Customer Reviews

Maximum Insecurity (Momento Mori Mystery)

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

 

 

Maximum Insecurity was recently nominated for the Shamus Award for Best First Novel, by the Private Eye Writers of America. This is a lean, mean novel that will impress every fan of hardboiled mystery. The emphasis is on a taut, fast-moving plot, but Grady also gives us a unique and fascinating protagonist in Matty Madrid. As a former resident of New Mexico, I can say that this is one of the few novels in that setting that really gets it right -- you can almost taste the green chile. And the absolute authenticity of the prison setting will give you cold chills. I highly recommend this for every mystery reader. (And the paperback edition from Avocet is really beautiful.)

Miss grady is a close friend of mine, and i think that as a teacher of mine and as a friend, she is a really good author. The book is very suspense full, and very well writen in general. I was suprised at the way the plot turned out, and I thought that she deserves a Shamus Award.

Brian

As the author of a mystery series featuring a male Latino in a leading role, my path often crosses with PJ Grady's as we make our way around the mystery community's conventions. We frequently serve as members of the same author panels, and I am always proud to be part of the same panel as Ms. Grady. MAXIMUM INSECURITY is a terrific debut novel, and Matty Madrid is an amazing creation. Matty is true to life. Ms. Grady has a thorough understanding of the Hispanic culture of northern New Mexico. Matty accurately reflects her time and place. In MAXIMUM INSECURITY, Matty is hired to investigate the murder of a prison inmate. That murder proves to be merely the tip of an enormous iceberg of corruption. During the course of Matty's investigation, the reader learns much about this young woman PI and the world in which she operates. MAXIMUM INSECURITY was most deserving of its Shamus Award nomination.

P.J. Grady just got nominated for a Shamus award for her first book, set in New Mexico. You can see why -- her private detective is unusual. She's a blue collar, in-your-face gal. Unlike a ton of other detectives she isn't an alcoholic, doesn't drive an exotic car, doesn't even have a love life. She has a ton of friends and it is entertaining to "listen" to them all talk. The dialogue is really great, doesn't falter anywhere. The plot moves along. The author really seems to know about prisons and prison life, and it is refreshing to see this kind of plot involving inmates, wardens, correction officers and the town hosting a huge prison. A great start by this author and I will look for the next one.

A Matty Madrid Mystery where the Sante Fe PI enters the Texas State Prison at the pleading of her inmate ex-husband.

A prickly thriller with attitude, full of eccentrically ordinary people touched in many ways by the penitentiary at the center of all their lives.

Nothing earth-shaking - just a solid mystery, set in an unusual location with tough folks in tougher situations doing the worst & the best they can.