Cold Flat Junction [Import] [Hardcover]

Martha Grimes (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747272026
• ISBN-13: 978-0747272021
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,281,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martha Grimes is the bestselling author of twenty-one Richard Jury novels, as well as the novels Dakota and Foul Matter, among others. Her previous two Jury books, The Old Wine Shades and Dust, both appeared on the New York Times bestseller list.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely five stars, October 24, 2002

By 

Martha E. Nelson (Watertown, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Flat Junction (Audio Cassette)

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!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a gem of a book, March 30, 2002

By 

Miss Ivonne (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Flat Junction (Emma Graham Mysteries) (Paperback)

"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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love Emma even more in this second novel..., December 30, 2003

By 

cheesygiraffe "cheesygiraffe" (Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Flat Junction (Emma Graham Mysteries) (Paperback)

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.