Customer Reviews

Blues in the Night

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Blues in the Night is the first of Rochelle Krich's books that I have read, and it's a great place to start. This is the first in her Molly Blume thriller series. Molly writes true crime but she soon finds that deadlines aren't the only things on her agenda. A few dead people add to her days, the first being a mysterious unidentified young woman who is hit by a hit and run driver in the middle of the night.

I enjoyed how I got to know Molly and her family and friends throughout the book. Molly consistently remains faithful to her Jewish background and the author remains faithful to hers by giving us a glossary at the back of the book explaining terminology used that non-Jewish readers may not be familiar with. Blues in the Night has all the components that I love in a mystery/thriller...hooked from the first few pages, a main character that I like from the beginning who is obviously a strong person and has the ability to solve problems on her own but isn't afraid to ask for help on occasion. Molly has a loving relationship with her family, and that provides humor and tenderness. There is romance in the air, too. This is a book that from the first moment of suspense kept me reading until I had finished the book and was sorry that I had. I had to say good-bye to Molly until I read the next in the series, which will be very soon. It's already on its way. Excellent book that I love!

This is a good mystery wrapped up in good writing. The heroine, a free-lance true crime writer, gets interested in the report of an accident because her attention is caught by one detail--the dead woman was in her nightgown. The side story, of a woman who is trying to live her life honestly as an Orthodox Jew in modern L.A., is equally compelling.

I bought this one with great anticipation, since I really like books which focus on aspects of Jewish life and the fact that the protagonist in this one was a Jewish crime writer appealed to me. Unfortunately, my expectations fell short of the results.

Don't get me wrong - this IS a competently written novel focusing on a young woman who seems to be the victiom of a hit and run accident but who may have actually been murdered. Competent, but not strongly compelling and pretty much forgettable. It didn't resonate with me much beyond the final page.

The plot: Molly Blume (yes, that IS her real name), a freelance crime writer, begins to grow increasingly distrubed when she starts to unearth more information about the circumstances surrounding the woman's death.

Molly's instincts tell her something isn't right about the situation and she isn't about to rest until she digs up the entire truth, down to the smallest detail, pushing a cop friend to stay involved and to remain suspicious even the case seems to stall or when things seem open and sut.

To add another twist to the plot, Molly's high school boyfriend has reappeared in her life, only now he's a rabbi, a man far removed from the wild, skirt-chasing guy she once knew. They begin to date and there is instant chemistry but also some ambivalence (mostly on Molly's part).

I was definitely entertained by this book but also left with a feeling that something was missing. Every time a detail came up about Molly's Judaism and the traditions of her religion (Shabbat rules, etc), I wish there'd been more, as her religion seemed only a tiny sideline to the rest of the story. The romance also played a very small part. While I understood that the murder mystery HAD to take center place, I would still have liked more detail about the other aspects of Molly's life. Details would have fleshed her out and made her come alive on the page.

There were also long, dry spells in the book, full of detail that wasn't particularly interesting. Those parts seemed to be mostly "filler" . They didsn't add to the plot or move the action along.

Finally, Molly's incessant nosiness and pushiness was most bothersome, as she could be so abrasive that she was lucky she didn't get a punch in the nose or a good round of curses from those she "interviewed." Tactful she was not. I just couldn't believe she could get people to open up while being relatively obnoxious, especially with her policeman friend, who often seemed beleagured by her constant hounding, even though they are supposed to be friends. True, her hounding gets him to stay on the case but Molly's techniques didn't appeal to me.

If you like mystery novels, you probably won't be dissappointed by this one, but it still seems lightweight compared to many other mysteries out there. This is a genre that has no shortage of talented writers and one could do better than to spend time reading Blues in the Night.

Ms. Krich is clearly a competent, talented writer who shows great promise. In her next attempt, I hope she can make her characters more believable (and compelling) and the plot a real page turner.

As far as mysteries go, it's not heart-stopping, but Krich is a very sensitive writer who often gets to the heart of the soul. Jews will kvell over the often hilarious lines from Molly and other Jewish denizens of LA. My favorite: Molly, undressed, gets a knock on the door from the young Rabbi Zack...he asks "can I come in?" Molly: "I'm in my underwear". Zack: "I guess that's a no."
I'd like to see more of Zack, Molly, and Bubbie G than court ramblings and descriptions of everyone's facial feature...unless, Molly's, of course :)