Helpful Score: 1
Third book I have read by Jeff Abbott, and it is the second of the Jordan Poteet series. It was a fun read--nothing heavy, no psychological chills or thrills, and a noticeable absence of the usual four letter words that most current writers use as a crutch when their descriptive powers fail them. That is refreshing. And it is fun to read about small town life. How typical it is, I do not know, but the vernacular and pace seems mighty accurate. Unlike so many other books that seem to have an extra 75 pages that add heft but not story development, this is a good story without a lot of extra frills. I recommend it.
From Publishers Weekly
Between a reemerged ex-girlfriend, a mad bomber and a murderer loose on the streets of Mirabeau, Tex., sleuth/librarian Jordan Poteet has his hands full. The bomber is blowing up everything from mailboxes to the top floor of Mirabeau's B&B; Lorna, Poteet's ex, works for a land developer interested in turning the town's riverfront property into resort condos; and the murderer is a nasty soul who garrotes his victims with barbed wire. In this sequel to Do Unto Others, Abbott stirs up a homey brew of humor, sweet-and-sour Southern charm and, most of all, saucy, revealing characterizations: Jordan's current girlfriend, Candace, looks "like she'd tiptoed out of Laura Ashley University with a bachelor's in Prim," while Lorna is likened to a hurricane moving in from the coast?"The only difference was that hurricanes are indifferent to the destruction and chaos they cause." And then there's Billy Ray, the prosecutor, who's "the type of fellow that'd poke his finger between a cottonmouth's fangs to see if the mouth is really all soft inside." Add a mixture of slightly unbalanced townsfolk and a rigid environmentalist hell-bent on protecting Mirabeau from the developers, and you have escapist fare that's as good as it gets. Speaking in the first person as Jordan Poteet, Abbott brings an engaging new voice to Southern mystery fiction
Between a reemerged ex-girlfriend, a mad bomber and a murderer loose on the streets of Mirabeau, Tex., sleuth/librarian Jordan Poteet has his hands full. The bomber is blowing up everything from mailboxes to the top floor of Mirabeau's B&B; Lorna, Poteet's ex, works for a land developer interested in turning the town's riverfront property into resort condos; and the murderer is a nasty soul who garrotes his victims with barbed wire. In this sequel to Do Unto Others, Abbott stirs up a homey brew of humor, sweet-and-sour Southern charm and, most of all, saucy, revealing characterizations: Jordan's current girlfriend, Candace, looks "like she'd tiptoed out of Laura Ashley University with a bachelor's in Prim," while Lorna is likened to a hurricane moving in from the coast?"The only difference was that hurricanes are indifferent to the destruction and chaos they cause." And then there's Billy Ray, the prosecutor, who's "the type of fellow that'd poke his finger between a cottonmouth's fangs to see if the mouth is really all soft inside." Add a mixture of slightly unbalanced townsfolk and a rigid environmentalist hell-bent on protecting Mirabeau from the developers, and you have escapist fare that's as good as it gets. Speaking in the first person as Jordan Poteet, Abbott brings an engaging new voice to Southern mystery fiction
Margaretann B. (mannsb) reviewed The Only Good Yankee (Jordan Poteet, Bk 2) on + 134 more book reviews
Since I 'm a Texan, I enjoyed his setting of a fictional town near La Grange, TX on the Colorado River. He has interesting characters. I hope this isn't the last book he wrote!
Michael H. (bookdoc) -
I enjoy Jeff Abbott's books. They are set in small town Texas. They capture that mood in a small town and the little things that go on there. An old girlfriend from Boston comes to town and life becomes complacted. Jordon Poteet finds himself in the middle of murder and trying to juggle his exgirlfriend with his ladylove. Sparks fly.
The second book in the Jordan Poteet mystery series.
