Customer Reviews

82 Desire

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Although I am a fan of Smith's work, I found this one to be a bit contrived and convoluted. There were too many sub-plots that demanded more attention than Smith could give in a light mystery novel. The character of the baroness is exciting, though and as always, New Orleans is romantic and seedy all at the same time. Read the earlier books in the Langdon series to get a better example of Smith's work.

After reading several heavy duty histories, I needed something light, fast and entertaining and Julie Smith's 82 Desire fit the bill. This was my first Skip Langdon mystery, and I was very charmed with this book. Yes, there are much better mysteries, but I love New Orleans and it was fun to read a story set in this unique city. The characters could have been developed a little better, but perhaps they are in earlier books from this series. I especially liked the Baroness Pontalba. This will definitely not be my last Julie Smith.

I read "Louisiana Hotshot" before I read "82 Desire" and I was pleasantly surprised to find the exotic poet/detective, Talba Wallis, introduced in this book. I can't agree with the other reviewers that this was not her best. I thought it was just as fast-paced, thought-provoking and intriguing as all of the other books in the Skip Langdon series. Like the other books, it kept me guessing until the end. If you love New Orleans and you love quirky, unique characters, then you'll ADORE this book. I promise you, you won't be disappointed!!!

In this installment in the series, there is a lot less Skip and a lot more other characters. Perhaps if Langdon dumped her somewhat uninteresting boyfriend or Smith tried to develop the two of them more, it would work better but the personal relationships were ho-hum in this one. The mystery shared some similarities to the type of material Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski usually handles; i.e. corporate crime. After Errol Jacomine as a villain, these criminals seemed more vanilla than villain. I liked the character of the Baroness and her subplot because I always enjoy the odd tidbits of New Orleans lore that Smith includes, but there were several other avenues that Smith started to go down characterwise that petered out. Write 5 books that the reader can sink her teeth into rather than 1 book that just lets her taste. I hope the next one is an improvement because I don't want to give up on Skip and Smith yet.

I have read all of Julie Smith's novels and will continue to do so because of the atmoshpere of New Orleans that they exude. But this offering in the series is weak. Smith shifts from one point of view to another but accomplishes nothing that could not be accomplished by a more straightforward narrative technique. Let's hope the next in the series will be a better read.

This was my first Skip Langdon novel. I love to visit New Orleans and found the many references to places I know and love to be intriguing. The connection between the amateur private dectective and the police was very loosely woven and kept my interest to put those pieces together. This book kept me guessing until the very last page. I am anxious to read some of Smith's earlier novels.

New Orleans Police officer Skip Langdon is elated with being assigned to Homicide, working one of the districts. Her current assignment appears to be a simple missing person's case. Russell Fortier, an oil executive and husband to a Councilwoman has vanished.

However, Skip is not alone on this investigation. Reporter Jane Storey smells a major story as how Russell could have skipped out of his marriage, been kidnapped, or even murdered. Talba Willis is also looking into the disappearance of Russell. The part-time private investigator's employer Gene Allred has been murdered and inadvertently Talba is the link between his death and Russell's disappearance as she once spied on the missing person for her deceased boss. All three women are on a collision course as they investigate a missing person and a connected murder.

The latest Skip Langdon mystery, 82 DESIRE, is a brilliant New Orleans who-done-it because of the three interesting female protagonists! , who successfully blend several different sub-genres into one desirable book. Skip represents the police-procedural; Jane exemplifies the amateur female sleuth; and Talba denotes the private investigator. All three bring different aspects of New Orleans to life, turning Julie Smith's newest mystery into a wonderful reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

I happened upon this novel, and I use the word very loosely, because as a writer myself I am always reading into different genres and authors. This novel is just bad. I have not read any other of Mrs Smith's novels, so I won't make a blanket analysis of her work in general, but this particular book leaves a lot to be desired. Characterization is dismal, trite and a little pompous. Some of the stereotypes were so blatent I wondered if the author was or was not racially biased. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, but it is impossible to ignore the constant and unrelenting dialogue that panders to the lowest common denominator. I struggled through this book, and to be fair, it did get better near the end. I would not recommend it however, and hope that this novel is not a baseline for Julie Smith's work.

My husband and I have bought all the Skip Langdon novels because we love to reminisce about New Orleans. However, with this book, Smith's negative stereotyping of African Americans has gone too far. Smith's African American characters are caricatures. Their deepest relationships are shallow, grossly sexual, and clownish. In this book, Smith informs the reader that macho Italian men do not date African American women. My husband is Italian, and I am an African American woman. I've known at least six African American women who agreed to become involved with at least one of the Italian men who pursued them. Too bad Smith does not stick to writing about Euro-American (white) emotional and criminal interactions, which she seems more willing to develop beyond stereotyping. It's a disappointing end to a promising series.