Customer Reviews

Details at Ten (Georgia Barnett Mysteries)

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

 

 

Details At Ten is Yolanda Joe's (aka Ardella Garland) debut entry into the mystery genre arena. The storyline evolves around Georgia Barnett an up and coming television news reporter in the Windy City. In pursuit of the perfect story and awesome rating points, Georgia pursues a harrowing story of gang violence and a missing child in inner-city Chicago. During the course of a week, Georgia finds herself in the midst of serious drama and a potential relationship with detective Doug Eckart.

Details At Ten displays Joe's crafty writing style, however, the storyline was slow in developing and not as fast-paced and action-packed as I prefer my mysteries. The story was told more from a reporter's angle and sometimes this aspect interfered with just plunging in and enjoying the storyline. All In All, the storyline was realistic and became more suspenseful toward the end. Fans of Yolanda Joe's who enjoyed This Just In will also probably enjoy Details At Ten as both books seem to focus on broadcast media.

TV reporter Georgia Barnett interviews a local eyewitness of a drive-by killing. The ho hum murder would be another statistic in Chicago,'s South Side gang war with same day media coverage and no follow-up except the witness, Butter, a little girl fond of bread and butter sandwiches, has been abducted.

A guilt racked Georgia realizes on-the-scene reporting has jeopardized the life of the precocious child. To make amends, Georgia begins her own inquiries. However, her efforts lead to clashes with Detective Doug Eckart and her superiors at the station. Eckart and her employers want her to drop the case that is no longer a ratings grabber. However, Georgia owes it to her self and especially Butter to rescue the little girl from the gang that kidnapped her.

DETAILS AT 10 is an interesting amateur sleuth-police procedural tale that highlights the helpless poverty of a depressed neighborhood. The story line works when Ardella Garland concentrates on the South Side and the problems haunting even the very young. The plot struggles when it focuses on the attraction between the journalist and the cop that tends to blur the more sererious and tragic aspects of a superior novel.

Harriet Klausner

Details at Ten is a fast paced read that introduces us to news reporter Georgia Barnett.

Georgia gets involved in the case of a missing child known as "Butter". This happens after Georgia interviews the little girl on live television after a drive by shooting.

Who took Butter? And Why? You will be taken on a ride into television newscasting, going behind the scenes and finding out just how far Georgia Barnett will go in an effort to get Butter back.

Continued success and blessings to Ardella Garland. Peace!!

I didn't so much read this book as listen to it on tape. In my daily commute of 1 1/2 hours to work and the same back again I really need something that won't have me pulling my hair out. This was it!

I had never heard of this author before and now I find out she not only has written another book under this psuedonym but also under Yolanda Joy too. Great! I think I've found a new voice.

The story is interesting and grabs you at the very beginning. There were a couple of times that I sat in the car just to hear what happened next. The mystery is believable and suspenseful, the love interest is hot (please God, I'd like to put my order in) and I love the main character's, Georgia's, sass. Nice to have a realistic mystery told from an African-American point of view.

I bought this book at Dollar Tree and it was the best book I ever purchased for a buck. (I'm sure the author didn't want to read about that, but I'm here to give her a plug anyway, so maybe more readers will buy this book and others brand new from Amazon.com...)

The plot of the book was decent -- a black, female news reporter involved in getting the 'story first' dives nose first into a drive-by shooting incident in a gang-ridden neighborhood with which she is too familiar, then afterwards steps in deeper when she finds out she is the cause of a kidnapping.

What really drove me deeper into this book was the colorful language (not smutty, but creative). The wording really drove home that this was a 'Sister' telling the story, not just another writer trying to come across as African American.

I believe that the author is successful in showing the reader the conflict the female reporter encounters everyday in her dog-eat-reporter world of media TV news, her emotions as she gets deeper into a story than she wanted to, and romance as she hooks up with a Police Detective who reads (between the lines) like a 'Chippendale Model.'

What was interesting to me was she seemed to fill out all the African-American characters to a very believeable extent, but the Caucasion characters that she described -- they seemed somewhat 'colorless' as characters per se in the book (no pun intended).

Ardella Garland has written other books: 'Falling Leaves of Ivy,' 'He Say, She Say,' 'Bebe's by Golly Wow,' and 'This Just In.' I'd be interested in reading some of her other books just to see what type of writing style she's brought from those books to this one.

I would recommend this book highly, mainly because of the interesting writing style that the author uses. Reminds me of a Black Ya-Ya Sister(hood) and maybe she'll be lucky enough to get a Movie of the Week made from this or even better, a series on TV. I would watch just because of the interesting character this reporter, Georgia, seems to be.

Ardella -- good luck at making it with more of your novels!

This was Yolanda Joe's attempt at the mystery genre under the name of Ardella Garland. I would say she did a good job at the transition. Looking back, Yolanda Joe's last book, THis Just In was a preview of what was to come. The City of Chicago is the setting. The city is in the midst of gang violence. After a drive by shooting, reporter Georgia Barnett is at the scene. She interviews a young child who can give a description of the shooter. A few days later, the child disappears. Georgia works with the police, media and family to get the child returned before it is too lateBeing a reporter is half of being at the right place at the right time, and having the right connections. For this story, Georgia has these opportunities. She also has the interest of the Det. Doug which helps her out a lot.Ms (Joe) Garland, did a good job in keeping the reader in suspense. The story had the same humor as her other works. The action was steady, exciting and at some parts funny. Very realistic.

Georgia Barnett is smart, sexy, and demonstrates that she will not take anything from anybody. The story moves quickly and will hold your interest unitl the very end. Excellant story!

Picked up this book a few days ago because I loved Yolanda Joe's other books, especially "This Just In" and "Bebe's By Golly". "Details at 10" is a quick read in part because it's not too long and in part because you don't want to stop reading it. It's a page-turner mystery with plenty of humor and fun characters. I also loved it because I'm a TV news junkie and "This Just In" and this book provide interesting behind-the-scenes looks at television newsrooms. I gave the book 4 stars rather than 5 because I just know that this writer will keep getting better and better.