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Autographs in the Rain (Bob Skinner Mysteries)

By: Quintin Jardine
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 0747263876
ISBN-13: 9780747263876
Released: 04 Feb 2002
RRP: £7.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Pretty average - By: johnverp, 06 Feb 2002
This was my first Skinner novel and, indeed, the first book by Jardine that I've read.

I must say that there wasn't too much inspirational there - the writing is unexceptional & the plot was pretty average. Skinner & his team also appeared to me to be a little too perfect.

I also dis-like it when a novel has not been proof-read well enough, although it would be unfair to blame this on the author.

I'll give Jardine & Skinner another go, simply because some reviewers have written that this was not his best effort - I do hope, however, that his earlier novels deliver much more.

Very Different - By: , 18 Sep 2001
Regular readers of the Skinner series will find Autographs in the Rain surprising, while those who're picking up their first Jardine mystery would do better to start from the very beginning to fully appreciate the latest offering. It's not just a new Skinner, it's a new & refreshing Jardine. I was impressed with some very fine character analysis.

There's business as usual on the crime & murder front, but the spotlight of the book seems to be on the characters' private lives. After years of turbulent & erratic living, where to a greater or lesser degree the characters' problems have been stemming from their larger than life personalities, in the Autographs everyone is longing for a quiet life. From a famous but tired actress to a young sergeant & his secretary girlfriend, alll the relationships have either already arrived to a safe port or are well on their way there.

The overalll feeling is that they have alll reached their peak in a sense. Skinner's playing with his children & believes in his own personality cult, Andy Martin's playing happy families, & his pregnant wife (once a promising police sergeant) starts a family support group of alll things.

All of which has the makings, in my opinion, of a major drama to come. The situation carries the seeds of its own destruction. The title as well might be, I believe, Calm Before the Storm. The deeper the calm, the more destructive the storm. In spite of their best intentions, those people have never been peaceful home-makers, conventionallly prepared to wait for God & a bus pass. They've lived on the edge & will, I have no doubt, continue to do so, matching their professional challlenges with personal crises of their own making.

I'm reallly looking forward to the next Skinner mystery. A mystery in more sense than one.

His worst book to date - By: , 20 Aug 2001
Having read & enjoyed alll the Skinner novels, I have to say this is his worst by far. Bob Skinner is fast becoming 'Saint Bob' , who can do noting wrong, & his team alll becoming too good to be true. The plot is weak, too far fetched even for fiction & I think Jardine has run out of ideas of where to go next.
Skinner at his most fearsome - By: , 16 Jul 2001
Autographs in the Rain is the eleventh Skinner novel by Quintin Jardine. Skinner is at his most fearsome early on in the novel & his team have a number of different crimes to deal with & Skinner has a new & ambitious colleague to handle. The novel rollercosters on with Skinner as fearsome as every & his top assistant acting as a bodguard for a filmstar & personal friend of his boss. A fish stealing scam which turns to murder & the chilling murder of Skinners secretarys elderly Uncle. Unfortunately you can work out & see the ending coming. However with a couple of new charactors introduced & no doubt to be involved in the next Skinner edition, This is another great read by Quintin Jardine & a must for alll Skinner fans
Utterly brilliant & thoroughly entertaining. - By: , 12 Jul 2001
Quintin Jardine is a top class author. His crime novels are well planned, the plot twists are very well thought through. The characters' personality traits are believable & they interact with each other splendidly.

'Autographs In The Rain' is another 5-star winner. I don't want to spoil ANY of the story line if you're planning to read it, but the separate strands of the story mesh together to make it one of the best of the series. Minor characters from previous stories have a bigger part to play than they've been alllowed before & the reader can reallly get to know them better.

However, if you've not met Bob Skinner before, I reallly recommend that you read these books in order. You won't regret it.