Customer Reviews

Murder Well-Bred

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4 star:		(1)
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All of Carolyn's books are funny, and Murder Well-Bred is no exception. To horse people, the most important thing in a book is accuracy - nothing peeves us more than reading a book that has horses in it and trip over inaccuracies on every page. Banks' books are "equinely" accurate, entertaining, and fun!

After reading reviews on several Carolyn Bank's mysteries, that were all over the map (Hated it! Loved it!) I had to read one for myself just out of curiosity. I don't know about the rest of her novels, but Murder Well Bred was a refreshing surprise. I would never call the heroine Robin Vaughn "dense" as so many have, but someone who is prone to misadventure, a victim of CMS (circumstantial misfortune syndrome). Colombo solved murders in a bumbling, sort of off-hand way, but no one would ever call him dense. Dense people never get anything, but Robin Vaughn gets it, she just arrives there in her stumblebum, Charlie Chaplin way--which is hilarious and very entertaining. These novels are definitely not formula mysteries, they are sometimes goofy, often surprising, and you just have to go where they take you. I am a big Dick Francis fan, but I can still read something a little breezier and enjoy it. This is murder light.
Despite the easy-going structure, Banks has some astute observations along the way. I laughed over the comment about people getting weird who spend too much time alone, "because there's no one around to point out the weirdness piling up".
I love Bank's first-person narrative, and the way she carries on a dialog with the reader. How many authors dare to address the reader? I've been slogging through a lot of books lately, and this book jolted my brain like a cold, sweet lemonade on a hot summer day.

I haven't read a book this much fun in a LOOOONG time! Being a horse person myself, I can appreciate her horsey descriptions (which are right on) and her other "bodily function" descriptions are a hoot. A great mystery which I'd love to see on the TV screen.

But I gave it to all my horse-loving friends, because this Carolyn Banks, set in Mexico, is sooo funny and true. ( you'll never drink the local water anymore.)

I really enjoyed Carolyn Banks dressage themed mysteries. Not only are they accurate as far as the horse information goes, they are enjoyable reads. They are all on my keep shelf. I hope more are coming someday.