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The Shape of Snakes
 
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The Shape of Snakes (Paperback)

by Minette Walters (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 500 pages
  • Publisher: Pan Books; New edition edition (3 Aug 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0330373250
  • ISBN-13: 978-0330373258
  • Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.9 x 3.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 13,677 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #1 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > W > Walters, Minette

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1978, a single black woman known locally as "Mad Annie" lies dying in the roadside. When a verdict of accidental death is recorded, residents of Graham Road, where she lived, breathe a collective sigh of relief. As far as they were concerned Annie Butts was a repellent alcoholic with a foul mouth. It is only Mrs Ranelagh, a young teacher who refuses to accept the court's decision. Something convinced her that Annie was murdered and 20 years later she returns from overseas with enough evidence to reopen the case.

Although the story is narrated by Mrs Ranelagh, the inclusion of much of the documentary evidence she has amassed including photographs, letters and e-mails, gives the reader the freedom to interpret characters and events for themselves. Motivation remains an endless source of fascination for Walters and the presence of several of Mrs Ranelagh's psychiatric reports, ensures that the reasons behind her commitment to the case also remain ambiguous.

Shape of Snakes is a masterful piece of writing that probes deeply into the mind of an isolated, bruised woman, showing remarkable psychological insight. Using her unrivalled talent for characterisation, Walters examines the ease with which we accept the public persona as an accurate representation of the true nature of an individual. In peeling back the layers of this public face, Walters has created a dark and uncomfortable novel--a compelling read that reinforces her position as one of this country's most skilful crime writers. --Sarah Crawford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Maxim Jakubowski, Guardian
'A complex psychological story with hidden depths.' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

60 Reviews
5 star:
 (23)
4 star:
 (18)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (7)
1 star:
 (7)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (60 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, 2 Jul 2001
By A Customer
A muddled plot, hazy characterisation and a degree of outright nastiness not usual in this author's writing. I am still not quite sure who the murderer was and why the main character decided to persue her idea of justice twenty years after the evvent. The cat torture was unecessary to the convoluted plot. I read to the end but found myself none the wiser when I had done so. Was Minette Walters just jumping on the Steven Lawrence bandwagon? It made for an uneasy read lacking the psychological insight she is known for. She can do so much better!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Believable horror, 16 April 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Shape of Snakes (Hardcover)
A wonderful, gut-twisting, thought-provoking book, but there should have been a warning about the cat torture. I bought the book orginally as a birthday present for a cat-lover who had just recently lost her cat - luckily I glanced through it first and did not send it gift-wrapped direct from Amazon. I had to keep it and quickly buy an alternative present. I am concerned that it may give perverts ideas and was this really necessary in such an otherwise excellent book? I don't think so. And why no warning on the book jacket?
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A Warning Should Be Issued, 30 Nov 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Shape of Snakes (Hardcover)
Annie Butts, a black woman with Tourette's syndrome dies a violent accidental death in 1978. When the neighbor who finds her looks into her dying eyes, there is a nearly psychic connection that leaves the young white woman reeling. When she suggests that the woman was murdered by racists to get her out of the white neighborhood, a horrifying series of harassment begins until her husband is convinced she is losing her mind.

Twenty years later, Mrs. Ranelagh returns to England with her husband and teenage sons, a thick file of newspaper clippings and records hidden in her personal things. She picks up the trail again with something of revenge in her heart though she calls it "justice." The move puts her ten minutes from the doctor who treated Miss Butts just prior to the murder. Her probing leads her to believe Annie was robbed of an enormous wealth of South and Central American artifacts. Worse, Annie was marked as a madwoman by the neighbors and whoever broke in, brought in ten to 14 tortured tomcats and pushed a heavy piece of furniture across the animal access her precious cats used...

Someone with a stronger stomach than I will have to complete the book and determine if it is indeed worth the nightmare images of animal cruelty it produces. Minette Walters is a fine writer as evidenced by her previous books from The Ice House to The Breaker, and this book promised more of the same according to its premise. One wonders why she felt it necessary to so graphically describe the cruelty to animals. This book should have come with a warning on the front cover about the graphic and horrific scenes of animal cruelty.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Strange, cruel, complex - sometimes a little off, but generally excellent
I too find the criticisms laid against this novel odd. The entire point is to revisit the events, constantly picking apart people's stories, revealing half-truths and lies, all... Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2007 by N. Sones

2.0 out of 5 stars Sour
This book concerns Mrs Ranelagh (her full first name is never given) investigating the death of a former neighbour, a black woman with Tourette's syndrome, which took place 20... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2007 by Reptile

4.0 out of 5 stars Close to home
Annie Butts suffered from Tourettes Syndrome. Her neighbours consider her a nuisance, an alcoholic with too many cats and they are relieved when she dies in the gutter believed... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2007 by P.M. Wood

4.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
I thought this was an excellent book and I loved the way it was written, I especially liked all the different reports and letters. Read more
Published on 2 Jul 2006 by Kirsty Hall

4.0 out of 5 stars Levity
I'm amazed that so many of the more negative reviews are so vitriolic to an author who is not only so esteemed by peers and critics alike but is also enjoyed by the very readers... Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2005 by azro

3.0 out of 5 stars Over the Top
I started this book with great the expectations you do when reading one of your favourite authors. I am sorry to say that this book was the worst Minnette Walters novel I have... Read more
Published on 13 April 2005 by jackie

5.0 out of 5 stars Walters best yet!
Having read some of Walters books and seeing them as films, I still regard this as the best book yet!. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2004 by B. Jonsson

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful
I purchased "The Shape of Snakes" after seeing Minette Walters novels listed alongside those of Giles Blunt and Tony Strong and I expected a book of similar quality, but how wrong... Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2004 by L. Davidson

1.0 out of 5 stars A new low for a once-promising author
Looking back, I can hardly believe that I've bothered to carry on reading Minette Walters' books for so long. Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Minette Walters yet!!!
I have been a huge Minette Walters fan since reading "The Sculptress", and with the exception of "Acid Row" i have enjoyed every one of her books, this book in my view not only... Read more
Published on 20 Nov 2002 by jonleeds

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