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House of Blues
  

House of Blues (Hardcover)

by Julie Smith (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

In her latest adventure, which manages to be both wickedly paced and haunting, New Orleans police detective Skip Langdon (last seen in New Orleans Beat) faces some of her darkest hours and comes of age. Arthur Hebert, a prominent restaurateur and domineering patriarch hated by his children, doesn't attend the opening of his restaurant in New Orleans' first casino?because he's been gunned down at home while enjoying his usual Monday evening meal of red beans and rice. Hebert's daughter, his son-in-law and his baby granddaughter have vanished. In the race to find the killer and the missing family, Skip calls on the denizens of the New Orleans underworld: prostitutes who are good mothers; graduates of exclusive high schools who have hit rock bottom; ministers with no souls; yuppie heroin addicts; and a memorably chilling villain in the person of the drop-dead evil gangster, Delavon. Smith carries off a tricky balancing act, rendering Skip heroic while imbuing her with a credibly textured emotional life. But the real star of this superb effort is New Orleans, which has never seemed more dangerous or alluring?or less easy.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal

From the Edgar Award-winning author of New Orleans Beat (LJ 6/1/94) comes another installment in her mystery series featuring bayou homicide detective Skip Langdon. This time, a famed restaurateur has been knocked off, and Langdon must go hunting not only for the murderer but for some missing heirs.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars New Orleans, Jan 24 2004
By K. Turner "kbt24" (Hartford, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I love Julie Smith books because of the great New Orleans feeling they give. The Skip Langdon books are my favorite.
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3.0 out of 5 stars author's trends are disturbing, Sep 29 2002
I have read most of Julie Smith's Skip Langdon novels, and enjoyed some of them. Her later ones are starting to bother me. There are way too many subplots going on, at the middle of this book I had forgotten all about the main thread of the story until the author suddenly brought it up again. She also uses multiple points of view, which works in some books, usually long epic stories, but in a short mystery it is jarring and distracting. I see some reviewers of 82 Desire questioned whether she was also doing racial stereotyping or at least not portraying black characters realistically. To be honest, I wondered about that also, both in that book and House of Blues. I am white and have only had two brief visits to New Orleans, one in 1969 and one in 1995, so I don't have personal experience to draw on. However, it seems to me that if anyone is going to write about something they dont know, or that they themselves are not, they should at least run it by people who do know to make sure the story has some credibility. Based solely on my reading, I also felt many of her black characters appeared stereotyped and two-dimensional. She seems to be trying to draw an all-inclusive portrait of the city and its population, but it would be good to know that readers were getting an accurate picture.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Big disappointment after New Orleans Mourning..., Jul 30 2002
I loved New Orleans Mourning, so I wanted to read more.
Sorry I did...not that I won't read another Skip Langdon
novel...I only gave this three stars for the main character,
because she's so real and so loveable.

But the editing of this book was a slap-dash job; I got very impatient with the inappropriate character responses: things slowed up when they should have been fast; and vice versa. I found myself doing something I hate to do with a book...skipping ahead just to get it over with.

I'll try Axeman's Jazz next, and if that doesn't work, I'll chalk
it up to someone who wrote one great novel and then, because it was popular, was forced to keep producing work that was a shadow of its original self.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Best Yet!
I have read many of Julie Smith's books and this has got to be her best work! The story is engaging, the characters are rich, the whole book is a treat! Read more
Published on Jan 19 2002 by A. Edwards

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Mystery Novel
I am not yet to the end of this book and I have already ordered two more books by Julie Smith. Her writing is excellent. Read more
Published on Feb 2 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing characters and a strong plot...
... always make for the best mysteries. None of the characters are dull, Skip, the Hebert family and the always irrepressible Jimmie Dee keep you turning the pages. Read more
Published on April 9 1998

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