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Summary: My favorite book from Martin Cruz Smith
Review: This is my favorite book from one of my favorite writers. The book's protaganist, Jonathan Blair, is a fascinating, complex character - so much different from the stock tough guys other mystery writers turn out. Also, the book brings to vivid life a Victorian mining town in all its black, hard detail. Other characters in the book have the same complexity and depth as the book's "hero". The physical action in the book is horryifying in its brutality, but the real thrill of the book is realizing the incredibly hard center of will that Blair carries within him at all times, driving him through hardships and humiliation that will make the reader wince. Just a great book by a great writer.
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Summary: Mystery Upon Mystery! Delectable!
Review: This is a delectable book. I use that word deliberately. The richness of the prose and character development lead you to savor the writing slowly as if tasting it on your tongue. The protagonist, Mr. Blair, is the most interesting character I've encountered in years! Some readers don't care for the slow pace of this book, but this book is all about building characters and place, and less about fast-paced plot.I first read this book several years ago and kept it for a re-reading after enough time had passed that I had forgotten the details. I'm 3/4 of the way through for the second time, and I remember that something surprising and amazing is coming, but I don't remember what! Meanwhile, I'm loving this mystery upon a mystery. What is the secret of the mysterious, vulnerable, and somehow likeable (in spite of or because of his rough edges?) Mr. Blair? What is the secret behind the disappearance of the respectable Curate Maypole? Does the apathy of the town concerning the disappearance of Maypole point to a town-wide conspiracy? What is behind the Bishop's investigation? It's clear he has a hidden agenda and means our Mr. Blair no good! And what is the secret of the two women in the story? Charlotte, Maypole's fiance is angry, cold, and strangely antagonistic to her father the Bishop (she compares him to Saturn, who ate his children). And Rose--who works in the mine, flaunting her rebellion against Victorian England's rigid guidelines on what is respectable work for a young woman--why does she have books in her strangely comfortable home, when the rest of the mine workers live in hovels and can barely read? All of these opposing threads are beginning to be pulled together. Can they all have something to do with Maypole's Home for Women Who Have Fallen for the First Time? (I'm not kidding about that name.) I can hardly wait to find out (or re-remember from my first reading). This book is really worth your time. I'd love to see a sequel.
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Summary: More than one mystery!!
Review: The setting is the Lancashire coal pits of Victorian England. African explorer Jonathan Blair, legendary to mythical proportions, is summoned home from his beloved Africa for dipping into missionary Bible funds to pay his African assistants. To earn a return trip to Africa from his benefactor, Bishop Lord Hannay, he is commissioned to find the missing local curate, John Maypole, who happens to be engaged to Hannay's daughter, Charlotte. More interested in returning to Africa than determining the whereabouts of Maypole, Blair half-heartedly plunges into the village life of Wigan. He becomes familiar with the local miners and the pit girls who work at the mines sorting coal, a shocking and controversial occupation for a woman of the times. Knowledgeable about mining from his searches for gold in Africa, Blair explores the coal pit where on the same day Maypole disappeared, seventy six miners were killed in an explosion. Did Maypole, while ministering to the miners, perish in the explosion? Given a list of people last seen with Maypole before his disappearance, he questions each in turn, including a beautiful pit girl named Rose Molyneaux who lives quite well in comparison to her income. Blair's familiarity with Rose ruffles the feathers of Rose's boyfriend, Bill Jaxon, a miner with a streak of brutality. Given that Maypole was also friendly with Rose, did Jaxon have anything to do with his disappearance? And then there is Charlotte Hannay. Somber, sharp-tongued, independent, committed to working with fallen women, Charlotte shows little concern for her missing fiance'. Maypole had much to gain from marriage to a wealthy bishop's daughter. However, with each passing day, Blair becomes more and more aware of the fact that no one is really interested in the missing Maypole. So why is he being paid to find him? "Rose" is a mystery within a mystery. It is also beautifully developed with colorful characters and vividly gothic atmosphere. Blair's character is lovable with his dry sense of humor. Martin Cruz Smith incorporates Lancashire dialect in the writing and offers enough knowledge of coal mining to make the book readable without being overly technical. Very enjoyable book!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I picked up "Rose" after it was highly recommended by a friend. While the details of life in an 1870s English coal-mining town are exceptionally well done, I felt the overall story was flat. In fact, it seems more like Smith wanted to write a story about coal-mining and then had to contrive a plot rather than coming up with a plot and then filling in the details. The disappearance of the town's curate is only a cover for the deeper mystery of Rose herself - but that mystery isn't all that hard to figure out and makes other plot lines seem ridiculous in retrospect. While there's enough of a story here to hold one's interest through to the end, it might be better not to start it in the first place.
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Summary: Lovely book, wonderful atmosphere and mystery...
Review: A real page-turner, a character so deep he belongs in those mines, and just beautiful writing. I enjoyed the book, but was so disappointed that I'd figured out the big surprise at the end that that sort of ruined it for me. But I really would recommend the book very highly. The characters were so beautifully developed, the scenery so vivid, I was "there". I hated Bill Jaxon and that character went nowhere - that's my only criticism. None of the miners' characters went anywhere, they were sort of superfluous.
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Summary: An Unusual and Riveting Mystery
Review: In "Rose", Martin Cruz Smith demonstrates that he has versatility and depth beyond Renko and the Communist Soviet Union, taking on an ambitious and complex tale set in the dark and gritty coal mining region of Victorian England. As with all of Smith's novels, "Rose" is meticulously researched and rich in historical and cultural detail. Unike many popular authors of today who crank out hastily written and thinly developed book-upon-book to maximize commercial gain, Smith writes infrequently and carefully, choosing each word of dialogue and each scene for accuracy and maximum impact. "Rose" is the tale of Jonathan Blair, a British mining engineer who longs to return to Africa and his African wife and daughter. To earn passage, he is sent to Wigan, a dark and destitute English mining town, to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the fiance of the Bishop's daughter. Smith's tale twists through Wigan in a series of turns - chilling in the bleakness and brutality of this 19th Century coal town and its guarded and mistrustful populace. Blair, suffering and often barely alive with malaria, sweats and feints through a series of beatings, discoveries, dangerous liasons, and ultimate triumph. The characters are richly developed, and as dark as the smokestack-blackened skies of Wigan. This is a highly unusual, intelligent, and satisfying work of fiction. Like all of Smith's novels, you'd be wise not to miss it.
Rating:
Summary: This is a so-so book
Review: Since there is no half, I would rate this 2-1/2. The only thing I like about this book is suspense and Blair's character as a smart aleck and his perservance. What I don't like about this book is that it is a slow page-turner especially from the beginning to halfway thru probably because I'm ignorant about the mine stuff. In a small way, I felt like I was reading a literature (I have nothing against literature) or stuff I couldn't comprehend or what's it all about. Four Arkady Renko novels (Gorky Park to Havana Bay) that I have read are a lot better read than this book. I was disappointed this one was not as interested as I thought.
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Summary: Plot twists to the last sentence
Review: I really enjoyed all the explicit detail of this book on coal mines and the town of Wigan, where the story takes place. The main character is investigating the disappearance of a man who no one seems to care is missing, even though he was hired to find him by a very prominant character in the isolated mining town who also doesn't seem concerned over his disappearance. Our investigator finds that there was a mine explosion on or about the date of his disappearance, and thinks it is likely related, but no one will help him. I don't recommend peeking at the end of the book, because some questions are left to the very last sentence. I passed this on to my husband, who enjoyed it as much as I did, and has now passed it on to someone else. Very much enjoyed this novel.
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Summary: Blair is a great charcter
Review: This book is not Mr. Smith's best work as far as plot. However, his characterizations are brilliant and his characters seemingly alive. Blair, a would-be explorer who is the main character, is unforgettable for the reader, even when disgruntled, drunk, failing at his task. Rose is also worth reading for the stunning description of England's old mining towns.
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Summary: I Read a Story with Clog Dancing and Mining and Loved It!
Review: I never thought I'd utter those words, but it's true! Drawn to this novel by Cruz Smith's reputation alone I was instantly (and typically) drawn into another fantastic world I had no idea existed. This world exists in a Welsh mining town in the mid nineteenth century. The details of the people, their work, their addictions, calluses, etc is remarkable. I can actually forgive Mr Smith for his low output because he is obviously doing ungodly amounts of research.
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