Love Her Madly

Rating:
Summary: 4 Stars...only because of some very poor editing...
Review:

Poppy Rice, head of the newly re-vamped and highly efficient FBI Crime Lab and a woman with extraordinary influence over the FBI director himself, has a dilemma.

In just 10 days, alleged ax murderess Rona Leigh Glueck, is about to be the first woman put to death in Texas since the Civil War. Trouble is, Poppy doesn't think the tiny, malnourished, sick and zonked out 17 year-old could have wielded the ax that chopped up Melody Scott and James Munter into enough pieces to leave the blood dripping from the ceiling at the crime
scene.

Now 34, Rona Leigh has found Jesus and believes her punishment will finally set her free from her lurid past and the horrible events 17 years before. She confessed to the crime and is now at peace with her lord.

So, why upset the apple cart and go sticking your nose in a 17 year-old case that was solved almost as soon as it happened? Because Poppy Rice believes in giving everyone a fair shot and the FBI crime lab, under different directorship, had failed to answer a request from Rona Leigh's public defender who had the same questions about her ability to swing an ax with enough power to kill two people.

Because Poppy Rice cleaned up the prior mess of a lab and "...turned a sinking trawler -- infested with a lot of rats --. . . into one sleek nuclear-powered yacht," she has a lot of leeway with her Director and he reluctantly agrees to let her work as a "...full-time pseudo-district attorney" and reinvestigate cases she thinks might contain errors.

Poppy sets about to find out what really happened on the night Melody Scott and James Munter died. Rona Leigh was at the scene, no doubt about it, but could her boyfriend Lloyd Bailey have done the actual killing? No way to talk to Bailey because he died in prison. So, Poppy heads to Texas to talk face to face with Rona Leigh, but finds herself on a roller coaster ride.

She talks to the condemned woman, her former chaplain/now husband, the warden, some Texas Rangers and Melody Scott's slimeball husband, Gary. Poppy's substantial influence fails to deter the Governor on his mission to see that justice is served and that Rona Leigh dies by lethal injection at the duly appointed time.

Poppy is even allowed to watch the execution....only trouble with the procedure is that it fails to kill Rona Leigh, and through a series of carefully planned events, the prisoner escapes to parts unknown. Poppy's mission, now, is to find Rona Leigh and bring her to justice.

This is the first in a series of Poppy Rice novels. Poppy is smart, sexy, sassy, independent, tenacious as a pit bull and has all the power of the Federal Bureau of Investigation behind her.

The writing is crisp and the plot is well-developed. I love the author's use of dialogue. The book is not without its faults, however. There are some glaring errors in the book that any good editor/research assistant should have caught:

1. non-air-conditioned jury rooms haven't existed in Houston since the 1950's;

2. nor do our courthouses have filthy bathroom facilities for juries (inmate labor handles those chores);

3. at one point, Poppy opens a window and says that she needs real air, even if it is "dry and hot" ..... dry and hot are never spoken in the same sentence in Houston due to the constant humidity, which Poppy does refer to later on ....;

4. you can't make the trip from Houston to Huntsville in a half hour unless you're in a plane....even if you're coming from the very north of Houston, you have to navigate through The Woodlands and Conroe and all the never-ending construction;

5. the author must have never driven from Houston to Huntsville, because she says the buildings of Huntvsille "creeped over the horizon," when the only buildings you'd see from the interstate are fast food places, service stations, a Wal-Mart, some restaurants and a few hotels. Downtown Huntsville is about 2 miles off the interstate. She never mentions the fabulous statue of Sam Houston which presides over the entrance to Huntsville from the south (you can see the thing from miles away), so you know she didn't do that part of her research;

6. I lived in Huntsville and as far as I know, there are no billboards advertising the Museum of Texas Prisons and Old Sparky (the electric chair);

7. the AstroBar's jukebox is supposed to be playing a song by Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. I can promise you that a dive like scumbag Gary Scott's would have George Strait, George Jones, Tim McGraw and Garth Brooks....they might even have Asleep at the Wheel, but they would not be playing the cutting edge, strictly "Austin" sound of Kinky Friedman. Maybe it was just the author's way to tip her hat to a fellow writer; and

8. Poppy gets a pair of custom made boots in ONE day from a merchant in Gatesville. My friends who wear custom mades say that even a powerful FBI agent like Poppy Rice would be very hard pressed to get a pair of boots like the author describes, in only one day, for any amount of money.

With that said, I still think this is a great book and look forward to more Poppy Rice adventures. Poppy is a likeable character with a lot of sass and vinegar....and the fire power to back up her mouth! I just hope the next time Poppy comes to Texas, the author and her editors will at least talk to someone and verify facts/descriptions/distances between points/weather conditions!

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: OK, But More Background To Explain Actions
Review: Always on the search for good women thriller writers, I picked this up because of the intriguing plot synopsis. I found it a decent read, but not an exceptional one like Linda Fairstein or Alex Kava. There was too little background on what 'made' the Protagonist, why she feels and acts the way she does. I didn't much care for her one-night stand despite having a 'beau' back in DC. I wouldn't like that in a man; I certainly didn't in a woman. Some of the dialogue was a bit stilted, but that's to be expected for a first book in a series; the characters will fill out and appear more natural in subsequent sequels (I hope). Good twist at the end, though - keep that up.

Rating:
Summary: This Author Must Have Never Set Foot in Texas
Review: I am not going to refute every ignorant misstatement regarding Texas. Sufice it to say if you are from Texas you probably won't be able to get past the ridiculous and inaccurate descriptions of everything relating to Texas, from the weather to the travel arrangements. As we say in Texas, this is a mess "Bigger than Dallas."

Rating:
Summary: It could have happened
Review: I heard the author discussing this book on a local radio station recently. I'd never heard of her, but found the book in my library yesterday. I'm glad that I had not bought it.

I live in Connecticut, but am not a native like the author. I am not upset at her snide comments about Texas. That is the way people in Connecticut are. They are very snobby and superior. They do not believe there is anything west of the Hudson that is worth knowing about and they make fun of anything out there.

As far as this book, I liked it except for the vulgar language here and there which I guess is necessary these days. It lowers my opinion of the author, tho. She doesn't really have to write that stuff.

Interesting story with a few twists. However, Sue Grafton's Kinsey is more to my liking. I don't think I'll read another book about Poppy.

Rating:
Summary: Great book....poor background
Review: Meet Poppy Rice, former Florida prosecutor and Bronx district attorney turned cracker-jack FBI Agent. She was brought to Washington to clean up and revamp the infamous FBI crime lab. With her take-no-prisoners style, she's turned the once sloppy and sometimes inept facility into a state of the art, well-oiled machine, the envy of the rest of the world. Now she's carved out a new role for herself, reinvestigating old cases, the ones that may have fallen through the cracks in the bad old days of slipshod investigations, and that's how she comes across Rona Leigh Glueck. Rona Leigh, former teenage ax murderer, now born again Christian, is sentenced to die by lethal injection in just ten days. She was a seventeen year old alcoholic, drug addicted, malnourished and only eighty-eight pounds at the time of the murders. With her tiny frame and childlike wrists and hands, Poppy doesn't believe she could have wielded a twenty-four pound ax at least a dozen times. Her trial was one big emotional travesty, topped off with very suspect expert testimony, "glee" made her able to do it. But what really sends Poppy to Texas looking for justice is the fact that the FBI crime lab ignored a request from Rona Leigh's public defender. Poppy feels if they had done their job, it just might have proven that Rona Leigh was innocent..... Based loosely on the Karla Faye Tucker case and execution, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith has written a fresh and entertaining thriller you won't be able to put down. This is an intriguing novel that has it all...a terrific and intricate story line complete with twists, turns, and more than a few surprises that keeps you off balance and turning pages, crisp, smart writing full of witty and irreverent dialogue and Texas humor, and vivid, riveting, sometimes laugh-out-loud-funny scenes. But it's Ms Smith's well drawn, engaging and original characters that really make this book stand out, and once you've met tough, clever and very capable Poppy Rice, you'll be hooked for sure. This is a book you don't want to miss. Love Her Madly is the first of what should be a marvelous new series, and should definitely be at the top of every mystery/thriller fan's "must read" list.

Rating:
Summary: Justice, Texas Style.....
Review: Meet Poppy Rice, former Florida prosecutor and Bronx district attorney turned cracker-jack FBI Agent. She was brought to Washington to clean up and revamp the infamous FBI crime lab. With her take-no-prisoners style, she's turned the once sloppy and sometimes inept facility into a state of the art, well-oiled machine, the envy of the rest of the world. Now she's carved out a new role for herself, reinvestigating old cases, the ones that may have fallen through the cracks in the bad old days of slipshod investigations, and that's how she comes across Rona Leigh Glueck. Rona Leigh, former teenage ax murderer, now born again Christian, is sentenced to die by lethal injection in just ten days. She was a seventeen year old alcoholic, drug addicted, malnourished and only eighty-eight pounds at the time of the murders. With her tiny frame and childlike wrists and hands, Poppy doesn't believe she could have wielded a twenty-four pound ax at least a dozen times. Her trial was one big emotional travesty, topped off with very suspect expert testimony, "glee" made her able to do it. But what really sends Poppy to Texas looking for justice is the fact that the FBI crime lab ignored a request from Rona Leigh's public defender. Poppy feels if they had done their job, it just might have proven that Rona Leigh was innocent..... Based loosely on the Karla Faye Tucker case and execution, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith has written a fresh and entertaining thriller you won't be able to put down. This is an intriguing novel that has it all...a terrific and intricate story line complete with twists, turns, and more than a few surprises that keeps you off balance and turning pages, crisp, smart writing full of witty and irreverent dialogue and Texas humor, and vivid, riveting, sometimes laugh-out-loud-funny scenes. But it's Ms Smith's well drawn, engaging and original characters that really make this book stand out, and once you've met tough, clever and very capable Poppy Rice, you'll be hooked for sure. This is a book you don't want to miss. Love Her Madly is the first of what should be a marvelous new series, and should definitely be at the top of every mystery/thriller fan's "must read" list.

Rating:
Summary: The start of a great new series
Review: She is a sassy, fresh and feisty independent thinker who goes her own way in the tightly structured organization of the FBI because she's quick to get the job done. After reorganizing a whole department in the FBI, the upcoming execution of Rona Leigh Gloeck catches Poppy Rice's interest. She digs up the case file and sees that the woman might not have gotten a proper trial. Poppy wants to investigate because it is only ten days until the execution and her supervisor gives her permission.

She flies to Texas and starts asking questions about people who were involved with the case and quickly comes to the conclusion that Rona Leigh was railroaded. All legal and political avenues that could grant the condemned woman a stay of thirty days disappear and Poppy witnesses the state-sponsored death of Rona Leigh. The lethal injection fails to kill the prisoner and she is taken by ambulance to the hospital, but the patient disappears into thin air. Now Poppy must discover who the conspirators are who took the prisoner away while seeing that justice is served this time.

LOVE HER MADLY is a police procedural that actually has moments when it turns into a humorously dark macabre tale. The heroine is a breath of fresh air taking herself seriously enough to get the job done without it killing her spirit. This is the first book in what looks to be an innovative series and this reviewer can't wait for BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY to be published.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: This Poppy's not addictive
Review: This is the first in a new series about an FBI special agent named Poppy. Poppy's a feminazi. Tirone Smith's style is a little too explicit and contains way too much nastiness as she tries to develop Poppy's cynical nature. I like Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski books; this woman tries much too hard to emulate her.

The plot's OK, action's good, it's worth a read, but don't expect too much, unless you're a romance reader trying to make the transition to something with a little more meat and less flesh in it.