Customer Reviews

Death By Dressage

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The plot was excellant, as were the characters of this must-read book. I do many diffrent kinds of riding, mostly jumping and dressage. I really liked how Robin, the main character, wasn't a perfect rider or a perfect person, amd this made all the diffrence in my enjoyment of this book.

Nika is a great character, too, and at first you think she is a really huge brat, until you read along and begin to realize that Nika might not be what she seems.

So, this book takes you along a path of people, places, and a certain amount of danger. I loved it, and think both the horse lover or non-horse lover will enjoy it as much as I did.

With a title like "Death By Dressage," I had to read this book. It's not the best mystery I've ever read but the character is believably insane on the subject of horses and I do like the flippant narration. There's probably more horse lore than story in this one, but the horse lore is pretty much right-on and I really, really enjoyed the description of the clinic. The method of murder is ingenious, although I am a little confused about exactly when the narrator figured it all out -- it's pretty clear what happened quite a while before the narrator cries "Eureka!"

I like the ditzy, screwball heroine. I like her patient husband and her cranky mare, Plum. You can almost smell the horses, and the descriptions of their movement and bearing bring them right into focus.

Maybe not the best horse novel ever written, but excellent reading when you're soaking in a bubble bath after a ride on a cold day!

Should really be 0 stars.

I read Death By Dressage and will not be reading any of the other books in the series. My main grievance against the book is that it perpetuates bad stereotypes about equestrians, and that too many horse crazy people will read it just because it mentions a horse, which is a far greater disservice than being a bad novel (which it is). Good "horse" books are difficult to find, which is why I tend not to read many. I only read Death by Dressage because many of my literate "horsey" friends mentioned how irritating the novel was. As I am the most difficult to irritate, they felt I would be a good test case. I was irritated.

Simpering, insipid, vapid, and inane were going through my mind as I read the novel. I would like to have put a DNR (Do not resuscitate) order on the character of Robin Vaughn so that unsuspecting readers would not be subject to sequels. Alas, sequels followed, but I exercised my right as a reader to avoid them.

Ms. Banks bludgeons the reader with tedious lectures on horses and all things horsey, with an air of superiority, so one has to wonder what she likes about the sport. The final insult to the reader is the "deus ex machina" ending, as Ms. Banks wrote herself into a corner and couldn't get out.

Side pass right past these books.

I am a dressage rider and had heard good things about this book but was very disappointed. The plot was thin, the ending preposterous and the characters unbelievable. If you want a good equine mystery, read Dick Francis, Bill Shoemaker or Jody Jaffe. Or try John Francome or William Murray (not as good as the first three but better than Carolyn Banks).

I am an avid reader of Dick Francis and was looking for some new material. I hated this book. It was less than 200 pages and I could not even finish it. Did not care who killed whom half way through.

The title about sums up this work. Some of the dialogue is truly funny which is to be expected since the book features an extremely dense heroine. The horse information is well realized and the small equine world the writer creates is a fine place to visit. Although other writers can perhaps do both the writing and the mystery better, it is still a very entertaining read. Horse lovers will rejoice in the horse element and other readers will simply be amused at the sheer denseness of the heroine. It's rather fun to watch her blunder about and figure things out by accident.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was fun to read, and as a horse person, I could totally relate. Yes, it might stretch the imagination at the end, but who cares? When I read, I don't always want to read a serious mystery. Sometimes I want to be entertained, and if an unlikely ending adds to my pleasure, that's even better!

I bought this book from Amazon.com on a fluke. I thought it sounded like fun and the reviews people had turned in suppported that information. I wasn't dissappointed. I loved the book. It was light and entertaining. The author's conversational style was refreshing in a world of seriousness. I had a great time reading this book. And as a serious rider of dressage and show ring jumping, I loved the content and found it wonderfully accurate.

"Death by Dressage" is a fun read, especially for horse people. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it for anyone looking for a fast moving thriller with lots of dressage action and equestrian locations.

This is the first (only) book I've ever read which has dressage in it. So, as a dressage rider, I found it fun to read.

For non-horsey people, the author does a really good job of welcoming the reader into the sport, explaining things along the way.

I particularly liked the "villian" in this novel. It was a bit too easy to put a face to the character and to imagine more details than were written. :-)

I'll have to get Carolyn Banks other books now, as this one was quite good!