The Shape of Snakes

Rating:
Summary: Not her best, but not bad
Review: Minette Walters, The Shape of Snakes (Putnam, 2001)

availability: hot off the presses

What does it say about a novel when there are errors
in the text that any half-blind proofreader could have
caught, but the novel is still good enough to demand
being read in one sitting? Such is the case with
Minette Walters' eagerly-awaited seventh novel, The
Shape of Snakes. It starts off rather like The Scold's
Bridle, with a not-much-loved member of the community
dying a quite suspicious death and a woman who'd
rather just be left alone getting drawn into figuring
out who really did the deed. This time, Walters uses
the convention to comment on the racism in the British
justice system and how it's changed over the past
twenty years.

There are some inconsistencies in detail, which are
usually a killer in a mystery novel, but Walters is a
good enough writer that it doesn't matter (and
thankfully those particular details end up not coming
back to haunt). Not as good as The Ice House or The
Breaker, but still a very good read. ***

Rating:
Summary: Well written, but chilling
Review: Minette Walters is undoubtedly a very talented author, and her ability to write a truly chilling crime mystery which keeps you guessing to the end makes all of her books very entertaining.

And I must say I enjoyed the style of writing in this book very much. I like the way she intersperses the story with letters, e-mails, medical and police reports and the like. It all adds texture and interest to the story. But then we are faced with the topic, and it is no simple murder mystery. In this book she deals with all the horror of things that human beings can do to one another, and strong medicine it is too. As such I have given the book 2 stars instead of 5 that I would have given for style and narration.

The subject matter is vile. There is prejudice, bigotry, hatred and violence to both humans and animals in all of its ugly glory, and it sickened me. I have read many books with equally graphic horrors without bother - perhaps it is a testament to Ms Wlaters' writing that it got to me so effectively. The end of the book is utterly heart rending and shocking and stayed with me for days.

Well, you might say, it is a murder mystery. Surely all such stories are ugly be definition? Perhaps, but with this one Ms Walters has quite outdone herself, and despite all of her undoubted writing skills and ability to tell a tale, this is quite a difficult book to read and to feel comfortable with.

Rating:
Summary: Mystery as anthropology
Review: I can't remember the last book that shook me so badly. Perhaps it was "Folly", but I rather think it was "Prince of Tides". The subject matter isn't really similar, but the visceral response certainly is. I'll be interested to see if you have the same reaction. I started it and was only benignly interested. I would put it down, not certain if I was really interested enough to resume, only to find that I was rearranging my schedule to return to that time and that place. It took me FOREVER to read this book, because I could only absorb it in small pieces and toward the last 1/4, I was anxiously seeking closure. Enough is enough. And then it ended. And I cried. Can't remember the last book that did that. THIS IS NOT AN EASY READ! You'll be tempted to give up on it, I promise you. Please don't.

Rating:
Summary: Blah,blah,blah
Review: After reading the first chapter of this book, I was pretty sure I knew how the victim died. She was talked to death. The Shape of Snakes the first mystery I've read, where absolutely nothing happens - except talk. and talk. and more talk. I only hope that Ms. Walters steers clear of the screenplay. The only thing more boring than a book with no characters in motion, is the movie version of that book. I would ask for my money back, but when I reached the last page ,I felt it was my duty to prevent another reader from making the same mistake I had. The book now rests on the bottom of the Long Island Sound.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing and disturbing mystery
Review: Minette Walters is back on track again! (her last book, "The Breaker" was a big disappointment). But "The Shape of Snakes" is a taut and chilling novel, brilliantly told through brief narratives intersperced with letters, e-mails and even photographs - this is the first fiction book that I have ever read which has photographs of the characters!

It is also a very disturbing book and her depictions of animal cruelty, racism and spousal abuse are stark and vivid. The book is almost impossible to put down, however, because of Walter's engrossing style and characters which are fascinating albeit not very likable. The leading character, M. Renalagh (we are never told her first name) is quite the character herself and not someone you want on your bad side!

If you can stomach the unpleasantness aspects, this is a highly recommended read.

Rating:
Summary: Walters Marches to a Different Drummer
Review: This is a book quite unlike any that I've read in years. I wouldn't rate it as the "best" that I have read recently, but it is definitely "among the best". This is an extremely well-written novel with characters drawn with startling clarity. The plot centers around the death of a black women who died in 1978 and the narrator's attempt to bring the killer or killers to justice, but it is about so much more than that. It is about revenge under the guise of justice; it is about child and spouse abuse; it is about infidelity and betrayal; it is about cruelty to animals and to human beings; and it is about obsession. The plot twists and turns and the main characters flip and flop and you are confronted consistently with inconsistency. The ending is powerful, but somewhat disappointing. I like clear-cut resolution of all conflicts in a book. This is a book that should be read because it is a significant contribution to contemporary literature.

Rating:
Summary: an absolutely brilliant and haunting read
Review: Need to find a book for the summer that features a strong and resilient female protagonist and with plot premise that will not only blow your mind, but whose resolution will leave you literally reeling for quite a while? Then definitely, "The Shape of Snakes" by Minette Walters is the book for you. This novel is on my list of the best mystery novels that I've read so far, along with "The River of Darkness" by Rennie Airth, and "A Place of Execution" by Val MacDermid. One of the reasons why I found this novel so wonderfully remarkable is because this book boasts of one of the most intriguing and compelling of heroine-investigators that I've ever come across. We know her only as 'M' and little else, not much of a physical description (though we do learn that she is quite good looking), not much of a character description (although we do learn to admire her drive and determination), and very little historical background. So that her almost obsessive quest to discover what really happened to poor Annie Butts (the murdered black woman), not only makes us respect her but makes us question her agenda. At one point in the novel, another character describes her as a rather frightening woman, and I quite understood this character's point-of-view: I for one would never want to be on the wrong side of M!

The plot is a deceptively simple one. In 1978, Annie Butts is found dead in front of the street she lives on. Everyone is keen to pass the death off as an accidental one. Only M refuses to join the ranks; she's sure that poor Annie was murdered. However the hostile reaction of M's neighbours, the police, and her own husband's lack of support, together with the strain that all this hostility and harassment is having on M's own mental well-being, causes M to back down. However, M never forgot what happened to Annie or to her, and slowly, bidding her time, M waits for the perfect opportunity to reinvestigate Annie's death. Twenty years later, M's patience pays off. Armed with all the information that she has slowly been collecting over the years, and with a new sense of inner peace and determination, M openly starts asking questions and rattling her old 'friends' and her own husband's sense of well-being. Why does M need to discover what really happened to Annie? As the novel and investigation unfolds, we come to understand part of the reason why M is so determined to uncover the truth. But just when you think you know everything and what motivates M, Minette Walters punches you in the guts by ending the novel in a truly poignant manner, that is almost soul ripping (at least it was for me).

"The Shape of Snakes" is a hard and honest look at hatred and fear, and how people who would never think of themselves as prejudiced, allow for such emotions to flourish is society, because few are willing to stand up and take a stand. The novel is masterfully written novel, and is a truly excellent and haunting read.

Rating:
Summary: A Warning Should Have Been Issued
Review: Annie Butts, a black woman with Tourette's syndrome, dies a violent death in 1978. When the neighbor who finds her looks into her dying eyes, there is a nearly psychic connection that leaves the young white woman reeling. When she suggests that the Annie was murdered by racists to get her out of the white neighborhood, a horrifying series of harassment begins until her husband is convinced she is losing her mind.

Twenty years later, Mrs. Ranelagh, the neighbor, returns to England with her husband and teenage sons, a thick file of newspaper clippings and records hidden in her personal things. She picks up the trail again with something of revenge in her heart though she calls it "justice." The move puts her ten minutes from the doctor who treated Miss Butts just prior to the murder. Her probing leads her to believe Annie was robbed of an enormous wealth of South and Central American artifacts. Worse, Annie was marked as a madwoman by the neighbors and whoever broke in, brought in a dozen or so tortured tomcats and pushed a heavy piece of furniture across the animal access her precious cats used...

Someone with a stronger stomach than I will have to complete the book and determine if it is indeed worth the nightmare images of animal cruelty it produces. Minette Walters is a fine writer as evidenced by her previous books from The Ice House to The Breaker, and this book promised more of the same according to its premise. One wonders why she felt it necessary to so graphically describe the cruelty to animals. This book should have come with a warning on the front cover about the graphic and horrific scenes of animal cruelty.

Rating:
Summary: Unusual
Review: Few other crime novelists have written with such thematic variety as Minette Walters. The only factor that unites her books is her dark, psychological perception. The Shape of Snakes tells the story of one woman's twenty year search for the truth after a black neighbour is found dead in the street. In her quest for the facts, Mrs Ranelagh ostracises her neighbours, loses her job, and risks her marriage. The police are against her, the neighbours are against her and Mad Annie is dead. Why pursue a lost cause?

This is a dark, provocative, carefully plotted mystery novel, which raises issues of racism, child abuse and ignorance of mental illnesses, and it makes no apologies for doing so. My only reason for not giving it five stars is because the use of 'letters' and 'memos' and 'court reports' in the text is difficult to adjust to. It succeeds in the end, but not without diverting the reader's attention from the story for too long. If I could give four-and-a-half stars, I would. It's a darn good read.

Rating:
Summary: Rarely Seen a Better Book
Review: As a mystery novelist with my debut novel in its initial release, I have to admit to being an admirer of Minette Walters and her work. THE SHAPE OF SNAKES is a dark book filled with characters with deeply hidden purposes. The plot is shaped like snakes, and the characters are so powerfully drawn that a reader will have a hard time forgetting them. This book could be Minette Walters' best book, at least until her next novel is published.