Customer Reviews

Sugar Skull: An Eve Diamond Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Eve Diamond is a reporter for the L.A. Times whose morning starts hectically when a father bursts into her offices trying to enlist help to find his missing daughter. His daughter experimented with squating, and in fact admired the squatting youth of L.A. so much she dated one, who was prime suspect in her murder. The same weekend Venus (won't try to spell part of name) Langdon was found floating in her swimming pool. And a pool cleaner was killed in an apparant drive by shooting.
Three aparantly unconnected homicides, yet Eve is determined to find the truth in all three.
Hamilton's style is amazing, having worked as a reporter she sure knows her subject, and there is a definite passion in her story-telling. This novel is much like Ms. Eve Diamond, compassionate, sardonic and witty. The pacing is amazing and Hamilton writes the L.A. youth with remarkable skill.
Overall an excellent second entry into the Eve Diamond Mythos.

The Eve Diamond series follows the exploits of an investigative reporter in Los Angeles. Eve lives in the artist commmunity of Los Feliz near downtown and specializes in stories that take her into ethnic communities. She also has a rapport with teens. This particular novel has Eve investigating homeless teens in Hollywood along with the music of the Mexican-American community.

Eve is a passionate truth seeker who has little private life and walks the edge of trouble. Her nose for a story leads her into difficult situations which she manages to maneuver to her advantage.

This series of novels still is in the promising stage. The stories are interesting but borders on a recital of the tale. Eve has just a little flatness in her character development that keeps me from bonding with her as much as I would like. On the other hand, I like the basics of the story--an independent, intelligent woman with a strong adventurer streak!

Eve Diamond is an L. A. Times reporter. One Sat. she is in the downtown office taking her rotation. In comes Vincent Chevalier frantically asking for her help to find his fifteen-year-old daughter Isabel. After doing some checks to make sure he is legit, she goes with him. He takes her to an abandoned building that he says his daughter comes to because her boyfriend, Finch, who is a squatter, lives there. Unfortunately they find her dead.

The police arrest Finch, but after talking to some of Isabel's friends, she isn't so sure he did it. They tell her about Scout, another squatter who lived in the building. When she finds her, she ends up taking Scout home with her and tries to help her as well as get information from her. Seems Scout not only stole from Eve, she left something behind.

Venus Dellaviglia Langdon is found dead in her pool. Her husband Carter Langdon, III, was running for mayor. Eve had recently spoke to their son as he was a friend of Isabel's. So Eve went out to their house to try to get more information on her death. She sneaks around the press line but gets caught. But before she is, she sees something that later everyone denies.

Ruben Aguilar is gunned down in front of his home. Eve ends up meeting with his brother Silvio doing a story about an amphitheater they run for Mexican music. He takes her to hear some bands. Eventually their relationship becomes more than friends. Is this a good thing?

As Even delves deeper into Isabel's life and those around her, she begins to find how things are connected. Can she put it all together without putting herself in danger?

This was the first book I've read by this author. I found it to be interesting and entertaining. I like Eve. She is a warm, hard-working character. It made her seem believable and real.

The story line is well written and the author definitely knows the newspaper trade as well as L.A. She has a real sense of the places she puts her characters.

I recommend this book.

Los Angeles Times reporter is working on the weekend homicide count when a flustered angry man races into the newsroom accusing the cops of indifference towards the disappearance of his daughter. To calm the father Vincent down, reporter Eve Diamond agrees to make inquiries into the vanishing of Isabel Chevalier.

However, as Eve starts looking into the disappearance and finishing her cataloguing the thirty plus known murders, the killing murder of socialite Dellaviglia Langdon sends shockwaves throughout the city. Dellaviglia's spouse Carter is running for mayor and his wife's body floating in her pool provide him a tremendous lift towards winning the race. Overnight he has become the overwhelming favorite as everyone sympathizes with the grieving politician. That is everyone except Eve who via a pair of Speedo sees links to the promise she made to the distraught father and to another dead person that leads to corruption at the highest level of the city and could change the dynamics of the mayoral race.

This is an engaging investigative tale that displays how a high profile case can overwhelm anything else on the plate. The store line is very invigorating as Eve paints a vivid but somewhat ugly picture of the mean streets of Los Angeles that interconnect. Eve makes the tale work as she tries to clean up her home city even when her bosses, the police, and the mayor demand she back off.

Harriet Klausner

Vincent Chevalier's upset. So upset that he barges into the Los Angeles Times office and begs reporter, Eve Diamond, to help him find his missing fifteen-year-old daughter, Isobel. After a quick background check, Eve cautiously follows Vincent to the squat his daughter's been known to frequent with a kid named Finch. They find Isobel's body, but there's no sign of Finch. Eve's sympathy for Chevalier, and the potential for a good story, prompt her to explore the world of homeless teens and the rich kids who hang with them.

Eve's research leads her to one of Isobel's friends, Paolo, whose father is running for mayor. But the murder of Paolo's mother turns this subplot into an intriguing story itself. Eve's also been assigned to write an article about the Aguilar family who run a Mexican All-Star Rodeo. She winds up with more than she bargained for when Ruben Aguilar is shot and Eve becomes a little too involved with his brother, Silvio.

Part of this novel focuses on the different ways family members cope with the sudden loss of loved one. But SUGAR SKULL is much more than this. It's a well-crafted, thought-provoking story about people, rich and poor, doing whatever it takes to get what they want, or need. Author, Denise Hamilton, does a terrific job of showing us what happens when the worlds of rich and poor collide.

One of the most striking aspects of this book is that every character, including Eve, is far from perfect. The question becomes what price do they pay for exposing these darker traits? To find out, read this superb novel.

"Sugar Skull" is the 2nd novel I have read by author, Denise Hamilton. I enjoyed reading this novel a lot and found it difficult to put down. It is fast paced, witty & edgy.

What I enjoy most about "Sugar Skull" is how Ms. Hamilton is able to weave several stories into to one novel ("Sugar Skull has teenage squatters, a mayoral race, and Mexican American music) and tie it altogether into one nicely wrapped package. Also, Eve Diamond, the main character in this novel, is well developed and very likable.

I, too, could not put this book down. Ms. Hamilton's writing style (one of the best), coupled with the great plot and interesting descriptions of Los Angeles (I also live in the L.A. area) were great. I look forward to reading much more of Eve Diamond's adventures.

Denise Hamilton takes you on an extraordinary ride through Los Angeles from its seamy underside to the opulent estates, into the territory of WASPs and yuppies and on east to the teaming streets of the Latinos. It is evident that Hamilton knows these streets well and she can turn a phrase equally as well. For this trip alone 'Sugar Skulls' is worth your time. Hamilton has also created an astute and gritty protagonist in Eve Diamond the LA Times investigative reporter we first met in 'Jasmine Trade'and her story which ties together three unrelated deaths that occur in the one weekend is suspenseful and compelling.

In addition to the murders she must resolve Eve is caught up in the sordid underground lives of street kids, in particular one lost girl, Scout, whom she befriends and the wealthy teenagers who enable them. She is also attracted to the Latino businessman whose brother's death may be the connection to the other murders.

Hamilton's understanding of investigative procedure and her care in detailing Eve's complex background and personality make this story fascinating and enjoyable.

I'm not a big reader of mystery novels, especially American mysteries, but I will always read Hamilton's works because I believe in supporting local writers. Eve Diamond's home is just over the hill from me, and Hamilton writes of areas that are all too familiar to me. I think this is why I loved this novel; you can relate so readily to its familiar suroundings. The Jasmine Trade was good, but this novel is far more accomplished and much more intricately plotted, also, you'll just never guess how the murder mystery plays out.

Los Angeles is portrayed as a city so diverse, and so disparate in so many ways. And Hamilton has such an indelible handle on what makes Los Angeles "tick" as a city. I'm looking forward to reading some more adventures of Eve Diamond, for Hamilton has created an exciting, passionate and gutsy protagonist.

An entertaining and very enjoyable read!

Michael

Having grown up in Los Angeles, I love reading about all the places that I've been or heard about. Denise does a wonderful job of creating settings that allow you to see where her heroine, Eve, is having all her adventures. I love the way Sugar Skull lets the reader see into several different cultures, from kids who live on the street to the Hispanic music scene. And best of all, this is a real page turner with a complicated mystery.