Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down, then avidly waited for the next one!
Review: I love mysteries, adore dogs, and am somewhat of a feminist. In the past most animal centered mysteries were too cutesy for me, and lacked the depth of this one. I like our heroine's strength and ability to think fast and do what's needed, yet she has softness too. This book means business, and has me both wishing for a bloodhound of my own, and eager for the next book in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, But Lighten Up on the Male Bashing
Review: I would have given this book a higher rating if not EVERY male (Well Almost Every Male) was a total jerk. Never having lived in the south maybe they all are. But, I hope not.Good Story, not what I expected at all. And yes I'll come back for more in the future. But, she's not one of my "A" list authors. I'll give her a "B".
Rating:
Summary: Good, But Lighten Up on the Male Bashing
Review: I would have given this book a higher rating if not EVERY male (Well Almost Every Male) was a total jerk. Never having lived in the south maybe they all are. But, I hope not. Good Story, not what I expected at all. And yes I'll come back for more in the future. But, she's not one of my "A" list authors. I'll give her a "B".
Rating:
Summary: A believable seat-gripping action\suspense tale.
Review: Jo Beth is a 90's woman with an attitude. Her job enables her to express her views in a way many women would like to, but lack the guts to do. Get ready to experience an emotional roller coaster ride as you get angry/laugh/cry and applaud the stomach-knotting, hair-raising problems dealt with in this gutsy characters' daily assignments
Rating:
Summary: What a women...a sassy survivor with an inductive brain!
Review: Jo Beth Sidden makes Kinsey Milhone look like a pussy
cat. With her bloodhounds ahead she plows through
mysteries like a female Sherlock Holmes. The pages
don't turn fast enough. She runs the gambit from
toughness to kindness. Her integrity is unique and not
always exactly lawful. If adversity builds character,
she's got it.
Rating:
Summary: Great character and unique setting
Review: Just finished Death in Bloodhound Red after discovering it in a bag of unread books inadvertently packed away in my basement. Thank goodness I was on vacation, since I read until 3:30 in the morning and then resumed over a late breakfast. What a great read, fresh and unusual, a welcome change from the tired plots where I've guessed the outcome 20 pages into the book. I love strong female protagaonists and Jo Beth fits the bill. She's smart, feisty, caring and wary, comfortable with who she is and how she came to be that way. I enjoyed the look into the world of bloodhound training and rescue searches, gritty details and all, and I appreciated Ms. Lanier's evocation of her southern setting. I've just ordered everything else (except a puppy) in the series, thank-you Amazon, and can't wait to get them. I may have to take another week of vacation to hang out with Jo Beth!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, fast paced, and wonderfully southern!
Review: Ms. Lanier has a great "franschise" with the JoBeth Siddon, Bloodhounds & crew. I couldn't read this book fast enough, yet didn't want it to end. I require alot from my Mysteries, mainly "I don't figure it out half way through". She never fails to intrigue & entertain. Through this book (1st. of the series) I've come to know, care about Miz. Siddon,the people she's taken in as family and the "creatures" in her life. Certainly want more of this wonderful fare....
Rating:
Summary: If Faulkner wrote mysteries ....
Review: The sub-genre of "dog mysteries" is not nearly as extensive as "cat mysteries" for reasons I will never understand. (After all, do cats really care what human beings do to each other? I don't think so.) In this specialized arena, Virgina Lanier's Bloodhound books are definately best in show. "Death in Bloodhound Red" is one of the best novels -- in or out of the mystery genre -- I've read in a long time. Yes, the plot is meandering and convoluted, the conversations are of a length only southerners can aspire to, and the language is as dense and atmospheric as the scent of jasmine on an early summer day. But what matters in the end is how completely Lanier manages to submerge us in the swampy world of southern Georgia and the wonderful profession of search-and-rescue with her beloved bloodhounds. If all the following books aren't always as over the top excellent as the first, who cares? They are all great and the bloodhounds get even more time on stage as the series goes on. What more could you want?
Rating:
Summary: Gripping first of series
Review: This is an incredible first book of a series, that sadly is behind a couple years. The books are; 1996-Death in Bloodhound Red, 1997-The House on Bloodhound Lane, 1998- A Brace of Bloodhounds, 1999-Blind Bloodhound Justice, 2000-Ten Little Bloodhounds. I'm not sure why we don't have books for 2001 and 2002, but after you read the first book and then run out and buy the next four that continue without dropping the pace and excitement, you'll mourn the gap in the series. Especially using the recommendations, its not that infrequent I get a new author 'can't put me down'er. However this was one of those I read through as fast as I can because of the tension and mystery, and then start right over again to read for the wealth of information and the beauty of the text. I can't think of anything this book doesn't have. There is a strong female protaganist, and one that hard to work her way from the ground up as well (as I did) that I really appreciate. As a now breeder and trainer of bloodhounds, Jo Beth is a complex character with sometimes warring qualitis, but one that acts consistently within the defined pesonality. The tension with the maniacal ex husband catches you quickly, but the mystery picks up and holds you as you go on. Additionally I love a book that provides some other new knowlege and this book is rife with knowlege about 'The South', the Okenofree swamp, and Bloodhounds. I've checked some of what I learned here with a friend who has been in the swamp and the South and it's been checking out. As an animal lover as well, you really get to love the bloodhounds and the knowlege of scent tracking and bloodhounds in particular is wide and varied. Yet Virginia Lanier sneaks the information in without any long boring solioquies. She always manages to get the right amount in to help you appreciate the story and does it in a way that goes with the story, like say explaining something to a new person, and then drives back to the plot before you could get bored. And she makes it fascinating. As I said earlier I was interested enough to talk to people till I found one that had been in the okenofee swamp, and I've got bloodhound research on my list of things to look into as well. As far as the south in concerned, I feel she does a good job of showing the pros and cons, the beauty and surface graciousness on the surface, and the misogeny and the racism underneath.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping first of series
Review: This is an incredible first book of a series, that sadly is behind a couple years. The books are; 1996-Death in Bloodhound Red, 1997-The House on Bloodhound Lane, 1998- A Brace of Bloodhounds, 1999-Blind Bloodhound Justice, 2000-Ten Little Bloodhounds. I'm not sure why we don't have books for 2001 and 2002, but after you read the first book and then run out and buy the next four that continue without dropping the pace and excitement, you'll mourn the gap in the series. Especially using the recommendations, its not that infrequent I get a new author 'can't put me down'er. However this was one of those I read through as fast as I can because of the tension and mystery, and then start right over again to read for the wealth of information and the beauty of the text. I can't think of anything this book doesn't have. There is a strong female protaganist, and one that hard to work her way from the ground up as well (as I did) that I really appreciate. As a now breeder and trainer of bloodhounds, Jo Beth is a complex character with sometimes warring qualitis, but one that acts consistently within the defined pesonality. The tension with the maniacal ex husband catches you quickly, but the mystery picks up and holds you as you go on. Additionally I love a book that provides some other new knowlege and this book is rife with knowlege about 'The South', the Okenofree swamp, and Bloodhounds. I've checked some of what I learned here with a friend who has been in the swamp and the South and it's been checking out. As an animal lover as well, you really get to love the bloodhounds and the knowlege of scent tracking and bloodhounds in particular is wide and varied. Yet Virginia Lanier sneaks the information in without any long boring solioquies. She always manages to get the right amount in to help you appreciate the story and does it in a way that goes with the story, like say explaining something to a new person, and then drives back to the plot before you could get bored. And she makes it fascinating. As I said earlier I was interested enough to talk to people till I found one that had been in the okenofee swamp, and I've got bloodhound research on my list of things to look into as well. As far as the south in concerned, I feel she does a good job of showing the pros and cons, the beauty and surface graciousness on the surface, and the misogeny and the racism underneath.
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