Customer Reviews

Murder Shoots the Bull: A Southern Sisters Mystery (Southern Sisters Mysteries)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These sisters keep you laughing, make you think and truly make you miss your sister or wish you had one. This book just keeps you looking for the next one---and makes you re-read the others while you wait.

The best gift I've given my friends, according to them, was an introduction to this series of books

Anne George is one of my favorite authors. The Southern Sisters are hilarious. Patricia Anne, the skinny retired teacher, once again teams up with her sister Mary Alice, the widowed three times sister to solve a murder.

In this story there is a complicated cast of characters that Anne George manages to gather together in a murder mystery. The long time next door neighbor is under suspicion for murder and their house burns down. Throughout all of this the sisters manage to join an investment club, solve the murder, and deal with a daughter in law who moves in. In the end, everything turns out just fine.

I laughed out loud at Mary Alice's story of what happened of Ruffner Mountain

Enjoy.

That is exactly what happened when I read a particular paragraph in the book about the funeral of the woman Mitzi's husband is accused of killing. I have read all of Anne's books, and although it is difficult to choose, I think Murder Shoots the Bull is my favourite. It is rare that I buy a hardcover, but I take exception with the Southern Sisters mysteries. I love the 'girls' and the talent of their creator, Anne George. I love a good light hearted mystery, and it doesn't hurt that I actually learn something in each of them...be it about folk art or endangered animals. In this one, I learned it's not a good idea to be entomed on a windy day! Thanks Anne, for another great book.

The ol' gals are at it again! Sweetly Southern and sassy, mystery-solving sisters Mary Alice and Patricia Anne have a good puzzler in their target sights and they are determined to hit a bulls-eye with this one. Alabama author Anne George returns to treat her readers with the hilarious sixth installment of the zany Southern Sisters mysteries, "Murder Shoots The Bull.

As a frequent visitor to the Birmingham, Alabama area, where the Southern Sisters' mysteries are set, I find the local references to charming, it's just like a trip back home.

This delightful book is no less charming and entertaining than its predecesors, and should guarantee that the "sixty-something sisters with attitude" are sure to be around for a long time to come.

I had the great pleasure of reading an advanced copy of this book and enjoyed every minute of it! Fans of Anne George will be happy is see that the series is still fresh and funny as Patricia Anne tries to get a next door neighbor out of a murder charge after his ex-wife is poisoned. Sister Mary Alice is along to provide her usual unflappable asides. Besides that, the sisters are involved in a group starting a stock market investment club and marriage trouble pops up in Patricia Annes' family. Throw in a little of Mary Alices' romantic hijinks and you have quite a brew. Y'all give this one a try.

I have read and re-read both Stout and Wodehouse. I agree with Wodehouse about the true test of a book is its re-readability (Is there such a word? I, like Patricia Anne, have taught English much too long.) and whenever I need a laugh I read one of George's books again, generally the first two in the series.

These books have fast-paced plots, funny observations about life, and if you are southern, or if you have a sister, absolutely on target as far as characterization goes. I am always sorry when I come to the end of one, and simply can not wait for another to come out. I pay Ms. George the supreme compliment of buying her books in hard back, which is a compliment indeed, since I own well over 2000 books and room is limited in my home. There are few authors that rate having their books kept in hard back in my house, so possibly one can judge from this how much I hold her work in esteem. I like this book better than her previous one, and feel that it is indeed holding up to the standard of writing she set in the first three.

I can not call Mary Alice predatory. Mary Alice is a true free spirit who enjoys life and all it has to offer, both good and bad, with a verve that I envy. I think her approach to life is certainly seen in this book. Please give this series a try! I feel that many of you who have a sense of humor would truly love the books.

I know that I have not given this book justice in this review, but feel that we all owe ourselves a treat now and then. Let this be one of your personal treats.

Murder Shoots the Bull offers plenty of opportunities to wonder whodunit, but there's very little gore involved, particularly considering the number of bodies Patricia Ann and Mary Alice happen upon. Like the rest of Ms. George's Southern Sisters books, this one is fun and, quite often, laugh-out-loud funny. It's also fast-paced and driven with some delightful dialogue. There's lots of good-natured sniping between the sisters, as well as a certain degree of harmless irreverence. And to the delight of local audiences, there's always plenty of local color in these books. For those of you not fortunate enough to live in Birmingahm, AL, yes, it's really like this! And, yes, the Piggly Wiggly does have good fried chicken.

The latest in the Southern Sisters series doesn't disappoint. The lively conversation between Patricia Anne and Mary Alice steal the show. The line, "Mary Alice used to be five years older than I am," is a wonderful example of Mary Alice's eccentric look on getting older and Patricia Anne's more practical side. The whole book is great. Plus, every town needs a statue overlooking the city like Birmingham has.

Patricia Anne and Mary Alice strike again. I love the way the southern language is expressed in George's books. It's like the white equivalent of ebonics. Patricia Anne never misses a beat & Mary Alice never misses a man. The book starts with them in jail & goes up hill from there. Great fun.

In Birmingham, Mitzi Phizer persuades her two friends, Patricia Anne "Mouse" Hollowell and Mary Alice "Sister" Crane, to join a senior citizen investment club. However, just when the club looks ready to begin, Mitzi's spouse Arthur seems to be cheating on her. However, even before anyone can actually confirm the rumors of Arthur's philandering, someone murders his alleged flame. The evidence totally points at Arthur, who had motive and opportunity. The police arrest Arthur for poisoning his first wife.

The Southern Sisters cannot see Arthur as a murderer, let alone an adulterer. When a suspicious fire breaks out at the Pizer home, the two siblings begin their own style of inquiries even as they struggle with events in their own lives. However, the Mouse never expected Sister to hit the bank president over the head with an umbrella, landing them in jail.

MURDER SHOOTS THE BULL, the latest mystery romp by the Southern Sisters, is a wonderful tale that humorously brings a touch of Birmingham to life. The who-done-it is entertaining and the support cast augments the novel by propelling it towards the climax. However, as in the previous five tales in this series, the siblings remain the stars of the show. Mouse is a quiet, efficient individual, living a sedate contented life except when Sister enters her sphere. Sister is figuratively and literally the charging bull in the china shop disrupting anyone in her path. Together they make a dynamite invincible team that turns a simple mystery into an entertaining romp.

Harriet Klausner