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Liking country music is considered very dÈclassÈ, but as a fan of modern bluegrass and country, I will defend the lyrics and talents available to anyone. There's not a truck, mama, jail or a hound in modern country music. So before you sneer at Jealous Heart, dump your notions that country and Nashville are all sequins and pathos. Jealous Heart starts out with energy and an interesting story, but that the energy faded and the book didn't quite hold up for me. The lead character is smart, caring, has a nice guy in her life - all sorts of good things, but at the same time, she puts up with a lot of crap for no good reason. My major ongoing pet peeve in modern mystery is what I call the "annoying/rude" person story. In the first chapter, typically, someone - a neighbor, a friend, a mother, an ex-husband, shows up on the protagonist's (usually female protagonist) doorsteps demanding - demanding mind you, not asking - that she help them. Drop everything, skip work, leave the kids home alone, and come help. There is no offer of pay, no offer of child-care, dinner, or assistance with the boss who doesn't understand. Often the person does have a serious problem, but what is withthese people? how can they be so selfish, so rude as to assume everyone exists to do their bidding? In Jealous Heart, protagonist Kate Banning meets up in the first chapter with Bobbi Burnside. Bobbi's younger sister, Brandi Burns, an up-and-coming modern country singing star has just died in what appears to be a car accident. She was, Bobbi says a good driver, although she was good enough that she didn't need to wear a seatbelt (right). Kate's new job is as an editor for freelance writers for trade magazines; she does have a background as an investigative and police reporter, but left that behind in Boston, moving to Nashville for a new start with her daughter. It's a job that has given her lots of useful investigative skills which is why Bobbi has sought her out. Bobbi is an unpleasant and unsympathetic character. She is insistent to the point of rudeness and Kate puts up with her seeming naivetÈ. She is a grown-up and yet has a habit of putting her little finger in her mouth like a child. She calls Kate any time night or day, shows up at Kate's house when Kate made it clear she is not to do that. Bobbi is understandably upset that her sister is dead and is convinced her sister was murdered. She does not accept that all of Nashville will not come to a standstill to investigate her very vague suspicions. So she enlists Kate, a woman with a brand new job, who goes along, all the while saying "but I don't want to." And then she does. Bobbi cannot even manage to understand that Boston is not New York. Gimme a break - she may be country, but she's a city-living employed woman. She can't use "I'm just a lil ol' country gal" anymore. Add to this whining woman, Kate's whining daughter Kelly. The poor kid's entitled to be upset at her uprooting from her roots in New England, but there is not a moment in the book where the kid isn't complaining. Again, this has caused me to put down more than one mystery series. Whining is one of my most unfavorite behaviors. Bobbi and Brandi's mother relies on comments that are supposed to be homespun country, but are really platitudes, to talk about her talented daughter - she wants people to know she was in beauty pageants. She also seems to think Bobbi can take her sister's place (ew - shades of Gypsy Rose Lee anyone?) That's not important. It is important that Brandi died and that Bobbi's suspicions are right - someone killed her sister. This was a young talented woman who deserved a longer life and deserved her success. As often happens with successful people, they attract a lot of hangers-on, not all of whom wish them well. There is, as one of Brandi' s own hot songs hints, lots of jealousy, and it is this evil that caused what does turn out to be more than a car accident. Kate's history writing for trade magazines includes some knowledge of car mechanics, and she does try her best for Bobbi, among other things, checking Brandi's totaled car for tampering.Ý Sure, I cared about Brandi, and wanted her killer caught. I wanted there to be a resolution and for there to be some fairness. But it should not come at the expense of a woman with problems of her own. Kate has a job, she is a single mother who is new in own and it simply is not okay to call her at 2 in the morning, demanding her presence at a disaster, disrupting her life and that of her daughter - especially when there is nothing Kate can do about it. There is a clue at the end of the book which I found a bit too coincidental, but by the time I reached this clue, I realized I was impatient with the book. It is a good clue, and Kate is smart to find it, although it might a bit too much on coincidence - something that one almost has to tolerate in an amateur detective novel, since life is seldom cooperative enough to offer up clues. I know this review is tough on this book, and I also know Jealous Heart, has great appeal. But I do wish more people who seem to somehow expect people to help them, without any form of thanks or compensation, could at least learn to say please and thank you. People who don't have this issue with mysteries will like it just fine - I'm just being my usual overly picky self. -- http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Sherloc kian, Wodehousian & more
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, February 2000
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