5 comments about The Corpse Had A Familiar Face.

1. First book. Mesmerizing. Tough, critical, witty, a read-to-the-end book (forget sleeping for about two days). A tough lady who won the respect of law enforcement and fellow novelist. Humorous, sad, caring,
   historical and factual with no sugar coating. Just the facts, Ma'am! Street smart. If you don't have a member of law enforcement in your family, you need to read this book to garner some idea of their lives.



2. I finished this book in 2 days. I found it different from most true crime books I read, but very interesting.



3. Edna is a great (and very funny) speaker. Her writing is just as good. If you want to learn exactly what a crime reporter does and learn it in a truly very amusing book, this is for you. I read this book before I heard her speak. I expected that the talk would be boring (i.e., couldn't be as good as the book), and was I wrong! She kept all of us laughing for about 45 minutes. If you ever get a chance to hear her speak, don't hesitate! If hearing her appears to be extremely unlikely, you are in luck because you can read her book! Seldom do I laugh out loud while reading a book, but I did while reading this one. If I ever hear the song "I shot the Sheriff" I know I will start laughing out loud again. This is light reading and you won't regret the time you spend!



4. I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK 4 1/2 STARS BECAUSE I WISH IT WOULD HAVE HAD SOME PICTURES. THE STORIES WERE REALLY DIFFERENT AND NOT SURE I WOULD LIKE TO LIVE IN MIAMI, FLORIDA.



5. Edna Buchanan has written a multi-faceted book about many of the crimes in Miami and the nearby area from her career as a crime reporter for local newspapers.
   
   She wrote about her childhood and the journey that led her to journalism.
   
   The author related how publicity usually aids in solving cases and apprehending the guilty,but not always. The "Pillowcase Rapist" was used as an example where that tactic failed.
   
   Victims are not always located. Like in the case of Christopher Wilder where two of his victims' bodies were never discovered.
   The disappearance of a 17 year old girl was an unsolved mystery. The poignant story of her mother's courageous search in dangerous locales and her timeless determination was another side to that story.
   
   Edna Buchanan documented the carnage of the race riots that resulted after the McDuffie police brutality-murder case.
   
   There are a number of true life,colorful characters in "The Face had a Familiar Face" that make this book entertaining and hard to put down.

5 comments about Pulse.

1. This was a good story, although I felt as if I'd read it or one similar to it previously. The main character, Frank was a likeable guy but I agree with another reviewer who said most of the characters were somewhat annoying. The widow, Rory, was just too pitiful to be believed. The story is a little plodding early on but finally takes off when the hunt for answers begins. An action packed ending saves this one from being ordinary.



2. I love a great mystery, and although this book has a decent storyline, the presentation leaves much to be desired. I found myself annoyed by entirely too much detail-from descriptions of characters to gratuitous sex scenes. This will be my first and LAST Edna Buchanan book. If you are a John Grisham fan, you will be irritated by her writing style.

   Now, if I can just figure out how to get her books off my recommendations page...




3. this book had an interesting concept. it was a bit long but the ending was definitely worth the wait. great paperback book to sit an veg out with on vacation. if you don't expect much and have the time, I recommend it. Also recommend the movie "Return to Me" which has a similiar concept.



4. Slow starting and kind of depressing. However, as the plot unfolds, Buchanan traps you into not wanting to put it down. Although a little bizarre and unbelievable, the reader does manage to get caught up in the plot and this well written novel adds stars as it progresses.



5. Super story...another good read by Edna Buchanan. I really enjoy her books on tape, the reader is excellent. This book was quite entertaining, but left me angry at the wife and elder daughter of the main character. They didn't trust or believe in the man they'd known for years and nearly destroyed him in his quest for truth regarding the person who died and gave his heart so Frank could receive a transplant and live. I would have given the book a five star rating had there been more of a finish with his wife and eldest daughter because of their betrayal. Obviously, he just forgives them and goes on with the marriage, but I'd have been a bit more circumspect with the relationship at the end. Nevertheless, the book was really enjoyable. The wife and eldest child will really get your dander up and make you wonder what the heck is wrong with them not to trust the man who'd given them such a wonderful life.

No comments about Miami, It's Murder.

5 comments about Contents Under Pressure.

1. I am an avid reader of Edna Buchanan's books. Edna really tells it like is about life and crime in Miami. "Contents Under Pressure" is by far, my favorite Buchanan novel. As her first novel in the Britt Montero series, I think that it's her best. What a page turner it was! I had to ration the book so that I could make it last. "Contents Under Pressure" is also my favorite because as a native Miamian, I know the all about the Arthur MacDuffie case, the real story that the fictional D. Wayne Hudsen tale was based upon. This book brought back some unsettling memories about what Miami was like during that time. I love Britt Montero and the stories she gets herself involved in. Keep the great books coming, Edna!



2. Edna Buchanan is an insightful and intelligent writer. The strength of her Britt character and the other women was nice to read. I get tired of the hapless naives that are usually swooning for attention and support in other novels. It's good to see a woman with confidence, intellect, and scruples measure up to the job at hand.



3. Edna does a fantastic job with the details and actions in this book. The main character is portrayed as a strong individual. This is refreshing because too often female characters always need a man to make them, or they are airheads, etc. Edna created a great storyline which will have you sitting on the edge of your seat until the end.



4. Britt Montero, a seasoned 30-something crime reporter, works the seamy side of Miami for a major daily. If only half her tales are true of criminals and street people targeting tourists, I wouldn't want to go there, even for a day on the beach. According to Britt and her friends, the producers of the TV series Miami Vice (not actually named) spent millions upgrading dilapidated neighborhoods to make their level of degradation believable for TV audiences. In this stew of crime, heat, poverty, and traffic congestion, Britt uncovers evidence of racially-based police brutality. Pursuing such a story not only would sour her crucial relationship with the police, it potentially could divide the city. It's a trendy story, briskly written to pull the reader along. I couldn't say, however, that it stands out from the crowd of books featuring feisty single women, whose lives are full of people under 40. I listened to the recorded book, ably read by Donada Peters.



5. This is the second Britt Montero novel that I read from the series and find them enjoyable. The characters are well portrayed and I find Britt and her photographer Lottie to be likable. The action is non stop and the plot is far from predictable.

5 comments about Miami, It's Murder.

1. This book is filled with nonstop action. As one story seems to be resolved, Britt finds herself sliding into another one. And it's handled credibly; it DOES seem like all part of a day's work for our very believable heroine. This is the second book I've read from the series, and I highly recommend it.



2. All Edna Buchanan fans eagerly wait for the return of her ace protagonist, Britt Montero, the Cuban-American classy, sassy reporter who won readers in "Contents Under Pressure".

   A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with the Miami Herald, Buchanan knows of what she writes, and she pens it with thrills, chills, and excitement aplenty. With "Miami, It's Murder," Britt is investigating a series of seemingly unrelated crimes. Now, add a dash of murder which may implicate a contender in the governor's race, athen toss in a soupcon of a maniac who assaults career women in downtown Miami.

   The suspense mounts as we whip around the curves of this roller coaster web of clues, mystery, and shenanigans.

   Buchanan writes of Miami and mayhem as no one else can. If you're a mystery fan, settle into an easy chair, pick up this sure fire page-turner, and be prepared for an "oh-my-gosh" conclusion.




3. I'm an avid mystery/suspense reader and a friend recommended Edna Buchanan. This was the first book that I read by her and I loved it. It was well written and interesting and perfect for a summer read.



4. Buchanan, former multiple-award-winning crime reporter for the Miami Herald, enjoying a second successful career as an author, has created a fiesty, indefatigable Miami crime reporter in her heroine, Britt Montero. Montero, a Cuban-American, makes her second appearance in this 1994 novel, which juggles three different crime plots in the steamy atmosphere of mid-summer Miami.
   
   Montero, whose lonely personal life is never going to get better as long as the job comes first, investigates a series of apt accidents, a serial rapist, and the 20-year old unsolved sex murder of a little girl. Plot lines come to the fore and recede into the background in a natural flow depending on Montero's attention.
   
   The child's murder haunts an old cop friend, now dying of heart disease, who believes the hot new candidate for governor is the perp. Montero needles the candidate and interviews the child's family in her spare time.
   
   Meanwhile, the rapist grows more violent and spooky with every success. Montero follows his trail from the police lab to her aunt's Santeria rituals, prying information from the police and piecing together articles which infuriate the rapist and make her a target.
   
   And accidents keep happening to people who couldn't deserve them more.
   
   Montero stays on top of the action, although she doesn't scoop the police completely, which is a nice touch. The newsroom, with its often conflicting interests and strained relationships with police, politicians and each other, crackles with energy.
   
   Buchanan's Miami sizzles and Montero takes us to parts of her city no tourist will ever see.



5. Buchanan obviously likes Miami, and it comes through in her writing. She worked as a reporter for many years, and that experience also comes across in this novel. The two main story lines are interesting and do not detract from one another. The pace is quick, the action is exciting, the dialogue is real and the plots twists kept my interest from beginning to end.

5 comments about The Ice Maiden (Detective Series).

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. 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. The character development in Ice Maiden didn't seem to be quite up to par in this book by Edna Buchanan. I never really could get a good sense of who the Sunny character was supposed to be and I never felt any empathy for her or the ordeal she went through. Same with her parents, the boy's parents, or the boy himself. The frequent references to 9/11 tended to date the book as well. Usually the Britt Montero books are ageless, now I will be forever classifying them as pre or post 9/11 and expecting dates, seasons, etc. to "match" up to something. The extra-marital affair that was exposed at the end came from no-where-land and added nothing to the storyline. Same with the house explosion and the death of a recurring character. Sorry, Edna, it just wasn't there for me with Ice Maiden.

5 comments about Garden of Evil (Britt Montero Mystery Ser).

1. In her latest book, Garden Of Evil, Edna Buchanan's alter ego, Miami News police reporter Britt Montero (Buchanan's alter ego) gets lucky and follows a couple of Miami's finest to the site of a particularly gruesome murder. A politician of questionable character has been found in a rent-a-room-by-the-hour motel. He's been shot in very personal places, with pictures of his wife and kids left on strategic parts on the body. A Viagra pill nestles in the dead man's chest hairs. Britt would've normally been surprised at the killer's MO, but not this time. For the past few days, a woman knick-named the Kiss Me Killer been on the loose picking up unsuspecting men, having sex with them and then killing them in a most brutal fashion. Her public spree begins with a sheriff in northern Florida and continues as she makes her way south into Dade County, Britt's territory. Because she breaks the story in her paper, Britt eventually ends up in a dialogue with the killer, who wants Britt to tell her side of the story. In order to get the exclusive story, Britt agrees to meet with the woman. However, the police are involved, so Britt has to wear a wire. Of course, the killer is smart enough to outwit them all, and Britt ends up as her prisoner and the killing continues. The author lost me a bit when she brought an innocent child into the fray. Maybe she wanted the reader to know just how sick and twisted the killer was, but, to me it was a bit over the top. And I didn't really understand one of the subplots involving a former Orange Bowl Queen, but it didn't detract from the main story line. Although the ending was a bit unsatisfying, maybe the author was laying the groundwork for a sequel. I disagree with Britt's conclusion about there being "evil" gene that caused the killer to act out her fantasies. Maybe it was the sex at six years old that turned her...or her mother's past.... or the fact that she grew up unloved and unwanted...or maybe she saw what her mother did to those men...or maybe it was the taunt of the kids at school that first gave her the lust for blood. I didn't have sympathy for the killer, but I could certainly understand how she might be wired differently from the rest of the world. I read the book in one sitting, and although I have serious doubt about Britt's reluctance to free herself from the hostage situation, I liked the story and look forward to reading more about her life as a reporter in a city that certainly contains a lot of dark and humid secrets yet to be told. What a joke of a book....I don't know if you publish PANS, but I thought I'd send it along anyway... Terry H. Mathews Reviewer



2. The small stories at the beginning of this book were the best part. In the main story line, the killer's character was well developed and believable but Britt as a hostage just did not ring true. Although Britt admits, at the end of the book, that her actions were foolish and irresponsible, it left me wondering how such a smart and savvy woman wouldn't have figured this out in the beginning. The ending came as no big surprise. This was a fairly interesting character study, but as a mystery it was sadly lacking



3. Edna Buchanan is a writer with a wonderful conversational style. Five minutes into reading her gripping non-fiction or her Britt Montero books and I feel like I'm back with an old friend. Buchanan doesn't disappoint in Garden of Evil. We are quickly caught up in Britt's hectic business life and almost non-existent personal life. We find her at a low point in her career as she is assigned tedious and demeaning stories and has to fight again to show her bosses what a great reporter she is.

   This time she is on the trail of the Kiss Me Killer - a woman who murders sexually predatory men. Things begin to click and Britt is able to connect with the killer. After a disasterous meeting Britt is kidnapped by the killer and unfortunately this is when the books begins to fall badly.

   The life seems to go out of the book as Britt becomes a passive captive watching the killer, Keppie, committ mayhem. Maybe there is an inherent problem in having the protagonist of a mystery series be quite so helpless. The same problem seemed to hurt L is for Lawless, Sue Grafton's only Kinsey Milhone misfire. There is also a hideous scene where Britt is aware that Keppie is going to murder a harmless man while Britt takes care of his very young child. Realistically there is probably nothing more that Britt can do but the scene is very creepy and the moral implications of Britt allowing the man to die without putting up more of a fight are never explored. The novel even ends passively with Britt having little to do with the capture of Keppie but again, uncomfortably, having some complicity in the death of another, far less innocent man.

   Any book by Edna Buchanan is worth reading. But if you have never read one of her books before, I suggest that you start with an earlier Britt Montero book and come to this one later after you are already addicted to Buchanan's imminently readable prose.




4. Edna Buchanan's prose style catches me up and sweeps me along, every time. It's descriptive, accurate, tense. And usually, Buchanan's plots and characters catch me up as well.

   But not this time. Keppie, the serial murderess, is so wierd and wired that she is only an oddity, evoking no empathy from the reader. Her victims gradually lose individuality and become one senseless victim after another. And Britt Montero, erstwhile girl journalist, ends up being stupid and self-indulgent: she does anything for the story, including ignoring those around her who desperately need her help.

   So much for the characters. It's also true that there is no mystery. Keppie is a mass murderer. Britt is a girl reporter in a dangerous situation. Joey is a small boy who exists merely to arouse our sympathy, and then disappears. The cops are after everybody. They catch Keppie, free Britt, and send Joey home.

   But for the masterful prose style of Edna Buchanan, this novel deserves a miss.




5. First there's Britt, our heroine. A self-actualized reporter enjoying her career and her on again/off again affair with a cop. Then there's Althea, the discarded trophy wife whose claims of being in peril are dismissed by everyone, including her family, as a pathetic plea for attention. Then there's Keppie, the sexpot serial killer (perhaps based on Aileen Wornoss -- sp?). What a thrill ride! As a fiction reader, I would have preferred it if Buchanan had tied up the loose ends a bit better -- was Britt ever investigated for the role as Keppie's accomplice, whatever happened to young Joey, does Keppie ever meet what seems to be her ultimate fate? But maybe the author handled it this way because this is how life is ... we don't always get the answers we want when we want them.

No comments about Cold Case Squad.

No comments about Mysteries by Female Authors: Margin of Error / Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer / The Cereal Murders.

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.