- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur (30 Jan 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312327811
- ISBN-13: 978-0312327811
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 13.7 x 2.5 cm
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Enjoyable atmosphere, major suspension of disbelief
20 Jun 2005
Format:Hardcover
When his friend, barber Joe Junior McBride, is murdered in his home, the Sheriff and Judge Jackson Crain quickly realize it is an inside job. Although Joe Junior was a popular man in town, obviously he had at least one enemy. Could it have been his angry son, Three? Or perhaps his step-daughter? Maybe Joe Junior's brother, who has been known to be attracted to the new widow, is the culprit. Maybe it's Joe's new assistant--a beautiful woman who appeared in Post Oak from nowhere and who quickly fell for Joe. Of course, the spouse is always high on the suspect list--although in this case, since Joe Junior left everything to his son, the problem there is motive. When Joe Junior's step-daughter vanishes from Judge Crain's home (where she was visiting Crane's daughter), Crane becomes even more involved in the case.
Although Crane wants to solve the case, he has a busy life, leaving only limited time for investigations. First, there's his former girlfriend, Mandy, whose feelings Crane hurt in an earlier case. Then there's the aging man in the house across the street who insists on wandering off and may need to be committed. When a stranger with a duplicate of Joe Junior's face comes to town and starts squiring Mandy, Crane is baffled and bewildered.
In DEATH SPLITS A HAIR, author Nancy Bell gives us more a picture of a town than that of a mystery. Small-town Texas might have its murders, but it's also a place where everyone knows everyone else, where funerals are opportunities to share favorite dishes and dish gossip, and where children can be raised far from the dangers of the city. But, as the town of Post Oak learned with its supposed millionaire who was actually broke, even a small town can hide its horrible secrets.
DEATH SPLITS A HAIR requires quite a few suspensions of disbelief. For me, the biggest was the lack of reaction when teenage girl Ashley vanishes. Rather than the entire town turning out (with massive help from the major networks seeking twenty-four hour 'missing white woman' coverage), the town seems to shrug its shoulders and get on with its life. The actual motivation for the murder also seems weak. Still, Nancy Bell's pleasant 'down-home' writing and the sense of place make this an enjoyable novel.
Although Crane wants to solve the case, he has a busy life, leaving only limited time for investigations. First, there's his former girlfriend, Mandy, whose feelings Crane hurt in an earlier case. Then there's the aging man in the house across the street who insists on wandering off and may need to be committed. When a stranger with a duplicate of Joe Junior's face comes to town and starts squiring Mandy, Crane is baffled and bewildered.
In DEATH SPLITS A HAIR, author Nancy Bell gives us more a picture of a town than that of a mystery. Small-town Texas might have its murders, but it's also a place where everyone knows everyone else, where funerals are opportunities to share favorite dishes and dish gossip, and where children can be raised far from the dangers of the city. But, as the town of Post Oak learned with its supposed millionaire who was actually broke, even a small town can hide its horrible secrets.
DEATH SPLITS A HAIR requires quite a few suspensions of disbelief. For me, the biggest was the lack of reaction when teenage girl Ashley vanishes. Rather than the entire town turning out (with massive help from the major networks seeking twenty-four hour 'missing white woman' coverage), the town seems to shrug its shoulders and get on with its life. The actual motivation for the murder also seems weak. Still, Nancy Bell's pleasant 'down-home' writing and the sense of place make this an enjoyable novel.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
So so...
28 Nov 2006
Format:Hardcover
Perhaps if I had not read any of Nancy Bell's Biggie series, I would have liked this better, but it is inevitable that one would compare this with the charming Biggie books. Judge Crain just isn't very interesting--if I must tell the truth--and the town is not so much fun as Job's Crossing. The plot is only OK, but plot is not the most important or noticeable ingredient in a Nancy Bell book. I kept having the sense that I had seen all this before in Lilian Jackson Braun's cat books. I do hope the writer will end the Judge Crain series and return to Biggie's adventures.
A Nice Look at East Texas
31 Mar 2012
©2006 Worldwide, New York (Originally published © 2005 St. Martin's Press, New York)
I first started reading Nancy Bell's mystery stories since the first "Biggie" tale hit the streets. What fascinated me at the time was that the stories were authentically set in East Texas. Since that's where I was born and where I have a johnboat-full of memories. I've been away from Bell's writing for awhile, but found a paperback copy of the second Judge Jackson Crain novels at a book fair.
Crain's high school buddy and the town barber Joe Junior McBride winds up dead on his couch. All the evidence points to his son Three (that's Joe the Third to the unTexan of us), and Three is making himself scarce. To add insult to injury, Joe Junior's widow (Three's step-mother) in the midst of her shock-induced breakdown, must now face the disappearance of her own daughter (best friend of Jackson's 14-year-old daughter) and then her brother-in-law (Junior's adoptive brother) band director Gerald gets stabbed in the back.
Along with the mystery of multiple family murders, the small-town atmosphere makes this a winner of a read. You'll be introduced to a variety of East Texas traditions (including Lutie Faye's (that's Jackson's house keeper and cook) succulent cuisine and a Foam Party. Bell keeps things lively with the on-again, off-again romance between the judge and newcomer to Post Oak Mandy d'Alejandro and the coarse but nosy language of Crain's receptionist Edna.
I liked this little trip to Post Oak, Texas, and think that you will too. I give it four out of five reading glasses.
--Benjamin Potter, March 30, 2012
I first started reading Nancy Bell's mystery stories since the first "Biggie" tale hit the streets. What fascinated me at the time was that the stories were authentically set in East Texas. Since that's where I was born and where I have a johnboat-full of memories. I've been away from Bell's writing for awhile, but found a paperback copy of the second Judge Jackson Crain novels at a book fair.
Crain's high school buddy and the town barber Joe Junior McBride winds up dead on his couch. All the evidence points to his son Three (that's Joe the Third to the unTexan of us), and Three is making himself scarce. To add insult to injury, Joe Junior's widow (Three's step-mother) in the midst of her shock-induced breakdown, must now face the disappearance of her own daughter (best friend of Jackson's 14-year-old daughter) and then her brother-in-law (Junior's adoptive brother) band director Gerald gets stabbed in the back.
Along with the mystery of multiple family murders, the small-town atmosphere makes this a winner of a read. You'll be introduced to a variety of East Texas traditions (including Lutie Faye's (that's Jackson's house keeper and cook) succulent cuisine and a Foam Party. Bell keeps things lively with the on-again, off-again romance between the judge and newcomer to Post Oak Mandy d'Alejandro and the coarse but nosy language of Crain's receptionist Edna.
I liked this little trip to Post Oak, Texas, and think that you will too. I give it four out of five reading glasses.
--Benjamin Potter, March 30, 2012
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
