A wonderful read, as always, shedding new light on our tragic national conflict. Abel Jones, although living with violence in his past, and unable to avoid it in the present, is a man of great integrity, faith, steadfastness--and humor, both intentional and not. A great hero, though the last to consider himself such.

A word of warning: DO NOT begin this book with your breakfast, as I did. Nor with any other meal you plan to eat within the next--oh, several days. Particularly not seafood. But let that bide...

Seldom have there been so many varied reviews as there are for this one very nice, well-written book. The negative ones, had I read them before buying the book, could have put me off it--and that would have been my considerable loss. The word "literate" in a blurb written by author Earlene Fowler told me I would probably like it--and I did. Toward the end, the feats and foibles of the protagonist, Carolyn Blue, had me laughing out loud--something that usually happens only with Janet Evanovich's books. But this intrepid, but rather innocent, little lady, Mrs. Blue, got into enough trouble for Stepanie Plum and Amelia Peabody combined.

The travelogue and food critique was a plus, and I certainly didn't feel that New Orleans had been maligned in any way. In fact, my appetite was whetted to go back and try some places I've missed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this comic outing, and can't wait to buy the next two or three. Having just finished reading a couple of grim and gritty, down and dirty mysteries, this one was a welcomed change of pace. Face it--it's all in the taste at the time!

Martha Grimes either hits the nail squarely on the head, or misses it completely. This title: big miss! A Chinese smorgasbord of a book (if there could be such a thing): take one from column A, six from column B, skip column C...
The premise was intriguing--wartime London and something of Jury's past explained, but the book was thoroughly disjointed, with unnecessary subplots and unbelievable characters. When I turned the final page (at long last!), my only reaction was, "What was that?" Disappointed? Yes!