Killing Time (A Natalie Price Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Great read! Classic mystery with a unique sleuth.
Review: Excellent mystery embedded in an unusual inside look at an otherwise closed setting (the prison prerelease world). Title is an expert in this world, having worked as a prison therapist, so the issues, politicas, & characters are dead on. Makes you think
about whether we have crated social biases about ex-cons & soon-to-be ex-cons that make it hard for them to catch a break -- or do we? Kinda like a good episode of 'Homicide' ot 'Law & Order.'

It's great that Nat (the main charcter) is in this tough prison job, but is sometimes so clueless, clutsy, & headstrong that she gets in her own way. Not like the superhero stuff you see sometimes when the amateur sleuth, presented with a mystery to solve, suddenly channels Sherlock Holmes! Want to know more about Nat's background -- how did she get to her prison job, what else makes her tick, etc. But Title does a good job of giving us a peek into Nat's interior universe -- maybe the friendly cop on the beat, investigator Leo, will be able to draw it out of her with the promise of more home cooked Italian meals... Can't wait to see what Nat & Leo tussle over in the next book...

Rating:
Summary: Good prison analysis, character irrational
Review: When prison superintendent Natalie Price's best friend is murdered, all the evidence points to one of the prisoners. Maggie had been teaching the prisoner and encouraging him. Yet Natalie doesn't want to believe that Dean could be a brutal killer--it would make her look like an idiot for allowing him extra priviliges, and strengthen the hand of those who oppose the release program she has made her career. Together with detective Leo Coscarelli, Natalie begins to investigate--and to uncover secrets she wishes she'd never learned. Maggie had been an unsatiable lover, and seems to have had a relationship with every man Natalie knows--all of whom become suspects. And the original case against Dean seems increasingly questionable. Could they be hunting an innocent man?

Author Elise Title writes convincingly about the horrors of the prison system and its dehumanizing effect on its wards (and on its guards). I found her characters, however, less convincing. Natalie seems to go out of her way to put herself in danger. Even when she has no good reason to do so, she doesn't think of asking for backup. Although she soon suspects her deputy, Jack, she takes his word for a critical piece of evidence without checking--and lying to the detective in charge about where the evidence came from. Although Natalie accuses her estranged husband of thinking only of himself, the accusation could have been made against her. Such an unsympathetic protagonist makes KILLING TIME difficult to really enjoy. As Natalie throws herself into danger, it's too tempting to hope that maybe this time, she'll get what she deserves.

Rating:
Summary: Unequivocally the WORST book I ever read
Review: Without question, this was the worst book I ever read. It seems centered on the unfairness of trials and the brutality of prisons -- which would be laudable in a non-fiction book designed to pinpoint/improve such areas, but was wholly inappropriate in a MYSTERY NOVEL. Throughout most of the book, the main character constantly whined about her evil daddy and how unfairly he treated her. After that, we moved on to the unfairness of trials and the unbelievable brutality of prisons. I was seeking a mystery, not a treatise on prison brutality. This was loathesome. To put it very, very mildly, it was a complete waste of money and time.