No comments about SHADOWS.

5 comments about The Ice Maiden (Detective Series).

1. Up to this point, I loved reading and following Edna Buchanan's Strong Women Reporter Britt Montero. All I can say is that the horrible disheartening ending made me decide that I will never buy or pick up at the library another Edna Buchanan novel.
   
   Is it so hard to have happy endings especially in the same novel were 9/11 had an important part. I am thoroughly disappointed in Ms. Buchanan...



2. A burglar was booby-trapped too effectively and electrocution resulted. Mr. Gomez, a jewelry store owner, had had a terrible time with burglars. Gomez is charged with second degree murder.
   
   The reporter narrator of the book says she deals in shades of gray. The reporter, Britt Montero, runs into a detective on the cold case squad, Craig Burch, who believes the homicide victim burglar has a connection with one of his cases. She proposes a magazine piece on the cold case squad to her editor and he thinks it's a good idea.
   
   The victim-burglar was scarred in a previous incident. The burns may have been caused by potash, the alkaline material used in making soap. Having a can of lye under a bed or near a door is a form of protection. The following evening the Gomez store is torched. The head of the cold case squad tells Craig and the other officers not to reopen the case. It is claimed other matters will yield a greater chance of successful prosecution. The members of the squad decide to do some investigation off the record and they seek Britt's help.
   
   North Beach is still real but Britt fears the developers will change things. The cold case had two victims, one victim survived and lives in North Beach. She is an artist. When studying in Italy she became known as the ice maiden. In a cold case time works in favor of law enforcement officials, children grow up and spouses lose their fear. Nazarino, one of the police officers in the unit, is very interested in getting to know the ice maiden.
   
   Britt and others identify some of the likely suspects, including a preacher. Someone showing remorse is tagged for the police by Britt as a possible informant. The author is careful to place Britt's near romances in a post nine eleven context. Too, the feelings of the residents of Little Havana are described as very patriotic. A number of over age men sought to volunteer for service in the wars of retaliation. It turns out the ice maiden is uncomfortable with ordinary people who don't know brutal and ugly things can happen.
   
   The unraveling of the plot twists is very compelling. The alert reader is in for a number of surprises. It would be a shame not to read this book. The author is at the top of her form.



3. There is no denying that this is a dark book. But isn't reality dark for too many of us? If you are looking for a happy ending, with all plot lines tied up with a big cheery bow, this is not the book for you. If you want a bang-up shocking story with an ending that will not leave you for days, this is definantly the book you need to keep you interested.



4. I kind of knew where this latest Britt Montero novel was going, but I had to read it to see if I was right. And because I knew what would happen and was so disappointed that for once my vision of Britt's future was not what I wanted it to be, I give this book a 4-4.5 instead of a 5.
   
   This novel is filled with forboding about something deadful to come that will impact everyone in lives of Britt Montero . The overlying story itself revolves the death of a guy who may have been responsible or involved in an old rape/murder. Fourteen years ago, two young kids were abducted and left for dead. Of the two victims, one did not survive (Ricky), but Sonny, the girl did. She was raped and left for dead. As Britt begins her latest news article about the newly formed Cold Case Squad, she is plagued with issues concerning the reopening of the old murder case (reluctance of witnesses, intimidation, and several shady suspects). Sonny, the survivor, is now a reclusive artist who seems to not only be deaf in one ear, but has emotional scars, and does not seem to remember who raped her and left her for dead. As the story plays out, you see Britt's desire to find justice, while maintaining her relationships with co-workers, friends, and old/new lovers. Sometimes Buchanan's efforts to parallel the devastation occuring in New York with the lives of her characters, was hard to enjoy/. However, in the end, although there were things that I would change, I still enjoyed reading the book.



5. SPOILER...DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW THE END. I can't believe she killed off this character...the one chance for Britt to really be happy has finally happened. This was a disappointing part of the book for me. Why do writers have to do this? Nevertheless it was an enjoyable read. Dang...I hated the ending.

5 comments about You Only Die Twice.

1. This is my first Britt Montero Mystery by Edna Buchanan, and I'm hooked! The story involves a beautiful woman (naked at that) who washes onto a Miami beach, and for a while can't be identified. The police, and resourceful and beautiful reporter Britt Montero, know from the expensive jewelry, and finely tanned skin, and perfect nails this is no regular Jane Doe. Turns out she has already been reported murdered ten years ago, by her rich playboy husband who now sits on death row, and is two weeks away from the needle. Twists and turns in every chapter keep you turning the pages, and I couldn't help but be drawn in by Britt's first person narrative. I found myself finishing this book in two days, and staying awake late into the night to get to the final startling chapter! If you like fast reads, fun characters, and lots of twists this book is for you. I've already bought two more Britt Montero mysteries, and can't wait to read them!



2. I can't believe that I have been reading as often and as many books that I have and never ran across her books before. I just finished "You Only Die Twice" in one day's time. I had purchased "Act Of Betrayal" from a library closeout and I liked it enough to buy this book. Now, I am searching for any and all of her books. I realize that there are a lot of Britt Montero, the reporter and that I will now be out of sequence, but that will not deter me. I intend to find them all.



3. This book is a thrill ride -- a great mystery with some terrific plot twists. But, like the more recent ICE MAIDEN, it's also about more than murder. It starts with a murder victim who has a complicated relationship with her mother. Then there's the convicted killer whose relationship with HIS mother can only be described as tortured. Our heroine, Britt, finds that her mother, with whom she has a tense relationship at best, can offer insight into the case. There's another pivotal mother-child relationship that I won't go into because I don't want to spoil the plot twist. Read this book and you'll get more than a great mystery.



4. I definately enjoyed this novel by Edna Buchanan and can't wait to read another.
   
   The beginning of the novel opens with the discovery of an unidentified woman on the beach. As the story evolves, the woman is identified as Kaithlin Jordan, who was murdered supposedly by her husband 10 years ago. Surprisingly, Kaithlin's death will exonerate her husband RJ, who was now on Death Row for her murder. What ace reporter Britt Montero would like to find out is "Why" has Kaithlin returned years later...was it to save RJ (whose execution was only weeks away) or for some other reason? Regardless, Britt is on the trail and coming closer to the truth than investigators. Overall the story is fast paced and very entertaining. We follow the tale as we learn more about "where" Kaithlin has been for the past few years,"why" she left and "who & why" someone killed her. I don't think that you will be surprised who the killer, but it is interesting to see how Buchanan develops the plot and characters to the point that you do second guess yourself.
   
   The only two criticisms that I have about the story are simple: (1)I think that the "romance" elements in the story were weak, and (2) the one secret left intact should have been revealed. Issue #1..the romance...in the beginning of the story Britt appears to be in a relationship with a police officer, but by the end, she is in a semi-relationship with Fitzgerald, or is she. Because Buchanan does not give a lot of information about either of them, you simply don't care. And I guess that because it is not a romance novel but a suspense novel, she did not see a need to build or expound on it. My argument then would be to "leave it out". Issue #2...the secret..since the whole death and subsequent investigation was related to the secret..why not tell the person involved. I thought that that was a little "cheap" and seemed to chip at the integrity of the whole story, but I lived with it. Overall, with those criticisms aside, I still felt comfortable with giving it a 5 and plan to read another Buchanan novel soon.



5. This book has one of the worst endings I've ever read. It was my first Edna Buchanan book & after a few chapters I intended to read her other books. After reading the ending I won' be doing that! I finished this book with the impression that the author was either having a bad day when she was writing the ending or her editor insisted on the "surprise." The author does a great job develping the characters throughout the book and then has two of them, her current husband & her son, behave in a manner that is compledtely counter to the personalities she has created. I have given the book two stars because it was a great read until the final chapters.

5 comments about Cold Case Squad.

1. I enjoyed this book a lot, although I'm not sure why she stopped writing the Britt Montero series -- it seems her next book is also about the Cold Case Squad.
   
   The only problem I had with the book was the shifting points of view -- you'd be in Riley's POV, then in the next sentence you're in Stone's POV. Sometimes Burch is in the third person, sometimes he's in the first person. It made the story a bit hard to follow at times.
   
   Still an excellent read from one of the best.



2. But it does pick up some speed about 1/3 of the way in. It was kind of odd to see a few of the chapters written in the 1st person and the rest of the book written in the 3rd person. A good read overall, though.



3. First, I enjoyed the Cold Case Squad. But, it's a little choppy juggling back and forth between 2 major cases. Either one would have been a good story. Character development also seems to suffer from the demands of the 2 plots. Still, the book is good and the series has a lot of potential.



4. I'm a big Edna Buchanan fan, and have never understood why her Britt Montero books haven't reached the kind of audience that other equally good, but more successful authors have (namely Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich). The woman writes snappy, twisty, evocative crime novels that bring Miami to vibrant life and always keep me guessing. So I was looking forward to "Cold Case Squad," even with Britt Montero nowhere in sight. Unhappily, I have to say that this latest of Buchanan's endeavors is half-baked at best. The cases are certainly interesting enough, and there are some suprises, but halfway through the book, it seems as if Buchanan all but gives up on the narrative. The writing becomes choppy, with some scenes only lasting a small paragraph or two, with the result that the book starts to read like an outline for a screenplay instead of a novel. And stylistically the book is very odd, with half of the scenes involving Detective Burch told in his own voice, and the rest written in the third person. Buchanan may have had a reason for the device, but if so it's not readily apparent. If anything it suggests she didn't have a clear idea of how to tell her story. But, hey, it's always good to have an Edna Buchanan book on the bedside table, even if "Cold Case Squad" left me...well, cold.



5. Cold Case Squad is one of Buchanan's later novels. The "Queen of Crime" writes a suspense novel to feature a special homicide unit that breathes new life into old cases. The prose centers around a man and woman shot dead at a Miami strip club. A few hours later, an explosion in a garage next door to a child's birthday party has left a father of three burned to death. Naturally, at the time, the murder goes unsolved and the fire is chalked up to an accident. Twelve years later, the files are re-activated by detective Sargeant, Craig Burch, who's having marital problems of his own at the time, along with Detective Sam Stone, a guy with a mysterious past, and Detective Pete Nazario, who'd been air-lifted out of Cuba during "Operation Pedro Pan" in the 1960s. And, of course, Lieutenant, K.C. Riley, for whom one case will never grow old. This book is a page-turner that has a great plot with great characters. Don't miss it.

5 comments about Margin of Error.

1. If you know Miami this one has it all - beaches, the everglades, parties, a movie crew, gangs, drive-bys, sex and murder for hire. A quick read with characters you might have met. Britt makes a case for reporters who care about the victim, too bad she's fictional.



2. I was very disappointed in this book. I felt that certain scenes dragged which left me bored and turning pages without reading them. The chemistry between Lance and Britt could have been more explosive. There was something always exploding or catching fire in this book, too bad it wasn't them. And then, when a relationship between them is finally established, in the end they part and go their separate ways. I really felt cheated. This was my first taste of Edna Buchanan's work and if her other books are like this one, it'll be my last. Read it and decide for yourself.



3. Truly the author has tied up all the necessary components in this novel set in a Miami that is beautifully diagrammed. Britt, a crime reporter, has her back up most the time but slides into a more human role about halfway into the book. The story weaves through the setting, crimes and a movie in a starkly lovely way, meeting some pretty weird folks. A bit different, but a good tight story. I listened to the unabridged audio, and thought the reader was well suited to the Britt character and did an admirable job on voice changes as well.



4. I listen to audio books while doing housework. I found this one to be different and interesting. Which is hard to find when you read as much as I do. The ending was totally predictable, but it was still a fun, easy read. I'm glad they didn't end up together, it would have never worked and made the story more realistic that way. Go for MacDonald, Britt!!!



5. The dialogue was clumsy, the premise was extremely farfetched and I too found it disappointing.

5 comments about Suitable for Framing.

1. I found this book to be better written than most of the similiar books on the market. Her story line progressed well, the multiple plots tied together excently and the crime was believable. I admire Buchanan's style.



2. Edna Buchanan has captured the essence of Miami with her protagonist, reporter Brit Montero. This book was especially great fun. A brash young reporter tries to upstage Brit at the newspaper. She is quite successful. Brit is there with Lottie her friend and Kendall MacDonald. This is a great fun series by Edna Buchanan.



3. This book was fantastic - you did NOT know what to expect! It really got you into the storyline- I didn't want to put the book down - really great!



4. Constructed much like a police procedural, Suitable For Framing is the third outing for Britt Montero, ace crime reporter for the Miami Herald, oops, Miami News. As the book opens, Montero is pursuing the story of a trio of teenage car-jackers terrorizing the city by shooting drivers of late-model luxury cars gratuitously in the knee and dropping them by the side of the road. The cars then vanish.

   That night it becomes more personal when Montero herself witnesses a car-jacking that goes wrong - resulting in the killing of a baby and the maiming of its mother. Persistent as a hound on the scent, Montero tracks down one of the carjackers and discovers he's a salvageable homeless kid with a crack-addicted mother. But under Florida law, all those present at a crime resulting in murder are guilty of murder.

   Meanwhile Montero finds time to pause and help a rookie colleague - a would-be reporter stuck in the paper's library, go-getter Trish Tierney. With Montero's help Trish soon lands a general assignment job in the newsroom and quickly shows herself to be smart, grateful and a good cook to boot.

   And crime doesn't stop just because Montero's hot on a trail. Body parts are found in a downtown demolition site, a child disappears, a sinkhole swallows traffic. And Montero misses a major story - the biggest political scandal in years - scooped by Trish.

   Soon Trish is hogging more and more of Montero's limelight and the veteran reporter's suspicions sound like petty jealousy. As the story lines converge on a startling climax, Montero finds herself in danger of losing more than her job.

   Buchanan keeps up a breakneck pace, as Montero exploits police sources, goes along on chases, tracks leads into Miami's seamiest neighborhoods and delivers plenty of steamy Miami atmosphere. A top-notch thriller.




5. The beginning of this book was a bit of a disappointment. Britt befriends someone you know she shouldn't, and you just feel like shaking her. After all, Britt is a savvy gal, it's hard to believe she didn't sense what we instantly know. Once you get past that initial hiccup, though, this book really takes off. The subplots all tie together nicely and the plot suddenly but realistically goes off in a direction I never could have predicted. It's also nice to see old law-and-order Britt become a bit more sympathetic to the plight of the accused. This lends texture to her character.

No comments about Love Kills.