Customer Reviews

Hex: A Ruby Murphy Mystery

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2 star:		(1)
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A chance meeting in a subway launches Ruby Murphy into the behind-the-scenes world of horse racing as she investigates a wandering boyfriend for a mysterious blond. Ruby is a likeable character and she wanders a part of New York City not often depicted in fiction. In between her adventures, she takes yoga and piano lessons and neglects her real job at a Coney Island museum near her home. The story is told in several different voices, a technique that adds richness to the story. I hope there are more books starring Ruby Murphy.

A lively foray into the life of the stubborn and irrepresible Ruby Murphy. Her peculiar outlook on this bittersweet dumbshow, her wide-armed acceptance of all that is mean-spirited and foul is inspirational. I will gambol with Ms Estep's maniacs anytime.

There's plenty of things about this book that set it apart from other works in the mystery genre, but if I had to sum it up into one thing it would be this: humanity. Ruby Murphy is endearingly, refreshingly HUMAN, as are the rest of the cast of this story, and we're allowed to get more than one perspective of what is going on, thanks to the creative use of different narrators, all of whom are wonderfully - and believably - eccentric. Maggie Estep breathes fresh life into the genre and leaves me wishing that some of her characters lived in my neighborhood, which is not something I can say for any other mystery I've read. Usually in a mystery you can't wait to get to the end to find out what happens, and while this one is definitely a page-turner, I was so in love with the characters and the world they inhabit, I didn't want it to end. The prose is direct yet very poetic and vivid. This book is a breath of fresh air - and an especially tasty read for horse lovers, as the author lovingly illustrates via Joe the racehorse what makes these graceful creatures so appealing. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

I was attracted to Hex because I always look for books written by, for, or about those of us who have struggled. Hex features Ruby Murphy, an amateur private eye who is a reformed alcoholic and knows what it's like to live somewhere else than the rest of the world, somewhere where the horizon is smaller. In Estep's lovely phrase, "Coney Island, where I live, is either the end or the beginning of the line, depending on the direction you're traveling." But Hex is very much the work of a beginner. Estep's exposition can be clumsy and her characters don't have much depth. Ruby reads Anna Karenina and listens to classical music and "is fanatical in her love for animals and her misanthropic friends." Though it seems these characteristics may be drawn from Estep's life, it is still true that intelligent (but never intellectual) wounded loners with a private appreciation for high culture and tribal loyalties to their friends and pets are a fictional cliche. (See Andrew Vachss's private eye Burke for a better rendition of these traits.) Other characters are similarly cliched or unconvincing. And as a classical music fan, I needed Estep's musicians and music students to demonstrate a more detailed knowledge of the music. I won't finish this book, though I'll be willing to give Estep another chance in the future.

I am not ordinarily uplifted by reading murder mysteries,but there is something strangely restorative about Hex.
The heroine,Ruby Murphy,holds cats,racehorses,rottweilers,
vietnam vets and carnies in a unity of regard and appreciation,
and it gives the whole story an intelligent kind of innocence.
To wit,"...then gently exploring my hair with his mouth,lightly nibbling but not using his teeth.I allow myself a few moments burying my nose in his neck and breathing in the warm smell of him.....",
The nibbler is equine, not human.
The bad guys in this story have a grace-challenged,junkyard dog feel to them.Joe the racehorse has adeep,Christlike resonance
to him.I wouldn't mind living this book for a while.

Maggie Estep's quirky humor, smooth, crafted prose and multi-dimensional characters make HEX a treat to read and Estep's next books a delight to anticipate. I've never read a crime novel before but HEX is a genre-buster and well worth the (all-too-short) time it takes to read it. Brava, Maggie!