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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Skibbins raises the bar with this new Warren Ritter mystery, August 19, 2008
This review is from: The Hanged Man: A Tarot Card Mystery (Tarot Card Mysteries) (Hardcover)
If you're someone who reads to experience life through well-developed characters, to better understand the human condition, then David Skibbin's Tarot Card Mystery series is for you. If you're someone who reads to be titillated by cackling serial killers or being exposed to the dregs of life, well, you might want to look elsewhere for your reading material. If you're after a mystery puzzle novel, look elsewhere as well. Skibbins writes characters, full-blooded, mixed up characters that leap off the page and it's the mystery plots that are along for the ride, though interesting in their own right. In the fourth, and latest book for instance, the plot pivots on the arrest of Therese, a dominatrix, for the murder of one of her clients. This suggests a lot of sex, bizarre sex, and a lot of low-life descriptions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, Therese once helped friend of Sally McLaughlin, a paraplegic computer genius, out of a bad situation and Sally is determined to return the favor. She gets her lover, Warren Ritter and Warren's daughter Heather to help her find the killer by having all three of them go undercover. Warren (chief protagonist of the series), who is a bipolar guy with significant dependence/independence issues, is tasked with infiltrating the world of dominance/submission. `Skibbins uses his skills as a psychotherapist to explain these relationships by having Warren deal with them both internally and externally, while providing interesting and informative, but not graphic descriptions of this unconventional world. And so it is with all of the Tarot Card Mysteries. They are more about the trials and troubles of Sally, Warren and the supporting cast of characters than about the mysteries themselves in much the same way as Robert Parker's "Spenser" series is about Spenser and Hawk than about a particular mystery plot. I recommend reading Eight of Swords, High Priestess, The Star and Hanged Man in the order in which they were written, not because you must; each represents a well-told traditional mystery. Rather, I recommend it because Skibbins write characters that are more fascinating than simply what they are doing and like all fascinating characters, you want to know where they've been and Skibbins paints characters from the inside out and they're simply delightful.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reviewing: "The Hanged Man" by David Skibbins, October 17, 2008
This review is from: The Hanged Man: A Tarot Card Mystery (Tarot Card Mysteries) (Hardcover)
The bipolar tarot card reader Warren Ritter returns in another installment of this enjoyable series. Warren is trying to change himself and settle down and yet longs for his old life back. A life where he thought he had things under control. Having control of one's own life is an illusion for many if not all as Warren is told early on in this novel. There are those who seek control or to surrender control in their sexual lives. They become part of the BDSM lifestyle and incorporate the idea of control into their sexual lives. It is a lifestyle far removed from his outdoor tarot reading at the corner of Telegraph and Haste in Berkeley, California and something Warren knows absolutely nothing about. That changes when his lover and computer expert, Sally McLaughlin, asks for his help. A paraplegic, Sally never asks for help. This time she does because her friend Therese has been arrested for murder. Therese is a professional dominatrix and a client of her has died. The evidence implicates Therese. Sally feels that she owes Theresa in so many ways. Once Vera, Therese's personal live in submissive, tells all to Sally there isn't anyone or anything that is going to stop Sally from proving Therese innocent. Warren has been involved in three murder cases recently and twice has been the subject of police manhunts because of those murder cases. His initial reaction is to say no and his reaction is certainly understandable. Still, as readers expect, he eventually comes around and offers his help. To do so, he must immerse himself in the lifestyle of BDSM and must receive a crash course in the same from Vera. Not to be left out, Heather, jumps in with both feet and business attire to work undercover on the case. Sally, Heather and Warren bumble and stumble their way through the undercover assignments with Warren finding out far more about himself than anything else. Told through the shifting pov of all three characters, the novel chronicles an alternative lifestyle not familiar to many readers and a hunt for a killer. This forth installment of the series tackles a subject with dignity and class that could be controversial for some readers. Various aspects of the life style are discussed in depth and with respect. This is not a book designed to titillate or arouse and the story elements are not gratuitous. Instead, much like secondary characters, this area is explored and explained but never allowed to take over the story. The BDSM angle is just another point of investigation to work the case and is treated as such in a mature fashion. So too is the main character of Warren Ritter who continues to evolve and change as he attempts to normalize an often chaotic life. Whether he is controlling his daily meds to treat his disease, his emotional reactions to the undercover work, or his control of his natural fleeing response to stress, the character is striving hard to become one again with a world that he tried to distance himself from for so many years. The result is another good novel in the series. These are not run of the mill characters and this certainly has not been a run of the mill series. In this day of cookie cutter books put out by publishers who often moan that there isn't anything different and then do nothing to encourage diversity in reading material, it is a good thing to read another novel in a series that has been good and different from the beginning. Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2008
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Finally Readable, November 29, 2011
Okay, here I go with another fish-gutting review. The problem with a series is that you almost HAVE to read the first ones to know who everyone is. Unfortunately, the first two books in this series were almost unbearable, plotting and stylewise. Where was the editor Skibbins always gives so much credit to?? Pivotal scenes that should have been a dramatic turning point in the plot were given short shrift (Warren's sister spotting him after believing him dead for 30 years), while melodrama went on for pages. Despite the problems, I read the first three books because: first books are often a little bumpy, Warren and his friends were fascinating characters,and I kept hoping the rest of the series would improve with practice. This latest book shows great improvement in the writer's voice and style, not to mention a real plot. He handled a delicate subject perfectly, without getting cute or coy or screwing up the pacing of the plot. Unlike the very first book, I didn't cringe through it, I read it. As most reviewers mention, the strength of Skibbins' books lies in the characters, not the mysteries. Warren tended to be very self-absorbed and wimpy; now he's finally funny. He's a lousy P.I., which can get on your nerves because his solution to confrontation is to run, even from small women, but finally proved in this book he can be tough when necessary. He's also open-minded about other lifestyles, but I wish he would grow up enough to stop using the term "pig." The only people I know who still do that are young wannabee-miltants or wannabee-bikers. Quite frankly, regardless of your politics, it gets old REAL quick. Otherwise, I hope Skibbins will produce another book in this Tarot series, as they do seem to get better and better. A word of advice to Skibbins: drop the chatty disclaimer at the end of your books where you tell the reader what isn't authentic. Readers want to suspend belief and step into the world you created during the length of the book--don't ruin it by sticking a pin in the balloon.
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