Sat 23 Jul 2011
Reviewed by Barry Gardner: EDNA BUCHANAN – Miami, It’s Murder.
Posted by Steve under Authors , Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[6] Comments
EDNA BUCHANAN – Miami, It’s Murder. Britt Montero #2. Hyperion, hardcover, January 1994. Avon, paperback, 1995.
Buchanan’s first Montero, Contents Under Pressure, got a lot of good press, though I liked it less than most because of a to me unbelievable plot.
[In Miami, It’s Murder, the city] is plagued by a serial rapist. Britt is doing the story, and has annoyed the police by printing information they wanted withheld. At the same time, a friend of hers on the police department is being forced into retirement because of a bad heart, and he is agonizing over cases he never broke.
One was the 20-year-ago sexual murder of a young girl. He was convinced of the guilt of a young man who is now a grown politician running for governor, but could find no evidence. Britt decides to dig into the old case and see what she can find.
She continues to write about the rapist, and begins to get threatening letters from him. A series of deaths begin to occur, some seemingly accidental, some not, all involving people who were suspected of old murders but never convicted. Not surprisingly, all three situations — rapist, politician, murders — are eventually resolved.
As with the first book, the narration is excellent, the writing fast-paced and effective. Again, too, there are plot elements that won’t wash. Britt’s acceptance of her cop friend’s assertion of the politician’s guilt without any real evidence makes either her or the author just plain foolish; as does her eagerness to personally offend the man without even her paper’s knowledge or concurrence.
More so than in the first novel, she often acts foolishly. But the main problem I have with the book is that it (and Montero) ethically offended me. I can’t go into reasons without giving away the plot, so I’ll just say neither she nor the author seem to have the same ethical values that I do. No go, Montero.
Bibliographic Notes: In spite of Barry’s clearly stated misgivings, Miami, It’s Murder was nominated for an Edgar in 1995.
For more on the author, a visit to her Wikipedia page may suffice: “As one of the first female crime journalists in Miami, she wrote for the Miami Beach Daily Sun and the Miami Herald as a general assignment and police-beat reporter. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for general reporting.” She is also the author or co-author of 17 crime novels, including the nine Britt Montero novels listed below.
For even more, check out the author’s own website. There’s much of interest there.
The Britt Montero series —
1. Contents Under Pressure (1992)
2. Miami, It’s Murder (1994)
3. Suitable for Framing (1995)
4. Act of Betrayal (1996)
5. Margin of Error (1997)
6. Garden of Evil (1999)
7. You Only Die Twice (2001)
8. The Ice Maiden (2002)
9. Love Kills (2007)
July 23rd, 2011 at 2:43 pm
With apologies to the author, I do not find much of interest in the kinds of “high profile” cases she writes about. I also do not care very much about either serial killers or rapists, if at all, and it is my impression, probably mistaken, that that’s what most of her books are about.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I also have no objection to authors who write what the majority of the reading public wants!
July 24th, 2011 at 6:24 am
I have to agree with Barry’s assessment of the Montero series, which was a big disappointment to me after reading Buchanan’s wonderful true crime books about her own life as a Miami crime reporter. I would definitely recommending skipping the Montero books and reading THE CORPSE HAD A FAMILIAR FACE and NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU CRY instead.
I did like the first couple in her “Cold Case Squad” series, but then she brought Montero into that too…
July 24th, 2011 at 1:07 pm
And yet, Jeff, MIAMI, IT’S MURDER was nominated for an Edgar, just another example, as far as I’m concerned, that says that the MWA’s taste in mystery and crime fiction differs from mine. (And apparently yours, in this instance, and Barry’s.)
Not that it didn’t deserve the nomination. I can’t say that without reading it. Different points of view, that’s all.
July 24th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
The Emmys are coming next. There will be critics who will make a list of who will win and who should win. And every year film critics will remind us of some of the Oscar’s picks and misses.
The Edgar award for Best Novel 1995 went to THE RED SCREAM by Mary Willis Walker.
The “losers but nominated” were:
A LONG LIST OF DEAD MEN by Lawrence Block
LIGHTS OUT by Peter Abrahams
MIAMI, ITS MURDER by Edna Buchanan
WEDNESDAY’S CHILD by Peter Robinson
Were these the best five novels of 1994-95?
July 24th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
I’d have to take a look at the list of non-nominated, but to answer your question, no I don’t think so.
I just did some research. Here’s a list of the Anthony Award nominees in 1995:
BEST NOVEL
The Concrete Blonde – Michael Connelly [Little, Brown]
Kolymsky Heights – Lionel Davidson [St.Martin’s]
One for the Money – Janet Evanovich [Scribner]
“K” Is For Killer – Sue Grafton [Henry Holt]
Murder On A Kibbutz – Batya Gur [HarperCollins]
Pictures of Perfection – Reginald Hill [HarperCollins]
Cold Shoulder – Lynda La Plante [Macmillan]
The 13th Juror – John Lescroart [Fine/Headline]
She Walks These Hills – Sharyn McCrumb [Scribner] **WINNER**
Crack Down – Val McDermid [Scribner]
Black Betty – Walter Mosley [Serpent’s Tail/Norton]
Not Till the Red Fog Rises – Derek Raymond [Little, Brown]
Just a Corpse at Twilight – Janwillem van de Wetering [Soho]
Not a single book appears in both lists. As for me, I find that I’m much more aligned with the Bouchercon voters than I am with the MWA.
December 27th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
I actually adore Edna Buchanan. Maybe it’s because I am a crime story junkie but I also enjoyed her in the Miami Herald as well. She came out with a new book and I’m waiting for it from amazon. Called a dark and lonely place. Did anyone read that? if so anything to say? Heard an interview of her on the bookreportradio.com where Elaine Charles interviewed her on it. Seems interesting!