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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent entry in this series about Eastport, Maine, January 5, 2003
By A Customer
Unhinged is an excellent read for several reasons. First, the book provides a real flavor of Maine, and is clearly written by someone who loves Eastport. The descriptions are vivid and authentic; the author never portrays Eastport as paradise (to the contrary), but one can almost smell the docks and hear the waves crashing and the foghorns blowing. Second, the characterizations in the book are a joy to read. Sarah Graves manages to convey the characterizations as her first-person detective and heroine, Jacobia, perceives them. This gives the reader the same sense of discovery that Jake feels when she learns more about the people involved. Third, the plot was enjoyable. I figured out quite early on who was behind the nasty events in the book, particularly in light of the periodic implicit references to Occam's Razor (the simplest solution. . . .). I did not figure out why, though, so there was some suspense left. (I cannot say any more without giving too much away.) The plot, while enjoyable, was perhaps the weakest aspect of the novel; I periodically wanted to smack Jacobia who seemed to be missing the most obvious clues. But I am more than willing to forgive some weakness in the plot to get that flavor of Maine and the characters in Eastport! I am also willing to forgive the excessive use of colons. Colons should NOT be used to end paragraphs. But I ignored them in my general delight at this book. One last positive attribute: I loved the home-repair piece of this book. I live in an old house, not old by Eastport's standards, but old enough to allow me to appreciate the bottomless need for repairs that such houses generate. Sarah Graves manages to be funny and wry, at the same time conveying the general sense of despair that a house can cause in its owner, as every repair generates the need for more, and more serious, action. This book was an excellent read and I recommend it highly.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
riveting amateur sleuth, January 17, 2003
Jacobse "Jake" Tiptree lives on the small island of Eastport off the coast of Maine in a home that needs serious renovation otherwise it will soon crumble into nothingness. Not being a millionaire, Jake does as much of the repairs as possible but when she discovers the foundation needs replacing, she advertises for a stone mason. Lian Ash answers the advertisement and Jake hires him on the spot because his rates appear reasonable. At about the same time Jake hires Lian, the town's most despised gossip, Harriet Hollingsworth, disappears and Harry Markle, a retired NYPD detective, buys the house. Strange things begin to happen on the island like Jake's son getting hurt in a car accident because the brake hose was cut and Jake's husband being injured by a bullet made to explode. Harry thinks it is the work of the serial killer that murdered his wife and girlfriend as well as other police officer's relatives. Jake and her friend Ellie don't buy into that theory and start their own investigation, a move, which brings them and their families closer to death. UNHINGED is a riveting amateur sleuth mystery filled with enough red herrings to keep the reader totally befuddled until the author chooses to identify the killer. After reading this novel, those fans interested in buying a house will want to purchase something new so they don't have the aggravating repairs the heroine is forced to deal with, sometimes with hilarious results. Sarah Grave imbues her work with a subtle sense of humor so that the tension level of the story line never rises to an unbearable level. Harriet Klausner
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great home repair, middling mystery, June 2, 2003
It's a bad couple of days for Jacobia (Jake) Tiptree and her family. After falling off a ladder while working on her old house's gutters, Jake's son is involved in a truck accident, her husband is nearly killed by an exploding shotgun shell, and she discovers major foundation problems. She also decides that the vanished woman down the street must have been killed and it's up to Jake and her friend Ellie to solve the mystery. A questionable foundation man, annoying ex-husband, con-man ecologist, and a cop who seems to think that everything is about him add to the complexity. Author Sarah Graves seems to know her home repair. For anyone (like me) who has attempted to rennovate an old house, many of Jake's frustrations will ring true. As a loving mother, abandoned child, and hardworking sleuth, Jake Tiptree makes a sympathetic character. I found the mystery in UNHINGED to be a bit over the top without being funny. The killer's motives are illogical (admittedly he/she was crazy, but still) and few serious mystery readers will be thrown off by the rather weak red-herrings that Graves offers. All of Jake's sleuthing doesn't really lead to much except an exploration into the culture of Eastport, Maine (admittedly, Eastport, Maine seems pretty interesting). I would have liked to see more action on the part of Jake, more logical action, and especially action that had a direct bearing on solving the mystery.
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