One Bear's Opinion -- Book Review

Hiss of Death by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

Hiss of Death is the nineteenth book in the Mrs. Murphy series of mysteries.  I had read the previous eighteen.  I have noticed as the series progressed, that the tone of the books tended more and more towards political and topical discussions.  Those discussions were more in keeping with the established characters in this book than they have been in the previous books.  No matter what an author does, they cannot escape who they are and how they see the world.  In that regard, their characters become extensions of themselves.  The characters carry the author's views and opinions to the readers.  It takes a deft author to purposely insert a political and topical subject in an established series without making it appear that the characters are merely a soap box.  If the author is not careful, the opinions can quickly become a lecture, and fans, even those that agree with the author's points, can be turned off the series.

The Mrs. Murphy books were in danger of turning into lectures thinly, and badly, disguised as mystery novels.  I read to escape the world, but that does not mean that I object to the world seeping into my reading.  I think that a book that does not teach you something is a waste of good paper and ink.  This means that the authors should put a bit of effort into research, particularly if the topic of the book is something with which they are not familiar.  This book had some interesting ideas, none of which were fleshed out with any indication of research.  People tend to put faith in what they read, and more so if the author is known to them and trusted -- and the faith is there regardless of whether the author is an authority on the subject at issue.

This book discussed recovery from breast cancer.  The author's note, which should have been placed at the beginning rather than the end, indicated that any treatment or medical procedures were in general, generic terms.  I have no objection that, but there was a violation of that in the text of the novel when specific vitamins and strength building exercises were recommended for the main character.  If you are going to keep it general, keep it general.  Specifics are not general.  And the author is not an authority on treatment or recovery from breast cancer.  Readers could be doing themselves harm by following the regimen described in the book.

Overall the story was well done, if forced in places.  The final resolution of the murders was a bit too swift and bland for my taste.  But there was a good bit of animal-driven scenes, so I was happy to see that.  While this book came closer to the earlier books in the series than previous episodes, it was still a bit of a political lecture.  My biggest suggestion to the authors is to work a bit harder to get the political message back in character and to flesh out the mystery so the books do not sound so much like a lecture -- even if this editing and re-working means delaying the publication date.  Never put out a work that you are not proud to have your name on.  Never phone it in.  Your fans will know, and they will only accept so much before they find other favorites.

One Bear's Opinion:  Three Cups of Cocoa

Happy Reading Everyone, 

Oliver