Rating: 
Summary: Anne George is right on target.
Review: Anne George fans, get ready! She has done it again with this fast paced, well plotted, fun filled new sisters mystery. Those of you who are already familiar with this series will enjoy thoroughly the sisters' latest escapades as they try to help neighbors, Arthur and Mitzi. For those new to the series, this book will be an excellent introduction and have you searching the shelves for the others. Get in line, y'all. Murder Shoots The Bull will be available soon!
Rating:
Summary: Poison, arson and Vulcan's butt
Review: Anne George has produced a wonderful series of books with the sleuthing of a pair of sisters. Patricia Anne and Mary Alice could not be more different, yet at the same time display a strong sisterly bond. But what makes this book sparkle is George's ability to convey the joy of every day life. The writing is extremely accessible - the literary equivalent to a summer movie. The writing is full of rich details so you can practically smell the Birmingham air as you read. It is in these little details that enrich the characters and story - the huge statue of Vulcan that stands on a Birmingham mountain with his uncovered buns of steel is a vivid throwaway player who enriches the atmosphere. Her characters are believable - we all have neighbors like Patricia Anne, and if we are lucky (or not) like Mary Alice. There's a mystery here - the poisoning of a socialite that drives the story, but the sisters are drawn into figuring out what happened simply because they are there. The book sparkles with wit and many simply laugh out loud humor. The writing style is a relative to Sue Grafton's with both featuring a strong female investigator who narrates the story. Overall the book was like a visit from an old friend, and makes me want to delve into other of the sisters' mysteries.
Rating: 
Summary: Right on Target....
Review: Anne George is hilarious as always in this 6th book of the Southern Sisters Mysteries. Her plots are so diversified; her characters so well developed; her dialogue so amazingly funny."Murder Shoots the Bull" opens with 60-ish sisters, Patricia Anne and Mary Alice, being held in the Birmingham jail for assaulting the bank president. The story unfurls and it is not until the very end that we find out the unusual antics, which have caused the bank president's injuries! When Patricia Anne's next door neighbor of 40 years, Mitzi Phizer, invites the sisters to an amateur financial club modeled after the best-seller, "The Beardstown Ladies Group," the complications begin. They only intensify when Mitzi's husband Arthur is spotted with several beautiful women in one week! You will love this entire series! Buy them all!
Rating:
Summary: Right on Target....
Review: Anne George is hilarious as always in this 6th book of the Southern Sisters Mysteries. Her plots are so diversified; her characters so well developed; her dialogue so amazingly funny. "Murder Shoots the Bull" opens with 60-ish sisters, Patricia Anne and Mary Alice, being held in the Birmingham jail for assaulting the bank president. The story unfurls and it is not until the very end that we find out the unusual antics, which have caused the bank president's injuries! When Patricia Anne's next door neighbor of 40 years, Mitzi Phizer, invites the sisters to an amateur financial club modeled after the best-seller, "The Beardstown Ladies Group," the complications begin. They only intensify when Mitzi's husband Arthur is spotted with several beautiful women in one week! You will love this entire series! Buy them all!
Rating:
Summary: One of my Favorites- light, funny and enjoyable
Review: Anne George is one of my favorite authors. The Southern Sisters are hilarious. Patricia Anne, the skinny retired teacher, once again teams up with her sister Mary Alice, the widowed three times sister to solve a murder. In this story there is a complicated cast of characters that Anne George manages to gather together in a murder mystery. The long time next door neighbor is under suspicion for murder and their house burns down. Throughout all of this the sisters manage to join an investment club, solve the murder, and deal with a daughter in law who moves in. In the end, everything turns out just fine. I laughed out loud at Mary Alice's story of what happened of Ruffner Mountain Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Anne George is a great mystery writer and will be missed
Review: I had read several mysteries by her before this one, and sometimes that means you start to tire of characters in a series. "Southern Sisters" (from Birmingham, Alabama) Patricia Anne and Mary Alice" continue to amuse, and reading about them is like a visit with old friends. This book was as good or better than the others.
The plot involves Patricia Anne's long-time neighbor (Arthur Phizer) who appears to be having an affair -- and then the woman he was seen dining with dies, and he is the number one suspect in her murder. Things go down hill from there for the Phizers. Patricia Anne finds herself trying to help the Phizers, which involves her in the mystery, and naturally her larger than life sister Mary Alice gets involved -- not to mention an array of friends, neighbors, relatives, and acquaintances of the sisters, the neighbors, and the deceased.
I recommend the whole series -- I think those who like cozy novels will be particularly happy with this book, but the audience should be wider than that, and include lovers of funny mysteries or southern mysteries.
Rating:
Summary: Anne George Hits Bullseye Again!
Review: I had the great pleasure of reading an advanced copy of this book and enjoyed every minute of it! Fans of Anne George will be happy is see that the series is still fresh and funny as Patricia Anne tries to get a next door neighbor out of a murder charge after his ex-wife is poisoned. Sister Mary Alice is along to provide her usual unflappable asides. Besides that, the sisters are involved in a group starting a stock market investment club and marriage trouble pops up in Patricia Annes' family. Throw in a little of Mary Alices' romantic hijinks and you have quite a brew. Y'all give this one a try.
Rating:
Summary: Do not miss this one! Agree with Irene Hendricks and Wodehou
Review: I have read and re-read both Stout and Wodehouse. I agree with Wodehouse about the true test of a book is its re-readability (Is there such a word? I, like Patricia Anne, have taught English much too long.) and whenever I need a laugh I read one of George's books again, generally the first two in the series. These books have fast-paced plots, funny observations about life, and if you are southern, or if you have a sister, absolutely on target as far as characterization goes. I am always sorry when I come to the end of one, and simply can not wait for another to come out. I pay Ms. George the supreme compliment of buying her books in hard back, which is a compliment indeed, since I own well over 2000 books and room is limited in my home. There are few authors that rate having their books kept in hard back in my house, so possibly one can judge from this how much I hold her work in esteem. I like this book better than her previous one, and feel that it is indeed holding up to the standard of writing she set in the first three. I can not call Mary Alice predatory. Mary Alice is a true free spirit who enjoys life and all it has to offer, both good and bad, with a verve that I envy. I think her approach to life is certainly seen in this book. Please give this series a try! I feel that many of you who have a sense of humor would truly love the books. I know that I have not given this book justice in this review, but feel that we all owe ourselves a treat now and then. Let this be one of your personal treats.
Rating: 
Summary: Not her best, but still fun
Review: I've read every book of this delightful series, and I've enjoyed each one. That said, I must admit that I found this one to be the weakest of the lot. It's true that Mouse and Sister are never in any real danger, but unlike the other reviewer, I LIKED that twist. I've always hated the idea of these two sweet old girls in physical danger. However that reviewer was right -- there were way too many subplots and they never really got us anywhere. Haley's Polish roaches, Patricia Ann's computer, Woofer vs the possum, even the investment club itself ... they really didn't add much to the unfolding mystery. There is so much extraneous stuff going on that I don't see how anyone -- including Mouse and Sister -- could have guessed the murderer without the scoundrel confessing. Even so, it kept my interest and made me smile. Even a subpar Southern Sisters book is fun.
Rating:
Summary: Southern Sisters Score Again
Review: In 1975, not long before he died, ninety-four year old P. G. Wodehouse wrote of Rex Stout: "He passes the supreme test of being rereadable. I don't know how many times I have reread the Nero Wolfe stories, but plenty. I know exactly what is coming and how it is all going to end, but it doesn't matter. That's writing." I have just finished reading Anne George's book MURDER SHOOTS THE BULL. I had already read this book twice {in manuscript} and while it changed dramatically between the first and second manuscript, there was very little change in this reading. I could hardly put the book down. I did know what was coming and how it was going to end, but the writing compelled me to read as if it were new. For those of you who have not yet read it: be certain that you do not miss this book. I think you will like it better that the earlier ones. It has all the elements they have -- well developed and interesting characters; vividly drawn settings; realistic conversations (convincingly Southern with no attempt to be phonetically so); pleasing, elegant language, and exhilarating humor (LOL funny). In addition, SHOOTS THE BULL has lots of plot. I have never missed the plot as I read the Southern Sisters' books, but it is gratifying to have one this time. I don't want to give away that plot, but a few hints may be all right. Patricia Anne and Mary Alice are just as busy here as they have been on previous outings. They join an investment club at the suggestion of Mitzi, Patricia Anne's next door neighbor. Before long they are involved in another murder--one they witness in a Chinese restaurant. The murderer, police believe, is Arthur, Mitzi's husband. The girls cannot believe that Arthur, who is almost unbelievably naive, is guilty and set about "helping" solve the crime. There are many family distractions, as usual. Mary Alice has a new friend and "may" be engaged. Bubba Cat still sits on his heating pad; Muffin is making herself at home; and Woofer -- well, Woofer is bit by a possum and has to go to the hospital, but he recovers well and retreats to his igloo dog house as soon as he gets home. Of course everything works out just so, and the girls prevail again. All that is missing is the recipe for Henry's chicken pot pie. Anne George loves words. She likes puns. She tells a good story. She enjoys humor. Read MURDER SHOOTS THE BULL to enjoy the subtlety of a superior wordsmith.
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