Customer Reviews

The Undertaker's Widow

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I added Margolin to my list of "must-read" authors after reading "Gone, But Not Forgotten" and have enjoyed reading his entire collection. Margolin's maturity as a fiction writer is evident when you go back to "Heartstone" and read his works consecutively.

I do think, however, that Margolin's recent efforts have been slightly less enjoyable than the previous. "Gone But Not Forgotten" was a 10, "After Dark" was excellent too, I gave it a strong 9. "The Burning Man", while good, was not up to the previous two novels standards and I rated it an 8. Now comes "The Undertaker's Widow".

Do not misunderstand me, it is an enjoyable read with several plot twists - actually, too many in my opinion. It is as if Margolin was trying his best to create scenarios where anybody could have "done it". It is like one of those books where you create your own ending - one could re-write the ending of this book several different ways with different characters being the "culprit" and not compromise the integrity of the story line.

Mr. Margolin, it WAS a good read, but we expect more!

Ellen Crease, Oregon State Senator, former crack shot and policewoman, is found holding her dead husband's body in her arms while an intruder lies dead on the floor nearby. Her husband, Lamar Hoyt had a history of running around on his wives and then trading them in on a new model as the old one became tiresome. His son hated him for not giving him a bigger piece of the Undertaking business that had created the family fortune.

A new and relatively inexperienced, but brilliant, Judge is assigned the case after having been newly transferred to the homicide rotation. Judge Quinn is idealistic and in love with the law ... maybe more so than his wife who wants power and money more that Judge Quinn appears to. A subplot takes place when Judge Quinn travels to an island for a convention only find at the last minute that his wife cannot accompany him. She has been tricked into making another trip so that Judge Quinn can be seduced on his trip by a call girl who is eventually killed. The judge proves to be naive and gullable.

The book begins with the fact that Ellen Crease did shoot her husband. It has more than enough characters to be somewhat confusing, but the suspense is sustained by the fact that we don't know WHY Lamar Hoyt died until we reach the end. And then we find out about the mystery bad guy. Read the book. This doesn't make five starts, but it's a good read.

This is an exciting and well written mystery, with a couple of flaws. The story is of a judge who presides over a murder case with political ramifications. His marriage is shaky as the book begins, and there is a plot by some people with interests in the case to capitalize on his marital problems by setting him up and blackmailing him. The plot is complex and interesting enough to maintain the interest of most mystery fans, but there are a couple of problems. Probably the main problem is that I knew the guilty party almost immediately, purely on the basis of the political philosophies of the characters [and I'm being deliberately vague here to avoid giving things away]. When a book is as predictably politically correct as that, it is a major drawback. Secondly, as many other reviewers have mentioned, the plot to blackmail the judge was so transparent that it is inconceivable that anyone smart enough to be a judge would not have seen through it.

Neither of those problems prevented me from enjoying the book. They just caused me to feel some annoyance when the book was finished. As is so often the case, I want more flexibility in Amazon's rating system, and would have given it three and a half stars if that were allowed. So read this book, but don't expect a masterpiece.

Yes, I too have read all of Phillip Margolin's books, starting with his best, Gone But Not Forgotten, and then going backwards to his first effort. Maturity is a great attribute in a writer, and Mr. Margolin has certainly matured, but why has he written this book? As an avid reader of Margolin firmly over Grisham and forsaking all others, I, like one of his characters, am searching for the answer to the real mystery: why write this book? This novel is confusing, and I don't mean complicated. Characters are absentmindedly tossed to and fro like deck chairs on the Titanic. The plot is interesting enough, but it borrows a major part of the Firm that any fiction reader will see coming far before the character sees it. (If poor Quinn had read The Firm, he would have cancelled the trip to St. Jerome!) I feel as pained as Judge Quinn putting old Gideon in jail for two years. I love Phillip Margolin's books, and I'll buy the next one. But I have to be honest and say that the only joy I got out of this book was in saying that Phillip Margolin is the ONLY author I've read the entire works of, with the exception of William Shakespeare. (And they made me do that in the English department to get my college diploma in English). The usage of ramshackle twice in 50 pages makes it looked like the author was rushed by his editor. I think that's the real mystery in The Undertaker's Widow: a book had to be written. Case solved. Back to work!

Wham, right off the bat, Lamar Hoyt is killed. Now to find out who did him in. His widow is Ellen Crease, she is arrested and has a hearing. Did she kill him? Judge Richard Quinn gets involved as he hears the case. Benjamin Gage is running against Ellen Crease for Senator, did he hire someone to kill Hoyt and Crease or to kill Hoyt and cause Crease to take the blame? Judge Richard does a no-no with Andrea Chapman or is she Andrea Chapman? The book takes many twist and turns as the police try to find the killer. It will hold your attention. Some of the trial apperances drag on a little long. But wait, the ending will surprise you, it did me, but then I am not as swift on the pick up as some of the other reviewers. I have read several Margolin book and I like this one and "The Burning Man" better than any of the others, so far. If you want a book that will hold your attention, with lots of twists and a surprise ending, I think you will like this.

When I first read Gone,But Not Forgotten I knew I had to add Phillip Margolin to my must read list. The Undertaker's Widow was a joy to read. The plot kept you guessing untill the very end. And the ending wiil suprise you. One of the best book that I read this year!

Following the success of Vanishing Acts (2011) Margolin presents another well etched legal thriller that engages listeners with the opening lines. The lines, of course, are read by the multi-talented Eric Dawe who delivers a perfectly paced, easy-to-listen-to narration.

Judge Richard Quinn is no stranger to headline-grabbing homicide cases, but this one may top all the others. Ellen Crease is running for the U.S. Senate, and to date it's a tight race. She's obviously a capable woman - more than that as is evidenced the second she shoots the intruder who has murdered her rich husband. That seems clear cut, obviously self-defense. But, why was her husband murdered? What was it about the man who made a fortune running mortuaries that would cause anyone to kill him?

In the hands of the gifted Margolin it is never the obvious. The couple have a son who is not mentioned in his father's will. Does the widow herself have political enemies who would go this far?

It doesn't take long for the good Judge to realize that he has become ensnared in a miasma of illegalities - blackmail, and murder. What will he do, what can he do?

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

ISBN 0553580884 - There are few books I enjoy more than those involving cold-blooded murder, and this one says "cold-blooded murder" right on the cover - a match made in heaven? No, sadly. More like a nap made in heaven!

The husband of senate candidate Ellen Crease is murdered in their bedroom. Her immediate response? To kill the killer on the spot, giving her quite a bounce in the polls. Her step-son, however, is certain that she's behind his father's death. Richard Quinn, an almost extraordinarily honest judge, is asked to hear the case, a case that seems tailor-made for a man who will dole out justice to anyone - even another judge.

Lou Anthony investigates the crime. Anthony's a cop who knew Ellen when she was on the force and he's the moral equal of Quinn; he's not about to let the fact that he's friendly with Crease taint his investigation. Various twists and turns, from murder to blackmail, muddy the waters and Judge Quinn, who'd thought his greatest fight would be to save his marriage, finds himself fighting for his life.

There's this weird name thing going on in this book, and it's distracting. Men's names include: Lou Anthony, Leroy Dennis, James Allen, Richard Quinn, Frederick Gideon, Ryan Clark, Jerome Ross, Kyle Fletcher and Art Bradford. Margolin's habit of giving his male characters first names as last names draws attention to that weird pattern and away from the story. The story itself is the sort that is so convoluted, at times, that the reader ought to have no trouble at all staying a step or three ahead of the twists. Not a bad summer read, it's quick, easy and painless... but a bit boring.

- AnnaLovesBooks

I flew through this book after having read a few slow and dull novels. This was very entertaining and fast paced and even though I felt I knew "whodunnit" from the beginning (I did), there were lots of twists and turns that created doubts. On the down side, a few portions (such as the St. Jerome interlude) seemed too drawn out and at times I was annoyed at Quinn's naivte about being set up, etc. But all in all I found this a good tale and will probably read other books by this author.

Very exciting book, unpredictable till the end. I will definitely look for more books by this author. Don't start reading it unless you have time to read the whole book!