Jane Rubino Message Board
F. Welles posts on 1/14/2011 9:20:21 AM
LMAO! Darcy-with-a-badge! How true!!
One of the series would luv to see kindled!
The Holmes and Austen tie-ins are fun too since am a fan of both.
Jo posts on 1/12/2011 5:00:01 PM
Come here to get good quik roundups of books for my library runs - and had to LOL @ Ingrids "Darcy with a badge" comment!!!! EXACTLY! Luv when Victor stands up when a lady comes into the room and is so formal! Because you know there is that OTHER side!
Went back to read Fruitcake over the holidays because it is a fun Christmas mystery - and like someone else cant find Cake job!!??
Are Rubinos books on Kindle?
Liliane posts on 11/4/2010 7:20:00 AM
Grabbed five of these books @ the library and tore thru them - W.O.W. Great fun! Like if The Sopranos had a branch of the family made up mostly of cops. Trying to think if this was a movie who would play Victor - sexy beast!
Lee M. posts on 10/7/2010 4:26:20 PM
I also came into this series by way of reading Boardwalk Empire and getting hooked on its "old Atlantic City" setting. Rubino gives a picture of the new-but-not-improved Atlantic City as one of the Jersey Shore backdrops for this clever and multidimentional series.
Cat Austen and Lt Victor Cardenas are a widow making ends meet as a local reporter and a major crimes detective with a dark side. Solving crimes in the Atlantic City & vicinity area. The series has a lot of plusses especially the writing - full of rhythm and style - and the dialogue is so smart and clever that you may have to look a few things up to "get it"! Of all I think I liked the Christmas book the best with its Sharpton-like bit player and all those Santas running around but they are all worth scouting around for since they may all be out of print
Marti posts on 9/27/2010 5:08:21 PM
Me too! Looking for 'Jersey' mysteries or thrillers because sort of got hooked on the Boardwalk Empire series and a few names turned up including Rubinos. Local library had all except Deadly Morsels - Cake Job so I read them in order. Very impressive! What really got me is how there were 'threads' that ran through the early books that were tied up in later ones - to me that is what 'series' means - love it in TV series AND in book series. Such lifelike characters - the kind of books that have you 'casting' them in a TV movie!
Ingrid posts on 9/3/2010 11:02:42 AM
I would like to add my two cents about this very compelling series by Jane Rubino. I came to her series in reverse. I first read Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, a beautiful adaptation of an early Jane Austen work written by Rubino and her daughter and heard that she had written a series so I ferreted them out and got all but one (Cake Job).
Cat Austen is a Jane-Austen loving amateur sleuth with a large, meddling and lovingly conceived Italian family of older brothers - one priest and five policemen - whose job as a small town reporter brings her into the orbit of Lieutenant Victor Cardenas who is the sexiest guy in fiction - Darcy with a badge. It would be hard for me to pick a favorite - Plot Twist had the most amazing plot twist and Raise the Dead was the most heartbreaking (with a funny subplot). As someone here wrote, if you like Janet Evanovich but want it a little more clever, better written, more humane, search out this series. You will not be sorry.
danni posts on 8/2/2010 1:33:53 PM
I will "me too" the above. Like Luci it was the Evanovich news that made me think about Rubino's Jersey Shore series. There were a handful of authors who came out with Jersey books but Rubino seemed to be the most flesh-and-blood. Yes - far above Evanovich as a storyteller. Cat Austen is a resourceful and believable character and the tenuous romance that develops between her and Victor over the course of the books is a delight. Love her mom, love those brothers, love her kids and Ellice - even minor characters are three dimensional. Cannot name a favorite but "Fruitcake" is my favorite Christmas mystery.
Luci posts on 7/28/2010 7:51:12 AM
I was also a latecomer to these books. I think some are out of print unless they are on Kindle. The news about Evanovichs book dealing made me think - why are they going after her when her books are on the downhill slide? Rubinos books, all set at the Jersey shore are funny, with near brilliant dialogue and strong plots but the best is the cast of characters - Mama Jennie Fortunati beats Gran Mazur and Victor Cardenas is a dream! The shore setting, the big, lively cast and especially the strong, conpassionate and totally wonderful Cat Austen grabbed me from the go. I just totally loved this series.
Barbara L posts on 6/16/2010 9:38:46 AM
I posted a review of Rubino's last book 'Raise the Dead' some time ago but after coming on a recent review of her first book 'Death of a DJ' i decided to come back for a recap - there are a lot of good mysteries that get overshadowed by worse books that have a better pr campaign. But there is no better cast of characters than the ones in the Rubino books - the spicy smart and funny relationship between Cat and Victor is the best modern mystery team and the way the books progress forward but with later books carrying in threads from earlier ones is something you only get with very good book or tv series. Real shame this series ended after 6 books
E. B. posts on 6/11/2010 10:26:08 AM
I recently acquired a copy of Rubinos mystery Plot Twist and read it in a weekend. One of those few mysteries where I could "see" the characters - so lifelike! The dialogue just crackled with humor and realism - was this ever an audio book because it would be fun to hear some of this dialogue out loud - nothing to compare this to except maybe J Evanovich but this book was way funnier with much better character
Click Here for Messages:
1 - 10
11 - 20
21 - 30
31 - 40
41 - 50
51 - 60
61 - 70
71 - 80
81 - 90
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the posters.
