Midnight Hour (A Silver Dagger Mystery) [Hardcover]

Mary Saums (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2000

Willi Taft, a feisty studio singer in Nashville, is bored with her life. More excitement than she wants comes her way when a local P.I. lands her in the middle of a murder investigation. Soon she suspects the killing is related not only to a twenty-year-old crime, but to her own past as well. When bullets and rumors start to fly in her direction, she finds herself abandoned by friends, shunned by business associates, and targeted for murder. But why? For the answers, Willi must walk alone down the thin line between life and death, where past and future meet, the Midnight Hour.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Great voice.... One of the best first novels I've read since Hank went to Jesus." -- Kinky Friedman

"In the crowded world of detectives, Nashville studio singer Willi Taft is a unique and appealing character--how could you not like an ex-smoker whose dog hides packs of cigarettes and has to be bribed to sniff them out in an emergency? Seeing backstage Music Row through her eyes is great. I'm looking forward to her next outing. -- Susan Dunlap

"Midnight Hour is an impressive debut for Mary Saums. Willi Taft, Nashville backup singer, is a warm, intelligent woman with a fierce temper that erupts, volcano-like, when you least expect it. Willi is brave and tenacious, and when her boyfriend finally figures she'd make a good private eye, the reader can only applaud. Saums clearly knows her Nashville and her characters are surprising and fascinating, with truth at their core." -- Charlaine Harris

MIDNIGHT HOUR is the debut of a really appealing new voice in Southern mystery fiction! Willi Taft is ascerbic, fast on her feet, and with an attitude that makes me love her and laugh. Welcome to the party, Mary Saums! -- Steven Womack, Edgar Award-winning author of Dirty Money

Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Overmountain Press (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570721076
• ISBN-13: 978-1570721076
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,333,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teriffic mystery-appealing characters, February 7, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Midnight Hour (A Silver Dagger Mystery) (Hardcover)

Anyone, including her friends, would think Willie Taft owned the world. She has several close friends, a new home, and a career that many people envy as she sings back up to many of Country and Western superstars. However, Willie suffers from several personal problems starting with the feeling that she has outgrown her friends. However, the worse emotion is that two decades of singing C&W has left her numb as she loathes this style of music.

Willie returns to the living after she meets private detective Sam Robbins. Though they start off on the wrong foot, Willie and Sam begin to forge a meaningful relationship. Sam starts to teach Willie the tricks of his craft, but is soon murdered. The police believe he is a victim of a burglary that turned ugly. However, Willie questions the official position when nasty things start to happen. Someone shoots at her and drugs her. Sam's office and her house are torn apart as an unknown assailant seeks something. Willie realizes she must uncover the identity of the culprit before she becomes the next victim.

The first Silver Dagger mystery, MIDNIGHT HOUR, will leave readers waiting to pick up more tales from what appears to be an imprint that will shine with a long life. Mary Sauns invigorates the amateur sleuth sub-genre with a successful and strong female lead. The tale is clearly owned by Willie, who as she approaches forty struggles with a mid-life crisis that sends her on a path to start anew. The brain-teasing mystery along with Willie's laid back common sense will leave the audience anxiously wanting more terrific Taft tales.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning debut novel, August 9, 2000

By 

Mary Welk (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Hour (A Silver Dagger Mystery) (Hardcover)

How many first time authors have the gall to kill off their protagonist's main man within the first forty pages of their novel? I kept thinking, "He really isn't dead, just hiding from the bad guys with the cooperation of the cops." But I was wrong. Handsome Sam was a goner, deader than a crunch bug caught crossing KMart in the middle of a Blue Light Special. I have to hand it to Mary Saums. What a gutsy way to steer Willi Taft, her main character, into a new career.

Ms. Saums deserves a round of applause for MIDNIGHT HOUR. Not only is the plot a tricky one, but the characters are reality-based, multilayerd personalities who cry out for attention and remembrance. The book is characterized by smooth writing, almost poetic at times, filled with imagery that makes one want to reread certain paragraphs just for the pure pleasure of seeing the English language used well. As for Buddy the dog, I give him five woofs for lovableness. He can come live with me any time he wants.

This is a fine debut novel by a talented writer. I look forward eagerly to Ms. Saums next book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Willi Taft Makes Nashville Sparkle, February 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Midnight Hour (A Silver Dagger Mystery) (Hardcover)

This has got to be one of the best who-done-its that I've read in years. Willi Taft is a wonderful addition to the already vast stable of sleuths, and perhaps one of the best. Mary Saums has written a terrific first novel and I only hope this is just the initial installment of more to come.