Take a Number [Import] [Hardcover]

Janet Dawson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: UK: Headline 1994; New Ed edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747212066
• ISBN-13: 978-0747212065
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

More About the Author

In elementary school, Janet Dawson wrote mysteries in longhand on lined binder paper, influenced by those blue-backed Nancy Drew books she devoured. Now Janet writes about private investigator Jeri Howard. Her first book, Kindred Crimes, won the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America contest for Best Private Eye Novel, and was nominated for Shamus, Anthony and Macavity awards. Other books include Till The Old Men Die, Take A Number, Don't Turn Your Back On The Ocean, Nobody's Child, A Credible Threat, Where The Bodies Are Buried, A Killing At The Track, and the latest entry in the series, Bit Player.

Janet was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Colorado. With a journalism degree from the University of Colorado, she worked as a newspaper reporter, then joined the Navy. An enlisted journalist, she wrote news and features in public affairs offices in Guam and Pensacola, FL. As an officer, her duties took her to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives in Alameda. Janet has a master's degree in history from California State University East Bay and can't think of anything she wants to study enough to go back to grad school. She currently works at the University of California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Local flavor adds to the enjoyment, November 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Take a Number (A Jeri Howard Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

Jeri Howard is one of those "believable" characters - she has to work pretty hard to find her answers, and she doesn't often get the thrill and glamour of "traditional" PI's. The book's pace was moderate, most of the characters were well developed, their personalities grew as Jeri learned more about them. I think what I enjoyed most about the book, though, was the setting. I liked reading about the characters bobbing about in my neighborhood, and actually visualizing the areas they visit and drive through. I get the same pleasure from reading the Kat Colorado books, though I think Dawson is generally a better read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Commendable private eye series, February 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Take a Number (A Jeri Howard Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

I tend to agree with the previous reviewer, both on the number of stars and the developed characters. I enjoyed "Don't Turn Your Back on the Ocean" more; possibly because it was set around Monterey, CA where I spent some years. "Take a Number" fleshes out some of the characters so that you admire or sympathize with them or have disdain and contempt for them. Jeri Howard starts out with a case of hunting for missing money (hidden assets in a divorce case) and ends up investigating a murder. Her client, Ruth Franklin Raynor, is suspected of murdering her estranged husband but there are lots of other suspects with plenty of motive and less than ironclad alibis. Janet Dawson's strengths seem to be in developing her settings and her characters. The plots are okay too but not extraordinary. (I was going to say "earthshaking" but seeing as how the mysteries are set in California that might induce the author to bring in an earthquake in her next book!) I enjoy the series and still have a number of them to look forward to reading.