ISBN: 0-385-33659-4 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com
Mixing Southern High Society and racial tension, the mystery contains light humor, tense confrontations and romantic entaglements worthy of a sitcom.
Reviewed by David on September 19, 2004
Genre: Mystery (Humor, Romance, American South, Private Investigator)
Synopsis: Sarah Booth Delaney is a thirty-something scion of a prominent Mississippi family. Having stumbled in investigation of crimes, she has made it her source of income.
Scott Hampton, a popular white Blues guitarist is sitting in jail, being accused of murdering his partner and mentor, the black legend Ivory Keys. Ivory's widow is convinced Scott's not guilty, and hires Sarah Booth to prove it. The problem is Scott is not interested in cooperation, and in his youth he belonged to a white supremacy group.
Sarah's assignment puts her in the middle of a racial battleground, and there are too many suspiciously-acting characters confusing the investigation. As usual, Sarah Booth's romantic—or perhaps lustful—nature is not helping clarify the matters.
Full Review: A combination of dangerous motives and humorous romance make for a generally appealing combination here. Sarah Booth is an interesting, flawed but decent and intelligent characte, as are many of her friends. There are plenty of unlikable and colorful characters as well, making for plenty of amusing or frightening dialogue.
The novel does not delve deeply into the painful racial history, but the overall combination provides for a readable if light exploration of human flaws along with plenty of laughs.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6; Originality: 6;
Copyright date 2003, Bantam Dell (Delacorte Press), April 2003, Cloth, 335 pages
ISBN: 0-385-33659-4 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com