Rating: 
Summary: 2-3 star mystery at Harvard w/typicalcolorful characters
Review: I did enjoy this read. It was a simple plot. The characters were educated, socialized, well-dressed and coiffured...just the right everything for Harvard University; right down to novel numbers of African-American Professors. Interesting Climatic Twist. A great read for the beach weather permitting.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely refreshing. It's about time!
Review: I don't usually write reviews, but after reading the ones posted I couldn't help myself. I thoroughly enjoyed "A Darker Shade of Chrimson." Reading is my passion, and it isn't necessary for me to have visited India to visualize it when it's weaved into a good story. One of the main reasons it was so enjoyable is because I could actually relate to it. The character is a professional female that happens to be black. The most disappointing aspect of reading books by the majority of black authors is their assumption that no one will read their books but black people and that most black people speak "Ebonics." Wrong!Pamela Thomas-Graham didn't find it necessary to condescend to the reader. She told a story, a good story, eloquently. Unlike most of you, I rather enjoyed the interplay between "Nik" aka "Juliet" and the ex-boyfriend. Actually, I wish she had explored it further. As a black professional, I totally tapped into this character. The only flaw, in my opinion, was the fact that Nikki allowed her insecurities to bleed a tad too often. The character was too strong to show, or ever say, that she was inferior to her boyfriend or anyone else for that matter. In fact, most of the people I know don't even think about being black, white or anything else, until it becomes an issue. Believe it or not my fellow critics, we're pretty much all alike. Additionally, it's a sad state of affairs when a reader resorts to criticisms about the appearance of the author (who cares anyway), rather than the value of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: A fast and compelling read.
Review: I enjoyed this book and finished it in one gulp. The setting is vaguely similiar to the small college I went to, and scenes in the library brought back memories of, in fact, being locked there all night. I think the author had a good mix of dialogue and description. I didn't get some of the slang terms, and maybe she put in a few stereotypical African-Americans to ease it along for those WASP's (me) who like to read a new mystery and learn about other cultures, albeit superficially. But the job atsmosphere that exists in an institution dominated by white males is one experienced by all women. The author did a good job of describing the different methods women use in those situations: get-along, go-along, get righteous or get out. I am recommending this book to other mystery lovers who like a female protagonist with intelligence.
Rating: 
Summary: Dull, Dull and Duller
Review: I felt Pamela Thomas-Graham took too long to develop the plot, there was a limited amount of action and most of the characters were dull and reassure with dull characters you are sure to have a dull book. I was being generous by rating this book at 4. The only reason the book captured a 4 is because the ending was not expected and one or two characters of the book were interesting but Pamela Thomas-Graham needs to go right back to the drawing boards. Better luck next time.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: I have to admit that I'm quite surprised at the number of negative reviews. I thought this book was quite well written and felt that the character of Nicki (sp?) was much more three dimensional than most mystery heroines. My daughter & I both enjoyed it quite a bit. I've also read her second book and am looking forward to future Ivy mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: A Must READ!!!!
Review: I liked this book. The characters were well developed and the plot twist, although sometimes strange were refreshing! The suspense had me on the edge of my seats at times! If you love mysteries you'll love this book. And you don't need to have an Ivy League degree to relate to these characters, only an open mind!!!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable murder mystery
Review: I picked this book up at Barnes and Noble after reading a good reveiw. I enjoy mysteries and romances. I realy enjoyed the way Ms Thomas Graham writes and I will be securing the follow up to this novel. I hope she develops the story of Nikki and Dante and explains what happen in their past.
This book was a good start to an new crime solver. Hopefully Ms Thomas Graham will continue to hone Nikki's skills in this area. It might help if she had som self defense training if she going to be in more dangerous scenes.
Hopefully the next book will develop faster as the author will not have to go into the background of the lead character so much.
I hope to have the new book befor the end of the weekend and I reveiw it also.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed expectations
Review: I picked this book up thinking I'd find nostalgic Cambridge ambiance, but it seemed more name-dropping than evocations of the real locales. Authors' credibility regarding academics also suffers because, among others, I've never heard of tenured faculty telling juniors to write papers for them (the more usual practice may be to get the prof's name ADDED as another author if research was done in her project/lab/funding). Author has a good diversity of characters and good sense of the oppressive academic politics they face while fighting over pennies, at an allegedly liberal university. Maybe that's a reason for the writing to be a bit thick, too. I find rather too much hasty action and happy coincidence than reflective deduction in this story. There's another mystery book I did like--oops, I can't recall its name--where the featured Harvard professor's degree in economics actually helps solve the crime. Author Thomas-Graham may learn that lovingly listing proud academic, etc., credits in her dj bio is the kiss of death for an aspiring popular writer in America (Aaron Elkins no longer does), perhaps by threatening the reader all sorts of -isms rather than skillful writing? or that the story is PC and you'd better like it?
Rating:
Summary: A Quick, Fun Read
Review: I ran to the bookstore to pick up a copy of Pamela Thomas-Graham's "A Darker Shade of Crimson" after hearing that it was about black people at Harvard. The book was a quick and fun read that highlighted issues of race, class, and gender in academia while at the same time providing an entertaining plot. 1-There were some inaccuracies in the book---such as a line mentioning "the collected works of William Junius Wilson" of whom I have never heard but who seems to be related to "William Julius Wilson." 2-The use of time was a bit ambiguous in the novel. At moments when I felt three weeks had gone by, she reminded me that only 2 days had gone by. 3-There was a bit too much name-dropping, to the point that I am not sure if people who haven't been to Ivy League schools would feel welcome to the book. I don't think I would. 4-Nikki Chase's relationship with Dante Rosario was not clear and/or believable; it was also annoying. 5-The politics of skin color came out well in the character dialogue of the story but Graham was less successful in handling it in the plot. 6-On a "moral" note I was left with the lesson that African Americans need to be excellent at what they do at all times. However, I decided that Nikki Chase was also someone I did not want to become--a woman working for "success" defined in terms of moving up a social hierarchy and getting approval from others. Success should be INWARDLY driven, determined, and evaluated. Thus, I feel like Nikki Chase is headed for therapy and a drastic mid-life crisis if she continues with the life perspective she has. Besides all of that though I thought the plot was captivating. The ending for the murder plot was a bit slow and less dramatic than what I was suspecting. But the ending for the Leo-Ella connection plot was surprising. In addition, I found myself laughing out loud during some parts of the book. Most important, the commentary on the compexities of race, gender, and class in academia were informative without being preachy. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read and who has some interest in the black middle-class or Ivy League environments. Those who don't, I'd refer you to a different novel before I'd refer you to this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Quick, Fun Read
Review: I ran to the bookstore to pick up a copy of Pamela Thomas-Graham's "A Darker Shade of Crimson" after hearing that it was about black people at Harvard. The book was a quick and fun read that highlighted issues of race, class, and gender in academia while at the same time providing an entertaining plot. 1-There were some inaccuracies in the book---such as a line mentioning "the collected works of William Junius Wilson" of whom I have never heard but who seems to be related to "William Julius Wilson." 2-The use of time was a bit ambiguous in the novel. At moments when I felt three weeks had gone by, she reminded me that only 2 days had gone by. 3-There was a bit too much name-dropping, to the point that I am not sure if people who haven't been to Ivy League schools would feel welcome to the book. I don't think I would. 4-Nikki Chase's relationship with Dante Rosario was not clear and/or believable; it was also annoying. 5-The politics of skin color came out well in the character dialogue of the story but Graham was less successful in handling it in the plot. 6-On a "moral" note I was left with the lesson that African Americans need to be excellent at what they do at all times. However, I decided that Nikki Chase was also someone I did not want to become--a woman working for "success" defined in terms of moving up a social hierarchy and getting approval from others. Success should be INWARDLY driven, determined, and evaluated. Thus, I feel like Nikki Chase is headed for therapy and a drastic mid-life crisis if she continues with the life perspective she has. Besides all of that though I thought the plot was captivating. The ending for the murder plot was a bit slow and less dramatic than what I was suspecting. But the ending for the Leo-Ella connection plot was surprising. In addition, I found myself laughing out loud during some parts of the book. Most important, the commentary on the compexities of race, gender, and class in academia were informative without being preachy. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read and who has some interest in the black middle-class or Ivy League environments. Those who don't, I'd refer you to a different novel before I'd refer you to this one.
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