What do You think about Blue Smoke And Murder (2008)?
There’s just something about listening to a story read aloud. Especially when you find a magic combination between author and performer. And I’ve found that in Elizabeth Lowell’s Blue Smoke & Murder, performed by Carol Monda.I’ve never read Elizabeth Lowell before. I was heading out on a 4 day road trip and I wanted something to listen to. A friend suggested Elizabeth Lowell, so I grabbed the first book on cd I found on the shelf.And off I went – into the high stakes world of Western Art and Art Auctions. Jill Breck is a white water river guide, who was raised in the west in a family full of strong women. When her great aunt dies in a mysterious fire, Jill inherits all that’s left of the family ranch – including 12 mysterious paintings.Paintings she remembers seeing once in childhood – but was told never to ask about or talk about again. Paintings that have been hidden her whole life. Paintings that just might be the works of one of the most famous Western artists who ever lived. But someone wants those paintings to never see the light of day. And they want Jill dead too! Jill calls in a favor and turns to St. Kilda Consulting for help.Zach Balfour is a “consultant” at St. Kilda Consulting. His areas of expertise cover the art world, art auctions, information analysis, fire arms and muscle cars. Acting as a “bullet catcher” is not his favorite assignment – but he’s more than qualified for the job.I don’t know which was better – Lowell’s writing or Monda’s performance. But together they were magic. And since this book is #4 in the Lowell’s series featuring St. Kilda Consulting, I have more new books on my list of must reads!From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
—Iowa City Public Library
I remember liking EL years ago; now I find her tough-guy writing style so annoying I want to throw the book across the room. She uses very short, abrupt sentences to create drama and urgency and a "snappy" delivery for all her one-dimensional characters in the EL world. She's not as witty as she thinks. For example, all her characters used the word "craptastic" at one time or another. Really irritating.And now more than ever, she's got an underlying feminist agenda, attributing the unnamed "she" pronoun to unimportant background characters one would normally think of as a "he", such as a driver or shooter or bodyguard.God, I would hate to be her and have to write the same book over and over again. And have to copy stereotypes from other authors, such as the villain on steroids. If I see one more "young, quirky" computer hacker, I think I'll scream.Is it just political with me? Does the current version of feminism have a place in "romance novels/ women's fiction"? Real feminists don't need feminism to give them a voice and presence. Anyone who thinks so doesn't understand a woman's real weapons...which are humor, intelligence, understanding, will power, and sex appeal.Enough said about a craptastic book.
—Marcie
River guide Jillian Breck was raised in the hot, dry parts of Nevada and Arizona by equally hard women. When her great-aunt Modesty dies in a ranch fire, Jill goes home and discovers a message and 12 paintings. She calls in a favor from the St. Kilda agency when funny things start happening.The entire book takes place in about 9 days with short chapters alternating between characters. Language is terse dialogue - some profanity and a few bedroom scenes.There's a minor sub-plot about polygamous "Mormon" groups in the Arizona strip with references to main stream Mormons that are partially incorrect - surprising that an author of Lowell's stature didn't fact check better. Overall story was well written and kept you reading.
—Debby
