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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Detective Langdon (and Ms. Smith) need to move on, August 10, 2003
Reading established series is like visiting old friends. However, many of the series heroines we loved when they were younger, edgier and less conventional have become almost mainstream as they age, and, face it, we don't read escapist literature to catch up on folks just like us. It's welcome when the characters gain maturity and wisdom, but kind of dull when there's no risk anymore in their relationships -- even adversaries are well-known, with measure already taken. New Orleans Skip Langdon is a prime example (Sharon McCone is another, and Kinsey and V.I. are both heading that way; Smith's Talba Wallis is a delightful exception, although she's only in two books of her own so far). In "Mean Woman Blues," we check in with our pal Skip and her friends, but they're all leading such a healthy, normal existence that the reader's real focus is on some relatively peripheral characters, and mostly on Skip's "nemesis," Errol Jacomine. The reader becomes so intent on what Jacomine is up to that the author has to keep bludgeoning us over the head with the point that he is Evil, and our sympathies *should* lie with Skip, if we can just remember where she is and what she's doing in the story. The side story, involving the theft of statuary from New Orleans' "Cities of the Dead" is perfunctory, and I wished for a little more of the atmosphere of what must be a remarkable sight. The cemeteries are obviously so everyday to Skip and her co-workers, however, that this midwesterner is left with a rather confused image reminiscent of decorated storage garages. Both Skip and Smith seem "stuck" on Jacomine, and I hope they are able to move on to reclaim Skip's perseverence in the face of new challenges... the old ones are getting, well, old.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Last in the Series?, September 23, 2004
Julie Smith has written nineteen novels in four mystery series. The protagonists are Rebecca Schwartz, Paul McDonald, Skip Langdon and Talba Wallis. MEAN WOMAN BLUES is the ninth and latest novel in the Skip Langdon series, and my gut feel is it will be the last. It is the first Skip Langdon novel that I have read, and I found it self-contained, although the flurry of names in chapter one unsettled me. Many of the characters, I realized, began their careers early in the Skip Langdon series. It would have been smarter, I thought, to have started with the first Skip Langdon novel, NEW ORLEANS MOURNING, and follow Skip's career from the beginning. Besides, NEW ORLEANS MOURNING won the Edgar Allan Poe award for best novel in 1991. By the way, you can become acquainted with the author and her stories at www.JulieSmithAuthor.com.
I have a problem remembering names, so I decided to reread chapter one of NEW ORLEANS MOURNING and list the characters, their roles and alias, and I continued to tabulate names throughout the novel. In total, I found 77 proper names for people, three for pets, plus two phony names to mask the identity of the owner of a bank account and a cell phone. Additionally, there were 28 nicknames, alias or maiden names used for some of the 77 characters. I'm not sure, but I think that's a record for any book I've read recently.
In LOUISIANA BIGSHOT, Skip pursues Errol Jacomine, a.k.a. Daddy, a.k.a. Eliza Dolittle, a.k.a. Earl, a.k.a. David Wright, a.k.a. Mr. Right, a.k.a. Earl Jackson. Errol is trying to kill Skip, so it's a matter of who gets whom first. It's an enjoyable story with a credulous plot, resonant dialogue and vivid descriptions of New Orleans and nearby places. I like Julie Smith's writing. She doesn't mess around with that drawn out, exhaustive, flowery stuff, but gives just enough for us to get the feel and smell of things, and lawd, dat girl got an ear for hows we talk down en N'Orleans.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another winner from Julie Smith, September 22, 2003
By A Customer
The great thing about mystery series is it seems as though every year you get a visit from an old friend....it's been far too long since the last Skip Langdon novel....this is a welcome return to the series and one of the strongest titles in it...Julie Smith is a national treasure. Don't make us wait so long for the next visit from Skip, Julie!!!
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