All Signs Point to Murder: A Willi Gallagher Mystery [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Kat Goldring (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 405 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786239050
• ISBN-13: 978-0786239054
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,741,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Author Needs A Better Editor, November 20, 2001

By 

mayfayre "mayfayre" (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: All Signs Point to Murder: First in the New Series! (Paperback)

This rating should actually be a 2-and-a-half star rating.

Initially, the characters in this book annoyed me. First of all, the author used names like "Carprithia Feather", "Ozzie Oxhandler" and "Hortense Horsenettle" for some of the secondary characters. That started my eyes rolling. Then the female lead, Willi Gallagher, who is supposed to be about 31 years old, started behaving in a fashion more suited to one of those nosy ladies of "a certain age" in British cozies. After that, characters are thrown at the reader left and right, without ever really giving them a firm place in the story.

Some of the characters were a little too idiosyncratic, but hopefully that will be toned down in future books. Also, Willi really used a lot of non-PC terms in regards to the male lead, Quannah Lassiter, a Native American. Political correctness is not a big bugaboo for me, but even I was surprised that she called him those names, considering that she is supposed to be an English teacher and should know the power of words. The cover states that this is the first in the Willi Gallagher Mysteries, so I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt. The story needed to be tightened up, though. There is one scene where Willi is looking at all the teacher-chaperones' personalized drinking cups; the only problem is, they're all on a students' tour to Galveston. Who brings along their own cup on a trip? Willi was bopping around from one scene to the other, really for no discernable reason. She was also just a little too spunky and foolhardy, which got to be annoying, considering the number of times she was physically harmed in the story. Anyone else hurt that much would be in bed for at least a week.

All in all, even after all that, it was an okay book that shows promise for the future sequels. It's a good book to while away some spare hours. The story did get better further into the book, and I did finish it. I'll probably read the next in the series, too, because I did like Willi and Quannah by the end.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An error-riddled, badly-written book, April 25, 2002

By 

Kiwi Carlisle (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Signs Point to Murder: First in the New Series! (Paperback)

This clunker is not worth your time. The dialogue is clumsy,
the plot transparent, and it's based on totally false premises.
Want an example? Here's an innocuous one--Goldring ascribes
paintings of Tolkien's characters to a "Depression-era" artist,
when the books were written during WWII! Goldring also has
the chutzpah to equate Wiccans with Satanists, and to totally
invent a cult which resembles the real religion in name only.
Even "flavor" materials about Native Americans which are
crucial to her "character development" are wrong and offensive.
"Indian buck", indeed! Stay away from this one.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rather a Mess, February 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: All Signs Point to Murder: First in the New Series! (Paperback)

The back cover copy lured me to buy this book on my lunch-hour. The characters start off well as does the mystery. But then it all goes to pot. The writing style -- while occasionally fresh -- frequently becomes incoherent. Willi Gallagher -- the sleuth/teacher -- is often too stupid to live but like the Energizer Bunny keeps on despite at least 4 unconsciousness-causing belts over the head. The murderer must be one of the most incompetent in all fiction. You know the book is in trouble when you are rooting for the murderer to finish off the slueth.