Ghosts in the Snow

Rating:
Summary: Fresh, intelligent mystery in an intriguing setting
Review: A book that lives up to its significant promise, Ghosts in the Snow is a fast paced and engaging story that will please mystery and fantasy readers alike. This tense murder mystery is told by a main character so real and unique that I hung on every hint at his long and full past. We as readers come across Dubric Byerly late in his story - already old, scarred both literally and figuratively, with a history full of war, loss and sacrifices - yet there is a strong sense that the writer has much more planned for him yet. He is an atypical main character, far from the wisecracking thirty-something detective that modern crime stories have trained us to expect, but deeply interesting and likeable with a unique perspective.

The novel is set in a richly developed fantasy setting, but what grabbed me was the subtlety with which the author has used this world. No heavy handed magic or medieval battles, but occasional glimpses at a much deeper history and touches of the supernatural kept me immersed in a world that could otherwise have felt semi historical. It is the contrast of the mundane with the extraordinary that makes Ghosts such an original read - I guarantee you won't have read anything like it before.


Rating:
Summary: An awesome debut story!!
Review: An awesome debut story featuring Dubric Bryerly. Dubric is head of security at Faldorrah's castle & keep. Unfortunately for Dubric, he is cursed. As a young man, he turned his back on his goddess, and was rewarded with the ability to see the ghosts of murdered people - usually ones only in his vicinity. Unfortunately, the ghosts don't leave unless Dubric finds out how they died, why, and who did it. No one in the castle knows of Dubric's dark secret, until a serial killer strikes at under Dubric's domain. As the bodies pile up, so do the ghosts. And the longer the ghosts are there, the more dangerous they become. To make Dubric's life more difficult, everything points to the king's grandson...who also happes to be in love with one of the servants.

I found this book in the sci fantasy section of the bookstore - drawn by the fabulous cover art, reeled in by the initial description of Dubric and his ghosts. There are some paranormal elements to this story - magic is a known entity in the times where this is set. However, I found this to be more of a murder mystery with paranormal elements than a outright fantasy. This is not a story for those with a weak stomach, by the way. But I can't wait for more from this author.

Rating:
Summary: terrific supernatural mystery
Review: Dubric Byerly is used to eating alone as everyone keeps as far away from him as possible. The Castellan of Faldorahh is worried because someone is killing the young women leaving no clues behind. Having solved homicides before with help from his ability to work with ghostly victims, Dubric is very concerned as part of his responsibility is safety and security in Lord Brushgar's Desmesne, and he getting nowhere while the murders are turning increasingly brutal.

Still Dubric has a prime suspect as he struggles to find clues. However, suspecting someone is not enough especially since this someone is connected and an accusation without 100% proof could lead to civil war. Worse he sees the bloody specters who look at him to gain peace, but instead are driving Dubric over the edge into insanity. He is racing the clock of his mind in a helpless cause to uncover an invisible vicious killer.

GHOSTS IN THE SNOW is a fabulous blending of the paranormal inside a medieval like murder investigation. Dubric is a terrific protagonist who is cursed by his ability to see the dead; still he makes the most of his skill to try to solve violent crimes. The who-done-it is cleverly designed keeping the audience wondering along with the hero what is going on and how. Tamara Siler Jones writes a terrific supernatural mystery that places Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden inside Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma's world.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Interesting concept but poorly written
Review: I picked this up becauase I was looking for something new and it looked interesting. A murder mystery with ghosts? Sounded neat!

Unfortunately, the book didn't live up to its promise--at all.

The main problem here is that the characters are neither likable nor particularly believable. The male lead has very littler personality and honestly, by the end of the book I still didn't care what happened to him. The secondary main character is a goody-two-shoes: perfectly honest, pure of heart, level-headed, and best of all, happens to be a commoner and a servant who is beloved of the King's grandson (who is also some kind of spy). I've seen books that can pull that sort of unlikely relationship off and make it beautiful, but in this one, it fails.

And then there's the Love Interest/King's Grandson/Spy. He's obvious the top suspect in the murders, has been for pages and pages... since about page 30, I'd say. He has the weapons and skills to do it, and is perpetually missing at the right times. 99% of the evidence points to him.

Aside from Love Interest, there are about two other characters who could possibly be suspects. And they're not likely suspects. So if it's not Love Interest, than it's a minor character. In a mystery, whoever Dun It should always a major or semi-major character.

People seem to do things in mass. For example, "all the servant girls" are afraid of all men, apparently. Aside from the 3 main characters, and a couple minor ones, there are very few individuals.

Oh, and the dialogue. It's often trite, and I've caught character spouting very modernist semtiments at times, such as, if the servant girls hide from the killer, they're letting him defeat them with fear. There's also a character who says "frigging" as a cussword. Most of the others use "pegging". As in, "He better frigging well behave!" or "Peg that!" Even worse, lower-ranking people also tend to speak very disrespectfully toward higher-ranking people. Sometimes to their faces. Without any repercussions. Completely unrealistic.

Finally, this is a "forensic fantasy" according to the cover. Eh? The author has actually done a semi-decent job of giving clues in a manner understandable to her society, but only semi-decent. Mostly, it just doesn't quite fly in this setting.

Overall, this book fails as a fantasy and it fails as a mystery. Just don't buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable and in need of a good editor...
Review: I realize I'm in the minority on this one, at least so far. However, I found it really disappointing. The characters are flat -- all the good characters are GOOD with a capital G, standing up straight and speaking precisely, while all the bad characters are slovenly, with runny noses and bad grammar. Speaking of grammar, the author has a real problem with the proper use of "I" and "me", generally getting it wrong, which becomes very annoying very quickly.

As for the mystery, the red herrings are wildly obvious, as is the identity of the murderer. I spent half the book just waiting for the protagonist to catch up with me. And our heroine, who starts out as a strong and interesting character, winds up spending most of her time huddled in her boyfriend's arms "mewling"... I kid you not, "mewling"... with fear.

The "gimmick" of setting a supposed procedural in a fantasy world just doesn't make up for the thin story. The fantasy elements aren't particularly original either... cloaks of invisibility and referring to weeks and months as "phases" and "moons" are about as wild as it gets.

I was really looking forward to this one, and I'm really not impressed. This one goes in the giveaway pile, and I won't be picking up the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Wowsers
Review: I think the best description of Ghosts in the Snow, by Tamara Siler Jones, that I've heard is "forensic fantasy". It's got ghosts, magical items, foreign religions and gruesome murders. Dubric Bryerly is the Castellan of Castle Faldorrah and it is his duty to keep the peace. Recently, a serial killer has been stalking serving maids and killing them, one after another. The troubling part for everyone is that no one has seen the killer. The real trouble for Dubric is the ghosts of the slain are haunting him.

Unlike many of the fantasy authors that I've read; Ms. Jones doesn't try to beat it into your skull that this is a fantasy novel. Though there are ghosts and magic, these are presented more as facts of life than as extraordinary things that you must pay attention to. I find this method to be both a more realistic & a more enjoyable approach. But it's more than just her approach to describing the fantasy elements that makes me really enjoy Ms. Jones book. It's the wonderful characters.

* Dubric: a combination of kindly old uncle, drill sergant & private eye.
* Dien: Dubric's right-hand man. A bit of a bruiser, but with a big heart
* Nella: An innocent trapped in the middle of the vicious murders
* Lars: The unwanted son of a nobleman who works for Dubric and strives to make his family proud.

It's an amazing piece of work and I give it 5 out of 5 stars. I highly recommend you pick it up and read it; preferably leaving your weekend free, so you can finish it in one sitting.

Rating:
Summary: Ghosts in the Prose
Review: I was disappointed in this book. The descripton on the jacket holds a lot of promise, but the story falls short of the mark. I also had problems with modern slang being injected into the story. Did someone in medieval times really say "dangit"?? Or get "your head outta your ass!" (was this castle in New Jersey?) Another time one of the women is thinking about something and she tells herself, "don't even go there!" It was difficult to figure out when this book really took place or is that part of the fantasy?I felt like it was on the edge of being really good, but kept missing somehow.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of potential, but...
Review: If I had written this review half way through the book, I would have given it 5 stars and just raved. It started out that good.

But as time when on I felt like the story wasn't evolving, it just seemed to drag on because it was obvious that the person being pursued as the killer wasn't guilty. But the investigator in the book, Dubric, never looks beyond the obvious and it gets tedious after a while.

The killer also started to seem more unrealistic as time went on. Initially he was a very Jack the Ripper type, terrifying and somewhat clever. But he also never really evolved, and the number of killings becomes astonishing. The violence as the book goes on seems overkill (no pun intended).

The interactions between the classes never really seemed realistic either. The workers and other commoners regularly confronted the noble classes, yelled at them, accused them of crimes etc. etc. And no one seemed particularly worried about the consequences; nor were there any most of the time.

There are some really good ideas here. The ghosts, who appear to Dubric, don't rest until avenged. They are portrayed very vividly and it's interesting to see the character of a ghost evolve. It's also a great plot point to have a investigator use somewhat modern forensic techniques. Though I have to say the forensics rarely moved the story forward or seemed to offer much to the overall plot-- I assume this will be further developed in future books.

I think there is great potential in this story, but there are enough misses in this book to make it frustrating toward the end.

I find myself conflicted on what to rate this book because the first half was very good. The only reason it gets a low rating from me is because it got so frustrating in the last half. I just felt as if the author was trying to hold our hand and lead us down a path that made very little sense instead of writing a more complex villian and multiple, believable suspects.




Rating:
Summary: Excellent Debut Work
Review: On the suggestion of a friend I picked up this book and found myself enthralled from cover to cover. While warned that there were hints strewn though out as to the identity of the killer I was clueless until the very end.

Interesting marriage of fantasy and forensics, well developed characters and I've now got a thirst for the author's upcoming novel as well.

Good work Tamara Siler Jones!

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good actually
Review: There are few books that combine the fantasy and mystery genres. I think this one is good in either categories.

Warning:

It is often disgusting. Jack the Ripper comes to mind, with graphic descriptions of cannibalism. Bear that in mind if you are the least bit squeamish. Jack the Ripper too for the political dimension.

Moderate spoiler:

For those who say that it was predictable: perhaps it was, but some mystery writers manage to be unpredictable solely by putting no emphasis whatsoever on the guilty party until the very end.

At the end you learn that some obscure side character did it. Now that's cheap!