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Rating: 
Summary: Penance
Review: "Penance" is the first Holland Taylor novel by David Housewright. This book won the Edgar Award for the Best First Novel. PI Holland Taylor has lost his wife and daughter to a drunk driver. When the driver of the car, John Brown, is found murdered, the police think Holland is the prime suspect. To clear his name, he begins to search for the real killer. Every avenue he looks into leads to C. C. Monroe, a candidate for the governor of Minnesota. The plot is rather complex, but I really liked the novel and the character of Holland Taylor who has some personal demons that he struggles to deal with. I especially enjoyed the parts with Ogilvy, his pet rabbit, because we own a male lop-eared rabbit. This is an excellent debut novel, and I look forward to reading the next 2 Holland Taylor novels.
Rating:
Summary: Penance
Review: "Penance" is the first Holland Taylor novel by David Housewright. This book won the Edgar Award for the Best First Novel. PI Holland Taylor has lost his wife and daughter to a drunk driver. When the driver of the car, John Brown, is found murdered, the police think Holland is the prime suspect. To clear his name, he begins to search for the real killer. Every avenue he looks into leads to C. C. Monroe, a candidate for the governor of Minnesota. The plot is rather complex, but I really liked the novel and the character of Holland Taylor who has some personal demons that he struggles to deal with. I especially enjoyed the parts with Ogilvy, his pet rabbit, because we own a male lop-eared rabbit. This is an excellent debut novel, and I look forward to reading the next 2 Holland Taylor novels.
Rating: 
Summary: okay first effort
Review: Holland Taylor, the likeable P.I. in this new series, is a former St. Paul, MN Homicide detective. He quit the force after his wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver. Now that driver is out of prison and when he's found dead, Taylor is a logical suspect. Then when he sets out to clear his name he uncovers an elaborate series of plots and counter plots, involving Minnesotta politics, police wrong doing, bookies & bettors, lesbians, etc. It all gets to be a little much, but a first time novelist can surely be forgiven for pulling out all the stops; after all, who knows if there'll be a second book in which to use leftover plotlines. The characterization of Taylor is a little uneven, as Housewright struggles with balancing hard-boiled conventions with totally unnecessary 90's political correctness, but I enjoyed the book, especially the unusual Twin Cities setting and I look forward to more from Mr. Housewright. GRADE: B-
Rating:
Summary: okay first effort
Review: Holland Taylor, the likeable P.I. in this new series, is a former St. Paul, MN Homicide detective. He quit the force after his wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver. Now that driver is out of prison and when he's found dead, Taylor is a logical suspect. Then when he sets out to clear his name he uncovers an elaborate series of plots and counter plots, involving Minnesotta politics, police wrong doing, bookies & bettors, lesbians, etc. It all gets to be a little much, but a first time novelist can surely be forgiven for pulling out all the stops; after all, who knows if there'll be a second book in which to use leftover plotlines. The characterization of Taylor is a little uneven, as Housewright struggles with balancing hard-boiled conventions with totally unnecessary 90's political correctness, but I enjoyed the book, especially the unusual Twin Cities setting and I look forward to more from Mr. Housewright. GRADE: B-
Rating:
Summary: one of the best mystery fiction writers
Review: I couldn't believe there were no reviews for this book. David Housewright is one of the best mystery fiction writers I have read. His stories are fast paced, witty and exceptionally well plotted. There are two other Holland Taylor mysteries equally excellent.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun New Player......
Review: I write mainly because the previous review of "4" is way off base. "Penance" isn't perfect, but a lot of fun ... definitely a goodly-twisted plot. As a transplanted Minnesotan I must say the local desciptions are well done with a hell of a lot more detail (in both geography AND plot) then Mary Higgen Clark's "Pretend You Don't See Her" ... you KNOW Housewright has at least set foot in the state. Housewright is following well John Sandford's large shadow.
Rating: 
Summary: Everyone has their own agenda
Review: Private investigator Holland Taylor finds himself drawn into the campaign of a ditsy gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota. Anyone can be governor of Minnesota, especially when their opponents have scandals in their personal lives. The murder of an ex-con who had served time for killing Taylor's wife and child while the man was driving drunk puts some suspicion on Taylor. His own investigation of the murder leads into the gubernatorial campaign. When he is hired to recover a video tape, supposedly being used for blackmail, Taylor stumbles into a string of dead bodies. The tape has some surprising (or should I say revealing) details of the candidate. There are some side comments or inferences about how some women worked their way through college. Some people want the tape revealed, and others want it destroyed. The story concludes with some surprising revelations. Along the way there are some digressions into a problem Taylor's bookie is having with a card sharp. Taylor has his own ways of dispensing justice when evidence will not support criminal prosecution.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone has their own agenda
Review: Private investigator Holland Taylor finds himself drawn into the campaign of a ditsy gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota. Anyone can be governor of Minnesota, especially when their opponents have scandals in their personal lives. The murder of an ex-con who had served time for killing Taylor's wife and child while the man was driving drunk puts some suspicion on Taylor. His own investigation of the murder leads into the gubernatorial campaign. When he is hired to recover a video tape, supposedly being used for blackmail, Taylor stumbles into a string of dead bodies. The tape has some surprising (or should I say revealing) details of the candidate. There are some side comments or inferences about how some women worked their way through college. Some people want the tape revealed, and others want it destroyed. The story concludes with some surprising revelations. Along the way there are some digressions into a problem Taylor's bookie is having with a card sharp. Taylor has his own ways of dispensing justice when evidence will not support criminal prosecution.
Rating:
Summary: PENANCE: CLICHE-RIDDEN AND OBVIOUS
Review: There are flashes of solid writing in Housewright's "Penance," but it's difficult to get past all the "tough-guy private investigator" cliches to truly appreciate them. Holland Taylor is an combination of every bad TV cop/private eye you can think of, from his expertise in the martial arts to his adversarial relationship with the police. Though many of the reviews on the book's cover laud Housewright's "cleverly twisted plot," I found it to be convoluted and far-fetched. Housewright even caps his string of cliches by gathering all of the suspects into one room at the story's climax and allowing Holland Taylor to explain it all. In spite of this, the book is well paced and, at times, enjoyable. I hope in his next book that Housewright can give Holland Taylor a little more personality than the fact that he's a Minnesota Twins fan with a dead wife and kid.
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