Customer Reviews

House of Blues

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

 

 

I am not yet to the end of this book and I have already ordered two more books by Julie Smith. Her writing is excellent. I am at the edge of my seat and I can't wait to see how this turns out. I love a great murder mystery and Skip Langdon is a great character. Keep up the excellent work.

... always make for the best mysteries. None of the characters are dull, Skip, the Hebert family and the always irrepressible Jimmie Dee keep you turning the pages. While the ending may not be a surprise to some readers, you'll have fun getting there. As an added bonus, Julie Smith's passages about New Orleans make you want to hop on the next fight.

I love Julie Smith books because of the great New Orleans feeling they give. The Skip Langdon books are my favorite.

I have read most of Julie Smith's Skip Langdon novels, and enjoyed some of them. Her later ones are starting to bother me. There are way too many subplots going on, at the middle of this book I had forgotten all about the main thread of the story until the author suddenly brought it up again. She also uses multiple points of view, which works in some books, usually long epic stories, but in a short mystery it is jarring and distracting. I see some reviewers of 82 Desire questioned whether she was also doing racial stereotyping or at least not portraying black characters realistically. To be honest, I wondered about that also, both in that book and House of Blues. I am white and have only had two brief visits to New Orleans, one in 1969 and one in 1995, so I don't have personal experience to draw on. However, it seems to me that if anyone is going to write about something they dont know, or that they themselves are not, they should at least run it by people who do know to make sure the story has some credibility. Based solely on my reading, I also felt many of her black characters appeared stereotyped and two-dimensional. She seems to be trying to draw an all-inclusive portrait of the city and its population, but it would be good to know that readers were getting an accurate picture.

I have read many of Julie Smith's books and this has got to be her best work! The story is engaging, the characters are rich, the whole book is a treat! If you're not sure whether to try Julie Smith, start with this one. Some of her later Skip Langdon novels get a little far out there, but this one is a gem.

I have never been a mystery reader, non fiction psychology, Victorian literature or fluffy chick flick stuff for escape. But when I became interested in New Orleans, i thought I would find out about the city through a novel. What better way to find out about a city but through a writer who lives there and places her main character as a female detective there.
Well, tonight I will have to read the last ten pages and I will be sorry. You know a book is good when you are sad to let it go. The characters are very colorful and very interesting. I like how the writer delves into the characters and their motivations. They seem real as can be. Their heartaches, misgivings, weaknesses, the writer does a thorough job.
Some might find it a little dry at times, it's not a sit on edge of your seat action non stop.. but the colorful characters make up for it..
I recommend the book and have another of her novels waiting at the bedside to pick up after I"m done here. I hope she continues the series.