Rating: 
Summary: Disturbing
Review: As much as I have liked all her other books, I had to put this one down without finishing. The animal abuse made my blood run cold. I just hope I can get the images out of my mind. Do NOT read this if you are an animal lover.
Rating: 
Summary: Play it again Sam.....
Review: I have read all Minette Walthers' mysteries and like some of her books better than others. From my perspective, THE SHAPE OF SNAKES is one of her better books, although not nearly as original or thrilling as THE ICE HOUSE or THE SCULPTRESS.Although some of her readers did not like THE BREAKER, I though it was quite good and liked it better than THE SHAPE OF SNAKES. BREAKER was very original and I learned a great deal about the tides and coastline of Southern England from her research--a plus for an Anglophile like me. SNAKES like BREAKER left me sad, but in one someone dies owing to a huge misunderstanding, while in the other someone dies owing to cruelty and prejudice. I don't know which is worse. Readers of Walter's books will recognize many familar elements in the SHAPE OF SNAKES including her addiction to overly long exchanges of dialogue among and between too many characters. The end result is a somewhat confused denouement (she may have been thinking the screen adaptation but it does not play well in print). Walters uses the same device she used in THE ICE HOUSE and THE SCULPTRESS -- an historical approach which relies on a determined protagonist who is trying to understand and piece together events that occurred many years before which are tied to someone's death. The protagonist's meddling inevitably leads to the uncovering of many old skeltons in many old closets and the threat of personal bodily harm. In SNAKES, the protagonist, known only by the letter "M" (for "mad"??) is married to an apparently long-suffering fellow named Sam who has given her various versions of what he was doing on the night a near neighbor was found dead in the street by "M". I felt as if "M" might say to him at any moment -- "Would you like to run that by me again Sam?" And, Sam isn't the only one who can't get his story straight!!
I believe Walters used to write soap operas. Perhaps that is why she does such a wonderful job of developing exchanges between people with close relationships, husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, girlfriends and boyfriends, and friend-friends. Her understanding of the psychology of her fellow human beings is so acute she seldom drops the ball (i.e. characters seldom act out of character) but when she does it is noticible. I am not sure she does "tarts" "whores" and other disreputable types as well as she does vicar's wives and endearing fathers. Probably, she has not had a great deal of experience with the former. Walters has been compared to Ruth Rendell and P.D. James. I would say her writing is more akin to the former than the latter. Most of the time James' killers partially redeem themselves (usually they have been wounded by their victims, often they die for their sins). Although James does not create tidy endings or resolve every outstanding moral issue in her books, to my knowledge, she has infrequently created a truly despicable character. Cold-blooded creatures populate Rendell's books, and in SNAKES, Walters succeeds in creating some ghastly individuals herself.
Rating:
Summary: Not in the least bit interesting!
Review: I was very disappointed in this book. The characters were so one-dimensional that I couldn't really tell them apart. Worse yet, the victim was apparently NOT a very likable person, so it's hard to get emotionally involved in the book. The main character, the woman who discovered the victim's body, is supposed to be mysterious and enigmatic, but instead she's just plain boring. Try another book by this author, this is her weakest effort.
Rating: 
Summary: You won't be able to put this one down.....
Review: ...and if you are, you're most likely looking for a light, trite read so just be gone with your lazy self.
I'm unable to decide if this is my favorite by this author. I keep waffling back and forth. I'm convinced that it is, but then that could be that it's simply the most RECENT I've read. Walters is a whiz with characters. I found a few I know in here (by different names of course....including my dear old sainted mum) and a few I think I've glimpsed from the corner of my eye while I was running (figuratively) for my life.
This is a dark and chilling tale that provokes introspection...examination. Ms. Walters shows us things we don't want to see...horror in awful, every-day circumstances. Things we'd just as soon not know about, and certainly don't want to see or hear. The way she shows us, however, makes it impossible to turn away.
Snakes, yes. How to tell the poisonous ones? They can be right beside us every day, hidden beside the path. Unavoidable. Able to strike when we're defenseless.
Must the stronger among us pursue equality for the more vulnerable? How far must society go to provide equal justice?Will M.Ranelagh finally become truly free through her quest for justice for Mad Annie?
I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I loved this book!!!! - I could not put it down. I found the story that unfolded in letter form very clever and entertaining - the suspense held me and I cannot rate this read highly enough - MORE PLEASE!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Ms. Walters Has Written Another Winner
Review: The plot is absorbing, the characterizations are beautifully drawn, and the format is varied and interesting. Elements of the classic who-and-what-dunit authors are here (most notably duMaurier and Christie) as well as Walters' unique voice and style. Don't be be put off, cat lovers,by the buzz surrounding the graphic descriptions of abuse and cruelty-they consume four pages at most and are necessary to plot and character development.The timelines can be confusing and the author's use of letters,photos, and e-mails to establish first-person voice for several of the characters may annoy those devotees of straight narrative style but it's a tactic that, you'll probably agree, works well. The moral imperative so evident in all of Walters' books is here as well, and stronger than ever, so that "The Shape of Snakes" is not only absorbing but inspiring.
Rating:
Summary: Snake Shapes
Review: (...). This is a remarkably clever examination of "snakes": Men who abuse their children, men who rape, women who damage their children through abuse and terror, women who abuse their children through neglect, women who lie and cheat with friends' husbands and the husbands who participate, policemen who abuse their authority and people who allow prejudice and hatred to poison their own lives through the persecution of others. The author, however, does not weave a tale devoid of hope nor devoid of other worthwhile virtues: love, responsibility, perseverance, commitment and honesty. This is a beautifully written tale that you have to think about as you read and one you will continue to think about after you've turned the last page. I could not admire the author more......
Rating:
Summary: A New Favorite Author
Review: Though I'm a lover of psychological mysteries, I confess my previous acquaintance with Minette Walters' novels was through the dramatizations of "The Ice House" and "The Sculptress" both on PBS. "The Shape of Snakes" is my first taste of her written fiction and I am hooked. Though I found the title obscure, its narrative featured a pageant of the callousness, bigotry, violence, lust, and duplicity that only human beings are capable of. As a cat lover, I found the descriptions of the brutalities committed against the cats particularly disturbing. "The Shape of Snakes" is well worth reading. Now to go back and read the rest of Walters' body of work.
Rating:
Summary: Local Mom Charged with Neglect - Blames Mystery Novel
Review: I picked up "The Shape of Snakes" at the library yesterday afternoon. I thought I would sit down and read a few chapters before I started dinner. At 9:00 my daughter came in and said "I'm hungry. Are we EVER going to eat?" I told her she could dial the phone as well as I could.
I literally did not put this book down until I finished it. I have always liked Minette Walters' books, but this one is by far the best. I won't synopsize the plot, as that has already been done - but it is riveting. I've rarely read anything as disturbing as this book, and it is a credit to Walters' skill as a writer that it is so disturbing. It brought to my mind Hannah Arendt's quote about the banality of evil. I've read many novels where the crime was more vicious and the characters more twisted, but I've not read many novels that affected me so deeply. The title is perfect - you will change your mind about almost all the people in this novel, including the protaganist "M", at least once before the end.
One thing that I have found interesting about the reviews I've read is how many people were deeply put off by the cruelty to cats in the book. When you think about other very popular novels, like those by Thomas Harris, where humans are flayed, eaten, tortured and generally mutilated beyond recognition, you realize that a truly good writer does not have to go over the top to shock, and that evil starts with small acts. I would recommend this book not only to mystery fans, but to anyone interested in a great novel about the nature of justice, the need for revenge, and the difference between bad behavior and evil behavior.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: Minette Walters is one of my favourite authors, and this is one of her best books. She describes the dark side of humans in a very chilling and direct way. I couldn't put it down.
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