This is a book that sets out right from the start to amuse and
entertain, with no pretensions beyond that, and there's absolutely
nothing wrong with that. I've never been to Florida, so I've no idea
whether the small town lifestyle portrayed here is accurate, exaggerated
or a parody, but it made me laugh and it gets extra brownie points for
that. The author has a sharp and acidic way of describing characters so
that they appear fully formed and in garish shades of dayglo orange or
baby pink in the reader's mind. There's absolutely nothing subtle about
it, and it's a style you either love or hate.
The plot - well,
the plot is neither here nor there, but essentially, a body has turned
up in the car of the eponymous Mama, and her three daughters attempt to
clear her name. That's about it, really. The story is told from the
point of view of the middle daughter, Mace. There's some romantic
interest between Mace and the cute detective assigned to the case, and
also between Mace and the cute ex-boyfriend. There are numerous possible
murderers, all with plausible motives, and the whole thing builds
nicely to the inevitable dramatic climax.
This will never win
any literary prizes, but it's nicely done, the Florida setting is evoked
well enough that you can feel the sweat trickling down your back, and
the mystery is guessable without being overwhelmingly obvious, which is
all one can expect. It wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, and I found a
few irritations - the author is inclined to explain even irrelevant
details, such as why the heroine's watch is still working after she fell
in the swamp (it was waterproof - well, duh!), and the characters are
more like caricatures. But there's a Southern charm to it all, and I
enjoyed it. Three stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment