Rating:  Summary: Easy, fun read! Review: "Easy" and "fun" do not mean "simple" or that The Hoodoo Man lacks in complexity. Sometimes, I want a book where I don't read a whole page and have to go back and wonder what I just read. I enjoy well-researched books with authentic characters and succinct scene descriptions. Flowery language and authors who seem to check every other word in a thesaurus bore me. That said, The Hoodoo Man was one of the best mystery books I've read in a long time. The characters are well-developed - Starletta is cool, you wish you could call her up and chat with her. The author is a former cop and the wonderful way she infuses the technical details of detective investigations without being too manual-like helps you visualize not only the police procedures, but the stress that goes along with it. The mystery might not be very mysterious to some readers, but waiting to see how Starletta uncovers the mystery is pure fun.
Rating:  Summary: Easy, fun read! Review: "Easy" and "fun" do not mean "simple" or that The Hoodoo Man lacks in complexity. Sometimes, I want a book where I don't read a whole page and have to go back and wonder what I just read. I enjoy well-researched books with authentic characters and succinct scene descriptions. Flowery language and authors who seem to check every other word in a thesaurus bore me. That said, The Hoodoo Man was one of the best mystery books I've read in a long time. The characters are well-developed - Starletta is cool, you wish you could call her up and chat with her. The author is a former cop and the wonderful way she infuses the technical details of detective investigations without being too manual-like helps you visualize not only the police procedures, but the stress that goes along with it. The mystery might not be very mysterious to some readers, but waiting to see how Starletta uncovers the mystery is pure fun.
Rating:  Summary: Hard to Find, but Worth the Search Review: Homicide Detective Starletta Duvall is back in this blend of voodoo-hoodoo and murder. The charaters of Paresi, Vee and Mitch are also back and the readers get to learn more about them as Star and Dom try to solve the latest murders that are cloaked in the unnatural. If you enjoyed meeting the capable detective, her rock of a best friend who is a mother and a young widow and the two men in Star's life, her handsome Italian partner and the blonde Adonis doctor, you will thoroughly enjoy how the relationships develop despite the appearance of another female officer. I would suggest looking in libraries for it because bookstores cannot accommodate you. After you have read it, drop the editor an email and strongly suggest that they reprint it and Smith -Levin's first book so that fans who appreciate good fiction and strong positive AA figures can do so by merely purchasing Smith- Levin's books, all of them.
Rating:  Summary: Total Trash Review: I can't believe how disappointed I was in this book! The mystery was so predictable, the characters cardboard cut-outs, and the dialogue really cliched. What a joke!
Rating:  Summary: This book was a definite thriller murder mystery! Review: I first became accquainted with Lieutenant Duvall and Seargeant Paresi in Do Not Go Gently also by by Ms. Smith-Levin. The relationship between the two officers is friendly, caring and realistic. The relationship between Miss Duvall and Dr Grant is unpredictable, sweet and loving. This book like Do Not Go Gently takes the reader immediately to the scene of a brutal murder and the reader is given a "fly on the wall" view of all of the action and supense from that point on. We are astounded by the cold calculating rituals used in the death of the voodoo priest, his followers and the family of Caryle Biggs Junior. We are drawn into the world of uncertainty as we try to figure out if Caryle Biggs Junior is really a child monster grown into adulthood or is he, the prime suspect, just an innocent victim of circumstance and bad karma. This was an excellent story skillfully developed and written and I look forward to the next story with great eagerness.P.
Rating:  Summary: Interesting, Easy read. Review: I found this book to be an easy read. Lieutenant Starletta Duvall and her partner lieutenant Paresi are investigating the murder of a popular Haitian voodoo priest. Entwined in this murder mystery is love, friendship and jealousy. Sergeant Lisel Werner, a New York police enters the mystery,and appears to be very friendly with the the suspected murderer who was released from prison for murdering his family. How is the sergeant connected to the suspect and why is she in town? Not the best mystery I have read, however, it's interesting.
Rating:  Summary: Another great Star mystery Review: I have read this book and it is fantastic. The characters (Star, Mitch, and Paresi) are humorous, realistic, and take care of business. I recommend reading anything Ms. Levin writes, she is outstanding. I hope they reprint her first novel.
Rating:  Summary: Another great Star mystery Review: I have read this book and it is fantastic. The characters (Star, Mitch, and Paresi) are humorous, realistic, and take care of business. I recommend reading anything Ms. Levin writes, she is outstanding. I hope they reprint her first novel.
Rating:  Summary: A good "whodunit" Review: ITCOMS enjoyed Judith Levin's second mystery. Although we felt it was a formula mystery,it really started with a bang. We all liked the Starletta Duvall character . Some of our more avid mystery readers knew and could identify the murderer after a couple of chapters or so into book. We discussed the book at length. Some of the members felt the black male characters were portrayed in a negative manner. All and all it was a good mystery. We would be willing to read a third novel.
Rating:  Summary: This is a book for subliterates Review: Look no further than the first page. This woman has obviously never heard of a paragraph longer than a couple sentences, and her sentences seem to strive for the purity of one unadorned and trite adjective. Most sixth graders write with more originality and command of the language. Oh, and by the way, anybody who thinks this really is a mystery and can't figure out from the moment she enters that the great white witch is the villain should stick to picture books. In such an overpopulated genre, one truly wonders how such an unapologetic and lazy hack got published in the first place.
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