Nights in White Satin [Import] [Paperback]

Michelle Spring (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Orion (August 19, 1999)
• ISBN-10: 0752829246
• ISBN-13: 978-0752829241
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best new writers, July 21, 2000

By 

Carol McGinnis Kay (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nights in White Satin (Hardcover)

This is another fine novel--well-written, compassionate, and intelligent--from one of the best of the new writers. Spring's characters and situations are complex, and the action typically has a reality (not to be confused with toughness) missing from many mystery novels.

I am dismayed and bewildered by the negative comments from the New England reader who apparently wanted Spring to have written another book, one with predictable feminist role models. One of Spring's strengths is the very lack of predictablity--her characters are as rich in detail and complex motivation as people we know.

I too heard Spring speak at PCA and I was impressed by the candor,intelligence, and passion of her remarks. She is a superb writer who lets us live a scene with her characters, and she thinks deeply about what she does with her books.

Starting with "Every Breath You Take" I have been hooked by Michelle Spring, and I can hardly wait for the next one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just highly recommended, it's a MUST., May 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nights in White Satin (Hardcover)

Nights In White Satin' by Michelle Spring

At the Cambridge May ball, on a warm balmy magical evening in June, amidst champagne, smoked salmon, music and laughter, young, pretty Katie Arkwright disappears.

In this, the forth in the series featuring Laura Principal, Private Investigator, Aardvark Investigations had been retained to repel gatecrashers and maintain security at the Cambridge May Ball. Following the disappearance, Laura is retained by Stephen Fox, senior tutor at Bart's to find the missing girl.

Whilst pursing her investigations into Katie's disappearance, a murder and an unexplained death unfold. Both shocking. Are they related to the missing girl? Could the solutions be locked in the past?

The writing in this book is beautiful, Michelle descriptive powers brought the scenes to life, I was there. At all times during the story, the weather is hot, I felt this heat, and the beauty of Cambridge. The contrasts of life she portrays are so vivid. Some of the settings invoked a time gone by, and when Laura goes punting with her friend Helen down the river to Grantchester for a picnic, it brought to mind Stands the church clock at ten to three, and is there honey still for tea'.

This is a book full of full of beauty, violence, sadness, pain, and emotional conflict. It's also about choices, and the guilt that comes from fast actions that we think will solve an immediate problem and then we find that we maybe cannot live with them. also the resulting pain.

It's also a first class mystery, which I urge you all to read. This is not just highly recommended, it's a must.

Lizzie Hayes 15 May 1999

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mystery that takes the reader into toll of rape on women, June 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nights in White Satin (Hardcover)

I just finished reading Michelle Spring's newest Laura Principal mystery, Nights in White Satin. This mystery packs a wallop. Very terse and sensitive at the same time. Spring `s novels highlight a feminist perspective in detective fiction. Each of her novels calls attention to a social issue that particularly affects women--even Standing in the Shadows can be viewed from that vantage point. Its strong stuff. And, Laura Principal is terrific!