The Undertaker's Widow

Rating:
Summary: Better than Grisham!
Review: When I first read Gone,But Not Forgotten I knew I had to add Phillip Margolin to my must read list. The Undertaker's Widow was a joy to read. The plot kept you guessing untill the very end. And the ending wiil suprise you. One of the best book that I read this year!

Rating:
Summary: What's With the Dialogue?
Review: Who wrote the dialogue in this book? Are we sure this novel was written by the author who gave us Gone, But Not Forgotten and the Burning Man? Does he have a child in middle school who perhaps came upon the manuscript and decided to have a bit of practice? And where was the editor in all this? I expected so much more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: Margolin not cashing in or selling out...but what?
Review: Yes, I too have read all of Phillip Margolin's books, starting with his best, Gone But Not Forgotten, and then going backwards to his first effort. Maturity is a great attribute in a writer, and Mr. Margolin has certainly matured, but why has he written this book? As an avid reader of Margolin firmly over Grisham and forsaking all others, I, like one of his characters, am searching for the answer to the real mystery: why write this book? This novel is confusing, and I don't mean complicated. Characters are absentmindedly tossed to and fro like deck chairs on the Titanic. The plot is interesting enough, but it borrows a major part of the Firm that any fiction reader will see coming far before the character sees it. (If poor Quinn had read The Firm, he would have cancelled the trip to St. Jerome!) I feel as pained as Judge Quinn putting old Gideon in jail for two years. I love Phillip Margolin's books, and I'll buy the next one. But I have to be honest and say that the only joy I got out of this book was in saying that Phillip Margolin is the ONLY author I've read the entire works of, with the exception of William Shakespeare. (And they made me do that in the English department to get my college diploma in English). The usage of ramshackle twice in 50 pages makes it looked like the author was rushed by his editor. I think that's the real mystery in The Undertaker's Widow: a book had to be written. Case solved. Back to work!