Customer Reviews

Love Her Madly: A Novel

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

 

 

Poppy Rice, head of the newly re-vamped and highly efficient FBI Crime Lab and a woman with extraordinary influence over the FBI director himself, has a dilemma.

In just 10 days, alleged ax murderess Rona Leigh Glueck, is about to be the first woman put to death in Texas since the Civil War. Trouble is, Poppy doesn't think the tiny, malnourished, sick and zonked out 17 year-old could have wielded the ax that chopped up Melody Scott and James Munter into enough pieces to leave the blood dripping from the ceiling at the crime
scene.

Now 34, Rona Leigh has found Jesus and believes her punishment will finally set her free from her lurid past and the horrible events 17 years before. She confessed to the crime and is now at peace with her lord.

So, why upset the apple cart and go sticking your nose in a 17 year-old case that was solved almost as soon as it happened? Because Poppy Rice believes in giving everyone a fair shot and the FBI crime lab, under different directorship, had failed to answer a request from Rona Leigh's public defender who had the same questions about her ability to swing an ax with enough power to kill two people.

Because Poppy Rice cleaned up the prior mess of a lab and "...turned a sinking trawler -- infested with a lot of rats --. . . into one sleek nuclear-powered yacht," she has a lot of leeway with her Director and he reluctantly agrees to let her work as a "...full-time pseudo-district attorney" and reinvestigate cases she thinks might contain errors.

Poppy sets about to find out what really happened on the night Melody Scott and James Munter died. Rona Leigh was at the scene, no doubt about it, but could her boyfriend Lloyd Bailey have done the actual killing? No way to talk to Bailey because he died in prison. So, Poppy heads to Texas to talk face to face with Rona Leigh, but finds herself on a roller coaster ride.

She talks to the condemned woman, her former chaplain/now husband, the warden, some Texas Rangers and Melody Scott's slimeball husband, Gary. Poppy's substantial influence fails to deter the Governor on his mission to see that justice is served and that Rona Leigh dies by lethal injection at the duly appointed time.

Poppy is even allowed to watch the execution....only trouble with the procedure is that it fails to kill Rona Leigh, and through a series of carefully planned events, the prisoner escapes to parts unknown. Poppy's mission, now, is to find Rona Leigh and bring her to justice.

This is the first in a series of Poppy Rice novels. Poppy is smart, sexy, sassy, independent, tenacious as a pit bull and has all the power of the Federal Bureau of Investigation behind her.

The writing is crisp and the plot is well-developed. I love the author's use of dialogue. The book is not without its faults, however. There are some glaring errors in the book that any good editor/research assistant should have caught:

1. non-air-conditioned jury rooms haven't existed in Houston since the 1950's;

2. nor do our courthouses have filthy bathroom facilities for juries (inmate labor handles those chores);

3. at one point, Poppy opens a window and says that she needs real air, even if it is "dry and hot" ..... dry and hot are never spoken in the same sentence in Houston due to the constant humidity, which Poppy does refer to later on ....;

4. you can't make the trip from Houston to Huntsville in a half hour unless you're in a plane....even if you're coming from the very north of Houston, you have to navigate through The Woodlands and Conroe and all the never-ending construction;

5. the author must have never driven from Houston to Huntsville, because she says the buildings of Huntvsille "creeped over the horizon," when the only buildings you'd see from the interstate are fast food places, service stations, a Wal-Mart, some restaurants and a few hotels. Downtown Huntsville is about 2 miles off the interstate. She never mentions the fabulous statue of Sam Houston which presides over the entrance to Huntsville from the south (you can see the thing from miles away), so you know she didn't do that part of her research;

6. I lived in Huntsville and as far as I know, there are no billboards advertising the Museum of Texas Prisons and Old Sparky (the electric chair);

7. the AstroBar's jukebox is supposed to be playing a song by Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. I can promise you that a dive like scumbag Gary Scott's would have George Strait, George Jones, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks....they might even have Asleep at the Wheel, but they would not be playing the cutting edge, strictly "Austin" sound of Kinky Friedman. Maybe it was just the author's way to tip her hat to a fellow writer; and

8. Poppy gets a pair of custom made boots in ONE day from a merchant in Gatesville. My friends who wear custom mades say that even a powerful FBI agent like Poppy Rice would be very hard pressed to get a pair of boots like the author describes, in only one day, for any amount of money.

With that said, I still think this is a great book and look forward to more Poppy Rice adventures. Poppy is a likeable character with a lot of sass and vinegar....and the fire power to back up her mouth! I just hope the next time Poppy comes to Texas, the author and her editors will at least talk to someone and verify facts/descriptions/distances between points/weather conditions!

Enjoy!

"Love Her Madly" marks author Mary-Ann Tirone Smith's first foray into the adventures of protagonist Poppy (Penelope) Rice, FBI agent, super smart, independent, sassy, savvy, professional 21st century lady that she is. Says Ms. Smith, "The women in my books have lives that simply aren't ordinary. They don't take crap from anyone. This makes them interesting." Poppy has recently been promoted to the directorship of the FBI's new crime lab in Washington, DC, but she prefers to work in the field rather than the office or laboratory. Her boss, appreciative of her talents, accommodates her whenever possible.

When Poppy is up late one night, coping with her chronic insomnia by watching taped news broadcasts on her VCR, she hears Dan Rather interviewing Rona Leigh Glueck, a woman condemned to die by lethal injection in just ten days. Glueck will become the first woman executed by the State of Texas since the Civil War. She readily confesses to having participated, along with her boyfriend, in the brutal ax murder of two adults while high on drugs and who knows what else.

When Poppy notices that the condemned woman is a 90 pound weakling with small delicate wrists, she wonders how the woman could have heaved that ax so many times. Agent Bright receives permission from her boss to travel to Texas and become a temporary "full-time pseudo-district attorney." And thus begins our entertaining, fast-paced tale.

Apparently Rona Leigh was born again on death row and is ready to return to Jesus. At the time of her conviction, seventeen years before, she had just turned seventeen herself, was a drug addict, an alcoholic, a prostitute (had been a child prostitute), and suffered from malnutrition. Poppy uncovers evidence which makes it obvious that the doomed woman did not receive a fair trial. In fact, some of the evidence presented by the prosecution was just plain laughable. And no one paid much attention to the objections and appeals of the defense attorney.

Mary-Ann Tirone Smith frequently writes about injustices suffered, especially by poor women denied choices in life. Says Ms. Smith, "as an FBI agent, Poppy is the first of my characters who has the official capacity to treat injustice and the means to do so at her fingertips and she takes to the task with a vengeance. As Poppy might put it: 'If I'm not outraged at least once a day, bury me. I'm dead.'"

This story is based on the case of Karla Fay Tucker, killed by lethal injection, (legal homicide), on February 3, 1998 by the State of Texas. She was a born-again Christian convicted of the ax murder of two people and the first woman to be executed by Texas since the 1860's. The Texas clemency board follows no written criteria, is not required to meet in person, and hasn't granted anyone clemency in many years. One of the more bizarre Texas laws deprives a prisoner from having his case reopened once thirty days have passed since the conviction. No exceptions!

Before Tucker was executed, there were appeals for clemency from Waly Bacre Ndiaye, the United Nations commissioner on summary and arbitrary executions, the World Council of Churches, Pope John Paul II, and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, among other world figures. Unusual appeals came from conservative American political figures such as Newt Gingrich and Pat Robertson, interceding on her behalf. Tucker did not ask for a pardon, only commutation of her death sentence to life in prison. Huntsville Prison's warden testified that she was a model prisoner and that, after 14 years on death row, she likely had been reformed. Despite these pleas, then Govenor George W.Bush signed her death warrant. (above information from Wikipedia.com)

This suspense thriller is not written to make a case against capital punishment, however. Nor is it predictable. There are some interesting and unexpected twists and turns in the storyline. Oddly, with such a dark topic, the humor is outstanding. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the snappy dialogue. Really good satire! Recommended!
JANA

I'm not going to give you the in depth story that others before me have filled in. Suffice to say I was determined to finish this piece of trash (I don't know why) and it didn't get any easier as I finally got to the end. Praise Jesus!! as they'd say in this very heavy on religion story about a convicted axe murderess. Yes, Tirone Smith took a real person, Karla Faye Tucker, and made up a pretty boring tale. I think it was boring because it needed serious editing (I had to skim most of it) because, Mary-Ann, Yes! we got it. We don't need every bit of the born again language put down in print. Also, as others before me have commented, her knowledge of Texas must be zero, especially the Houston, Waco, Austin areas. I hate that in a book; far too many mistakes in this one to excuse. One more thing, having lived there for over 25 years I am ever so weary about movies, tv shows and, now, books buying into the dumber than dirt, Texans who fit into some make believe stereotype. Houston is a very sophisticated city and has been since at least the 70s through the 90s when I lived there. Oh, wait! People from Dallas may enjoy this as they feel quite superior to Houstonians (I never figured out why). I read this author once before and thought she was OK. Was I ever mistaken!!!!!!

Always on the search for good women thriller writers, I picked this up because of the intriguing plot synopsis. I found it a decent read, but not an exceptional one like Linda Fairstein or Alex Kava. There was too little background on what 'made' the Protagonist, why she feels and acts the way she does. I didn't much care for her one-night stand despite having a 'beau' back in DC. I wouldn't like that in a man; I certainly didn't in a woman. Some of the dialogue was a bit stilted, but that's to be expected for a first book in a series; the characters will fill out and appear more natural in subsequent sequels (I hope). Good twist at the end, though - keep that up.

I read a lot of books! I had looked at reviews about this book and thought it looked really good. Well my only consolation is that I bought the book used at a cheaper price because boy what a flop!
I can't even describe the writing! This author does not seem to understand that the reader is not in her head - we DON'T know what the story is about yet; she needs to be clearer about the characters. There are parts of the book where the author just picks up and talks about something that you have no idea what she is talking about. Honestly I have never read a book so confusing!

She is a sassy, fresh and feisty independent thinker who goes her own way in the tightly structured organization of the FBI because she's quick to get the job done. After reorganizing a whole department in the FBI, the upcoming execution of Rona Leigh Gloeck catches Poppy Rice's interest. She digs up the case file and sees that the woman might not have gotten a proper trial. Poppy wants to investigate because it is only ten days until the execution and her supervisor gives her permission.

She flies to Texas and starts asking questions about people who were involved with the case and quickly comes to the conclusion that Rona Leigh was railroaded. All legal and political avenues that could grant the condemned woman a stay of thirty days disappear and Poppy witnesses the state-sponsored death of Rona Leigh. The lethal injection fails to kill the prisoner and she is taken by ambulance to the hospital, but the patient disappears into thin air. Now Poppy must discover who the conspirators are who took the prisoner away while seeing that justice is served this time.

LOVE HER MADLY is a police procedural that actually has moments when it turns into a humorously dark macabre tale. The heroine is a breath of fresh air taking herself seriously enough to get the job done without it killing her spirit. This is the first book in what looks to be an innovative series and this reviewer can't wait for BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY to be published.

Harriet Klausner

After an enjoyable first half of the book, the story had so many twists, turns and implausible actions that this reader said ENOUGH. Finished the book in part because I couldn't believe an editor let so much ridiculous action remain in the book. Too bad, Poppy Rice could have been a fun new character. Won't touch this series again.

I loved this author's memoir and An American Killing. I am an avid mystery reader. I eagerly purchased this book. I was moderately disappointed. The characters lacked depth. The writing needed a better editor to tighten it up. I'm not from Texas nor am I a Republican, still I found the broad stereotyping of Texans to be offensive and a cheap device. The glaring error in the book is that a law enforcement officer would never shoot into the air as Poppy does. That bullet has to come down somewhere and that somewhere might be into an innocent person.

I found this to be an excellent novel. The cover makes it look like a bit of fluff, but it is hard edged and great reading. It's a hardcore crime fiction, with twists and turns that are excellently connected. I've read some of the other reviews and feel that possibly the 'lightness' of the cover led some folks to the book who may not have otherwise read it. If has the tightness and darkness of James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane and Nevada Barr. For the record, I am a Texan and while some comments were a bit far fetched, I found nothing to be 'offended by.' I am eagerly awaiting the next Poppy Rice.

My thoughts on this book are extremely high. I thought of it being one of the best books I actually read this year. The reason I was so addicted to this book I think is because of the Rona Leigh Mystery that was going on. This book was so good that it was impossible for me to put down. I was reading at least 3-5 hours a day and on weekends. For me it was a quick read. I highly recommend it to people who love mysteries. I am the kind of person who love books that leave me wanting more at the end of the story and Love Her Madly was on of those books. I plan on reading alot more of the Poppy Rice Mysteries and also other books that this author have written because they seem to just interest me and catch my eye. Another suggestion that I would give to the author is that this would be a great movie that would hit the top charts. I would surely love to go see it.