Survival Instincts (Nina Fischman Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: The Piesman series (#6) goes out with a whimper -- too bad
Review: Despite a very weak plot (for a mystery), I enjoyed the 5th book in this series about a self-deprecating lawyer who solves crimes on the side. Our leading lady, Nina Fischman, spends more time worrying about relationships, being Jewish, being overweight, whether to have sex, etc., than on her job or detective work, so there's not much time or space left for chasing clues and unraveling puzzling cases.

In this last of the series, #6 written in 1997, it's almost like Marissa knew this was her last gasp, and gave in to fatigue. After an incredible change of heart between these last two books, Nina not only finally moved in with boyfriend Jonathan, but followed him in a relocation to the West Coast. After three miserable months of being a (Jewish) couch potato, she decides to move back to NYC. Being essentially homeless, jobless, and with little or no savings, she moves in with Mom (Ida -- who plays a pretty lively role) and proceeds to enjoy sponging for several months. Her more or less perfect sister, Laura (who 'longside her husband "Ken" sounded like a ringer for Mattel's "Barbie") talks her into chasing down the murder of a friend's husband, which for some reason, despite the most obvious motives and clues in the world, the police couldn't or wouldn't pursue...

So what we have here is really just an excuse to show us Nina's daydreams, her life dilemmas, and her ramblings with Mom -- both metaphysical and physical as even Ida gets into the detective work. We might quibble that there was a good bit of Yiddish passing between them that was somewhat difficult to follow, and somehow the humor we enjoyed from her earlier works seemed forced; while some of the good lines got us laughing, much of the stuff was so overt we either saw it coming or wished we hadn't.

In all, we felt Survival Instincts to be not representative of Piesman's better work, and thus a disappointment. In truth, these tales are really more dramas than mysteries; although light reading at best, they will do little to satisfy ardent detective fans, and this time the repartee just seemed a little stale....

Rating:
Summary: Nina is my idol!!
Review: Nina makes sluething very entertaining. If only Ms. Piesman would write quicker. She is my all-time favorite author. As far as I'm concerned, Nina is the best!

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: Piesman writes some of the funniest mysteries around. She makes me laugh out loud. I wish she were still writing the Nina Fischman series--or had written a lot more of them.