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Rating: 
Summary: First Effort in what May Prove to be a Good Series
Review: Atlanta Graves introduces Atlanta PI Sunny Childs. Sunny, part owner and operative for Peachtree Investigations is hired to retrieve a stolen painting. She spends much of her time fronting for absent boss, and Peachtree Investigations founder, Gunnar Brushwood, trying to keep the business solvent, pleasing her mother and dumping her married lover. Set in Atlanta, Sunny moves easily from Dunwoody and glitzy benefits to a ride on Marta to crime-ridden Southwest Atlanta. Author Ruth Birmingham offers a glimpse of Atlanta that makes you feel like she knows the territory (with one glaring error -- a character who majored in Criminal Justice at Georgia Tech). Like many mysteries, the title does not have any real relation to the plot but Sunny may eventually develop into a well-rounded character who could sustain a series.
Rating:
Summary: A Beginning
Review: I read this book after I'd read the author's two following books about Sunny. Take my word, read this one first. The plot gets entangled and confused, but it is clear that Ms Birmingham has style. After this book, she sorts out how to do plots, and soars from 3 stars to 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A Beginning
Review: I read this book after I'd read the author's two following books about Sunny. Take my word, read this one first. The plot gets entangled and confused, but it is clear that Ms Birmingham has style. After this book, she sorts out how to do plots, and soars from 3 stars to 5 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Sue Grafton, move over
Review: This is a fine debut detective novel by Ruth Birmingham, and it makes me look forward to reading more of her work. Her protagonist, Sunny Childs, PI, is clever, feisty, and always interesting, and the story is well-plotted, full of interesing twists and turns. Birmingham succeeds in creating a tone that is hip and humorous and overall her style does resemble that of Sue Grafton. There's certainly room for more great mysteries with female protagonists, though, isn't there? It's also great fun to see a detective series set in Atlanta, a dynamic, cosmopolitan, and historic city. The only drawback I found was the laborious "let me tell you how I did it before I kill you" passage toward the end of the book. I suppose this is pretty standard fare for detective novels, but I would like to think that this feature could be minimized. Otherwise, congratlations to Ms. Birmingham for her inaugural effort.
Rating:
Summary: Sue Grafton, move over
Review: This is a fine debut detective novel by Ruth Birmingham, and it makes me look forward to reading more of her work. Her protagonist, Sunny Childs, PI, is clever, feisty, and always interesting, and the story is well-plotted, full of interesing twists and turns. Birmingham succeeds in creating a tone that is hip and humorous and overall her style does resemble that of Sue Grafton. There's certainly room for more great mysteries with female protagonists, though, isn't there? It's also great fun to see a detective series set in Atlanta, a dynamic, cosmopolitan, and historic city. The only drawback I found was the laborious "let me tell you how I did it before I kill you" passage toward the end of the book. I suppose this is pretty standard fare for detective novels, but I would like to think that this feature could be minimized. Otherwise, congratlations to Ms. Birmingham for her inaugural effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Promising Debut
Review: This is an excellent book that is very similar to the V.I. Warshawski series by Sara Patetsky, but with an Atlanta setting. This could be the beginning of a best selling series.
Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Read
Review: This is my second Ruth Birmingham book. After reading this author earlier this year, I was looking forward to another entertaining read, which is what I got. Entertaining, but not enthralling. The book centers around Sunny Childs, an Atlanta private investigator who finds herself as the go between in a case involving a stolen painting and the ransom for it's return. After the "drop" goes wrong, Sunny finds herself right in the middle of the case and the stakes are raised when murder occurs. Add to this Sunny's attempt to save the firm from financial ruin and you have an entertaining but not very deep plot.
Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Read
Review: This is my second Ruth Birmingham book. After reading this author earlier this year, I was looking forward to another entertaining read, which is what I got. Entertaining, but not enthralling. The book centers around Sunny Childs, an Atlanta private investigator who finds herself as the go between in a case involving a stolen painting and the ransom for it's return. After the "drop" goes wrong, Sunny finds herself right in the middle of the case and the stakes are raised when murder occurs. Add to this Sunny's attempt to save the firm from financial ruin and you have an entertaining but not very deep plot.
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