Customer Reviews

Shadows

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

 

 

Buchanan, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, has woven the past and the present into multi-layered story with interesting characters, excellent dialogue and very good suspense. I was involved from the first sentence and didn't put it down until I'd read the last. Buchanan is an author who deserves much more attention than she receives. Her books aren't bloody, brutal or depressing; they are human, captivating and always worth reading.

In Miami preservationist Kiki Courtelis visits the police department's Cold Case Squad to investigate the murder of 1950s city Mayor Pierce Nolan in front of his home in 1961. Kiki informs the cops that if they fail to act, the most famous unsolved case in the state will remain that way forever because developers have bulldozers ready to tear down Nolan's home the Shadows. She also admits that the Cold Case Squad is her last hope to save the elegant but abandoned 1920s style house from progress.

Sergeant Burch reluctantly leads his team on a search of the premises, but is stunned when they find a box containing the remains of seven babies that died four decades ago. DNA testing proves that Pierce sired none of the infants.

While much of the squad is morbidly fascinated with the infanticide, Police Officer Sam Stone works a more personal cold case, the murders of his parents in 1987. He is astonished to learn that the cop Ray Glover, who informed him and his grandmother that his parents were murdered, died not long afterward in an accident.

Mindful in positive ways of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct, the two prime subplot cases never intersect yet both grips the audience for differing reasons. Readers like most of the cold case squad and the city will be ghoulishly mesmerized by the murders of the former mayor and the babies; on the other hand the audience and the city will empathize with Sam's need for closure as his inquiries lead towards a conspiratorial cover-up by Miamians, but who and why appears just out of reach. Edna Buchanan writes a terrific police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

the first time reading this author for me, and what drew me to her is her pulitzer-prize winner status. Ms. Buchanan spent many years writing gritty crime stories for Miami newspapers, and her knowledge of the seedy underside of Miami is evident throughout this book. Her story is one of several that follow detectives in the Miami PD Cold Case Squad. Two separate stories are told in this book, one having to do with the murder of a young black couple in their barbecue restaurant, long believed to be a robbery gone bad. However, the couple's son, now grown up and a detective on this Cold Case Squad, has never believed his parents were simply unlucky victims, and small clues, overlooked initially, cause this case to explored again and ultimately solved. The second story features the imminent demolition of a historic Miami landmark, the Shadows, a mansion built by a notorious rumrunner in the 30s. The Cold Case Squad is brought into the story when they delve into the mysterious shooting death of the homeowner many years before, and, during the course of their search of the property, discover 7 dead infants in a trunk in the Shadows' cellar. Who are these babies? Were they somehow related to the murder of the homeowner? The stories are told simultaneously, and it's a little tricky sometimes to keep them straight - add to that a plethora of characters, and the confusion multiplies. Buchanan's writing style is more reporter-ish than author-ish, as well, which I found a little off-putting. However, both of these stories were very cleverly told, and the characters, despite being a big group, are well drawn and very funny. Recommended.

A wooden box of horrors - the bodies of babies - in an old rumrunner's cellar drives Buchanan's second "cold case squad" novel. Could the box be connected to the 1961 murder of the rumrunner's son, Pierce Nolan, one of Miami's most upstanding citizens? Shortly after the murder, the victim's family moved out, never to return. "The Shadows," as the mansion is called, was left to crumble and has just been sold to be razed for a fancy development.

Meanwhile, Sam Stone investigates his parents' 15-year old murder and quickly discards the old robbery theory, while dredging up some very ugly not-so-ancient history.

Buchanan continues to develop the members of her squad against the seamy, steamy Miami atmosphere and its tarnished history. A couple of new romances and a bit of family life round out an enjoyable read.

- Portsmouth Herald

I will read anything Edna Buchanan writes - she delivers reliably. Shadows is above par even for Buchanan!

The story centers around an abandoned mansion - the Shadows, built during Prohibition by a well-liked Miami rumrunner who was never charged with any crime but who disappeared mysteriously. His son, a popular and respected Vietnam hero, marries well, enters Miami politics and turns the Shadows into a frequent gathering place for Miami society. The Shadows is a 3 acre waterfront showplace until the son is gunned down outside and his wife and 4 children flee Miami. The 1960's murder is never solved. But, the case is reopened when developers are about to demolish The Shadows to build s series of luxury highrises and preservationists try to gain time to save it by insisting police reexamine the crime scene using modern technology to solve the murder case. Running in tandem is the unsolved murder of the parents of one of the Cold Case Squad detectives. There are 3 other story lines of interest that will intrigue the reader.

Great stories - appealing characters. A good, good read.

P. S. If they are still running the stupid review by Publisher's Weekly, ignore it! Unbelievable. I've seen them laud really dumb books and now they criticize Shadows. Makes you wonder.

In the shadow of the bulldozer, a young preservationists enlists the help of Miami's Cold Case Squad to save a historic home "Shadows" which was the scene of a brutal murder more than forty-years ago. But this time the killer is still out there waiting and hating.

Edna Buchanan weaves history and present into a well plotted suspense novel that keeps the reader turning the pages, when no one tells the truth and secrets are meant to remain with the dead.

Nash Black, author whose titles are now Amazon Kindle editions.

Writing as a Small BusinessHaints

THE SETUP

Preservationist Kiki Courtelis attempts to enlist the help of the Miami Cold Case Squad to investigate the murder of Pierce Nolan in 1961--her purpose is to prevent the destruction of the historic Nolan home. They soon find the corpses of seven babies in the basement.

In a second storyline, the case of the murder of detective Sam Stone's parents is reopenned.

COMMENTS AND CAVEATS

The novel opens with a teaser--a loathsome device intended to catch bookstore browsers with upfront action. The main effect of teasers is usually to confuse the reader. In this case, the teaser (a flashback to the murder of Nolan) might not be so objectionable since it quickly becomes relevant as the story develops. However, I find the teaser objectionable because it contains no information on the timeframe, location, nor identity of the characters, and is written in first person present tense in a highly melodramatic, almost gothic-romantic, style. The nominal first person narrator turns out to be an insignificant character--the only reason for the existence of the character is to justify the teaser.

"The Shadows" is filled with marvelous characterizations of police-persons and their families, but the value of most of the characterization fails because I have a poor memory for names, and have difficulty distinguishing the various more-or-less interchangeable police-persons.

TECHNICAL SNIPING

Monk, aka Quaker, parakeets do NOT have yellow on their wings. Indeed, their name comes from their rather drab gray chests. "Yellow winged parakeets, also wild in South Florida, do have a small touch of yellow on their wings.

In the South Florida area, there are no naturally beaches on the mainland suitable for seaturtles--so no seaturtles ever nested at "The Shadows", which appears to be based on "The Barnacle" which still exists.

It is true that Miami was a much smaller city in 1960, but it was still a substantial city, with a population over million--you could not "drive across Dade County in 20 minutes any time of the day"

Immokalee is NOT "West of Ocala".

VERDICT

One of the best Edna Buchanans, a very enjoyable read, filled with interesting characters, vivid descriptions, and a captivating plot.

This effort from Buchanan does a good job of using the local Miami flavor to separate it from other procedural efforts. The cold case elements as well as present day drama work well together. While the plot elements were anything but predictable, the prose was a bit tepid which kept it from being even better.

Edna Buchanan's novels never disappoint me, and this is no exception. Part mystery, part suspense thriller, part police procedural, this kept me turning the pages. The author is skilled at evoking the atmosphere of Miami and has a wonderful ear for dialogue.

I hadn't read this author in quite some time but remembered that I had liked what I had read so i bought this to read on a trip.

I admit my memory has faded with age because I found this book to be boring,ordinary and childish.