Customer Reviews

The Hummingbird Wizard

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many years ago Annie married into the Szabo clan of gypsies and acquired a huge extended family. At her wedding her best friend Jerry met her new sister-in-law Capri and fell in love with her. They got married, had a child together and somewhere along the way, they lost their emotional connection and got a divorce. Jerry stayed connected to the Szabo clan and looked out for them while Annie tried to forget they existed after her husband died.

After a very long estrangement, Annie visits Jerry in San Francisco and lets herself into his home. When she wakes up, Capri tells her that Jerry is dead. Annie gets bullied back into the life of the Szabo family, protesting all the way while trying to find Jerry's murderer and conducting a romance with her former mother-in-law's younger son, Jozef, a man of great power. Just when they think they have discovered a suspect in Jerry's murder, that person is also killed and Annie must to do the unthinkable to protect her loved ones.

Meredith Blevins' debut novel is a whimsical, tantalizing and off beat amateur sleuth mystery that will remind readers of Alice Through the Looking Glass. Mina, the heroine's former mother-in-law, is a delightful secondary character, colorful and free-spirited character who is used as comic relief when the tension in the story line gets too high. Readers will fall in love with the Szabo family, a group of independent free spirits who march to their own drummers. THE HUMMINGBIRD WIZARD is one of the funniest and enjoyable first novels this reviewer has had the pleasure of reading.

Harriet Klausner

The book was tremendous fun. The author has a deft light touch, the characters are likeable even when they're rogues (or especially when?), her description of gypsy family loyalties has the ring of truth, as well as communicating the sense of an unassimiliated culture with its own lore, beliefs, mores. Her main character, Annie Szabo, her protagonist, was delightful as she reconciled with her dead husband's gypsy family, found new love with a gypsy shaman, and solved the murder of her old friend.

Annie Szabo is an Irish American woman who married into and widowed out of a nutty Gypsy family, and more than twenty years later the death of her occasional lover and longtime friend drags her reluctantly back. Annie is a vibrant character, not perfect, not idealistic, not self-righteous, but very happy with who she is. And although she protests strongly against all of her Gypsy mother-in-law Mina's zany plans for finding Jerry's killer, drying out his widow, and locating certain paperwork, Annie ends up along for the ride. The ride includes an off-the-wall Gypsy PI, Jerry's lush and luscious ex-wife, Mina's slighty less than law abiding ex-husband, and Mina's mysterious and sexy youngest son--also known as the Hummingbird Wizard. Blevins wove a beautiful tapestry of lore and history, and, though the plot is a mystery, the part that nabs the reader is the heart behind it. The Hummingbird Wizard is a twisting, turning, funny and heartrending tale about love of friends and family, and learning that if you lose yourself along the way, you can always go back and gather the pieces.

Annie Szabo is pissed when she goes to San Francisco to visit an old friend (and sometimes lover) only to have him fail to show up. When the police arrive and let her know they've found her body, she is more than pissed--because someone snuck in during the night and made love with her. If it wasn't Jerry, who was it?

Annie and Jerry are connected by marriage to the U.S. gypsy society and the murder appears related somehow. As Annie investigates, she discovers hidden wealth, plots by Jerry's partner, and secret gypsy magic that must might work. Certainly some of her ex-mother-in-law's fortunes come true.

Author Meredith Blevins introduces a number of fascinating characters--Annie herself, Jozef (the Hummingbird Wizard), sister-in-law Capri, and especially overweight actress-friend Cynthia and mother-in-law Mina. Annie's relationships with the women, in particular, rings true. Love and hate mingle tightly in Blevins's sympathetic portrayal.

Blevins makes the gypsy culture appear fascinating, giving the reader enough details to engross without overwhelming us with her research. The beach-side funeral service, complete with exploding Mercedes, and the picnic at Annie's home are memorable pictures.

THE HUMMINGBIRD WIZARD is a first novel and an exciting find. I recommend it highly.

The Hummingbird Wizard has it all -- a book with beautiful language, and a mystery with eccentric characters and heart. I never wanted this book to end--the characters are people I'd like to visit over and over. The end sneaks up on you with such dramatic flair it's a tug. Also wonderful to read a book with female characters who are alive and vibrant--juicy women who are fully mature people.

Waiting for number three is this series!

In the house where I grew up, Gypsy music was played everyday, and Gypsies' life and culture were considered the most mysterious and romantic. But I was told to lock up all doors of our dacha whenever traveling Gypsies broke camp by the nearest train station. Contradiction? Not in the least, and "The Hummingbird Wizard" shows why--with sparkling humor and characters whose problems are a blast to be submerged into. I loved the novel, the author's voice, and the way she portrayed this colorful and amazing ethnic group.

Many years ago Annie married into the Szabo clan of gypsies and acquired a huge extended family. At her wedding her best friend Jerry met her new sister-in-law Capri and fell in love with her. They got married, had a child together and somewhere along the way, they lost their emotional connection and got a divorce. Jerry stayed connected to the Szabo clan and looked out for them while Annie tried to forget they existed after her husband died.

After a very long estrangement, Annie visits Jerry in San Francisco and lets herself into his home. When she wakes up, Capri tells her that Jerry is dead. Annie gets bullied back into the life of the Szabo family, protesting all the way while trying to find Jerry's murderer and conducting a romance with her former mother-in-law's younger son, Jozef, a man of great power. Just when they think they have discovered a suspect in Jerry's murder, that person is also killed and Annie must to do the unthinkable to protect her loved ones.

Meredith Blevins' debut novel is a whimsical, tantalizing and off beat amateur sleuth mystery that will remind readers of Alice Through the Looking Glass. Mina, the heroine's former mother-in-law, is a delightful secondary character, colorful and free-spirited character who is used as comic relief when the tension in the story line gets too high. Readers will fall in love with the Szabo family, a group of independent free spirits who march to their own drummers. THE HUMMINGBIRD WIZARD is one of the funniest and enjoyable first novels this reviewer has had the pleasure of reading.

Harriet Klausner

together, add in a dash of William Linday Gresham and more than a soupcon of Poe, and you don't even begin to approximate the flavor of this wonderful book. You'd have to add a little Peter Beagle, a little Paul Gallico, and a little Tony Hillerman.

This book just resonates all over the place at wonderful harmonics, all of which are all better for the fact that the author probably didn't mean a one of them deliberately. This is just the way it is with a good writer with potential greatness lurking behind her back. There are only so many ways to do things in literature, so the trick is to find a new combination.

Meredith Blevins has, in fact, found one of those new combinations in this book. Buy it, read it, savor it like a Simenon. There's gonna be a lot more comin down the road from this writer - it's obvious she can't help it.

Earlier this morning I panned a novel, and realized that I read books I enjoy also. This is one of the good ones. I'm in favor of people, especially women, being able to earn a living by writing, and in doing so, their writing should give readers something in return. This book pays a return, so read it. It was fun, and it also had things to say that really ring true about life. I'm looking forward to the author's next book.

A pair of strong, feisty women take the lead in this mystery. The story is original and wild, filled with Gypsy lore, scams, two murders, and plenty of surprising turns. The characters, both men and women, are fully drawn, and it's easy to start imaging who should play them in a movie. The main character, Annie Sazbo, is a woman who knows herself and has earned the right to thumb her nose at rules. Her mother-in-law, fortuneteller Madame Mina, is one of the most alive characters I've encountered for many years. No wonder Library Journal chose The Hummingbird Wizard as one of the top five mysteries of the year! A must read, I can't wait for book two in the series.