Customer Reviews

Cold Flat Junction (LARGE PRINT EDN)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a wonderful book and audio-book! This is an extraordinary coming-of-age novel, with characters that you really care about and a haunting, ambiguous story. Bernadette Dunn is a wonderful narrator for this story as well. I bought a copy of the book after listening to it on tape first, and her voice echoes through my reading.

Emma Graham is a wonderful, rare, twelve year old narrator, perched right on the verge of adulthood. Her imaginative child self and her growing intuition about the interesting adults in her life sometimes work together here and sometimes battle each other in a fascinating mix.

This is also a beautifully lyrical novel that takes place in a world that seems quite timeless. We are in a recognizable world but not necessarily a specific time.

Definitely worth it! It's a gem!

"Cold Flat Junction" is the conclusion of the mystery/coming-of-age tale begun in Martha Grimes' magnificent "Hotel Paradise." (Be sure to read "Hotel Paradise" first!)

It's set in an indeterminate time (there's a mention of nouvelle cuisine and the United Nations on the one hand, yet the novel is riddled with train travel, small-town drugstores with soda fountains, a McCrory's, records and horsehair sofas)in an indeterminate place (somewhere on the Eastern Seaboard north of Maryland). You get the sense that both books are a fable of sorts.

Grimes' sequel (a continuation really) surpasses the first novel in recounting the cleverness and tenacity of its 12-year-old heroine. Every character is true-to-life from the sympathetic sheriff with the philandering wife to Maude, the good-hearted waitress at the Rainbow Cafe, to the speech-addled Wood brothers to the nasty and domineering 16-year-old Reejane, Emma's nemesis. The ending gives me hope that Ms. Grimes will continue the saga with yet another book about Emma Graham.

First thing you need to do is throw out any ideas of this being like a Jury novel. Then get Hotel Paradise so you can read it and understand what is going on in this book.
Emma is simply a wonderful character and she jumps out of the book and comes to life. It's almost hard to imagine she is 12. The mystery still isn't quite over I wonder if Martha Grimes will tell us more in another installment.

If you're looking for another Richard Jury mystery, this isn't it. Period. However, that said, this is Martha Grimes writing as Martha Grimes, and an excellent job she does, too. (There's no compelling reason all her books have to be about Jury & the Long Pid Gang--much as we wish they were!)

In "Cold Flat Junction," Grimes returns to the scene, as it were, from an earlier book (which did involve Jury) called "Hotel Paradise." In an interview in October, 1999, Grimes explained that she was returning to that scene, not that she was tired of Jury, but that she felt that this story needed to be told, as well. Here, we find young Emma Graham, 12 years old (and most curious!), and a sleuth in her own "write." The setting is small town America (Grimes is, surprisingly, American) and picks up some three weeks after "Hotel Paradise" ends. Emma, precocious that she is, sets out to investigate not one, but three family murders. Sound like too much? Surprisingly not. Grimes, truly, is in good from here (yes, yes, get on with it: it's NOT Richard Jury!) and with the precision of a talented, if not competent, surgeon, she makes "Cold Flat Junction" a worthy read.

Grimes' style is fresh, filled with good literary allusions and at times a sharp wit. While the book, granted, is not her masterpiece (maybe "Jerusalem Inn"? Yes--it's Jury!), Grimes holds her own--and she commands a large literary field--with this one. Read it with an open mind.

Besides, she also stated that Richard will be back! (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Martha Grimes boggles my mind. She's written a lot of books I admired, a few that seemed lacking, and at least one that struck me as a total disaster (see "Bite the Moon"), but here she dispels all fears that her skills as a writer have atrophied.

There is scarcely a paragraph in this book that doesn't contain a gem of humor, poignancy, or simply character observation worth savoring. It's especially interesting that the theme is similar to the one in the much maligned effort mentioned above - a lonely and resourceful kid tackling some very adult problems. But here there's something very genuine about the emotions. The characters are wonderfully realized and their interaction is often hilarious. It's a coming-of-age story as well as a mystery, evocative and lyrical and clearly the work of a master.

Martha Grimes is a master, and this second book in her Emma Graham story proves that. I really do enjoy her Richard Jury series, but these two books are wonderful in their own right. If you decide to embark on the journey, you should read Hotel Paradise first since a lot is not explained in this book. This is a wonderful coming of age tale starring a very curious and intelligent 12 year old girl. And before you think "Oh children's story", it's not anything at all like that. There is much to learn about human nature in these two books, and Emma's friends and acquaintenaces are absolutely wonderful. And Ms. Grimes' sense of place is so realistic that you are right there with Emma in this pokey little New England town. The Rainbow Diner, BrokeDown house, Slaw's Garage, and Windy Run Diner seem as real as any places that are in your own life. And to steal a sentence from Emma "My life had become crowded with people" - can be what you are thinking when you read this story. Lovely book.

For Fans of Martha Grimes Inspector Jury, and Melrose Plant-This isnt a part of that series.
But don't miss it. It is definitely preferable to read Hotel Paradise first, this is a sequel, and assumes knowledge from the prior book. You could read it alone, but I think it would become frustrating. The best is to read them together.
***This is not a classic who-dun-it*****
In fact, we're barely sure of the details of the crime itself, or the long ago events that caused it. This is the story of a (lonely-though I doubt she'd describe herself that way)-12 year old girl's mission to decipher the meaning of a recent crime, and to discover its connection to crimes or sins commited long ago. It builds on the mystery she (mostly) deciphered in "Hotel Paradise".
This book is wonderful. Not only are the old and new mysteries hauntingly engaging, but Emma's journey to decipher them made me laugh and cry at how well it describes what it's like to be 12. Not yet accepted as an adult, but old enough to have the persistence and ingenuity to get help from the adults who can help her investigate, while pretending to be nonchalantly wandering, just like a child. Emma made me remember what it was like to almost believe, that if you didn't stare at someone, they wouldn't notice you. She is precocious, but very realistic and likeable. Sheriff Sam DeGheyn,even seen through her critical eyes, is obviously wonderfully kind, caring and intelligent man.
she finds help from unlikely allies, finally coming to a resolution, that is wonderful, solving unanswered questions from "Hotel Paradise" as well.
Again: don't expect a "Jury and Plant" story-
but you'll get something rare and precious.

I have a love/not quite hate-more like an ambivlent(sic) feeling about both this book and Hotel Paradise. First of all,I love the Emma character. What a great kid,she's smart,funny,and VERY imaginative. Like pretending she's on vacation in Florida along with her mom,the mom's business partner and annoying teen-age daughter. Great stuff and handled in a non-cutesy way. Also,how the sheriff & etc in town treat her wtih respect and don't talk down to her. Ms.Grimes ability to get into a 12 year old's mind is terrific. Ok,the bad part,the main mystery she's trying to solve just sits there like a lump of cold mashed potatos(yes,the food descriptions are yummmy as well)I'm referring to The Queen Family one. I wished she could've just focused on uncovering Mary-Evelyn's drowning instead. I got confused with the two overlapping mysteries. Ok,I'm not a big mystery reader so maybe it's just me. Read it for it's young heroine and the sharp writing if mysteries aren't your "thing" either.

Martha Grimes gets right there in this one with a twelve-year-old heroine Emma Graham who understands her life's limitations and expansions. The wry humor wipes out the pity you might feel for a fatherless girl, stuck waitressing at the family's seen-far-better-days hotel while her mother takes a vacation without including her or even explaining why she's left behind. The mystery left over from HOTEL PARADISE deepens and winds around here and there through some interesting characters, many of whom we'll grow to like because they're treating Emma with some respect and kindness. This is a great book.

Twelve-year old Emma Graham recognizes that her small Maryland hometown is a boring COLD FLAT JUNCTION that travelers pass through with a thank you prayer that they do not live there. Besides toiling at the family hotel and attending school, Emma gains her only pleasure from investigating mysteries (see HOTEL PARADISE) especially since she is convinced that the kind sheriff can never correctly solve them.

Just after Ben Queen is released from prison after two decades of time for the murder of his wife Rose, he quickly falls under suspicion of killing their daughter. Emma knows Ben did not commit the current homicide and begins to believe he did not do the other either. She starts her own inquiries going back to the original event that occurred over forty years ago that she feels triggered the subsequent homicides.

The second Emma Graham amateur sleuth investigation is a charming tale that cleverly uses a who-done-it to provide a coming of age novel. The story line is fun, amusing, and entertaining as readers observe Emma playing her trade in an innocent air while doing her hotel chores. Detective purists may not enjoy Emma's introspective asides, but those who want a wider plot will find her internal comments quite enlightening. Martha Grimes shows the depth of her talent as she takes a different kind of hero than her Richard Jury books, but turns her into an appealing investigator.

Harriet Klausner