Book Description
Brian Jones life was a David vs. Goliath. Young, petite, and naïve, his Goliath was the Rolling Stones money machine. Unlike the Bible, Brian lost his life. This book levels the battlefield by telling what happened to the band’s founder. Written from Brian’s POV, the Stones rise to stardom is chronicled, ending with British authorities lack to properly investigate the bi-sexual bandleader’s death at 27.
Brian recalls being an incest victim, homeless at age 16 and forced into prostitution. Regardless, with extreme talent, sexuality, and imagination he led the band he picked, taught and named to glory. His vision was to bring world music to the Stones catalog; the band declined—content to crank out mundane sounds as long as records sold.
After a fight over musical direction Brian left the band planning to start anew and take the Rolling Stones name with him. Three weeks later he drowned in his swimming pool. Brian’s tale of death threats and witness accounts recount what actually happened.
Customer Reviews:
BRIAN JONES...ANOTHER JFK?.......2007-09-20
I just read a grand review of this book that appears on Vintage Rock www.vintagerock.com.bjones_book.aspx in which the reviewer compares Brian's killing to the conspiracy behind JFK's assassination. What I find most interesting is the complete quiet we hear coming from the British Isles when so many are currently presenting clues and evidence surrounding Brian's death.
Even though Ms. Shepherd's book offers compelling facts relating to his death, she leaves out another suspicious death--that of Graham Bond who would've made a fantastic witness to talk about the threatening phone call Brian received at his "hideaway" only two days before his death. While the author does a dramatic job of re-enacting the events of Bond accepting the phone threat on Brian's behalf, she fails to mention that Bond "accidentally" fell under a train not long thereafter. Before he could personally testify about what he knew. Just as with witnesses who were willing to testify about JFK's assassination, many who were willing to testify about Brian's death also either suddenly disappeared or suddenly died! Coincidence? Think about it.
Lonesome Dove.......2007-09-16
Since I learned this book is supposed to be written from Brian's POV I don't understand why some complain that the author only focuses on Brian's good qualities and doesn't put him down for all the horrible deeds and nasty pranks he was known to have committed against others. I got it right off. Since Brian is talking about himself here, he like any of us wouldn't be sitting down (or standing up LOL) talking badly about himself.
He probably couldn't see all his faults especially since those nasty pranks were mostly committed during his up's and down's mood swings, when he didn't have much control over what he was doing. None of us sees ourselves as others do, and Brian was hurting over losing the friendship and camaraderie of his band mates but he couldn't understand where he had turned them off. Also none of them believed his many ailments that caused him to miss performances and rehearsals. The other Stones thought he was just being a cry baby or lazy but he gave it his best shot. It just wasn't good enough for the healthy ones who couldn't sympathize with his predicament.
In reading this story I got to thinking of Brian Jones as a beautiful Lonesome Dove, bleeding from the inside and not knowing how to get the help and unquestioning love he so badly needed.
WHAT A RIDE!.......2007-09-06
I'm part of a R&B band myself and got to meet Mick and the rest back in the day. So I try making time to read memoirs and such when I get the time. I've not written any reviews before but this story really caught me up. The book took so many twists and turns different than the rest out there that sometimes all stumble on each other with the same info.
I only wish this book would've gone into the story and testimony of Brian's murder earlier. That was the part that fascinated me. Not to say I want to believe it. But it for sure has more proof than anything I've seen before. All the facts come together and I hate to say that even though I don't want to believe what this story says happened, I can't find anything to prove it didn't happen.
I got to talking with others about this who say they heard similar storys for years but never saw it all laid out so totally. We'd like to see this turned into a film. Not like Stoned that is whitewash, but if this book is made into a movie as its written then we'd have something to watch for sure.
I only wonder why the Brits don't want to open the case. There's to much out there to ignore but hey that's on their heads.
CONNECT THE DOTS............2007-09-05
I usually enjoy a good old fashioned murder mystery and decided upon this story for my next unsolved whodunit. I wasn't interested in the history of the Rolling Stones or their music per se but found the idea, that one of their own had been possibly murdered at the behest of some of their own, intriguing to say the least.
Any reader interested in true crime will find the lady author's last 3 chapters plus 3 part epilogue very enlightening; somewhat reminiscent of Agatha Christie. As I read her results, I began to do research myself into each aspect of the crime that was brought up. Amazingly I found there is much evidence out there if one takes the time to actually look for it in press releases, actual testimony plus word-of-mouth tales swapped as to what actually happened to Mr. Jones at the time of his death and shortly thereafter.
It is mind-boggling that British authorities did not and still have not seriously investigated what was flagrantly a murder for hire. I located old magazine articles (and some fairly new) that corroborate a majority of what Ms. Shepherd attests to in her book. I found interesting also the fact that fans of Brian Jones have so viciously attacked her regarding claims of his not-so-well hidden sexual preference and drug use. All that pales in comparison to the fact he was obviously murdered in a most heinous manner by those laughingly hired to protect him!
I cannot understand why more focus isn't placed on what the meat `n potatoes of this book actually is: proof positive that Brian was purposely done away with and afterwards his prized possessions either callously burned in a bonfire (which again British authorities apparently turned a blind eye into investigating) or hauled off by both his band mates and his killers. That's where the reader needs to focus and not on who kissed whom, male or female, or whether Brian was still heavily imbibing drugs and alcohol at the time of his drowning.
I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy connecting the dots and seeing for themselves that the murder of Brian Jones remains mainly a major unrecognized and overlooked cold case crime. For anyone who likes to see justice served we should ban together and demand a complete, honest investigation into this killing.
STEWED & KEEFED.......2007-08-31
The honeymoon between Sir Mick and Keith apparently is at its end. Fragile nerves and high tensions have reached their peak and Keef is lashing out indiscriminately. His latest target is once again Brian Jones-the 63 year old Stone finds the band's former leader easy prey since the dead are hardly ever known to fight back. He believes he'll have a better chance of winning the battle of words against a ghost rather than take Mick on full force.
Oddly the open wound growing between Mick and Keith comes at a time when the author of Straight from the Heart is ready to announce the release of Brian's audiotapes. Word is she's finally received permission from the "keeper of the flame" for all these many years-who's mainly led a reclusive lifestyle since Brian's murder.
As part of the British rock scene during the late Sixties to early Seventies, I'd heard rumors flying that Brian had a hidden stash of tapes he'd recorded. We all figured they were only of music he'd put together during his stay at Cotchford. Now it appears that not only music was being composed while he lived the life of a solitary man, but that he had recorded his memoirs. Quite a feat for someone whom the Stones insisted was too incapacitated due to drugs and drinking to play guitar.
In my humble opinion I believe the author did a gargantuan job in re-enacting Brian's life in such an authentic and often tongue-in-cheek manner.
Customer Reviews:
Superb - A pictorial history of the removal of our 35th, and last real Pres........2006-07-13
The shadow Gov't basically rules now. That's
why we have the 90-I.Q. idiot that we have @
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.! A great book that all
Amer-I-cans should have!
"Death Project" is the best.......2006-05-21
What impressed me the most were the many mysterious deaths relating to the Coup. I formed a strong opinion of the Coup at that time but did not continue to think about it very much. It was not until some 25 years later with the help of the internet and some disposable income that I was able to get ahold of enough material to sort out the disinformation and false flags and get the true , however hard to swallow , picture of the crime.
Now that I know it was a classic Coup d' etat with the Secret Service stopping protection that day, I hope the truth will finally stopped being surpressed by the mainstream media.
Why does it still matter? It matters because our Government continues to lie and insult our intelligence regarding this Coup d' etat. And the powers that took out our President, installed themselves in power as a result of this Coup are still very much there.
A Conspiracy,no doubt;but who and why ?.......2006-01-03
Anybody who has been following the Assassination of JFK will find this an excellent resource.I have read or watched everything I've come across since that fateful day in Dallas.I still remember the newsreels I watched for several days from the actual killing ,the live shooting of Oswald by Ruby in front of many millions of viewers ,the funeral and all that came in the way of investigations , books ,articles ,TV specials and movies.
This is by far the best coverage of the evidence by photos that I have ever seen all collected in one book.A lot of the things shown in the book will be familiar;but here we get the most detail on every aspect of things that have been questioned
and even in cases manipulated.I have to admit that I felt that some of the conclusions and detail 'seen' were a stretch;but I don't have the benefit of the extreme expertise that the investigators,scientists and detectives use to deduce evidence and meaning.
I was not so aware of the prepondence of evidence and argument that exists to show why it was a conspiracy,and can in no way be dismissed as the act of a lone killer.For about 20 years the occurrence of a conspiracy might have been in doubt;but no longer.
I have had this book on the shelf for quite a long time but didn't think there was a lot of new stuff here.I just thought it had excellent detail.I finally decided to read it and was very impressed .Then I read a lot of the reviews and was very surprised to find recent reviews on a book published back in 1993.
A recent review by Vince Palamara on December,2005;really got my attention.A check of his other reviews produced a storehouse of reviews on JFK and other conspiracies;and is a resource in itself.One review of his on "Ultimate Sacrifice" by Lamar Waldron was particularly interesting,and the reviews on that book are a real eye opener.I had not heard of this new book and from the flood on recent reviews makes it look like the whole issue is about to blow open again.I am anxiously looking forward to reading it.
Now that it appears that the arguments about a conspiracy may be behind us; the focus is going to be who and why.Not only JFK,but what about conspiracy in RFK,Martin Luthur King and what about many others connected.I have never believed that we have heard the end of the Marilyn Monroe story yet.
Anyone interested in the JFK Assassination should get this book.
BEST single volume on the photographic evidence..........2005-12-23
...for the actual photographs. Richard Trask's "Pictures Of The Pain" is perhaps more scholarly, but this volume is great for the graphics. Get it!!!!
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA
BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)
Get This Volume For The Photos, Not The "Theories".......2005-11-17
Robert J. Groden's "The Killing Of A President" is a very good resource book for many of the photographs connected with the events surrounding the 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy.
The softcover version of "TKOAP" that I own, published in 1994, consists of 223 pages and is printed on very high-quality (thick) paper stock. The book measures approximately 9-1/4" (W) x 10-7/8" (H), and has a nice "collectible" feel to it.
This volume is just crammed full of high-quality photographs and still-frames from motion-picture sequences that were taken on November 22, 1963 (the day of JFK's murder). Some of the pictures depicted here are large-sized and take up entire pages, with a few filling out full two-page spreads.
Several of JFK's autopsy photos are published within this volume, as well, and are rather graphic and gruesome in nature (especially if you've never had the chance to view them before via other means). So, be forewarned before you turn to Pages 72 through 85.
The book's text and photo captions are all "pro-CT" in nature (i.e.: pushing the idea that a vast, multi-shooter conspiracy existed to assassinate President Kennedy in Dallas' Dealey Plaza).
It's a nicely-styled publication, IMO. But the book's 'style' certainly doesn't mean Mr. Groden has proven that any type of "conspiracy" existed on 11-22-63. I do not think he has; and I also don't think that more than one man (Lee Harvey Oswald) was aiming a weapon at JFK that day in Dallas. The overwhelming evidence in the case (on the whole) tells me that one lone killer was involved in ending the President's life that sunny Friday afternoon.
I'm forced to chuckle when reading in this book of Mr. Groden's "8-Shot" shooting scenario that he believes took place on 11/22. (He even suggests that there might have been up to TEN shots fired at the President's limousine, despite the fact that ONLY THREE of these many shots were heard by the large majority of the witnesses at the scene.)
Mr. Groden obviously realizes that in any such 8-to-10-shot scenario, a total of up to SEVEN of the bullets had to somehow disappear from view before they could enter any kind of 'official' record in the case (because Oswald, the resident "Patsy" in the JFK killing, per CT accounts, could only have fired three shots from his rifle in the allotted timeframe during the shooting).
And we must also keep in mind -- per Mr. Groden's theory (in which he has Texas Governor John B. Connally hit TWICE, not just once) -- that FIVE total bullets, including the JFK head-shot missile, MUST "disappear" completely from the record AFTER having gone into TWO different victims' bodies (JFK & Connally). And this includes the 'disappearance' of TWO bullets that struck a man who LIVED through the shooting (Connally). Talk about "Magic Bullets"! Mr. Groden apparently has not just ONE, but FIVE such miracle (vanishing) missiles. Quite remarkable indeed.
How in the world could ANY "plotters" possibly EXPECT a crazy multi-shot plan like this to succeed? It's completely nutty to think that anyone wanting to "frame" Lee Oswald would be WILLING to shoot that many times at the ONE intended target and from multiple angles and locations.
Another thing to ask yourself (if you believe in this notion of 8 or 10 shots actually being fired at JFK) -- Just what kind of CRAPPY shooters were being employed to rub out the Chief Executive on November 22nd? Mr. Groden is purporting that up to HALF the shots that were fired (5 out of 10 in the ludicrously-high TEN-SHOT theory being proposed) not only missed their intended target (which was obviously JFK), but all these various shots missed the ENTIRE AUTOMOBILE! Some great riflemen, huh?
Want another good belly-laugh? Keep reading......
Good Gosh! Would you look at this! .... Up to TEN shots and (per Groden) NOT ONE OF THEM being fired from Oswald's "Sniper's Nest" in the Texas School Book Depository Building?! (He hints that ONE, and only ONE, of these many shots COULD have come from the "Oswald window", but he feels that even THAT shot "probably" came from elsewhere -- the Dal-Tex Building on Houston Street.)
You'd THINK that, given an 8- or 10-shot shooting scenario, that Mr. G. might have a few more of the shots emanating from the ONLY POSITIVELY KNOWN SOURCE OF GUNFIRE -- the southeastern-most window on the 6th Floor of the Depository, from where Oswald HIMSELF was positively identified as firing a rifle at the motorcade!
Evidently, Mr. Groden must think that this rifle-toting "Oswald Look-alike" in the SE corner window on the 6th Floor of the Depository was only PRETENDING to fire his rifle at President Kennedy, in order to further implicate "Patsy Oswald". I guess it didn't matter to any of the conspirators that NONE of the wounds on the victims would 'line up' properly if the 'plotters' don't have some bullets coming from that Oswald window -- but that (apparently) didn't concern the architects of this doomed-to-fail-from-the-start "Frame-The-Patsy" conspiracy plot.
And then there's also the testimony of Harold Norman to consider when evaluating the overall validity of any of Mr. Groden's claims. Norman worked in the Book Depository Building and was situated on the 5th Floor, directly underneath the 'Oswald window' at the time of the shooting. Norman actually HEARD the working of the rifle's 'bolt' above him, and HEARD three cartridge cases hitting the floor right above him. Given such detailed testimony from someone within the Book Depository itself (including his preciseness re. hearing "THREE" hulls/shells dropping to the floor and exactly "THREE" shots being fired), how can Mr. Groden possibly purport a theory which includes ZERO shots or just ONE shot coming from the Oswald location?
Mr. Groden also postulates in this book, as I previously mentioned, his belief that Governor Connally was hit by two separate bullets, the last of these (which Groden says caused the wrist injury to Connally) supposedly occurring six-tenths of a second AFTER the fatal head shot to JFK.
This "2-shot" theory to 'JBC' is totally unsupported by the evidence and the filmed (Zapruder) record -- not to mention the fact that NEITHER of these bullets, per this theory, is ever found by Parkland Hospital personnel. The ONE bullet discovered at Parkland, according to conspiracists, was "planted" by someone (Bullet CE399). Connally's doctor (Dr. Shaw), however, said on 11/22 that ALL of Connally's wounds were probably caused by "one bullet" (not two).
And then there's the "Zapruder Film", which (IMO) verifies that Connally's wrist was struck by a bullet WELL prior to the JFK head shot. This "verification", IMO, occurs on the Z-Film in the form of a very rapid movement of Connally's right arm just a few Z-Frames after what I consider to be the one and only shot to John Connally's body -- that being the "Single-Bullet Theory" missile, which occurs at Z223-Z224 on the Zapruder home movie. The extremely fast UP then DOWN movement of JBC's right arm confirms, in my mind, the fact that his wrist has been hit by something at that precise moment. It's obviously an involuntary arm movement.
I also get particular amusement when I read anything pertaining to the so-called "Umbrella Man" in connection with the Kennedy murder. The "Umbrella Man" was a bystander in Dealey Plaza who held an open umbrella above his head as JFK's car passed by him on Elm Street. Some "CTers" seem to feel that this man fired a "poisoned dart" or some other type of projectile into the throat of JFK, thereby paralyzing the President just prior to the fatal head shot.
While Mr. Groden doesn't come right out in this book and say he believes such a cockeyed theory, he does give "The Umbrella Man" a nice two-page layout in "TKOAP" (pages 188-189), and hints at the possibility that this man waving his rain-shielding device was MORE than just a man carrying an umbrella.
Re. "Umbrella Man" -- Can you just hear the 'plotters', on 11-21-63, planning the details of the assassination which would be occurring the following day? I can. It would have made for a very amusing powwow. Here's what such a PRE-Assassination conversation amongst the conspirators mapping out the shooting just might have sounded like........
>>> "Let's see, Marty -- you're our "Umbrella" dude, and you shoot first -- right out in plain sight on Elm Street where many dozens of people will probably be filming you and therefore will have you on movies and still pics (but don't worry, the post-assassination "Cover-Up Team" can explain away those pics as "fakes" like everything else we're about to do tomorrow).
"OK, so, Marty, you've checked out that 'Umbrella Dart' thing-a-ma-bob, right? It's working OK? It wouldn't do to have a "misfired" poisoned dart, because you might then hit the "DCM" ("Dark-Complected Man"), who's gonna be standing next to you and wave to JFK as a "final sign" to him of who it is that's about to kill him, remember.
"OK, so Marty's got the Umbrella thing down cold. He'll fire the WARNING shot into Kennedy's neck so that he'll be paralyzed for a shot that comes many seconds later. There's no real need, of course, for this dart-shot; in fact it's pretty stupid if ya ask me -- but them's my orders from 'upstairs' guys, so we gotta live with it.
"OK, so then Francisco in the Dal-Tex is to fire next, after the Umbrella shot; but Francisco's second shot into JFK's back is ALSO a low-powered shot, like the Umbrella shot. Only'll go into the back about two inches. Remember, guys, we don't want to kill him yet! Not after just a mere two shots! We want him to have TWO "Warning" shots, so that Kennedy and his many Secret Service agents will have ample time to GET WISE to what is about to happen, and he'll have time to duck away from our "Kill" shot. After all, fair is fair, right?
"Plus, we also want this "Patsy" plot of ours to be so overly-complicated and impossible to pull off in order to make as much work as possible for our "Cover-up" operatives who'll be taking over the conspiracy case tomorrow at 12:31 PM -- like having to fake AS MUCH EVIDENCE AS WE CAN POSSIBLY DREAM UP. We want these guys to have to dig out of JFK's body AS MANY USELESS, NEEDLESS BULLETS AS POSSIBLE in order to earn their keep tomorrow!
"We COULD just use Billy Bob here (who kinda looks like Oswald) as the lone shooter from the Sniper's-Nest window -- but -- Nah! Let's go whole hog and clog the works with as many futile and needless shots as possible to give the cover-up crew a good workout tomorrow! OK? OK! Let's do it!"
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Place obligatory "ROFL" icon here ----> :-)
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To summarize ..... "The Killing Of A President" is definitely a 'Must-Have' publication for any JFK assassination buff or researcher (CTers and LNers alike) -- but ONLY for the large photographic record of the tragic assassination that is documented within these 223 pages. If all of this pro-CT text that's printed here could be eradicated, it'd be an even far better volume, IMHO.
My Amazon Review "Breakdown" for this item ----
For the photographs depicted: 5 Stars.
For the text/captions: 0 Stars (I just simply can't embrace ANY of these conspiracy notions).
Overall rating: 2.5 Stars.
Book Description
Brian Jones was initially the Stones' creative driving force, but by the late '60s, he was drinking too much and strung out on drugs. He left the band in 1969 and three weeks later was found dead in his swimming pool. Acclaimed author Terry Rawlings draws on new interviews to document Brian's ill-fated final days and hours and names his murderer.
Customer Reviews:
Engaging and captures a true sense of Jones' early life...packed with rare photos.......2007-01-10
Great read if you're a fan of Brian Jones and his work. Compared it with Bill Wyman's book, STONE ALONE, and details of his early struggles as a musician are pretty similar. As with any biography, what's true and what is not is always very questionable. However, this book gives the reader an insight of what kind of life Jones probably led and the path to his demise. I would rate STONE ALONE ahead of this book for reliable information because it's from the Stones' bassist himself. The Anna Wohlin book reads like a romantic novel, and the material is very questionable. This book is more for diehard fans of Brian Jones.
Who Killed Christopher Robin.......2006-09-25
I have this book and felt it did not show the real Brian Jones. Brian was a very intelligent, great musician,
and basically a good and decent man. When people use drugs/alcohol their personality changes dramatically.
When Brian was at Cotchford Farm he was attempting to get his life back on track. In writing about Brian
one has to remember this was the Sixties and the culture, attitudes and social beliefs were entirely different
than in the following decades. Brian was a drug addict and probably an alcoholic. He was trying to cope with
his problems with the other band members, his life in general. Since there was no rehab or counseling like
there is today he felt this was the only way to handle it. I truly believe Brian Jones was definitely murdered.
Probably by Frank Thorogood with some help. Brian was more than the demonized versions I have seen in
several books. It is only fair to this musician to portray him in all aspects and not just when he was messed
up, and depressed. He was often compassionate, kind and cared deeply about his loyal friends. Let us remember this please
Of all the Brian Jones books, the best IMHO.......2006-08-02
Brian Jones was the founder of the Rolling Stones, and this book unflinchingly lays everything out about his life for the reader. Based on years of research and interviews with people that knew him, it is probably the most factual of the books I have read. It also lays the ground for some serious discussion about the possibility that Brian's swimming pool death was not accidental. This is not a "new" revelation - murky details about the death have been scrutinized pretty much since the day after it happened in July 1969. The author clearly demonstrates that it is within the realm of extreme possibility that Brian's death was no accident. Oh, and someone allegedly confessed, as well.
Apparently Keith Richards has spent some effort over the years trying to get to the bottom of just what happened the night Brian died. This is the book that Keith said, "...the cat [the author] probably got it about right". This statement says to me that Keith feels this is probably the closest we'll ever get to any truth.
The Strange Death Of An Evil Genius.......2006-03-24
Rolling Stones biographies are plentiful, yet the release of this book in 1994 increased the speculation that Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones was murdered soon after he was dumped from the band in 1969. Padded out with early details of Brian's teenage fatherhood to three bastard offspring by separate girls, his self-absorbed behaviour and violence towards his girlfriends, this update makes you wonder how the unlikeable character made it as far as he did. After revealing little of note in the first half, the book gets juicy when recreating Brian's final days spent in the company of celebrities including Maurice Gibb, Steve Winwood and John Mayall at his country home. Theories about the guitarist's pool drowning remain a little haphazard, but Who Killed Christopher Robin? offers some sympathy for the little devil.
Who killed BrianJones.......2006-03-01
Interesting book and theory on who killed the Stones founding member. After reading this book I was convinced there was more to Jones' death than an accidental swimming accident. The book flows nicely and leaves one quite sad to see the effect greed, fame and fortune can have on some people.
Book Description
The Mystique of Conspiracy delves into the mystery surrounding the JFK assassination. It focuses mainly on anti-Castro Cuban exiles and their relationship with the CIA, but it also offers an excellent framework to gauge the "plausibility" of any conspiracy theory. Unique to this work is the offer included at the back of the book to involve the reader in an online exchange with the author. The author, an online Professor of criminal justice at the University of Phoenix, will guide the reader/student into formulating his or her own credible approach to solving the nagging mystery behind the JFK assassination (or any conspiracy theory they are interested in). Also compelling is the Foreword and personal letters included in the Appendix written to the author in 1978 by David Atlee Phillips, former CIA Western Hemisphere Division Chief. Mr. Phillips passed away in 1988, but many have tried to link him directly to a CIA plot to assassinate JFK utilizing anti-Castro Cuban exiles. A new name in the annals of the JFK assassination is CIA covert operative George Joannides. Mr. Joannides passed away in 1999, but his role in directing a group of anti-Castro Cuban exiles who had contact with the assassin in New Orleans several months before the assassination has never been made public up until now. As recent as 2005 the CIA went to court and blocked the release of any documents on George Joannides. David Atlee Phillips was Mr. Joannides' supervisor in the CIA. This book will be of interest to anyone interested in the "mystique" surrounding conspiracy theories, whether it is JFK, RFK, MLK, Princess Diana, 9/11 or Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko, killed in London by radioactive polonium 210. There is a common thread that runs through them all. The author will reveal what that is.
Customer Reviews:
Worth reading.......2007-08-02
Actually this essentially "no conspiracy" book is rather good in that the author especially given his background, shares useful insights into the minds of the intelligence agencies and indicates how unlikely it would have been that Oswald was part of a plot. The author is open minded enough to accept possible conspiracy. A rare level headed book on a subject that invariable gets clouded by myth, blurred fact and fiction and heated passionate but frequently ill informed debate.
interesting.......2007-02-21
As the leading civilian authority on the U.S. Secret Service (and President Kennedy's interaction with the agency), I was much interested in this book by Brian Bugge; his pedigree speaks for itself. If you are at all interested in the anti-Castro Cuban connection to the case, as well as the CIA's responsibilities in this area, you will not go wrong in purchasing this work. Vince Palamara
Book Description
What Stone Cold Guilty can offer that will set it apart from other books on the case includes - intimate, accessible, real-time reporting and analysis that did not appear in mainstream media. - Compelling evidence that Laci was already dead and had been taken to the Bay before 10:08 am December 24, 2002 - That Peterson made two trips to the San Francisco Bay and why the prosecutors did not present that theory at trial. - Peterson self-sabotaged the "perfect crime" because of his personality. - Fruit of the investigation that was not introduced (or not admitted) at trial, including results of the various dog tracking, sonar findings, and specific deep-water research on Peterson's computer. - An exclusive series chronicling the underwater investigation, with photographs, charts and expert narrative provided by Gene Ralston, head of Ralston & Associates, a side-scan sonar expert involved in the search for Laci Peterson.
Customer Reviews:
SLP is Stone Cold Guilty.......2007-04-15
Excellent research and diligence in reporting. I watched entire case on CourtTV and Ms. Dillon filled in all the blanks. Great care is given to Laci and her family.
TRASH.......2007-01-13
This book is the WORST I've ever read. Who does this author think she is? As far as she's concerned the prosecution was incompetent, the defense was incompetent,every lawyer who spoke in the media about the case was ignorant........ She admittedly learned everything she knows about the law online yet she knows more than absolutely ANYONE about this case and how it should have been conducted. She used the murders of a lovely young woman and her child to make a buck and it's dispicable!
REVIEW OF Garabage.......2006-08-13
Oh my sweet Lord, I cannot believe Amazon carries this trash. How sad for the readers into being tricked. I am burning this piece of trash .... That's too good for it.
Bored Housewives Love It.......2006-08-11
This book is for bored housewives, Internet addicts and crime hags who followed the Peterson trial hanging on every detail like a desert rat looking for a drink.
I thought I'd hate it, but Dillon offers an effective overview of the case, the slimy defense team, and of Peterson himself, who is the poster boy of putz.
Overall, it's pretty entertaining and I appreciated some of the trial details and armchair analysis.
A surprising treat. And who are these whack jobs with the weird reviews? More bored housewives?
This blook sucked!.......2006-08-10
This blook was a pure waste of money. My unborn child literally yanked on his umbilical cord in an effort to get me to stop trying to read it. It was pure torture for both of us and I eventually tossed it in the trash (after the cat vomited on it- which was a sign from above, IMHO.)
Who I really feel bad for are the blind readers who will confuse the "author's" lack of ability to construct a sentence with a cruel practical joke that someone rearranged their braille dots.
Oh and the "author" is a nasty b*tch!
Customer Reviews:
Bleh.......2007-09-20
I keep reading the Lucy Stone mysteries, hoping they'll get better. Unfortunately, they seem to have hit a new low. Anthrax? A secret chemical lab on an abandoned island? Evil scientists? I felt like I was watching an episode of "Scooby Doo" instead of reading a quality mystery novel.
I think Lucy needs to take a rest from her sleuthing.
...Lucy shines like a diamond..........2006-12-26
Small-town journalist, and amateur sleuth, Lucy Stone, can't believe it when, on Christmas Eve, she receives a letter from her daughter Elizabeth's college requesting that she provide them with $16,000 by the beginning of the year, so she can resume her studies. She has already splurged on holiday gifts for her four children, and beloved husband, and can't even contemplate how she will come up with another $16,000 on such short notice. However, when Elizabeth surprises Lucy with the news that they have been chosen to participate in a Mother/Daughter Makeover Contest in New York City, sponsored by the Cosmopolitan-esque JOLIE magazine, Lucy is excited to have the opportunity to put the bit of financial distress behind her - even if it's just for a short time. Now, as Elizabeth and Lucy begin their three-day stay in the Big Apple, Lucy begins having concerns about her last-minute departure, as well as the fashion-obsessed people surrounding her. Suddenly, Elizabeth has stopped eating, the result of watching a waif-like fashion show up-close-and-personal; and Lucy begins picking up signs that the JOLIE employees slinking around in their glitzy garb are hiding something downright ugly. When Nadine Nelson, JOLIE's self-absorbed fashion-editor falls ill, and then kicks the bucket, Lucy knows that something underhanded is taking place. She has seen the amount of backstabbing going on around her, and feels that Nadine's death was anything but accidental. However, when Elizabeth begins exhibiting the same symptoms as Nadine, and is rushed to the hospital, Lucy realizes that it's up to her to begin snooping around, in an attempt to uncover the truth about Nadine's death; otherwise, Elizabeth may not survive long enough to see the ball drop in Times Square.
With so few mystery novels embracing New Year's Eve, I was more than ecstatic to find that Leslie Meier's Miss Marple-esque character, Lucy Stone, was embarking on a mystery that would take her to the heart of New York City, just as the ball was about to drop. Unlike previous Lucy Stone mysteries, Meier has taken small-town Lucy out of her comfort zone, and dropped her smack dab in the middle of the boisterous, booming city known as New York - home of high fashion, sample sales, and screeching subways. Lucy, however, unexpectedly manages to hold her own. She quickly picks up city lingo, and learns how to maneuver through New York City in no-time. While Lucy is a believable, easy-to-relate to, down-home character, I did find it hard to sympathize with her daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth comes off as a spoiled, ungrateful, gossipy individual through the entire first-half of the book. She acts as if the world owes her a living, and expects everyone to feel sorry for her. Her personality seems to change slightly towards the second-half of the book, however, that may have something to do with the fact that she is not as prevalent of a character after the first 150 pages. I will admit, however, that even with Elizabeth's sour disposition, Lucy manages to shine like a diamond, and make NEW YEAR'S EVE MURDER a sparkly addition to Meier's enchanting series.
Erika Sorocco
A makeover weekend and murder.......2006-03-15
Elizabeth and her mother Lucy have won a makeover in a contest by Jolie magazine. They, along with five other mother-daughter duos, go to New York for a weekend. The contestants will all be judged, and the winning duo will win $10,000.
Lucy has just received a letter stating that due to their income increasing, they owe $10,000 towards Elizabeth's tuition that would have previously been covered by her scholarship. That would be a problem except that this year their income has dropped significantly. Lucy wants more than ever to win that $10,000 prize.
During the makeovers, the fashion editor is killed and Elizabeth is hospitalized. It turns out Anthrax is the reason for both. Lucy sets off to find who could have sent it and why. She uncovers a lot of misdeeds, including quite a few hot-button issues.
I really like this series. Lucy is a fun character. This time she is outside her comfort zone, and because of that I think we see a different side of her. I didn't mind that. I thought it was written to fit the context of the story and situation, as well as the fact they were in New York city.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading the next in this fabulous series!
Please check out www.mysteryloverscorner.com
What has happened to this series?.......2006-03-01
I have read every book in this series, and just adored them. I could not wait for the next one to come out. How times have changed! Lucy has turned into a creep, to say the least. Her character in the early books was quite enjoyable - a mom of four, part time employee of the local newspaper, etc. Tinker's Cove sounded like a wonderful, typical little New England town. This book is set in New York, as Lucy and Elizabeth win a makeover. A very promising setting, but it falls apart quickly. In my humble opinion, Lucy has gone from an inquisitive reporter to a pushy, obnoxious, know it all. And she doesn't know it all. If she's not spouting off like some fashion expert to an "FBI agent", she is giving misinformation about animal testing. The author obviously did not do her homework when talking about cosmetics being tested on animals. She makes it sound like some hapless rabbit has to put up with lipstick being painted on, instead of the true process of the animals being forced to injest the make up or have it rubbed into its eyes. The ending of this book is so stupid I had to laugh out loud. And, if you are looking for surprises, don't pick this book. The killer was obvious from the beginning on. I hope the author hits her stride again, because I want the old Lucy back.
charming holiday mystery.......2005-10-25
On the day before Christmas Eve, the Stones of Tinker's Cove, Maine, receive a letter from the college that their daughter Elizabeth attends stating that since their income went up last year, they owe $10,000 that previously would have been covered by a scholarship. The problem is that this year the Stone's income has dramatically dropped due to the economy; they don't have a clue how they are going to raise the money.
Elizabeth entered a contest sponsored by Jolie magazine that won her and her mother along with five other mother-daughter duos complete makeovers. Elizabeth tells her that all the contestants will be judged and the winner will win $10,000 which makes Lucy want to win more than ever. While they are receiving their makeover, the fashion editor is murdered and Elizabeth is hospitalized when she becomes ill. The causes of the death and the illness are anthrax. Lucy is determined to find out who sent it to the office so that they can figure out how the editor and her daughter came in contact with it. That decision almost gets her killed by a terrorist organization though not the kind one usually reads about in the papers.
Fans who appreciate the Jessica Fletcher books and Miss Marple stories will love this fine cozy amateur sleuth mystery. Leslie Meier modernizes the heroine, who is a likeable, believable and understandable character. The jealousies, uncertainties and in fighting between the workers at the magazine give the audience plenty of suspects who wanted the fashion editor dead. Leslie Meir has written a charming holiday mystery that readers will love for its' humor and originality.
Harriet Klausner
Customer Reviews:
Good but............2006-08-18
Every Lucy Stone book I read, 10 books already, I found lots of typos.Sometimes I saw characters names where they are not even included in the scene. Her husband Bill's name was mentioned when Lucy and the cops stop the murderer. I see Bill's name as if he was standing there and then poof, he's gone. In one book, he's even called Bob. It blows my concentration if a sentence doesn't make sense. Who can you complain to about typos in every book? I wouldn't be surprised if I find errors in the last two books. I liked almost every story but give it no stars for the errors.
Out of Sight, But Not Out of Mind.......2006-07-11
In the 10th book in the Lucy Stone Mystery series, newspaper reporter, Lucy Stone, is whisked out of town for the Northeast Newspaper Association's conference held in Boston. Unlike her home of Tinker's Cove, Maine, Lucy doesn't know a soul when she steps off the bus in the big city, and instantly begins missing her family. Thoughts of the award she has been nominated for at the conference keep Lucy from fleeing back home to Bill and her kids, and she soon finds a way to enjoy the time to herself. Lucy meets the Read family, head of the major Pioneer Publishing Group, and quickly finds herself drawn to the newspaper giants. The Reads vacation in Tinker's Cove, and have even employed Lucy's daughter as a nanny for the summer. When Luther Read, the patriarch of the clan, dies during a large banquet held in his honor, Lucy jumps in to help the family and satisfy her insatiable report's curiosity. Between several boring workshops she escapes from, and keeping her boss happy, Lucy solves a murder and garners another great scoop for herself and hometown newspaper, the Pennysaver.
I have enjoyed each of the books in this domestic cozy series, and was intrigued to see that the setting was set away from Tinker's Cove. Normally, Lucy's family plays a large role in her everyday life, and it was odd to have so many different characters in this long-running series. I like that the concept was innovative with Lucy being away for a bit, but welcome her return home for future installments. Another breath of fresh air was the more relaxed attitude of normally grouchy husband, Bill. Overall, this was a good addition to a great series, but I welcome Lucy's return home to a place I have often wanted to visit on my next vacation.
The first book in the series is called "Mistletoe Murder". Enjoy!
Can Lucy solve a murder &be home to celebrate Father's Day?.......2004-05-14
Lucy Stone gets an opportunity to attend a newspaper conference in Boston. She is a little concerned about leaving the family, but her husband encourages her to go saying they can manage a week without her. She leaves, but is worried about the preparations for Father's Day that are now in her children's hands. Father's Day is a big celebration at their house and it must be done right.
Once at the conference, she finds that being alone isn't all it's cracked up to be. But, she meets many people and attends many workshops and panel discussions. At a big dinner, Luther Read, head of a nearly bankrupt newspaper dynasty, drops dead. First the police believe it was just an asthma attack. Lucy begins to look into things. She doesn't think this was a simple accident. She is afraid it might be murder. Luther had lots of enemies, some of them are his own children. Could one of his kids killed him? This is hard for Lucy to imagine.
As she begins to look deeper into the situation, she soon finds herself in danger. Will she make it home in one piece and in time for Father's Day?
I love this series. Lucy and her family are such great characters. Lucy always ends up in interesting predicaments and has a great knack for getting to the bottom of things. Plus there is always enough strife in her family to disrupt her thinking and detecting. But yet they are a loving family. I've enjoyed reading all the books and watching her children grow up!
Tinker's Cove is such a fabulous town. I wish it was real, I'd love to vacation there!
This story is another in a long line of great books. I highly recommend this book and the whole series.
Not The Best Lucy Stone Mystery.......2003-11-27
I have enjoyed the Lucy Stone Series, but feel that the character is becoming less interesting in each new book.
I think I enjoyed her most in her earlier books, especially her first book, Mistletoe Murder where she worked taking orders at Christmas for a mail order catalog.
She has since become a reporter for the weekly Tinker Cover Pennysaver in her hometown in Maine.
In the Father Day's Murder, Lucy goes to the Northeast Newspaper Association conference in Boston. At the evening reception, Luther Read, head of the Pioneer Press Group is murdered and his son Junior is arrested.
Lucy knows Junior isn't guilty because, after all, her daughter Elizabeth is working as a nanny for his little boy during the summer vacation and her daughter couldn't be working for a murderer.
Lucy tries to solve the murder, but most of the book seems like a travelogue through Boston. The descriptions of the Stewart Gardner Museum was interesting, and I like a little scenic flavor in a book, but this was too much.
The mystery wasn't all that interesting. Lucy spends a lot of time walking to different places, shopping and she does talk to a lot of different suspects but I don't think anything she does would have ever led her to figure out who the killer was.
I don't consider it solving the mystery when Lucy only figures out who the killer is when she comes face to face with them, after they attempt to kill her.
If this is the first Lucy Stone Mystery you've read and you're disappointed in it, don't stop with this one. Go back and read her earlier books. They are very enjoyable and you really get to know Lucy and her family.
One of the problems with this book is if you haven't read the earlier ones, I think it could be difficult to understand the dynamics of this family. Lucy spends a lot of time worrying about her kids and husband, which is easier to understand if you know what had happened previously to all the characters.
Despite my disappointment in this book, I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
solid cozy.......2003-06-15
Tinker's Cove is a small Maine hamlet that has a very well established and well written newspaper the Pennysaver that has just been named "Community Newspaper of the Year" in Category five by the Trask Trust for Journalism in the Public Interest". The trust issues grants to the publisher Ted Stilling and investigate reporter Lucy Stone to attend the Northeast Newspaper Association conference in Boston.
Even though Lucy feels guilty about deserting her husband, four children and her dog, she decides to go to the conference where she meets various members of the Read family. They own the Pioneer Press group, which has newspapers all over the northeast. The head of the conglomerate, Luther Read was going to sell out to a bigger company but changed his mind much to the consternation of some family members. When he is killed, his son Junior is arrested for murder but Lucy, who knows him from Tinker's Cove, is positive he's innocent and sets out to prove it, a task that could get her killed if she's not careful.
The latest installment in the Lucy Stone mysteries is fast paced, exciting and very colorful. Readers are taken on a scenic tour of Boston and given special insight into how the heroine's mind works when she is on the trail of a story. FATHER'S DAY MURDER is the funniest novel in the series as Lucy frets herself into a tizzy worrying about her family who she believes can't function without her. Leslie Meier's latest cozy is the perfect mystery to read when one wants to be entertained.
Harriet Klausner
Customer Reviews:
Growing Old Gracefully!.......2006-06-11
In the 9th book in the Lucy Stone Mystery Series, it's time for a celebration. Miss Tilley, Tinker Cove's oldest resident and former librarian is turning 90-years-old and the town prepares for a large party. However, a damper is quickly put on the celebration plans when the town's senior attorney, Sherman Cobb, is found dead from an apparent suicide. His partner has a difficult time believing Sherman would have shot himself and implores Lucy to help him look into Sherman's life. She pokes around his home, and his office, and although she believes he would never have committed suicide, the police fail to take her thoughts seriously. Lucy quickly becomes distracted when Miss Tilley has a long-lost niece arrive in town. The niece, Shirley, swiftly takes over at Miss Tilley's house, and starts preventing Lucy and caregiver Rachel from visiting. Quickly becoming suspicious, Lucy and Rachel continue to try to visit their long-time friend. It is not long before Lucy is overwhelmed with work for the town paper, and it doesn't help that her son is flunking out of college. Add to this a co-ed sleepover party for her teenage daughter, and a fall out of a window for husband, Bill, and Lucy is ready for a long vacation on a tropical island. And don't even mention the gray hair and wrinkles that Lucy has recently spotted...
I have enjoyed each of the Lucy Stone mysteries, and this one did not disappoint. Lucy is a character that a lot of woman can relate to. In this installment, she is worried about getting older...and tries to find a "miracle" cream that will make the wrinkles vanish (the results are far from satisfactory, but highly amusing!). She struggles with her teenager regarding her birthday sleepover, and deals with her oldest son doing poorly in college. It was nice to see that Bill wasn't as grumpy as in previous installments (finally!), and that she is learning how to stand up for herself with her friends instead of getting roped into every project. This book, like all books in the series, is a light, quick read.
If you enjoy the Jane Jeffry series by Jill Churchill, give this series a try. The 1st book in the series is called "Mistletoe Murder". Enjoy!
Another waste of money..........2004-08-28
This book, like the others in this series that I have read, can hardly be termed "murder mysteries." The protagonist, Lucy Stone, never seem to solve the crimes. Instead, she accidnetly blunders into trouble and the murderer then promptly attacks or kidnaps her.
Like may readers, a book is as escape for me into another world. Lucy Stone's world is one I do not intend to visit again. Her harried supermom performance, coupled with an inability to say no, makes her such a victim that I end up rooting for the bad guys. Her children are lazy brats who manage to get into all sorts of trouble. Her husband is insecure and selfish. Her friends think nothing of imposing on her. If reading this book is a "break," it's a painful one.
Save your money.
Series Going Downhill.......2004-01-26
When this series started, it was entertaining because Lucy and her family seemed to normal. Now it's just getting stupid.
Lucy has turned into nothing but a whining, complaining buttinsky. The police have told her to keep her nose out of their investigations and so has her husband. Yet she keeps sticking it into things that don't concern her, putting herself in danger, for absolutely no realistic reason at all.
Ms. Tilley has been a fixture in this series since the start. I found it highly unbelievable that no one in town was real concerned about obvious con artists showing up and moving in with her, other than Lucy and Rachel. And it was even more unbelievable to me that they didn't try harder to get in to see her or find out what was really going on.
This book also seemed too "busy," with too many stupid little things going on. Way too much time was given to Sara's birthday party, which turned out to be nothing. Lucy's new obsession with exercise and her looks became downright annoying. And I can only assume all the little Toby stuff was leading up to the next book.
If the author is starting to run out of ways to believably keep her amateur sleuth involved in cases, perhaps it's time to hang this series up.
Hope this is the end of the series!.......2003-12-18
What an absolutely horrible book: ridiculous plotlines; characters you want to smack for being so stupid, mean or selfish; and a sense of "Thank God this book is ended" when you're finished!
Not this time.......2003-08-09
I had been a big fan of Leslie Meier's other Lucy Stone books.
They provided a light, lesurely read for cozy mystery fans.
Unfortunately with The Birthday Party Murder, Meier abandons
her attention to the mystery and takes her audience on a
heinous ride through her heroine's mind. Throughout the book,
the reader is subjected to Lucy's trials and tribulations.
Her plights with overeating, weight, husband, cranky boss,
pre-teen daughter and lazy college son are so countless,
the book starts to feel like a novel adaptation of The
Jerry Springer Show. Meier needs to stick to her plot and
how her character's relate to the murder. In the past,
Lucy was a warm, humorous character because of her
insecurities and knack for getting into trouble. Here,
she comes off more like a complainer who can't stop whining.
I really like Leslie Meier writing style and feel she'll write
more good books, The Birthday Party Murder simply isn't one
of them.
Amazon.com
How well do we really know the people we love? Maybe never well enough, to judge by the example of Francesca Hatton, the young British heiress around whom Charles Todd constructs his first standalone historical suspense tale, The Murder Stone. Leaving London and her volunteer work with wounded World War I soldiers, Francesca--"the last of the Hattons ... [a] long and distinguished line"--returns in 1916 to River's End, the rural estate where her powerful and beloved grandfather is dying of a stroke. Francis Hatton's passing hits Francesca hard, especially coming so soon after the demise of her five male cousins, all of them "mown down with their dreams of glory" in battle. But her mourning is interrupted by multiple mysteries. Why did Francis insist in his will that the Murder Stone, a large and cryptically named white rock in his garden, be moved to the farthest corner of Scotland? Why had he concealed his ownership of two other, distant estates? And could there be any truth in the charge, leveled by an invalided soldier, that Francis long ago "abducted and killed his mother, then buried the body where it couldn't be found"? Forced by new revelations to rebalance her faith in the man who'd taken her in as an orphaned child, while simultaneously contending with a random sniper who's invaded the neighborhood of River's End, Francesca struggles to build a new future, even as her trust in the "facts" of her past crumbles.
Over the course of six previous novels, beginning with A Test of Wills--all featuring shell-shocked soldier-turned-inspector Ian Rutledge--Todd (the nom de plume of a mother-son writing team) has shown considerable skill in formulating criminal conundrums against the backdrop of post-World War I Britain. The Murder Stone vividly recaptures the nation in the very midst of that international violence, a painful period of untimely deaths and stunning Zeppelin raids. However, this yarn is as much a Gothic romance as an abstruse puzzler. Most of the secrets here can be figured out faster by the average reader than by the incredibly naïve Francesca. And with the exception of that vexed protagonist, whose investigations paint her into ever tighter moral corners, none of this novel's characters achieve much dimension. They're mechanical players in a drama that is surprising mostly for its failure to surprise. --J. Kingston Pierce
Book Description
Charles Todd’s critically acclaimed novels featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge have been hailed by The Washington Post Book World as “one of the best historical series being written today.” The New York Times Book Review calls Todd’s mysteries “meticulously wrought...harrowing psychological drama.” Now he stakes out new territory in this mesmerizing stand-alone novel of one woman’s dark journey through family obsession, wartime secrets, and a chilling legacy.…
The Murder Stone
The Great War is still raging in the autumn of 1916, when Francesca Hatton’s beloved grandfather dies on the family estate in
England’s isolated Exe Valley. Grieving for the man who raised her, Francesca is stunned to find an unsigned letter among his effects, cursing the Hattons and their descendants. Now a stranger has shown up on her doorstep, accusing her grandfather of being a murderer.
Ex-soldier Richard Leighton blames Francis Hatton for the death of his mother, who vanished nearly a quarter of a century earlier. Her body was never found, only a shawl stained with her blood. And Leighton is not the only one with a claim on Francesca’s grandfather. On the day of his funeral, unexpected visitors arrive with the mourners, and Francesca is besieged by charges of Hatton’s vicious dealings. Yet there is also a shy young woman who praises his secret generosity.
At the center of the intrigue is an unusual white stone that lies hidden in a secluded garden where Francesca once played with her five male cousins, all of them dead now on the battlefields of France. According to the terms of Hatton’s will, the Murder Stone must be dug up and transported to Scotland, where it is to be buried forever. But before Francesca can begin the journey, a series of ominous “accidents” occur, culminating in the discovery of a bleeding body on the Murder Stone itself.
Was Hatton the loving, caring protector his granddaughter always believed him to be?
Or a vindictive, secretive man who cultivated dangerous enemies? Francesca sets out in pursuit of the truth—and into the sights of someone determined to exact a revenge long overdue.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Don't bother.......2007-06-26
I am an avid reader of these kind of books, and am usually very willing to make allowances for varying degrees of writing skill. Having said that, I found this book tedious and poorly written with pages of mind-numbingly vacuous dialogue, a meandering knee-jerk plot, and a preposterous ending.
I pride myself on finishing every book I start, and I did with this one, but it was like pulling teeth. By the time I got to the last five pages, I was just ready for it to be over.
If you like good mysteries, good World War I historical novels, or good thrillers, do yourself a favor - PASS THIS ONE UP.
An unfortunate attempt by a normally excellent writer.......2006-10-27
I am an avid fan of Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge series having discovered him only in the last two months and having already read 7 books in the series. Consequently, his writing style is very fresh in my mind. I was disheartened to find this book so tedious. Unlike a mystery unfolding slowly but steadily, which his are apt to do, this book's "mysteries" were hidden for chapters and then suddenly chunks of disjointed information would appear. Unfortunately, these revelations led almost nowhere. The story was boring and repentitive, the characters irritating and inconsistent, the ending less than satisfying. The Rutledge stories are nicely contrived and pieces of information pertinent to the climactic discovery of the murderer craftily woven into the narrative. Not so in this book. Even with the WW I setting, you could easliy convince me that this was written by someone else entirely. If you love Charles Todd, pass on this one; no need to experience the disappointment.
"The Murder Stone" is a brooding mystery .......2006-05-17
Caution - while this review does NOT contain spoilers, many of those that were posted earlier (and follow below) DO contain spoilers!
Francesca Hatton is pretty and wealthy but, sadly, all alone in the world. Having just lost her beloved grandfather, having lost all of her cousins to the World War that is still raging, Francesca is left with money, memories and mysteries.
Why did her grandfather's will specify that she move the stone in the garden and take it far, far away? And what is behind the terrible anonymous message that has been hidden away at her solicitor's office all these years? Who was her grandfather - a beloved leader of their small town (as he is remembered by the villagers) or someone she didn't really know at all?
"The Murder Stone" is the kind of brooding mystery that takes time to unfold. As it does, we learn first hand about the cousins. These small chapters are interspersed between the narrative chapters, and while they seem to be placed there as interruptions to the text, the discerning reader will note that clues to the mysteries are set within each one.
At her grandfather's funeral, Francesca Hatton is confronted by unfamiliar faces--people who knew (or say they knew) her grandfather. Their disturbing presence prompts Francesca to dig deeper into Francis Hatton's past. Are their strange stories truth or fiction? Are they really part of her grandfather's hidden life, or are they out to con her out of her inheritance?
This is all set in a remote Valley, which can be cozy or nightmarish in turns. The larger backdrop is the Great War-the cousins have gone as soldiers and have been killed-every one of them. No, Ian Rutledge and Hamish are not in this book. Nonetheless, there is plenty of mystery and there are more than enough voices from the past to keep it securely in the Charles Todd tradition.
Best of Todd's works.......2005-11-23
Todd does much better without Rutledge's self-pity cluttering up the scene. This is a beautiful war-time mystery, with lively characters, all very well-realized, much better than can be done with their detective poking his nose in and relating it all to his trauma.
Don't Bother.......2005-07-20
I usually finish every book I start, but this one fell below even my low standards. I quit in frustration halfway through.
Customer Reviews:
A Christmas Mystery, But Not Much of a Gift! .......2007-06-12
Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier is the first book in the Lucy Stone Mystery series. I generally like a good cozy and thought this would be a good series to try.
Lucy Stone lives in Tinker's Cove, Maine. It's a rustic small town that houses the famous Country Cousins mail-order company where Lucy works nights taking phone orders. One week before Christmas, business is booming. There is barely time to take a break from all the calls. But that night, Lucy decides to step outside to get some fresh air with the hopes of staying awake until her shift is over at 1 am. While she's outside, she notices that Sam Miller's car is idling in the parking lot. Sam is the owner of Country Cousins and usually isn't around in the later hours of the night shift. When Lucy goes to see if everything is all right, she notices that a hose has been attached to the exhaust and is pouring fumes into the car and Sam is slumped over the steering wheel.
It is hard to believe that Sam would commit suicide. The man has everything. A beautiful wife, a great business and lots of money. But when it is discovered that Sam was unconscious BEFORE he was put in the car, it would seem that Tinker's Cove was seeing it's first murder in many years!
I have to say this book and the entire storyline rather underwhelmed me. I have always loved a good mystery, especially with a female protagonist. But Lucy Stone isn't one of them. In fact, there really wasn't much mystery at all. She stumbled on the body and stumbled across a few clues in between shopping trips. She spends most of her time gossiping with her neighbors and sewing Christmas costumes! There were also a couple of unresolved threads in the story that were just left hanging. I'm still unsure how they are supposed to fit into the story. By the end of the book, I was more annoyed than anything. I have a feeling, this will not only be the first Lucy Stone mystery I read, but also the last!
Fun, Awesome, Wonderful, Terrific.......2006-12-25
Five stars is not enough. Lucy, the main character, has a cozy family. She has a husband and three kids. She works the late shift as a customer service representative at a mail-order company, so that they can save money on daycare because her husband works days. I absolutely love the character Lucy and her cozy family. She is realistic with a busy and hectic schedule. She is also a loving mother and wife and friend. I love her.
I loved the scenes where she was at work. I almost felt like I was there. I also loved the comradery she had with her co-workers.
I loved the Christmas activities, the grandparents coming to visit, the cookie-baking, and the excited kids.
I loved all the activities of Lucy and her family and her friends and the town. It was really a lot of fun. The whole book was cozy.
This book is the first book of this series. It was originally published as "Mail Order Murder". I read the third book first ("Trick or Treat Murder"). I love these books so much, I will definitely read all of the books, in order (except for having read the third one first). I am so grateful that I stumbled upon these books in the book store. I am so excited about reading the rest of these holiday/occasion murder mysteries. There is a mystery for every holiday and every occasion.
Murder Without Mistletoe.......2006-04-07
The first book in Lucy Stone mystery series (this book was previously released as Mail Order Murder) finds Lucy in a panic around Christmas. Not only does she have cookies to bake for the annual cookie exchange, but she has gifts to purchase (can you say mother-in-law?), and has to chauffer the kids to several holiday activities. When Lucy discovers her boss dead in his car at work, everyone initially suspects suicide. But Lucy is not convinced, and juggles all of her holiday activities to track down the killer.
I really enjoyed the first book in this series. Lucy is a believable character; she has kids, a hectic schedule, a job, and is overwhelmed during the holiday season. I enjoyed all of the aspects about her life because they are relatable to so many working moms. While not being wordy or overdone, this book entertained and provided a light, fun read.
If you like the Jane Jeffrey series by Jill Churchill, give this series a try. Enjoy!
not too mysterious.......2005-05-09
Lucy Stone is a small town mom. She works at Country Cousins, an LL Beanesque Catalog Company in Tinker's Cove Maine. She works 3rd shift, while on break she sticks her head outside to get some air, only something appears wrong. After she closes the door she can't shake the feeling that she heard something so she opens the door and listens again, this time she hears a car engine, and she goes to investigate, and she finds the owner of Country Cousins in his car wtih a hose running from the exhaust, to the window, an apparent suicide. This leads Lucy, to the who what where when and why.
This book didn't have a lot of action. The story and the murderer just happened to fall into Lucy's lap. She didn't actually do a lot of investigating. There wasn't a lot of questions throughout the book. No red herrings, nothing to really throw you off.
It wasn't a shock to see who committed the murders, I was a lot bored while reading this.
A Tinker Cove Christmas.......2004-12-25
It's only ten days before Christmas, and Tinker Cove resident Lucy Stone has more than enough to do before the holiday. But during her evening break from work at County Cousins, the mail-order store headquartered in town, she discovers a snow-covered car running in the company parking lot, which turns out to contain the body of the company president Sam Miller. Being somewhat of an amateur sleuth herself, Lucy tries to find out who murdered Mr. Miller.
I was a little disappointed in the mystery aspect of this story, because the reader is not really privy to many clues to the murder. It seems that the solution just pops out of thin air! I love the character of Lucy Stone, though, and her cozy town of Tinker Cove. The holiday traditions in the story, including a community cookie exchange, are just right to get the reader in the Christmas spirit! Author Meier has created a believable town and likable protagonist. I would recommend this book more as a cozy seasonal story, with just a touch of mystery in it.
Books:
- CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Third Edition (All-in-One)
- Dark Horse
- Dead Eyes
- Death of a Garage Sale Newbie (Bargain Hunters Mystery Series #1)
- Dirty Wow Wow and Other Love Stories: A Tribute to the Threadbare Companions of Childhood
- Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home: And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals
- Dos mundos Student Edition with Online Learning Center Bind-in Passcode (McGraw-Hill World Languages)
- Every Secret Thing
- Exile
- Flannery O'Connor : Collected Works : Wise Blood / A Good Man Is Hard to Find / The Violent Bear It Away / Everything that Rises Must Converge / Essays & Letters (Library of America)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Explorations of Captain James Cook in the Pacific
- Meet Me at Midnight
- Contemporary Issues in Bioethics
- Fundamentals of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry
- History: Fiction or Science
- Organizational Behavior & SAL CDROM Pkg
- McNally's Puzzle
- Ecocells: Landscapes and Masterplans by Hamzah & Yeang
- Cool Hotels: America
- Contaminated soil and cultural practices as related to occurrence and spread of tobacco mosaic
Entertainers
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Brian Jones, Who Killed Christopher Robin?: The Truth Behind The Murder Of A Rolling Stone
The Rolling Stones: In the Beginning
Stoned (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Faithfull: An Autobiography
The Rolling Stones: 365 Days
