Rating: 
Summary: Tishomingo blues and greys
Review: ***1/2I've read only a few of Elmore Leonard's works, mostly from early on. Besides the tight plotting, sinister edge, and note-perfect dialogue, they all carried a kind of implicit moral heft. So, despite its being manifestly better than 90% of the crime novels out there on the top lists, I was a bit disappointed in this venture. The plot meanders, its wheels amiably clanking rather than being ominously greased, and the cold-blooded killers we're supposed to root for seem to have nothing over the ones we're supposed to root against, except for a better sense of style. There goes that moral heft. The rest of the master's strengths are still on display, though. And if it's not a page turner throughout, there are only a few slow stretches. There's the aging, philandering high-diver. The endearingly daffy subculture of Civil War re-enactors. The smoothly enigmatic blues fan from Chicago, arranging for a victory in his turf war with the inept local Mafia, which he intends to be as precisely choreographed as the battle of Brice's Cross Roads. They all make for solid entertainment. But on the whole this will become more memorable within the canon of films based on Leonard (once the inevitable movie is made) than within the canon of his books.
Rating: 
Summary: Liked this book
Review: A high-diver performer witnesses a murder while standing on top of his dive ladder, and he tries to decide whether to admit to it or not. Meanwhile, he's befriended by a black guy who is trying to move into the drug business in this small town. His plan is to kill off the main people currently running it during a Civil War reenactment. Weird plot twists and you never know what is going on until it happens. Didn't care much for it.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but not involving
Review: A new Elmore Leonard novel is always a cause for celebration, even when the novel isn't one of his best. As "Tishomingo Blues," while funny, slick and sassy, is not. Leonard prefaces the book by expressing his intention, "to entertain myself: gather an odd assortment of characters, build a story as they bump heads, and see what happens." The characters include Dennis Lenahan, a traveling high-dive champion who sees his daredevil career coming to a close; Robert Taylor, a smooth-talking black man from Detroit who descends on Tishomingo, Mississippi, with a fancy car and a photo of a lynching; several thuggish, real dumb redneck crackers, and a scheming real estate developer, Walter Kirkbride, with an enthusiasm for Civil War re-enactments. Plus a couple of cops, straight and otherwise, a gangster, a scheming wife and a few henchmen. As the novel opens, Dennis, readying his act at the Tishomingo Hotel and Casino, witnesses a murder from 80 feet up. So does Robert, perhaps, watching Dennis from his hotel window. The two, Dennis and Robert, strike up a liking and Dennis soon realizes Robert has plans for the Dixie Mafia (the redneck murderers) and they may include him. The plot makes its merry meandering way to the big re-enactment, with sidetracks to romance and star turns from secondary characters. The re-enactment, depicted with a verisimilitude which does nothing to lessen its strangeness, brings the whole big cast together with hilariously choreographed, if fairly predictable results. The dialogue is snappy and quick and the characters practically step off the page. But after a while the repartee is wearing and the characters lack the heart to engage the reader. It's Leonard, so it's good, but not his best.
Rating:
Summary: Not my type of book
Review: A thriller, not a whodunnit, set in messy Mississippi. Dennis, a show diver, comes to town to dive at the Casino. Robert Taylor, a smooth talking blues fan from Detroit, comes with his own agenda. The characters are very colourful if not highly original, and there's definitely room for a few laughs as the plot unfolds. But, unfortunately, not my type of book.
Rating:
Summary: Nobody does characterizations better
Review: Dennis Lenahan is a professional show diver. He travels the US looking for the opportunity to showcase his talents. It is in Tunica, Mississippi that he lands a job doing a diving show at the Tishomingo Lodge and Casino. While there he befriends many of the eccentric characters including many women and a black gangster from Detroit named Robert Taylor. After inadvertently witnessing the execution of his helper by the local mob, Dennis feels his own life is in danger and accepts the friendship of Robert Taylor who soon pulls him into his scheme to take over the drug trade of Tunica from the local boys. The showdown will occur at a Civil war reenactment. The art of characterization is what Elmore Leonard does best. In fact, he may very well do it better than anyone else. This latest book is no exception to that. The plot can be a bit flimsy but it is the characters that bring it to life. Humor is also interspersed with the relatively casual and emotion free murders. The use of a Civil War reenactment provides a clever yet lighthearted approach to the ludicrous behavior of the bad guys and the really bad guys.
Rating: 
Summary: very entertaining
Review: I've seen Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown but this was my first time reading one of Elmore Leonard's novels. It's obvious why his books are so popular in Hollywood; the story never drags, and his characterizations are dead-on perfect. The plot includes a murder witnessed from an 80-foot high dive, a Mississippi casino, the Dixie Mafia, and various sexual liasons, all leading up to the climax at a Civil War reenactment. The main character is Dennis, a high diver who's another of Leonard's likable guys with a few flaws. The "good-guys", good being a relative thing with Leonard, are Robert, a Jag-driving streetwise gansta' from Detroit; Charlie, a Native American who may have pitched for the Tigers in the World Series; and John Rau, a straight-as-an-arrow lawman. Bad guys include an ex-deputy who runs the Dixie Mafia and his henchmen. A variety of other folks swirl in and out of the story. What's best about this book is how even though you're never really sure what will happen next, the characters never do anything you wouldn't expect them to do. The people in Elmore Leonard's stories are smart, funny, sexy, and completely true to their motives. This will certainly not be the last of his books which I read.
Rating:
Summary: very entertaining
Review: I've seen Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown but this was my first time reading one of Elmore Leonard's novels. It's obvious why his books are so popular in Hollywood; the story never drags, and his characterizations are dead-on perfect. The plot includes a murder witnessed from an 80-foot high dive, a Mississippi casino, the Dixie Mafia, and various sexual liasons, all leading up to the climax at a Civil War reenactment. The main character is Dennis, a high diver who's another of Leonard's likable guys with a few flaws. The "good-guys", good being a relative thing with Leonard, are Robert, a Jag-driving streetwise gansta' from Detroit; Charlie, a Native American who may have pitched for the Tigers in the World Series; and John Rau, a straight-as-an-arrow lawman. Bad guys include an ex-deputy who runs the Dixie Mafia and his henchmen. A variety of other folks swirl in and out of the story. What's best about this book is how even though you're never really sure what will happen next, the characters never do anything you wouldn't expect them to do. The people in Elmore Leonard's stories are smart, funny, sexy, and completely true to their motives. This will certainly not be the last of his books which I read.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Expect Another GLITZ or GET SHORTY
Review: Most of the action in TISHOMINGO BLUES takes place in the vicinity of Tunica, Mississippi. The main characters are an exhibition high diver named Dennis Lenahan and a black con artist from Detroit named Robert Taylor. The best part of the book is probably Leonard's description of a reenactment of a Civil War battle. The story's ending is slightly reminiscent of the final scene in the movie CASABLANCA.
TISHOMINGO BLUES appears to be written by formula and it takes a long time to capture the reader's interest. If you are expecting another GLITZ or GET SHORTY, you will be disappointed. But if you just want to relax with a fairly good mystery, TISHOMINGO BLUES may well fill the bill.
Rating: 
Summary: I DESERVE A MEDAL FOR FINISHING THIS BOOK
Review: Plain hard work all the way through. What on earth was going on, and why should I care less anyway? It was slow and at times incomprehensible; I got lost with whole passages of the dialogue: it seemed to be written in a foreign language at times. Strangely, I did like the main character Dennis. If this writer is good at anything to do with writing then it must be in creating believable and sympathetic characters. But the story was utter boring rubbish, with a long and tedious build up to a pathetic little shoot out. All the baddies get killed and the goodies (who were baddies too, but not so bad) survived. HOORAY !! But by the end I was hoping they would all get shot. What a waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: PENNED BY A MASTER - READ BY THE BEST!
Review: The name Elmore Leonard on a dust jacket signals the work of a master. What many may not know is that the name Frank Muller on an audio book means it has been performed by a master. As a voice artist Muller has narrated books by Stephen King, John Grisham, Peter Straub and John le Carre, always with precise enunciation and an almost preternatural understanding of the characters. Such is also the case with Mississippi based "Tishomingo Blues," a terrific tale of a high diver who looked down from his platform one day to see murder committed. He's not the only one with good eyes - the crime is witnessed by another, Robert Taylor, who is employed by a fellow who has come to play General Grant in the reenactment of a Civil War battle. Robert's quite a character. He totes a picture of his great-grandfather's lynching and a gun in his briefcase, and burns the back roads in an ebony Jaguar. Oh, and by the way, he's having an affair with his boss's wife. Whatever else Robert does is vintage Leonard at his captivating best. The dialogue is crisp; the action is non-stop. "Tishomingo Blues" is written and read by the best in their fields.
- Gail Cooke
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