Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I wanted to like Hiss of Death, after all, some of my favorite books have been the Mrs. Murphy mysteries. I'm afraid this one fell prey to the same bugaboo as Cat of the Century--political, and other, rants. I understand Rita Mae's feelings, I even agree with a lot of her politics, but she has to get off that soapbox and write us a mystery we can enjoy. I blame her editors, too, who have let this sort of thing through. There's about half a good mystery here, but the other half of the book is composed of polemics on politicians, taxes, big business, land development, and of course, in a book involving Harry's treatment for breast cancer, medicine. We don't see most of the characters we've come to know and love, don't even see Miranda when Harry is being treated for cancer, and Big Mim, Little Marilyn, BoomBoom, don't play any role. Susan's around, but more for window-dressing than anything. The plot, the characters, the animals, are all given short shrift in favor of the rants. It would have been wonderful to actually see Harry's treatment, not just learn about it in a sentence or two, and we don't see how the conspiracy behind the murders is actually uncovered. No sleuthing, uncovering the truth, etc., etc. It all just seems to fall out of the sky in the last couple of chapters, and even the hints there are, are throwaways, skimped in favor of rants. Every time two characters start a conversation, one or the other launches into a monologue on some issue dear to Rita Mae's heart. This is what sank Cat of the Century, and it makes about 90% of the book just drag. When you have to skim big chunks just to maintain some interest in the book, it's just not working. Please, Rita Mae, write letters to the editor to get all this out of your system, do editorials in Time and Newsweek, but when you sit down to write a mystery, write a mystery. We miss them.