Rating: 
Summary: SUPERB !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: My only problem with this new series is that we will have to wait for the next one to come out. Trocheck hits the nail on the head with a winning character, and the best writing she has ever done!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun summer read!
Review: Mystery, romance, antiques, women getting their lives back together. In general this was a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A Trip to the Bathroom - Or A Trip to Jail?
Review: Put in a stock of good wine, seafood and especially chocolate before beginning this highly original culinary/antique/vintage/kitschy cozy. A deliciously wordy dip into a part of the Savannah landscape that Behrendt missed, complete with an antebellum plantation house, an outrageous ex-husband, wonderfully dysFUNctional family issues, and a bit of beefcake. Weezie is a thoroughly wronged ex-wife, with a business in picking treasure from junk piles. Living in the carriage house/garage behind the Savannah townhouse she helped buy and restore (only to be booted out of by her ex- and the home wrecking Caroline). Weezie is managing her life though, until an emergency trip to the bathroom lands her in jail. Accused of breaking and entering as well as a being a suspect for the murder of Caroline. This book rejoices the issues of family, good friends, knowing yourself, helping but not judging and keeping your sense humor - as well a glimpse into a historic city. I found it positively delightful and give it five stars in the beach read category.The mystery does not totally conclude when you close the cover of this book, I'd suggest a dance over to the author's website, where another mystery unfolds.
Rating:
Summary: A real page turner...
Review: Savannah Blues had it all...family disfunction, wonderful southern humor, mystery, murder, romance, divorce, friendship...what more could you want from a book? I LOVED it. From the very first page I was hooked and didn't want to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: A Hilarious Romp Through the Midnight Garden
Review: Savannah Blues is a wonderful romp through the territory fondly remmebered by anyone who read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. This story, a suspenseful murder mystery, is populated almost exclusively with the most off-center types of characters most enjoyed and remembered from Midnight in the Garden. Our copy of this book has been read by almost every member of the English Department at our school, and everyone agreed that they wanted to read it slowly so that it wouldn't end. It's fun, it's funny, it's characters are quirky yet believeable. It's setting, Savannah and the environs, is picturesque and comfortable and simultaneously foreboding. This is a good summer read. It's a good read anytime!
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous Romp!
Review: SAVANNAH BLUES is the second book that I have read by author Mary Kay Andrews, the other being HISSY FIT. I finished each of these novels feeling that I wanted to move to Georgia immediately, so vividly does Andrews create a sense of place.
Can this woman ever write! The story just flies, with fun on every page. It is not merely the plot--which is excellent--but also the prose that makes Andrews' work such a treat.
In addition, the author clearly knows her antiques, and anybody reading one of her tales will come away with a painless education in the decorative arts as a bonus to a damn good yarn.
As I am coming to expect from Andrews, SAVANNAH BLUES has as many layers as an onion, with subplots regarding ecological and historic preservation, alcoholism and even restaurant management.
The characters are vivid, the dialogue sparkles. The author is a woman with amazing powers of observation and insight, and a swell way with a turn of phrase.
Now, I'm off to read her LITTLE BITTY LIES. Can't wait!
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable summer reading fling
Review: Somewhere between airy chick lit, Janet Evanovich and Elizabeth Lowell, Savannah Blues is an easy read, perfect for the end of summer.
The characters are deliciously drawn here; I could easily see myself befriending Weezie or Bebe or even human tornado Merijoy. The love interest Daniel is not just gorgeous, he's also funny and sweet; the dirtbag ex-husband Tal is not just a piece of scum, he's also pathetic and whiny. Andrews has obvious fun with some of the names of her characters (twins Ross and Rachel, Tripp, Flip and Phipps), but their personalities are so earnestly described that you can almost imagine Savannah filled with such people in real life.
The loving attention to details of antiques is worked so seamlessly into the narrative that you don't realize you've learned some oddball tidbit about glassware or furniture until you've finished the book. Andrews also shows how much she enjoys the local cuisine, with descriptions of food and recipes that will make your mouth water - Daniel's seafood bisque in particular. The writing is superb, the plot moves pretty quickly, the dialogue is smart and funny and the characters are interesting and compelling. The romance is sweet and believable, moving along at a good pace with a nice backstory.
I'd have liked to give this book a 4.5 - the only thing holding it back from a 5 star rating is the utter implausibility of the police investigation into the murder (or non-investigation). While I don't expect total reality in my fiction reading, it struck me as strange that the author would choose to make the police so utterly uninterested in solving any of the crimes that were uncovered. It's a minor quibble, just one thing that nagged me long after I'd finished reading.
Rating: 
Summary: cloying Southern "charm"
Review: Take your first warning from the fact that the main protagonist calls herself "Weezie." Everyone has a cutsie Southern nickname and some endearing personality quirk. Then there's the whole Uncle James subplot, told from his point of view, which is might have been interesting but ends up seeming like just another gimmick thrown into the mish-mash of contrivances that make up this novel. The book tries WAY too hard, in my opinion. Usually I like this sort of thing (Edgerton, Pearson, Welty, Dufresne) but this just goes over the top and leaves no real meat behind.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: The characters in this book were made out to be nothing more than dumb broads as the old saying goes. I was disappointed to the highest.
Rating:
Summary: A Pure Pleasure
Review: Thick with atmosphere and personality, Savannah Blues is a wonderful journey into two seemingly contradictory worlds: Savannah, Georgia and the life of an antiques picker. Weezie Foley is doing her best to get past her divorce, but finds that a little tough when she stumbles across her ex's fiance's mutilated body in the bathroom of a house they had both snuck into. Not only that, but a guy from her distant past has charged back into her life, and chaos (as well as comedy) ensues.
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