars, but this book and Cristine McMurdo-Wallis' narration both get my five.

Not only is this an exciting mystery with lots of twists, turns and interesting characters, but it is also a wonderful text for those of us planning on attending our first Mardi Gras. The author goes into great detail concerning New Orleans neighborhoods, accents, class structure. She even names a few good and a few overrated restaurants. I am so ready for Mardi Gras 2005 now.

I was expecting more from this book because I knew it had won the Edgar Award. I gave it 4 stars just in case the 3 I wanted to give it was misguided by over expectations. It a good mystery, but I was hoping for Great and didn't get it. But don't let my judgment prevent you from trying it, I also don't agree with 8 out of 10 Pulitzer Prise winning selections.

The author provides interesting details about the Mardi gras and a portrait of New Orleans that seems authentic, however, the story lacked the suspense and tension that is essential for any good mystery novel. Character development seemed superficial and most of the personalities portrayed were not very likable. By the middle of the novel I didn't really care what happened next.

Incredibly boring

Takes you back to New Orleans before Katrina. But the story is inane.

An interesting murder mystery featuring a rather unconventional cop, Skip Langdon, and a rather eccentic family at the top end of the social pile. Skip makes a change from the hard-boiled cigarette chompin genre. The listener gets immersed in the whole Noo Orleaans trip, and the atmosphere effectively complements the twists in the tale.

I had trouble determining whether this was a novel or a commentary about Mardi gras. In fact, the beginning of this book is so dry that I had to go back and make sure that I was, in fact, reading a novel. Once we have plowed though the history of Mardi gras, the book turns somewhat wacky and, along the line, lost me as a reader.