Rating: 
Summary: A Gold Nugget
Review: California has always been a gold mine for crime fiction. Hammett. Cain. Chandler. MacDonald. In recent times, Roger Simon, Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and Jan Burke. Kent Braithwaite joins their ranks with his crime novel The Wonderland Murders. It continues the Golden State's golden crime fiction tradition with modern noir twists. His PI is Latino. His themes echo contemporary times. This novel definitely deserves the attention it has received from newspapers, TV, and radio, including Newsweek and NPR. It is a true gold nugget.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull
Review: This is a rather unimaginative mystery novel. It was dull and without the tension and suspense that a good mystery requires to hook the reader.
Rating:
Summary: A Gripping Novel...Filled with Suspense Until the Very End
Review: The Wonderland Murders captures the true spirit of Orange County and the new milennium. Full of characters each with a unique personality, it presents surprise after surprise. Every time I thought I had figured out who the killer was, I discovered there was a new twist to the plot. Thoroughly riveting, I suggest that all mystery lovers read this novel soon. I hope this will become a series, so that I can meet more of these fascinating personalities.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Joy to Read
Review: Wonderland Murders is intriguing and fun to read. What a unique combination of characters and situations! It is such an accurate description of California life, and I was on the edge of my seat until the very end. I hope to see more novels with Jesse Ascencio seeking to solve new challenges.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ!
Review: It's a microcosm of California! With soman different ethnic groups portryed, it describes eloquently the good and bad forces at work in society today. THIS IS A MUST READ!
Rating:
Summary: A Mystery I Couldn't Put Down
Review: The first sentence in the book leaps off the page and grabs you. "'You called the cops?' I asked, gawking at the corpse. I would've preferred to think I was staring, but I knew , in all likelihood, I was gawking."The speaker is Jesse Ascencio, a real class act private investigator with an intriguing background; former Congressman,
FBI agent, poetry writer and faithfully married man. Who wouldn't like him? The corpse is a murdered Asian beauty in a Southern California coastal amusement park. Ascencio, working closely with an African American detective, dives into the investigation only to be hit with additional daily murders. He soon finds himself embroiled in a much bigger picture involving smugglers, prostitutes and then real danger to himself! All the ingredients to keep us reading through the night; just as an excellent mystery should. I'm anxiously looking forward to Mr. Braithwaite's second, third and fourth novels.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderland Murders Makes for Wonderful Reading
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Wonderland Murders with its multitude of twists and turns in the plot. I love the main character, Jesse Ascencio, and can relate to the depth of his character. Suspense pervades the entire book. What a surprise at the ending. I hope to read many more like it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: Mystery fiction is mainstream fiction with a dead body in Chapter One. Mr. Braithwaite gets his dead body on page one, and his plot takes off from there. The Wonderland Murders is an excellent book, with all the trampings of a modern mystery. I enjoyed and I recommend it to others.
Rating:
Summary: Super Suspense
Review: Kent Braithwaite's Wonderland Murders was an interesting novel. I enjoyed the story. It takes place in California and Nevada. It is a mystery with several murders. The hero is a Hispanic detective, and in the end, good triumphs over evil. I believe author Braithwaite really knows the setting he's writing about, and the suspense elements of the story were very satisfying. Overall, The Wonderland Murders easily earns my five stars.
Rating: 
Summary: A debut novel, and it shows....
Review: ...
Sure, THE WONDERLAND MURDERS is a good book, it isn't however as great as some people say it is.
Let there be no doubt, mister Braithwaite has a lot of talent, he's real good with the characterisations and also what I call the 'california feel' (taking it from someone who doens't live in America) but it's the plot and especially the mystery that's lacking.
You're talking to someone who grew up with DEATH ON THE NILE and PRESUMED INNOCENT and this is nowhere in the same league. THE WONDERLAND MURDERS is farfetched (both mother AND daughter come to the main character with similar cases on the SAME day, and the're both connected to the murders!), it's predictable and when the killer is finally revealed (the only likely suspect left) there isn't any form of twistending or blow-you-out-of-your-seat revelation you've come to except with this kind of novel. A smart reader (and all you have to do is pay attention) will have this already figured out about 50 pages before the (by the way WAY too short) finale. It's all a little bit too rough around the edges, but it's enjoyable enough and you can count on it that I'll be buying the next Jesse Ascensio mystery (if there'll ever be another one) if only to check if there's been some development in mister Braithwaite's plotting skills.
Meanwhile, I'll get me some Ruth Rendell mysteries from the library, her plots are far more cleaver and plenty of shocks and thrills assured there.
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