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Summary: Cold Front
Review: As a born and raised South Dakotan, I can relate..no one tells it as well as does Kathleen Taylor. If you like tongue in cheek wit, great writing, round and living characters, this book is for you. Only problem is with her use of the f word..out of character and not necessary..only offensive. I'd suggest that it not be used in future writing. But, this one problem aside, I'd recommend it to friends..after blacking out the offensive word of course. Joyce
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Summary: Another funny-bone tickling romp with Tory Bauer
Review: As the delightful Ms. Taylor says: "Fable and fiction are filled to the brim with horror stories of what can happen when people are closeted together over a long and unrelenting winter." Been there - done that- got the Damart Long Johns!The chapter names are just a hoot! For instance: "WWMMD?" (What Would Miss Marple Do?) My quandary with serials is that, unless one is more patient than I - and can therefore wait for all the books to be available to read in one continuous shut-in-the-house-due-to-blizzard marathon, one must recall who was whom - and with murder mysteries - who offed whom - from the last installment(s.) Waiting for the entire series to be complete (what letter of the alphabet is Sue Grafton on now, anyway?) is really not a good idea - considering my philosophy that life is uncertain: eat dessert first! - that is, if one is allowed dessert - which I am not - see my review of Dr. Atkins' "New Diet Revolution " but I digress. In Taylor's latest ode to the fictional South Dakota town, I was thinking that one of the characters here shouldn't still be in the familiar confines of Delphi, but rather, off at the South Dakota State pen for offing someone in a previous book. I guess I'll have to "back track" during our next blizzard ;-)
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Summary: It's great and Tory's back!
Review: Brrrrr - sitting in my warm house, reading COLD FRONT, I fully expected to look outside and see the blizzard approaching. Kathleen Taylor keeps honing her skill as a writer, enveloping her readers with precise description and telling dialogue, creating a new "real" world. This latest Tory Bauer novel is everything I wanted it to be, fun, tense, exciting and a good mystery. What more could readers want? I'm just sorry I have to wait so long for a new one!
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Summary: dull cold front
Review: Cold Front, the fifth in Kathleen Taylor's South Dakota series, is disappointing. The first third of the book works well: we start in a familiar place--the diner--and the town is as usual, filled with bored, slightly nasty people. It's New Year's Eve and there is a blizzard. Taylor is, as usual, wonderful with the reality of a small farm town in South Dakota. People drink too much and sleep around. In this book, because of the blizzard, no one can go anywhere and the hell of being trapped without lights, heat or escape is well-done. The heroine, Tory Bauer, is, as usual, masochistic and in need of sleep; (in all the books Tory is in need of sleep, and in this one she also is in need of a bathroom quite frequently). I liked the mystery, but nearly half way through the book becomes bogged down. Everyone goes to the bar and there they sit. Nothing happens but a lot of talking--and small farm towns in South Dakota are not populated with extraordinary talkers! I liked the solution of the mystery, but getting there is tedious.
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Summary: dull cold front
Review: Cold Front, the fifth in Kathleen Taylor's South Dakota series, is disappointing. The first third of the book works well: we start in a familiar place--the diner--and the town is as usual, filled with bored, slightly nasty people. It's New Year's Eve and there is a blizzard. Taylor is, as usual, wonderful with the reality of a small farm town in South Dakota. People drink too much and sleep around. In this book, because of the blizzard, no one can go anywhere and the hell of being trapped without lights, heat or escape is well-done. The heroine, Tory Bauer, is, as usual, masochistic and in need of sleep; (in all the books Tory is in need of sleep, and in this one she also is in need of a bathroom quite frequently). I liked the mystery, but nearly half way through the book becomes bogged down. Everyone goes to the bar and there they sit. Nothing happens but a lot of talking--and small farm towns in South Dakota are not populated with extraordinary talkers! I liked the solution of the mystery, but getting there is tedious.
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Summary: Another winner by Kathleen Taylor
Review: I have hesitated posting a review of this book. It is the first time I have hesitated, not because I didn't like the book, but because of the wonderful feelings I had about it and my own inability to do it justice. Reading Cold Front was like visiting with an old friend who has been away for awhile. It was so great to catch up with what had been happening with the citizens of Delphi. I didn't realize how much I had missed them until I got to the second paragraph and felt like I was home again. Kathi Taylor's series incorporates each and every one of the points you expect from an excellent read. She has once again written a very believable, unique, interesting book. She not only has a protagonist that is three-dimensional, she has a whole town of characters who literally come to life on the page. They are so believable that you are sure you have known them personally for years and years. And, above all, they are sharply defined. You hear their voices as you read, each one special, individual and unforgettable. As for the plot, Cold Front gives you a new twist on the locked room murder. It is, instead, a stranded town. The fact that the entire story takes place over the New Years holiday makes it all the more enticing. There is no electricity, no heat, phones only intermittently, no access to the outside world. Times of crisis seem to be where Tory Bauer soars, and soar she does as she sets out to find the murderer in Delphi. I have one caveat. Make sure you are reading this with a big mug of hot chocolate, a fire in the fireplace, and snugged under a warm quilt, because you will be darn cold on your visit. The blizzard descriptions gave me a whole new appreciation and understanding of cold weather.
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Summary: As always - very enjoyable!
Review: I think one of the highest compliments to an author is for someone to say they would buy any book the author wrote even if it was hardback. That's what I have to say about Kathleen Taylor. Her books are wonderful and even if there wasn't a mystery involved, I would read her books just for the pure fun and enjoyment of visiting with the residents of Delphi, South Dakota. From the very first book, Sex and Salmonella, Kathleen Taylor gained an avid follower by her humor and her ability with words which enabled you to picture Delphi and its inhabitants so clearly. Her characters are people you find yourself laughing and crying with and for. Closing the back cover of the current book, you find yourself eagerly looking forward to her next. Cold Front was just as good as her first through fourth books! My only criticism is that things between Neil and Tory are going so slowly! Other than that, I would highly recommend this author and I hope there will be many more books to the series!
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Summary: More Fun in South Dakota
Review: It's New Years Eve, a blizzard has blown into Delphi, South Dakota, the power's out, the roads are closed, the temperature with wind chill is about thirty below and everyone is stuck in town to celebrate. Bad luck for the folks of Delphi, but good luck for us, as we watch overweight, over forty, mystery loving, waitress Tory Bauer, and the rest of the Delphi citizens bring in the New Year. But by morning, thefts are being reported all over town and a frozen body is found in the back of a pick-up truck. It turns out to be Ian Douglas O'Hara, who blew into town from Sioux Falls, just before the blizzard hit and spent the night charming just about every female in Delphi. Now ever inquisitive Tory is on the case, asking questions and as usual, secrets start popping up all over town. Kathleen Taylor has written another terrific, light-hearted mystery, full of great quirky characters. Her writing is smart and irreverent with scenes that will have you laughing out loud and enough twists and turns and false starts to keep you guessing to the end. And as Tory circles closer and closer to the truth, you'll be rooting for her. So sit back, put up your feet and join the gang from Delphi, as they work their magic. You won't be disappointed.
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Summary: Another Winner
Review: Kathleen Taylor is one of the most consistent writers I have ever come across. In this, her fifth novel, she continues the story of the residents of Delphi, South Dakota (and a colorful bunch they are). It is the New Year and a major blizzard has cut Delphi off from the outside world. Three strangers, who came into town before the storm hit, are suspect in a number of robberies around town. One of the strangers turns up dead. It is up to intrepid waitress, Tory Bauer, to sort things out. As in other Taylor books, there is plenty of laugh out loud humor and insight into the workings of human nature. Another winner.
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Summary: Tory and Kathleen Get Better With Each Book!!
Review: Love, love, love this book and the whole series. I am going to be very strict and tell you to run and read the other books before reading this one if you have not already. Some series do not require reading in order. This series does. Start with Funeral Food/Missionary Position and go on to Sex and Salmonella..though for some wild reason S & S is the only book in the series OUT OF PRINT!! And hard to find. But it's well worth it, so keep digging until you find it. The only thing i am mad about is that the book is over and I have to wait countless months for the next one. I kept spreading it out and making it last. The writing is very clever in all the books, but I think Kathleen Taylor hit her biggest stride with Cold Front. The writing rocked. Even the chapter titles were too clever. She does a lot of literary takeoffs I really like. Tory is always asking herself what Miss Marple would do, so there's one chapter called WWMMD! Then there's the Terrible Awful No Good Very Bad Day chapter. And Little House Trailor on the Prairie! Love It!! Her writing is so hilarious..when talking about one townsperson and how out of snyc she was acting, Tory was mulling it all over and could only come up with one solution-pods in the basement. I love all the townspeople-Stu the philander, Ron the blinker, Del the cranky nympho roommate, Aphrodite the cook, Neil the librarian-my new hero, Junior the uptight control freak cousin. And throughout all the books, Tory keeps telling the reader, now if this was a REAL mystery, you would not be putting up with this or we would have already have solved the mystery etc. A nice touch. Read these wonderfully funny books.
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