Customer Reviews

Ring of Truth

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

 

 

This is a mystery with a difference! Our heroine, Marie Lightfoot, is not a lawyer, police officer, private detective or journalist for starters. She is a best-selling True Crime novelist. What vistas this opens up for a series! She has every reason to be nosing around the crime scene, the courtroom, the witnesses and families of victims; and she has no boring boss to slow her down. She has a highly comfortable life style, easily explained. Marie has no background, so the reader is sure to exercise his/her own imagination. I have always felt Kinsey Mahone was far more effective before Sue Grafton hung a back story around her neck giving her a plethora or relatives and details about an ex-husband.

Marie switches from first person observation to chapters from her current manuscript with the lackluster title, "Anything To Be Together." It is the story of a charismatic minister convicted of beating his attractive wife to death, probably with the aid and assistance of his girlfriend. Rev. Wing is awaiting execution on Death Row. Ironically, the rector has received much local publicity in the past for his anti-death penalty activism. She has just completed the text, but feels dissatisfied with parts of it, particularly the lack of background and insights on the principal players.

The plot is excellent, complex with a labyrinth of twists and turns. There are a few attitudes that boggle my mind, but perhaps that is just me. Ms. Pickard is a fine writer and has created a thoroughly likeable heroine. A fine read.

True crime fighter Marie Lightfoot has completed her latest true crime novel, Anything To BE Together, and sends it to her editor in New York. Her latest book centers on Robert F. Wing, a Florida minister, convicted of murdering his wife. Robert's co-defendant, Artemis McGregor, the woman he was allegedly having an affair with, received a not guilty verdict.

Marie feels the case has too many loose ends to fully satisfy her that Robert killed Susana. When she obtains new evidence, she uses it to bait the person she thinks committed the crime. However, that ends tragically with the person guarding the information dead and the evidence gone. As Marie digs deeper, she places herself in danger from someone who prefers the status quo rather than the truth.

Once again, Nancy Pickard has created a fascinating thriller centering on people who are not what they seem to be. The novel contains several shocking revelations, but nothing matches the frightening climax. Proponents of the death penalty will reconsider their position after reading RING OF TRUTH as Ms. Pickard makes her views quite clear on the subject.

Harriet Klausner

This is one of the BEST books I have ever read. It is a book in a book.

I have 9 of Nancy Pickard's books and all of the are really great but this one is the top of the list. It was hard to put down. I read it every chance I had to read. She is a wonderful author.

This is the story of a true crime writer and we get to read the book she wrote and then how she feels about the crime and what she did after she wrote it.

Do read this book. You will be glad you did.

I've regularly read Nancy Pickard's 'Jenny Cain' series and have been heartened by the growth I've seen in her work. Pickard's detective stories have slowly been growing in power and complexity. This novel, however, may mark Pickard's arrival as a true master of the detective story.

I admit that I have not read another of this series, but I was struck by its simple cleverness. The writer of a 'true crime' novel becomes unnerved by doubts concerning the outcome of the trials and criminals that she has recently written about. Her own private investigation, interspersed with chapters from her recently completed 'true crime' book that fill the reader in on the back story, causes a great deal of distress and irritation among both the police and the real criminals.

Very well done. Very clever. I'll be looking for more in the series.

Maybe it was just a good night to stay up with a page-turner. Ring of Truth, the second installment in Nancy Pickard's new series about true crime writer, Marie Lightfoot, kept me up well past bedtime the other night. It's not a perfect book - I'd give it 4 and 1/2 stars if the system allowed - but it's a good read.

Lightfoot continues writing about true crime in her home state of Florida (including a nice essay pondering why Florida spawns so many wierd criminals - shades of Carl Hiaasen). This case involves a liberal minister sentenced to death for killing his wife. Ironically, the minister is a leader in the anti-death penalty movement in the state and has be advocating the release of another condemned killer. Marie's book looks at both murders. She's sent it to her publisher but has nagging doubts that something isn't quite right. When new evidence turns up, Marie can't resist revisiting the case...

There are a number of things that set this book apart from the usual mystery fare. First, Pickard really knows how to write. Secondly, a true crime writing protagonist provides a great angle on crime. Marie, in theory, can talk with everyone involved. Even better, for the reader, is that Pickard alternates chapters between Marie's book and Pickard's narrative about Marie's ongoing investigation. It's a refreshing mix. Third, the conclusion is clever without coming completely from left field.

I'm still a bit ambivalent about Marie. In a genre stuffed to the gills with protagonists "haunted by their pasts", it's a bit wierd to have a protagonist with virtually no past. This book has a bit more about life as a writer and Marie's love affair. But she still has no family or childhood. Definately different.

Bottom-line: A good page-turner. Reading of the first book "The Whole Truth" would be helpful but isn't imperative.

Crime writer Marie Lightfoot has written a book about the case of a preacher accused of the murder of his wife in collusion with his mistress. The preacher was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death while his alleged accomplice was acquitted. Case closed, right? Not quite. As an aside in her book, Marie wrote briefly about the case of a young woman murdered several years before and the conviction and death sentence of her killer. In a strange twist of fate, Marie is given cause to second-guess her belief in the guilt of both accuseds and sets out to reinvestigate both cases. The witnesses and evidence she uncovers create more questions than answers, and this is one exciting read as Ms. Pickard ties it all together.

This is a tightly written book that overtly pits good against evil, and until the very end the reader does not know which is which. The characters and dialogue are so sharply observed and clearly limned that they no longer seem like characters and dialogue, but part of your world. The setting is Florida. I've never been there, but now I know the feeling of the place.
The story starts with the death of a minister's wife. He is a charismatic, widely respected man of high moral principles, but he may have been cheating with a beautiful woman, a member of his congregation. The plot has depth and many unexpected twists and the sleuth is a woman that most women will be able to identify with. The writer uses viewpoint in an original way (or variety of ways) and this makes the tale more immediate and dramatic.

I loved this book as a good story well told, but I was even more impressed with the way the writer adressed the moral dilemmas surrounding the issue of capital punishment. No preaching. No moralizing. Enjoy the story and draw your own conclusions.

A few years back when True Crime stories were plentiful, I greedily goobled them all up. Suddenly they disappeared. Not to worry. Along comes Nancy Pickard to take the genre of True Crime, merge it with a fictional murder mystery filled with psychologically satisfying characters and PRESTO CHANGEO-a great series is born.Alchemy to be sure!
To the reviewer who mentioned that she wondered about Marie's own childhood..I suspect you have a treat in store. In the first book of this series -The Whole Truth, Marie received 2 mysterious phone calls from someone who claimed to know her "real" parents. I think Ms.Pickard has some more tricks up her sleeve and I cant wait for this very clever writer to use her deft sleight of hand to baffle her audience at every turn.Just when you think you know what you thought you knew....

Not as thrilled about this book as I was with some of her other books, but it was ok.

I like some of Nancy Pickard's books better than this, but it was a good read.