Customer Reviews

Murder in Moscow (Murder, She Wrote)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love this Murder, She Wrote series. Every book is enjoyable and can be read in one sitting---except this one. The only mystery here is the reason this book was written. It started out great and had a reasonable plot---but at the end, it offered no answers! I felt cheated in a way. Normally, I like spy novels and stories, but they at least give you some of the answers---this book doesn't even give you one! While all of the other Murder, She Wrote books are great, this one is the one to miss.

It's a long way home from Cabot Cove, Maine, but Jessica has business to attend to in the dangerous, peril city of Moscow, Russia. As other readers of this novel would call it drawn out and boring, I give it five stars for excellent writing. Suspense is abound in each chapter, as is Bain's authentic writing style. I am comparing "Murder in Moscow" to other interesting, suspenseful and cozy Murder, She Wrote mysteries such as "Brandy and Bullets" and "A Deadly Judgment." Before you listen to all the nonchalant critiques from dissapointed readers, I suggest that you give the book a read through. If you're an intrigued reader of the Murder, She Wrote series, you won't be dissapointed in "Murder in Moscow."

In comparison to the other books in the series, I was very disappointed by Murder in Moscow. The concrete reasons behind the murders were not sufficiently explored and the identity of the murderers were not uncovered. The book was extremely unsatisfying and I myself feeling cheated.

Murder mystery writer Jessica Fletcher is one of a small elite group, representing the publishing world, going to Washington and then to Moscow as part of the Commerce Department's efforts to facilitate better relations between the two countries. Ostensibly the Americans are going over to help the Russians with their fledgling publishing industry. However, Jessica quickly learns that the government has other goals in mind also.

Jessica is told by a secretive American official to keep an eye and ear open, and report back to him all she learns overseas. However, that same night Jessica finds her "contact" dead inside the Jefferson monument. In Russia, a local publisher, dining with Jessica, is suddenly dead and the visitor is briskly removed from the scene by an American intelligence officer. Instead of enjoying her exotic stay, Jessica begins to question the trustworthiness of everyone she meets, knowing that she might be the next victim.

A Jessica Fletcher mystery is always fun to read and the current novel is no exception. Mrs. Fletcher is this generation's Aunt Hazel and likewise just as impossible not to like or root for her. MURDER SHE WROTE: MURDER IN MOSCOW is very enjoyable, especially watching the protagonist realize that the new Russia is, in its own way, as dangerous a place as the old Soviet Union.

Harriet Klausner

I have found that most of the Murder, She Wrote series books are entertaining, and at times, somewhat believable. However, this one leaves much to be desired. As an admirer of the television series as well, I have a hard time swallowing this one - while fiction always, this one is quite the farce. I'm glad it wasn't the first one I read, it would probably have been the last.

This book Jessica does not solve the murder because she busily involved in spy intrigue, secrets, good and bad guys, kidnapping while being dragged all over Moscow. She is in Moscow as part of an economic book exchange with her publisher, his wife,and other authors. This book is exciting and a page-turner from beginning to end. I liked it because it was so different from the other MSW novels, don't get me wrong I've read them all (except:Murder Ave. Shoot)and I love the books, this was just different, a change of pace you could say. Thanks D. Bain!!

It seems that Jessica has fans all over the world and when she gets the chance to go on a Commerce Department trade mission to Moscow she jumps at the chance. Seth and Mort try to warn her about the crime in Moscow but as usual Jessica doesn't listen and gets into deep trouble. Mort and Seth aren't completely correct in their assessment either however for the first dead body shows up before Jessica even leaves the country.

From the time that she arrives in Washington on the first leg of her trip things start to get very strange. She finds that she is up to her elbows in spooks (the CIA kind) and she just can't get a straight answer from anybody. Before she leaves for Moscow she is asked to deliver a love note to a young Russian woman, to spy for the US government and then she finds a dead spook in the bushes. Not a very pleasant way to start a trip is it? Once she gets to Moscow the intrigue and apparent conspiracies just get bigger and the action starts to match that of a spy novel.

Most of this story is very gripping and I found myself not being able to put the book down at times but there were some serious flaws to be found here not the least of which was the ending. When all is said and done the reader and Jessica are left hanging by a bad ending that solves very little and makes most of the book seem irrelevant. For the most part I liked this book but I was very disappointed in the ending. The second big problem was the historical errors that show that the author didn't check his facts very well. First of all he had Jessica mention conditions in the Soviet Union at the turn of the century despite the fact that the Soviet Union didn't exist at the turn of any century. Secondly he has her tell a tale that insists that Jefferson Davis was Abraham Lincoln's first Secretary of War. Davis was Secretary of War for Franklin Pierce and was already President of the Confederacy before Lincoln was inaugurated. I know that this may seem picky but the historian in me just can't let it pass.

Overall this isn't a bad story but it is certainly not one of the best in this series. The story flows rather well and the plot does get exciting on occasion but I just didn't like the ending at all. I wouldn't recommend this as a good choice for someone who is new to the series but for us old fans it does offer a nice trip with our favorite sleuth and that in itself is enough to make this a pleasant read.

this book is a great escape and is one of my favorites in the series. the writing is very descriptive. the chase scene kept me turning pages fast so as to keep up with events. i was sorry that the book had to end.

Outside of the stero-typed Russians swilling Vodka on almost every single page of this page turner, this book was a lot of fun. I ended up sitting in my favorite Chicago diner for about an hour finishing up this book, as it becomes such a page turner in the last 7 chapters that it is impossible to put down.

My first thought is to say "this is really a book for Murder She Wrote fans", the plot is spelled out nicely in the conclusion. This may put off some hard core mystery readers who like to "solve" the mystery before it is spelled out for them. On the other hand, following suit with the program, you have to wait until the end to find out what happened. This is what I expected, and was delighted with the book.

And don't be surprised that dead bodies just keep showing up...this is a Murder She Wrote story, Jessica would be out of business if that didn't happen! I think that MSW fans, as well as new comers will enjoy this fun novel by Donald Bain and Jessica Fletcher set in the new Russia.

I LIKE MURDER MYSTERIES. I ENJOY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO THE MURDERER IS AND THEN SEEING IF I AM RIGHT WHEN THE BOOK FINALLY TELLS ME, BUT THIS TIME THEY NEVER DID SAY WHO WAS REALLY THE KILLER. WE WERE LEFT HANGING AT THE END. WHO WAS THE KILLER? DID SOMEONE TRY TO POISON JESSICA? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GIRL? WAS SHE KILLED? WAS SHE STILL ALIVE? I WAS REALLY VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS STORY, AND I USUALLY JUST LOVE ALL "THE MURDER SHE WROTE" BOOKS. I REALLY LIKE JESSICA. PLEASE GO BACK TO THE OLD FORMAT OF STORIES