Austin, TX writer Barbara Burnett Smith has done it again--Jolie Wyatt, everywoman and perfect amateur detective, is up to her ears in flood waters and murder in the latest Purple Sage mystery. Things start innocently enough when Jolie and best friend Diane arrange a tribute dinner for a couple of old friends from their past. But thanks to the monsoons, before the night is out, one of honored guests has had the humiliating experience of being hosted in her former home by the husband who left her and his new trophy wife--and the other Guest of Honor is dead.

Then the sheriff announces that the death may be a suicide--and Jolie's on the warpath. Dr. Bill did NOT kill himself--and she's going to prove it. Complicating her mission are a host of suspects who may have believed they had ample reason to hate Dr. Bill, the arrival of Jolie's estranged mother, and Jolie's own fluctuating temper and emotions--is it sheer frustration from multiple directions, PMS--or even humble pie, as Jolie discovers friends who are foes, foes who might become friends, black is white, Truth may be relative and...well, the waters run very deep.

This Purple Sage contains the things we've always loved about Smith's books--the great small-town politics and tangled personal relationships--and takes them in unexpected directions. If you enjoyed the other Purple Sages, don't miss this one. And if you haven't tried them yet, what are you waiting for? And yes--I think you can start with this one, if St. Martin's STILL hasn't reprinted the others!

Purple Sage is a small Texas town founded by nine religious fundamentalist families and even today their influence can be felt. Jolie Wyatt, a newcomer to the town and married to native-born Matt, is hosting a party in honor of retiring Dr. Bill Marchak and Beverly Kendall, who has returned after a three year absence to take care of her ailing father.

The only problem is that most of Purple Sage is flooding and the house where the reception is supposed to take place is underwater. They are forced to hold the party at the home of Beverly's ex-husband Tom who divorced her to marry Leigh. A gracious Beverly insures no one feels uncomfortable. Later that night, Dr. Bill's body is found tightly wedged in a drawn wrenched ditch. Nobody knows the cause of death but rumors abound. Shortly thereafter, Leigh disappears. Julie finds the body believing that the same person murdered both people.

The protagonist, trying to achieve justice for the dead, almost finds herself becoming the third victim of a demented killer. Her bravery and unwavering quest for the truth as well as her loyalty to friends and family are only some of the reasons the heroine is easy to like. Sad to say, the killer's identity is totally believable and raises some interesting legal and social issues. After a two-year absence, it is good to see the Purple Sage gang reunited again.

Harriet Klausner

I have just discoverd Annette Broadrick and find this first book in the Sons of Texas Series to be delightful. The powerful love story of Cole and Cameron Callaway is exciting and well written. Once you get started, this is a hard book to put down and you don't want it to end. I have just started reading the story of the third brother, Cody, and find it as good as the first two. Can't wait to read more by this author.

If you like reading about fictional families like Nora Robert's - O'Hurley's, the Fortune's Child series, then you'll love this series. A must read.

This is a great book in which the authors very tactfully unfold the story of the Spindletop Oil Field. With modern techniques of oil exploration one may never have the 'Spindletop Experience' ever again. This book would interest anyone who is even remotely related with the petroleum industry. It should make one appreciate the early days of oil industry on whose experiences the modern peroleum industry is based on. The last chapters may not interest some people as the book goes into the legal suits fought over the oilfield. Overall, I strongly recommend the modern 'oilmen' to read this book.

A fascinating account of the events and people who brought in the birth of the modern oil business. The book brings to life the time period, the cast of characters that were involved and the obstacles and naysayers which had to be overcome. See how hard work and dogged persistence by these men was rewarded not just once (as in the initial discovery of the field) but several times. The book is well written and moves along at a good pace. As a person involved in the oil business for 20 years, this book reminded my of why the oil business is so special.

This book is filled with information on Central Texas Aquatic Resources. If you're looking for a guide to find the most lucrative waters to suit your mood, this is it! The author gives in-depth information on pools, watering holes, natural springs & rivers, water theme parks, and lakes. I found the author to be very knowledgeable by way of giving the reader detailed insights on each particular place to swim. Having done her share of swimming as her favorite pastime, the author's enthusiasm for pools really shows, which makes it an interesting read vying to keep the reader afloat!

This is a very cool book. I had no idea there was so much history about Texas swimming. Great old pictures, tons of information, fascinating stories. Chandra Beal's enthusiasm for this subject really shows. First rate reading!

Lee Morgan is an oddity among women. She is no Southern Belle, but a horse rancher, tough and strong as any man. Determined to prove her capability, she agrees to race her stallion against a neighbor's, despite her misgivings about the wisdom of gambling and horse racing.

The races have brought danger and a low element to Burnt Rock, making Marshall Ben Flood's life harder. It also endangers both him and Lee. The wildness evolves into murder. It is too late to stop the race though, and it will take every resource in Lee to win it. Faith and courage are key elements to proving herself.

***** This innocent novel will appeal to fans of Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey. It shows that faith can carry into every aspect of life, even those not traditionally thought of as requiring it. Both parents and children can share this book as a family read.

This was an excellent western novel. The author wove an interesting fictional story with accurate horse information and christian values.

If you like Cox' newspaper columns, this book is worth the read. If you happen to be around 50 years old, as I am, and want to see reduced to the printed page those recollections of events that took place in your lifetime, and that formed a part of your life's experience, it is worth the read. It amazes how one's perception of things may be closely shared by another, but with the colorations of each determined by how close one is to the subject at the time and to how much more of the details one is privy.

On analysis, this book makes a good case for the author's own argument often made in his newspaper column that newspapers are good primary sources for historians. I predict that history will prove this book not only a worthy reference for those who today wish to improve their skills in handling relations with the Fourth Estate, but also a worthy primary source for those future historians who will try to distill the essence of Texas life from 1950s to the '90s.

A note to collectors. This first edition of the paperback has a typographical on the cover, leaving out the "the" in the book's title, that is otherwise present on the title page. (The dust jacket of the hardcover edition shares this affliction.) This will surely be corrected in the next edition, so it is worth snapping up now a copy of this one. I have suspected for a while that these little blemishes may be by design. I first came across this phenomena of a hidden deflection from the title page planted on the book's cover in Cox' children's book "Texas Rangers: Men of Valor and Courage" (cover: "Men of Courage and Valor"). Like the $.02 U. S. Airmail stamp of years past with the biplane flying upside down, these little peccadillos, over time, add value. As many may not know, Cox and his bride are also notable rare book dealers, so who would be in a better position to appreciate those things that may add to appreciation.

Deep in the bowels of The Library of Congress, or wherever it is that such things get done, there is a book cataloguer in a quandary as to how to classify Mike Cox' new book, "Stand-off in Texas." It is part history, part autobiography and part textbook; but not easily pigeonholed.

The reason behind the rating: the short answer is perspective. The long answer is a little more complex. Let me set the stage. I am 50 years old. I have grown up and lived in Texas during those 50 years. I had just finished reading Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full," Larry McMurtry's "Duane's Depressed" and John Grisham's "Testament." (Of the three, by the way, McMurty's is the best written, although to say that I do not intend to disparage the other two.) Each involved a man, later in his life, of some sense of perceived success or achievement within his community, but each with a family or families that did not turn out the way he probably originally expected (but the way, with hindsight, one might say he probably earned). Is it some coincidence that these three hot new books from America's big authors are all about later life disappointments and futility? Then I read "Stand-off in Texas." Although not fiction, as are the previous three, I wondered how could a book that chronicled some of the great tragedies and news events in Texas during my lifetime, provide a sense of relief from the oppressive notions in the fiction that I had just read, which, although fiction, were nevertheless realistic descriptions of the times in which I have lived? The answer is the autobiographical aspect of Mike Cox' life that is a large yet unhighlighted component of his book. In reading it, I was reminded not only of the great news stories of my times, but also of the thoughts and events and fads and feelings and flavor of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, the five decades that the author and I share in common. I was reminded of the sweet blessings of life during those decades, and of the real worth of friends and family. I was rewarded by Mike's wit, sense of humor and elegant-in-its-simplicity writing style. I reveled in his straightforward writing with a liberal sprinkling of the well-turned phrase. I was renewed by the shown serendipities that life seems to have benefacted us all and that can largely be found in each of us. I was reinvigorated by the little things the author notes in the book, which by themselves probably didn't seem like much at the time they occurred, but, when viewed in the collective and in the historic, take on a whole that is greater than the sum of the individual parts. I was replenished by the reflection and retrospection found between the cover and the endsheet, illuminating both the age and the man with eloquent economy. While his topics may be the Branch Davidians and the Republic of Texas, his theme is the American character, as revealed in the daily struggles of doing a job well for the pure sake of doing it well, and of acquitting oneself nobly in publicly representing the organization that signs one's paycheck.

In "Stand-off" the author recounts his participation as the Public Information Officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety in the Spring 1997 Fort Davis, Texas arrest of the renegade band lead by Richard McLaren, under the guise of the self-proclaimed "Republic of Texas" posse comitatus (or comatose as I have sometimes heard it referred) groups that had flimflammed the public with fraudulent banking deals and harassed public officials and anyone who opposed them with fake court papers and bogus property liens. There was good reason that the Assistant Attorney General that pursued injunctive relief against the group referred to them by their initials: ROT. Although they are now part of Texas history, they soiled the good names and characters of those brave heroes who sacrificed property, life and sacred trust to give us the Republic 162 years ago.

A Pecos county jury several months ago convicted Richard F. Keyes III, the last of five ROT members accused in the kidnapping that started the armed standoff over two years ago, of burglary with intent to commit aggravated assault, and sentenced him to 90 years and $10,000 in fine. He was one of three people who carried out a military-style raid on a neighbor's home and took two people hostage for 13 hours on April 27, 1997. The incident in the Davis Mountains Resort led to the week long armed standoff between the separatist band and 300 law enforcement officers.

Up in the Davis Mountains, as McLaren made his stand, Cox appeared daily on the nation's television sets giving us all an update on what was happening in this far West Texas confrontation. The Texas Rangers and DPS' successful handling this West Texas stand-off shows the right way of handling outlaw bands of this nature, as compared to the wrong way that we observed on our nightly television screens as conducted by the ATF and the FBI at the Branch Davidian compound at Waco four years earlier. Cox was also there, and was present during its aftermath, since the Rangers were called in to conduct the follow up investigation into the deaths that resulted. Cox was also early on the scene of the 1991 Luby's Cafeteria massacre in Killeen, Texas, as the Texas Department of Public Safety was called in to handle America's worst mass murder. (He recently also served his employer, the DPS, as he kept the press briefed on the manhunt and arrest of Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, also known as Angel Maturino Resendez and Angel Leoncio Reyes Recendis, the alleged railway serial killer, who, after a nationwide manhunt rivaled perhaps only by the Lindbergh's baby kidnappers search, came from his fugitive seclusion in Mexico and surrendered to Texas Ranger Sgt. Drew Carter on the International Bridge in El Paso).

First as a newspaper man and then as a DPS spokesman, Cox has covered some of the major news events that have occurred during my adult life as a Central Texan, after Viet Nam. He interviewed Henry Lee Lucas, who as I wrote this had been sitting on death row in Huntsville, facing the executioner's needle until Texas Governor George W. Bush commuted to life his death sentence for the murder of "Orange Socks". Certainly a serial and habitual liar, if not habitual and serial murderer, Lucas is the subject of another Cox book.

People say they recall where they were when they first heard that President Kennedy was shot. I remember where I was, sitting in my 15th floor office looking out over the serenity of Town Lake and the purple hills of West Austin when I heard the news of the Luby's Cafeteria massacre in Killeen. Cox tells in the book how he first got the call and what happened as the events of the day unfolded. He uses that, with the Davidian siege and then the Ft. Davis stand-off, to illustrate how to handle media relations in crises situations. Along the way he shares with us the human side, and in doing so shares with us his life and the lives of his family. At the same time his doing so stirred memories in my own mind, from Davy Crockett coon skin caps, to sitting in a dove field waiting for the erratic little speedsters to come along so that I could match skills with their aerial aerobatics. In the line of his DPS information duties, Cox, while sitting on his hunting stool in a dove field, has taken telephone calls over his cell phone from newscasters to answer questions on the latest news of major automobile collisions on the highways over the Labor Day weekend, then followed by making a high overhead shot at a mourning dove coming out of a maize field. To preserve sanity, one must be flexible.

On analysis, his book also makes a good case for his argument often made in his newspaper column that newspapers are good primary sources for historians. I predict that history will prove his book not only a worthy reference for those who today wish to improve their skills in handling relations with the Fourth Estate, but also a worthy primary source for those future historians who will try to distill the essence of Texas life from 1950s to the '90s.

If you like Cox' columns, this book is worth the read. If you happen to be around 50 years old, as I am, and want to see reduced to the printed page those recollections of events that took place in your lifetime, and that formed a part of your life's experience, it is worth the read. It amazes how one's perception of things may be closely shared by another, but with the colorations of each determined by how close one is to the subject at the time and to how much more of the details one is privy.

A note to collectors. This first edition of the paperback has a typographical on the cover, leaving out the "the' in the book's title, that is otherwise present on the title page. (The dust jacket of the hardcover edition shares this affliction.) This will surely be corrected in the next edition, so it is worth snapping up now a copy of this one. I have suspected for a while that these little blemishes may be by design.

I just bought this book for one of the young people in my life and I am having a hard time giving it to her as I like it so much! It has really cool facts about Texas! I also like that it mentions the best university in Texas (UT) and not that other school. My only complaint is that it is a little harsh on Houston!

With this colorful, clever, and surprisingly informative book, history leaps off the page like a bucking bronco at the Fort Worth Rodeo. Snappy dialogue between the two cartoon characters--Sam and Meredith, your "guides" through this diverse land--cooks up an easily digestible version of Texas history without being dishonest (for example, a few paragraphs are devoted to the haunting legacy of the Native Americans who were here first). This book reads easier than cold lemonade on a sweltering day in August. You (and your kids!) will love it!

Stella Landry is one of the most orginal and moving characters I've met in many years of reading. Her story, of a lonely young woman trying to make a new life for herself after a sordid past, is told in an absorbing, first person style that makes the reader feel each event with intense emotion. Ms McCorquodale is a truly gifted writer.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. The author takes you right into the heart and soul of Stella Landry. She truely makes the reader feel the full range of emotions. It was hard to put the book down, and I found myself crying for Stella, and unable to sleep. I would highly reccomend this book to all women, with or without a past.

Some 39 of the best Texas writers get a chance to tell about themselves with essays about favorite meals, stories about growing up, and recipes that have special meaning. It's a wonderful way to showcase some of the best writers in the country -- letting us have a slice of their personal life. Entertaining stories from Kinky Friedman, Liz Carpenter, Naomi Nye, Robert and Jean Flynn, Molly Ivins and many others. And some of these folks can actually cook. The author, Deborah Douglas, writes witty, insightful essays as introductions to each of the writers' pieces. There's even a web site for the book.

This is a fresh look at some (most?) of Texas's most talented literary sons and daughters. Whether you're following Cindy Bonner's recipe for Bohemian Kolaches or soaking up some of Clay Reynold's Texas attitude, this book is an easy read. And Deborah Douglas's intros are insightful and funny.

As a west Texan I felt a little embarassed or slammed by the book but facts are facts and courage like this is extremely rare. This has national relevance. This REALLY happened and new crimes and cover-ups of the pathologist are still surfacing. Hubbard (and his wife) basically took on the world. They are BOTH heroes. You will wonder what makes a person even continue to believe in the human race. Truth always divides but it eventually prevails. This is not just a mystery....it is a warning and an uplifting testimony to faith and truth. Actually it is a love story. You'll recommend it to others. He tells a story well. I would buy his next book based on this one.

Well written, quick paced and quite a ride. It's easy to get lost in this book, until it sends a shiver down your spine when you remember this is a true story and that it happen just four or five years ago. Bravo to the Criminal Defense Attorneys that championed Bill Hubbards cause. As much as everyone wants to bad mouth defense attorneys, one must remember - they are the only people in this country trying to preserve the Constitution.