Social Crimes

For a glipse into the heady world of the top most level of society combined with real mystery (what will happen next) try this fascinating read.

I'm now a fan of author Jane Stanton Hitchcock after reading this book. I heard her a few years ago on an NPR interview and bought the download based on those merits. Now I'm so smitten with the strength of her lead heroine, Jo Slater, the strong society maven who has come back through thick and thin in Social Crimes and is now back in One Dangerous Lady. This is a great book! I highly recommend it!! Smart, funny, and if you want more, now a second book for those who can't get enough... like me!!

just ok

Except for the always inspiring golden voice of narrator Barbara Rosenblat (whose talents are unworthy of this novel) I thoroughly disliked this audiobook. Every character was unlikeable -- not just because they were all repellent (I rather like a good scoundrel myself) but because they were two dimensional and inconsistent. The main character, Jo, purports to be a socialite with perfect social graces and class. When her husband leaves all his fortune to his mistress she is hellbent on revenge -- but carries out here schemes in a tonya harding-esque way. There could be an opportunity for self-discovery, growth, even redemption under adversity -- but she carries on in the single minded classless way throughout the whole novel. No character is given motivation for their cookie-cutter characters, and at the end of the novel, the reader still doesn't care about any of them.

Barbara Rosenblat can make any listening experience wonderful. I'm a fan of hers and admit that I enjoyed this book because she read it! Light and fun listening experience. Although I admit that I don't know if I would have liked reading the book.

I loved this author's story. The narrator kicked it up even a higher notch. It was funny and entertaining. This is a book for pure reading pleasure. I even bought a copy for a friend to take on a long train ride. Knew it would make the miles fly by. It was a true "Dark Comedy". The sequal was fab too.

I have only gotten though the first 2 hours and yet I want to strangle one of the charaters, now thats a book! I usually save my books for commuter but today, on my day off, I am looking to find somewhere to drive just so i can listen to it in the car! Yeah get this one for sure. Im not finshed yet and still am totally HOOKED!!!!!

Fabulous. Got hooked from the start and it only got better as I listened. It's one of those books you're sorry it ended and you continue to think about long after your done.

Skip this one and read the sequel One Dangerous Lady instead which is quite good. In Social Crimes, the constant whinning of Jo Slater in is tedious at best. You are frequently tempted to fast forward just to move past the self-pity. But that would be a good portion of the book! In the sequel, this story line is summarized in a few passages which is plenty!

I had read, and thoroughly enjoyed, One Dangerous Lady. So I was anxious to hear the beginning of Jo Slater's story and how she gained, lost and recovered, her fortune and position in society. I liked Jo better in the second book, there is a dark and ugly side to her in this book - but it feels real. Good characters, well written, a touch of humor and a bit of suspense. An enjoyable listen and worth your time.