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Rating: Summary: A Cerebral Beach Read Review: "An American Killing" is for those who look for well-written beach books. Even though I don't read much fiction, I kept reading this crime novel to the end. Mary-Ann Tirone Smith has written a well-designed, well-researched story that broaches a few issues beyond the who-dunnit genre, namely crime theory, motherhood, politics, postmodernist philosophy, an insider's look at publishing, and--most intriguing--a study of the marriage of a woman who behaves with a man's independence. The heroine, a bestselling author who specializes in novelizing true murders, has as much bluster and vigor as any male detective. She's trained her teenaged children to do without her, and her husband, too. She leaves without permission, contacts them only when convenient, and offers them no guilt, no explanations, no lengthy telephone communications. Smith's best writing--of writing that is excellent throughout--details her forays alone to the family's Rhode Island beach cottage, and the dog, Buddy, that keeps her company. She also describes a dying industrial town and its unfortunate residents, a prison interview, an author's personal day in New York City, and the writer's life in Washington, DC, as though she's been there. She has a strange habit of not providing physical descriptions of the men in this story. And the sex is, well, perhaps an editor's suggestion; she skates over it like an embarrassment. But I like the relationships she describes. You see yourself in these scenes; she hits you in places you'll recognize. It's unusual for a private investigator to fall in love with the chief murder suspect, but this works. The effectiveness of Tirone Smith's story rests on unexpectedness. I quibble with the ending, which has the strong smell of change by an editor. This would have been a more powerful story if Tirone Smith had kept the ending I think she was leading us to: a better understanding of crimes of domestic violence, and the knowledge that we know least those we love best--Linda Donelson, author of "Out of Isak Dinesen: Karen Blixen's untold story"
Rating: Summary: Surprising! Review: I found this to be a fabulous read. The characters, especially the protagonist, were well-developed and believable. There were so many surprises and twists during the second-half of the book that I was reading with my mouth open. The women are the stronger characters for a nice change. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.
Rating: Summary: Literary writer tries her hand at mystery Review: The most unique aspect of "An American Killing" lies in the writing. Taking a solid but somewhat common plot, Smith adds a layer of observation and interpretation to make for a rich and thoughtfully paced suspense read. For example, Smith spends what seems, at first, to be an inordinate amount of time describing the declining mill town of New Caxton, Rhode Island. However, as the book progresses, many of the clues to the triple murder lie precisely in what is normal and what was abnormal in the minute details of everyday life in New Caxton.Denise Burke, the narrator/true crime novelist, is very different from Nancy Prichard's new protagonist, Marie Lightfoot. Denise is an interesting and rich personality - not just because she shoots the bull with Hilary Clinton. The book is full of her inner thoughts which are processed in a most female style. Male readers need to be prepared for some very "Venus" type thinking. The book missing a fifth star for a couple of reasons. First, the book starts with the murder of the Congressman, then spends 90% of the book in a relatively linear narrative of events preceeding the murder, and then has a brief post murder wrap-up. Since the real mystery isn't the murder of the Congressman but rather the triple murder, why confuse the issue. Also, while I enjoyed the asides about the Clintons, I think the marketers do the potential readers a disservice. Bill and Hilary have nothing to do with the core of the story. Bottom-line: A nicely written mystery that takes time to think and observe. The pacing may be too slow for some readers.
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