Rating: 
Summary: Un-Weaving Tangled Webs
Review: Just put the book down for the first time since opening it. The investigator, journalist Mike Deacon, is a lovable cad and will remain with me while most mystery protagonists slip away. Tolerate a slightly slow start and be rewarded with a growing cast of characters just this side of outrageous. Thrown together and shaken, they produce pathos and humor. I laughed outloud at the result predicted by Deacon's mentor, "Dear, Dear. A latent homosexual who performs acts of gross indecency living cheek by jowl with a disturbed adolescent who will probably have no compunction at all about leading him on in order to blackmail him. You certainly have an appetite for trouble, Michael." And, breathed a real sigh of relief when I learned the fate of Barry's mother. Actually what Michael does have in abundance is compassion which is lovely to behold as the tale unravels. I enjoyed the use of contemporary London slang. The atmosphere is a strange melange of British cozy and modern social injustice coupled with a liberal dose of human evil. My only quarrel is with too benign police behavior. Odd, because in another work by Minette Walters, The Ice House, as potrayed in the recent TV production (PBS's Mystery series) the cops' persecution of their suspect seemed outside legal bounds. What's up? An intricate plot. Individual kindness contrasted with a background of depravity. The book holds you, the reader, at a slight remove. You learn the results of these folks actions and understand their motives in just the right order.
Rating: 
Summary: If you loved Ice House but not Scold's Bridle, try this.
Review: Minette Walters has proven she can write page-turners (Ice House the best), but her track record is uneven. And perhaps it's because I'd been so disappointed with Scold's Bridle and Dark Room that I began this one with no expectations and therefore was pleasantly surprised. Not her usual formula. The main character, journalist Mike Deacon, is interesting and we get caught up with him and colorful characters he meets during his quest for the truth about a dead man's identity: Lawrence (did someone say Obi wan Kenobe?) and Terry. His family is also entertaining. Too, I was intrigued by the book's "architecture" - the interspersing of news clippings, book excerpts, personal letters and a diary (all written by Walters, of course). What was exasperating was having to figure out-by default-who the mysterious gal in South Africa was. Also, Anne Cattrell (that wonderful heroine in The Ice House) is mentioned albeit obliquely, which makes one think we'll meet her again here or ! that Deacon, as a fellow journalist, will at least share some thoughts about her and bring us up to date as he's reading one of her investigative pieces-something like, "He'd met her just once, and she was as impressive as her writing. No one understood why she'd holed up on an estate for years and years, and he was glad she was back at a prominent paper like the Times where she belonged." My anticipation, however, was as futile as Cattrell's inclusion. Yes, Walters can do better, but definitely give Echo a chance. At least take it out of the library, then decide if you want it permanently on your bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Thrilling, soothing and irresistible.
Review: Minette Walters is already a well established auther her plots are extremley well planned: she is always hinting of an an unknown part of the very involed plot. Some of her personalities echo through her other books, some say this reflects poor imagination, but i belive it interpits a specialist author. The Echo is just about my favourite of Minette's books because of the ending that is partley, just partley left to the imagination of the reader. One reason that Minette is my favourite auther is because of the amorous twist to her plots and the way she often uses three or four other parts to the plot like Micheal Deacon's murdeous past. The entire novel is built upon a religous theme reflecting around the characters like the hall of lying mirrors. Minette builds up the suspense amazingley and when you've finished reading your mind is still and icy still pondering over the facts and the puzzling epilogue.
Rating: 
Summary: Walter's the Echo does not live up to her prior standards.
Review: Minnette Walter's previous books were true page turners. At the end of each the reader could not be sure beyond a reasonable doubt if the protagonist was guilty of a heinous murder or wrongly accused and maltreated. In the Echo there is no reason to care. Words on the page seem to go nowhere and there is no story or character about whom to care. This book went straight to the re-sale shelf of the local library in the hope of saving someone else the agony of buying such a disappointing hardback novel. Save your money. Don't wait for the paperback version. Even $6.95 is too much to spend for this no-goer.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, convoluted plot: Was this really a mystery?
Review: Ms. Walters is a wonderful writer and I've enjoyed all of her books. This one is quite different than her previous novels. In fact, I'm not sure it was a "classical" mystery or a social commentary on a variety of subjects (class, family, mental illness, the homeless, homosexuality, male-bonding, etc.). It's a well-written book, but the mystery was somewhat convoluted. About a third of the way into the book, I no longer cared about the mystery. I had a difficult time with Terry: He was far too precocious for 14 years old. I had a bigger problem believing that Terry could recite, verbatim, the conversations he had with Billy Blake; especially those reminisces that dealt with poetry and the "meaning of life" passages. My favorite character: Lawrence. He appears briefly, but it's a wonderful characterization. I loved the British slang, as well. One reason I like Ms. Walters: all of her characters, even her protagonists, are flawed individuals with their own set of phobias, problems, and issues. Will I read her, again? Absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written, convoluted plot: Was this really a mystery?
Review: Ms. Walters is a wonderful writer and I've enjoyed all of her books. This one is quite different than her previous novels. In fact, I'm not sure it was a "classical" mystery or a social commentary on a variety of subjects (class, family, mental illness, the homeless, homosexuality, male-bonding, etc.). It's a well-written book, but the mystery was somewhat convoluted. About a third of the way into the book, I no longer cared about the mystery. I had a difficult time with Terry: He was far too precocious for 14 years old. I had a bigger problem believing that Terry could recite, verbatim, the conversations he had with Billy Blake; especially those reminisces that dealt with poetry and the "meaning of life" passages. My favorite character: Lawrence. He appears briefly, but it's a wonderful characterization. I loved the British slang, as well. One reason I like Ms. Walters: all of her characters, even her protagonists, are flawed individuals with their own set of phobias, problems, and issues. Will I read her, again? Absolutely.
Rating:
Summary: Well-written, convoluted plot: Was this really a mystery?
Review: Ms. Walters is a wonderful writer and I've enjoyed all of her books. This one is quite different than her previous novels. In fact, I'm not sure it was a "classical" mystery or a social commentary on a variety of subjects (class, family, mental illness, the homeless, homosexuality, male-bonding, etc.). It's a well-written book, but the mystery was somewhat convoluted. About a third of the way into the book, I no longer cared about the mystery. I had a difficult time with Terry: He was far too precocious for 14 years old. I had a bigger problem believing that Terry could recite, verbatim, the conversations he had with Billy Blake; especially those reminisces that dealt with poetry and the "meaning of life" passages. My favorite character: Lawrence. He appears briefly, but it's a wonderful characterization. I loved the British slang, as well. One reason I like Ms. Walters: all of her characters, even her protagonists, are flawed individuals with their own set of phobias, problems, and issues. Will I read her, again? Absolutely.
Rating: 
Summary: Another page turner from the author of The Ice House.
Review: Ms. Walters' plotting and character development only gets better with her latest novel, The Echo. I wasn't able to put it down for the last 2 days! Not only were the main characters unique, but I felt an affinity for all of them, both in spite of their foibles and because of them. The unique plot twists kept the story moving at a fast pace without losing me. The protagonist of Deacon is a memorable one and I hope he make an appearance in a future novel. Ms. Walters has not disappointed this fan! If anything, she will make the wait for her next novel all the more difficult.
Rating:
Summary: Another gem From Minette Walters
Review: Rarely can an author put a face to a homeless person, especially a deceased one, such as Ms. walters has.Not only is The Echo a fabulous mystery but it also teaches the reader to look beyond a person's appearance and to see what is really in their heart. Billy Blake is written as such a real person even though he is already dead when we first meet him in The Echo. Once you discover how Billy got to where he was when he died you too will fall in love with him. Another fabulous find from Minette Walters.
Rating:
Summary: Trying too hard
Review: Snappy and interesting in many places, The Echo's flaws make it all the more disappointing. The missing persons based plot starts well but gets more and more contorted until you simply can't follow and don't even care who was pretending to be who to whom and when and why. A couple of the main good guy characters are either totally unbelievable and/or totally off. A 14 yr old sexually & emotionally abused runaway found squatting in a homeless men's doss house transforms into a wise, supportive, insightful companion who quotes and analyses William Blake. A repressed homosexual who publicly jerks off in people's gardens is just plain creepy and unlikeable. The whole atmosphere is just bland British mystery, to which the author attempts to give a contemporary edge by the use of bad language and gratuitously coarse supposed homosexual slang, but it doesn't really work. It probably made an OK BBC TV series, but for a book like this is trying to be, read one of the better Val McDermid books, or for that matter pretty much any Ruth Rendell book.
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