Rating: 
Summary: Messy Dixie
Review: Dennis Lenahan performs from an 80-foot tower, diving into a puddle of water. Right now, he is performing at Billy Darwin?s Indian gambling casino in Tunica, Mississippi. For an opener, his derelict rigger Floyd gets killed. Dennis watches this from the top of his tower and also knows who the two killers are. And now things become complicated. We have ex-deputy Arlen Novis who, with his sidekicks, runs the local drug trade. Trying to muscle in is Robert Taylor, recently arrived from Detroit, where he used to run a youth gang. With him is Germano ?Jerry? Mularoni, specialist in blowing up things. Commentary from the sidelines is given by Charly, a former baseball player. Now it?s everybody against everybody, with Dennis in the middle. Even state cop John Rau becomes involved.How do we sort it out? By having a re-enactment of the Civil War Battle of Brice?s Roads. Everybody dress up in authentic costume, and let the battle start. Both author and reader have a lot of fun with this story. It is a magnificent sendup of Dixie and its hard core Civil War followers. Mr. Leonard has done it again..
Rating: 
Summary: Not Leonard's best, but a worthwhile read & memorable.
Review: When Elmore Leonard is on a roll, he's just about the best there is. This isn't his strongest work, in my opinion, but it's still a fun story with memorable characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Firing Blanks
Review: The master of dialogue misfires this time out. A strangely passive protagonist mixes with civil war reenactors with little heat or passion.
Rating:
Summary: More style than substance
Review: I have to disagree with most of the reviewers on this page. I've long been an Elmore Leonard fan and appreciate his lean writing style and clever plotting. But it seems to me that with his last couple of novels he's been leaning heavily on his style and shorting us on substance. All flash but not much you can sink your teeth into. Compare this novel with his earlier stuff and it comes up sadly lacking. I hope he gets back to form with his next book.
Rating:
Summary: Love, betrayal, murder and raw nerve..........
Review: Take a high dive performer, the Dixie Mafia, some Detroit drug dealers and put them all together in a Civil War re-enactment and what do you have? Another truly great novel from Elmore Leonard. The author takes an unusual assortment of people and collects them into a fast reading, attention holding tale of love, betrayal, murder and raw nerve. The author seems to effortlessly have captured the dialect and provincial patterns of speech for each character giving the story an authentic flavor and a touch of grittiness that brings the novel into a life of it's own. Elmore Leonard is a terrific artist of the written word.
Rating:
Summary: the touch of the master
Review: This is not Elmore Leonard's best novel, but it has some of his best
lines ever and in Robert Taylor we may have found Leonard's best
character since Chili Palmer. A civil war reprised, with the Detroit outfit taking over the drug
turf of the Dixie mafia, it culminates--exquisitely--in a reenactment
of a real civil war battle. Who but Elmore Leonard would come up with
that and who but Elmore Leonard would people his comic drama with
such a rich array of characters with thick heads and overactive
glands? The master loses points for the convolutions of the plot and the
occasional difficulty the reader has in distinguishing the many
characters. Leonard knows right where he's going, but we have to hold
on very tight to stay with him. Nevertheless, this is where the writers go to school--to hear a
character's snores described as 'zoo' sounds, and to see the details
of professional diving and the technicalities of civil war uniforms
and ordnance described with perfect accuracy. N.B.: not for airplane reading; this one requires your full attention
(and repays it).
Rating:
Summary: the master's touch
Review: This is not Elmore Leonard's best novel, but it has some of his best lines ever and in Robert Taylor we may have found Leonard's best character since Chili Palmer. A civil war reprised, with the Detroit outfit taking over the drug turf of the Dixie mafia, it culminates--exquisitely--in a reenactment of a real civil war battle. Who but Elmore Leonard would come up with that and who but Elmore Leonard would people his comic drama with such a rich array of characters with thick heads and overactive glands? The master loses points for the convolutions of the plot and the occasional difficulty the reader has in distinguishing the many characters. Leonard knows right where he's going, but we have to hold on very tight to stay with him. Nevertheless, this is where the writers go to school--to hear a character's snores described as 'zoo' sounds, and to see the details of professional diving and the technicalities of civil war uniforms and ordnance described with perfect accuracy. N.B.: not for airplane reading; this one requires your full attention (and repays it).
Rating: 
Summary: Really boring.
Review: Yawn. Snore. Wake me up when it's over. Sorry, I'm not one of the self-annointed "official" reviewers that litter this site with their inane analyses. Spending twenty-five bucks on Leonard's worst book in ages is a serious error. (And I thought Pagan Babies was great.) The title should be the tip-off. Tishomingo! Sounds like what you do in an outhouse when the moon isn't out. If you want to go hard-cover, try George Pelecanos' new book. The few lines about bluesman Robert Johnson were the only redeeming factors in this soporific entry into Leonard's canon. Elmore! Respect your fans. ...
Rating:
Summary: The South Shall Rise Again! Oops, maybe not.
Review: A twisted, funny, dark plot with very real characters Overview:
High diver witnesses murder and gets in the middle of mayhem involving the Dixie Mafia, a gangster from Detroit, and a Civil War reenactment. Opinion:
Since I am from the area, the setting of this story (Tunica, MS) helped my enjoyment of this book. Leonard's character development is right on. The array of personalities interwoven with twisted plots seem to be a Leonard trademark. I reads much like 'Get Shorty' with the plot matched to a different setting and characters consistent with the new setting. If you enjoy serious books, this is not for you....pure dark humormed entertainment here. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: I have a confession...I can't follow Leonard's plotlines
Review: Every word Elmore Leonard ever wrote is engaging and clever...but true confessions time, I don't understand about half of it. The plot of Tishomingo Blues has something to do with some Detroit gangsters using a Civil War battle re-enactment as the venue for shooting up some Mississippi gangsters. Why they didn't just take a gun to the offending parties, I can't say. It would have saved at least 100 pages. About half way through I lost track of who was doing what to whom. I finished it but I still don't know. If you crave resolution in the plots to your thrillers you had better avoid this one.
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