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Rating: 
Summary: I thought this was good-romance and mystery combined
Review: Even though they have been married twice, it is obvious that the couple is still on their honeymoon. So when one of Claire Clairborne's salon clients invites her and her spouse Dan to spend time at a deluxe resort near Biloxi for free, the couple quickly accepts the kind offer. At the same time and place, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Beauty Pageant is being held. However, they quickly realize that their so-called gratis stay has a high price. The owners, Shelby and Tinker Bell invited the couple because they anticipated problems with the redneck Mafia. The state is about to pass a bill legalizing gambling and the local mob wants to control all the existing resorts that could easily be converted into casinos. They will do anything, including murder, to intimidate the owners of these properties. When murder does occur, Claire and Dan begin to investigate even though their actions leave them in danger. Although this book is a mystery with the emphasis being on solving the murders, REDNECK RIVIERA has plenty of romantic elements to satisfy the romantic intrigue crowd. The sexual antics of the lead couple turns an ordinary who-done-it into a steamy sizzler. This novel is a fun romp that should provide Sophie Dunbar with much kudos for creating a tale that crosses genre lines while pleasing fans of both. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was very disappointed in this book. It was not as good as her last.
Rating: 
Summary: Sophie Dunbar - talented wordsmith
Review: In this, the 2nd of the Eclaire mysteries, Sophie Dunbar continues to leave me in awe of her way with words. Aside from the enjoyable tale of mystery and steamy romance between Claire and her hunky hubby, Dan, Ms. Dunbar's wordsmithing ability leaves me applauding her efforts. Rarely do I read such well-crafted scenes of high indignity and outrage without resorting to profanity. The story itself is pure camp, whacky, irreverant, sexy and spicy (without being overly graphic). While not set in Claire's hometown of New Orleans, the story nevertheless is entertaining with just the right mix of secondary characters to add flavor but not overwhlem the mystery.
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Summary: Dunbar's Infamous "Missing Episode" !
Review: REDNECK RIVIERA was written as the second book in the Eclaire mystery series (between Behind Eclaire's Doors and A Bad Hair Day), and very nearly didn't make it into print. But the author's persistence in finding a new publisher and sticking with this, her favorite book in the series, have paid off. In REDNECK RIVIERA, Claire and Dan's second honeymoon turns into a deadly gamble for love and money. Claire and Dan Claiborne suspect there's a catch when rich and stingy Mrs. Shelby Bell invites them to stay at the Bell Sands, her oceanfront resort east of Biloxi, Mississippi. Sure enough, Claire and Dan arrive at the hotel to be greeted by torrential rain and a beauty pageant spinning madly out of control. Instead of sunshine and surfside romance, it's more stormy weather for the Claibornes as they attempt to discover who's sabotaging Miss Gulf Coast. When the beauties are threatened by a series of beastly homicides, Claire and Dan get too close to the truth and the murderer cuts them adrift in a boat on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mercy of yet another killer . . . a hurricane named Babe. "Pure enchantment from first word to last." --Neil McGaughey, author of A Corpse by Any Other Name "Claire and Dan are a Nick and Nora Charles for the 90s." --Washington Times "The characters are singular and delectable."--L.A. Times "Delightfully irreverent, slightly wacky, and sizzlingly sexy." -- Sunday Magazine, Baton Rouge
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: Sophie Dunbar never disappoints and this send up of the beauty pageant circuit is as funny as all her other books. After being unavailable for so long it was nice to be able to pick up the second installment of the Eclaire books. The characters are genuine and warm, they'll remind you of your best friends. This is an author who really knows how to write believable female characters. Don't miss this series.
Rating:
Summary: Redneck funny
Review: You remember Claire and Dan Claiborne in "BEHIND ECLAIRE'S DOORS?" Who could forget them! I think someone compared them to Nick and Nora Charles in the "Thin Man," but, I believe if Nick and Nora were to read the Eclarie series Nora would have a case of vapors and Nick would give us one of his comedic eye rolling, staggering takes. First time readers will find in the first pages that this is not a typical mystery. Claire and Dan are the ultra perfect southern couple, perfect looks, perfect jobs, perfect sex life, it seems everything around them is perfect, perfect, perfect . . . except those dang, pesky murders that seem to crop up at the most inconvenient times. When Mrs. Shelby Bell, or Hells Bells as Claire calls her, invites Dan and Claire to the Bell Sands on the shores of the Mississippi, they decide to turn it into a second honeymoon. As we find out, this is one honeymoon they won't forget, since it involves the redneck mafia; a beauty pageant; a contestant who takes her interviewing cues straight out of "Basic Instincts"; a former pageant member bent on revenge and a hurricane named Babe. Dan and Claire already think they are in over their heads, could it get any worse? Of course it can and it does. I found the mystery aspects in REDNECK RIVIERA interesting. At first when I read the words "Redneck Mafia" I had to laugh, I just didn't know what to expect, maybe a mystery of who killed Bubba with the loaded can of Miller Light, or who stole the concrete brick holding up the abandoned Ford that crushed Melvin while he was napping. I still don't know if they are a real gang, but the author pulls it off, there are enough twists and turns to appease the mystery reader and for those who like the added sexual characteristics to their mysteries, Ms. Dunbar has added plenty of that as well.
Rating:
Summary: Redneck funny
Review: You remember Claire and Dan Claiborne in "BEHIND ECLAIRE'S DOORS?" Who could forget them! I think someone compared them to Nick and Nora Charles in the "Thin Man," but, I believe if Nick and Nora were to read the Eclarie series Nora would have a case of vapors and Nick would give us one of his comedic eye rolling, staggering takes. First time readers will find in the first pages that this is not a typical mystery. Claire and Dan are the ultra perfect southern couple, perfect looks, perfect jobs, perfect sex life, it seems everything around them is perfect, perfect, perfect . . . except those dang, pesky murders that seem to crop up at the most inconvenient times. When Mrs. Shelby Bell, or Hells Bells as Claire calls her, invites Dan and Claire to the Bell Sands on the shores of the Mississippi, they decide to turn it into a second honeymoon. As we find out, this is one honeymoon they won't forget, since it involves the redneck mafia; a beauty pageant; a contestant who takes her interviewing cues straight out of "Basic Instincts"; a former pageant member bent on revenge and a hurricane named Babe. Dan and Claire already think they are in over their heads, could it get any worse? Of course it can and it does. I found the mystery aspects in REDNECK RIVIERA interesting. At first when I read the words "Redneck Mafia" I had to laugh, I just didn't know what to expect, maybe a mystery of who killed Bubba with the loaded can of Miller Light, or who stole the concrete brick holding up the abandoned Ford that crushed Melvin while he was napping. I still don't know if they are a real gang, but the author pulls it off, there are enough twists and turns to appease the mystery reader and for those who like the added sexual characteristics to their mysteries, Ms. Dunbar has added plenty of that as well.
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