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Summary: Louisiana is like this.
Review: Enjoyed this book a lot. Have been to these places in New Orleans and the people are like that. Cajuns are great and and let the good times roll. bayou10
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Summary: Can't buy one copy, had to buy two!
Review: I bought this book last week as a Mother's Day present because the bookstore clerk told me it was a really good mystery and one of the detectives had a wonderful mom. Took it home and started reading it, got hooked! Had to go out to buy my mom her own copy! This is a great story and the characters stay with you. Highly recommended.
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Summary: More, please
Review: I loved Talba. I wasn't sure if I would be able to identify with a 20-something black computer genius, being a 30-something white mommy, but I found myself wishing I were more like her. She is strong, and smart and very real. Smith did a great job of creating this caracter. In fact all the caracters were very well developed and interacted in a believable way. The various story lines moved at a brisk pace and intertwined smoothly. I hope that Smith creates an entire series featureing Talba and Eddie.
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Summary: Hotshot is a Sure Shot
Review: It's been too long since Julie Smith's last work, 82 DESIRE, was released. Skip Langdon fans might be disappointed to know that this is not another in that series, but rather a spin-off of the poetry writing/computer geek, Talba Wallis, who was introduced in 82 DESIRE. And not to worry, Langdon does make a brief cameo appearance in this one. The "disappointment" won't last long once you start reading. Talba is out of work again, and answers an ad looking for a computer "hotshot", which leads her to the detective agency run by Eddie Valentino, who isn't thrilled to find himself confronted by a young African-American woman, but against his better judgment hires her. It also doesn't hurt that during her job interview her boyfriend makes a referral and sends a client Eddie's way. The case? A teenaged girl has been date raped, and her mother wants to find the young man and prosecute. Before long, Talba finds herself getting in deeper and deeper as the trail leads to a local multi-million dollar rap recording company, and the girl's friends start disappearing or turning up dead. Smith's strengths have always been her trademark wit as well as her examination of fractured, dysfunctional families. Talba, herself raised by a single mother, finds herself identifying with the young rape victim and launching her own investigation: trying to find out what happened to her own father. Smith does a magnificent job of getting inside the insecurities and psychological damage done to Talba as a result of being fatherless, and at the same time examines the fractured family dynamics of Eddie Valentino's clan. It is impossible to not care about any of these people, and the tension keeps mounting until the explosive climax in a Louisiana swamp. This book is on a par with Smith's Edgar award winning NEW ORLEANS MOURNING, and a definite must read for any mystery fan. Her Skip Langdon series, beginning with NEW ORLEANS MOURNING and including such classics as HOUSE OF BLUES and JAZZ FUNERAL, is also worth a look see.
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Summary: Presto Chango
Review: Julie Smith has done a neat switch in this novel: her heroine is Baroness Pontalba whom we met as a minor character in 82 Desire and her usual series protagonist, policewoman Skip Langdon, is a minor character here. But as always, Smith's real star is the city of New Orleans and she lovingly portrays it again-warts, decay and zest alike. The plot here is fast moving, the protagonist bold, the puzzle possessing of enough twists to be provocatove. I think Julie Smith is one of our best regional mystery writers and I recommend the whole series. If you haven't read the preceding books in the series you won't appreciate the neat sleight of hand she accomplishes here, but you'll still have a top notch reading adventure ahead ofyou!
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Summary: Another winner
Review: Julie Smith has done it again. I was expecting another Skip Langdon mystery but got a very pleasant and refreshing surprise when I began reading this book. It's a mystery which is not procedure driven (I hesitate to say plot) but character driven and certainly worth the trip. When Talba Wallis takes a job as a private detective's apprentice the fun begins. Because her boss has other things on his plate, she fumbles and bumbles her way toward solving the case. She's fun to watch and she's got great instincts. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a light mystery. No guts, no gore, just plenty of enjoyable noodling.
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Summary: Julie Smith's Triumphant Return
Review: Long time fans of Julie Smith's witty mysteries will not be disappointed by this new title. Spinning off a character from her latest Skip Langdon mystery "82 Desire", Talba Wallis, this book definitely ranks up there with Smith's Edgar Award winning "New Orleans Mourning". Talba Wallis, a self-described computer nerd, takes a job with private eye Eddie Valentino and soon becomes involved in a search for a mysterious man who has date raped a young teenage girl in New Orleans. Before long, the search becomes much more desperate as it appears that the young girl's friends are disappearing and dying. Smith is a master of creating suspense and tension; this book is no exception. Complicating matters even further is Talba's decision to start looking for her own father, whom she doesn't remember. This causes her to reexamine her strained relationship with her brother and his wife; and her mother, Miz Clara, makes her displeasure very clear. One of the strengths that Smith often displays in her work is her depiction of dysfunctional families and their fractured relationships. "Louisiana Hotshot" is no exception to this rule. Another strength is her obvious love of New Orleans. No other writer has ever painted such a perfect picture of New Orleans in their work; it's quaintness and strangeness can be difficult to describe on paper. New Orleans is as much a character as Talba or Eddie. Unlike a lot of other writers, Smith understands the importance of locale and local color, and she brings New Orleans to life on the page like no one else. I, for one, hope that Smith doesn't go so long between books again...she is a national treasure, and a law should be passed requiring her to write a book per year.
Rating:
Summary: Julie Smith's Triumphant Return
Review: Long time fans of Julie Smith's witty mysteries will not be disappointed by this new title. Spinning off a character from her latest Skip Langdon mystery "82 Desire", Talba Wallis, this book definitely ranks up there with Smith's Edgar Award winning "New Orleans Mourning". Talba Wallis, a self-described computer nerd, takes a job with private eye Eddie Valentino and soon becomes involved in a search for a mysterious man who has date raped a young teenage girl in New Orleans. Before long, the search becomes much more desperate as it appears that the young girl's friends are disappearing and dying. Smith is a master of creating suspense and tension; this book is no exception. Complicating matters even further is Talba's decision to start looking for her own father, whom she doesn't remember. This causes her to reexamine her strained relationship with her brother and his wife; and her mother, Miz Clara, makes her displeasure very clear. One of the strengths that Smith often displays in her work is her depiction of dysfunctional families and their fractured relationships. "Louisiana Hotshot" is no exception to this rule. Another strength is her obvious love of New Orleans. No other writer has ever painted such a perfect picture of New Orleans in their work; it's quaintness and strangeness can be difficult to describe on paper. New Orleans is as much a character as Talba or Eddie. Unlike a lot of other writers, Smith understands the importance of locale and local color, and she brings New Orleans to life on the page like no one else. I, for one, hope that Smith doesn't go so long between books again...she is a national treasure, and a law should be passed requiring her to write a book per year.
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Summary: A sensible, credulous plot
Review: LOUISIANA BIGSHOT is the second novel in the Talba Wallis series, although Smith first introduced Talba in 82 DESIRE, a Skip Langdon mystery. Talba is young, black, a computer genius-hacker who, by day, wearing white blouse and navy blue skirt, works as a private eye in New Orleans. At night, wearing colorful silks and a turban, and using the nom de plume "Baroness de Pontalba," she reads poetry at dives in the French Quarter. Talba lives with her nagging mom, "Miz Clara," who cleaned white folk's homes to put her two kids through college. Corry, Talba's brother, is a doctor, the least of Miz Clara's favored careers for her children (the others being Speaker of the House and President) so Talba being a PI is a bit of a disappointment. Darryl, Talba's boyfriend, is a high school teacher, musician, and sometime bartender supporting his out-of-wedlock daughter. With these down-to-earth characters, Smith weaves entertaining tales with resonant dialogue and vivid descriptions of New Orleans and nearby places.
In this episode, Talba does some snooping for her friend Babalu and soon discovers that her fiancé is indeed cheating. But a day or so later, Babalu commits suicide, or so the New Orleans cops have decided. Talba gets a new client, the cheating boyfriend who believes Babalu was murdered, and Talba thinks so too. The story evolves as Talba digs into the background of the mysterious Babalu and finds a web of sex, race and dirty politicians. LOUISIANA BIGSHOT is a colorful, fast paced and enjoyable read with a sensible, credulous plot.
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Summary: Wow! A winner!
Review: Louisiana Hotshot is one of Julie Smith's most entertaining, rollicking mysteries yet! A must read if you love New Orleans along with a terrific story and a dynamite new character.
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