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54th out of 63 books
—
8 voters
The Widower's Two-Step (Tres Navarre #2)
by
Rick Riordan
Tres Navarre has just hours of apprenticeship time to serve before he can go for his P.I. license. Staking out a musician suspected of stealing a demo tape should be a piece of pan dulce. But his attention wanders just long enough for fiddle player Julie Kearnes to be gunned down before his eyes. He should just back away and let the cops investigate, but backing away has n...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
May 4th 1998
by Bantam
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Riordan focuses on the music world in this second Tres Nevarre mystery. Nevarre is only 10 hours (or so) away from completing his apprenticeship and getting his official PI license. But he gets entangled in a case of a missing music producer, and can’t just let it go. I really like the character of Tres Nevarre – a tai-chi master with a PhD in medieval English, and a cool head when faced with a dangerous situation. However, the plot gets really convoluted here and doesn’t move fast enough for me...more
This review applies to the audio version.
#2 in the Tres Navarre PI series set in Texas. Tres, with his PhD in English, is using his degree in the way many English majors do--by doing something totally unrelated to their studies. He's almost got enough hours logged in with his mentor to apply for an official Private Investigator's license when a person he's staking out is shot right while he's (supposed to be) watching.
Julie Kearns was a fiddle player, suspected of stealing the demo tape of an u...more
#2 in the Tres Navarre PI series set in Texas. Tres, with his PhD in English, is using his degree in the way many English majors do--by doing something totally unrelated to their studies. He's almost got enough hours logged in with his mentor to apply for an official Private Investigator's license when a person he's staking out is shot right while he's (supposed to be) watching.
Julie Kearns was a fiddle player, suspected of stealing the demo tape of an u...more
I wanted to love this book so much. I adore Riordan's Percy Jackson series, with its tight, witty writing that has me laughing out loud in places. But unfortunately this book isn't up to the same quality. For one thing, there are so many characters, few of them fully fleshed out, that it's hard to remember who's who, or how they're related. Secondly, the events that occur can be somewhat confusing. I just couldn't follow along exactly what was going on, but I caught the gist of it with wide brus...more
At first I thought that this was going to be one of those books where Riordan had to bring in all of the characters from Big Red Tequila. Well, there are some characters who make return appearances, but it isn't one of those books.
Then I thought it was going to be a formula book, basically the same plot as Big Red Tequila, but with different characters and different locations. Well, because the main character is who he is and his characterization is consistent, there is a little familiarity to h...more
Then I thought it was going to be a formula book, basically the same plot as Big Red Tequila, but with different characters and different locations. Well, because the main character is who he is and his characterization is consistent, there is a little familiarity to h...more
I don't know anyone who can take you this much into a story and make you feel like you are in the place hes talking about as Riordan has ability to do. He achieves communicating Tres Navarre thoughts and moral ground with grace and sympathy, making him the last action hero of his time without overdoing it. Theres no goody-two shoes moral higher ground he wields as a weapon. Its mostly common sense, and the literary background he has gives him a philosophical sense of humor that i love. Of course...more
Aug 13, 2010
Jeremy
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
P.I. fans, martial arts fans, English majors.
Recommended to Jeremy by:
My goofy parents.
Absolutely zero complaints. While not quite as personal as the first book in the series, the craft is undiminished. All the characters seem very real, and the plot moves at a breakneck pace. Dialogue is sharp and narration flawless, and often laugh-out-loud, especially in regards to stupid people and his cat. I also love the little nods to Chaucer and Beowulf and so forth. I majored in English at the same college Tres interviews for a job at.
Having lived in San Antonio eleven years (Erainya's of...more
Having lived in San Antonio eleven years (Erainya's of...more
PI in-training Tres Navarre, while working on a stolen demo tape for a promising female country star, stumbles upon the murder of a musician in San Antonio. As the plot thickens, the reader gets a tour of competitive forces in the music industry in Austin and a great cast of high rollers and low-life denizens of South Texas, with frequent side trips for Mexican food. The hero has a PhD in English, a a scintillating wit, and a sensitive heart, which doesn't help him avoid danger or entangling lov...more
Rick Riordan is so descriptive, I feel like I am in San Antonio or Austin. I love that.
It was good, but I hated the people Tres was around in the book. Everyone Tres was supposed to be helping, Milo, the band, the boss's wife, they all just seemed like such bad, manipulative people. I was really just cheering for Tres to satisfy his curiosity and move on.
He did manage to not get hit in the face until about page 200.
It was good, but I hated the people Tres was around in the book. Everyone Tres was supposed to be helping, Milo, the band, the boss's wife, they all just seemed like such bad, manipulative people. I was really just cheering for Tres to satisfy his curiosity and move on.
He did manage to not get hit in the face until about page 200.
I'm generally not interested in reading murder mysteries, but since this one was set in Austin and San Antonio, about musicians, and written by a high school classmate of my wife, she talked me into reading it. And it certainly was fun to see things that I know well in print, like 'backstage' at the Cactus Cafe. But it was also a little jarring to read about the Houston Oilers. Had to check the publication date on it... yep, long enough ago that that tidbit was right. All in all, a fun enough re...more
Yes, he lives up to the hype. I have to admit that I enjoyed this book more than the first one, and that's a good sign. His first book was very enjoyable. I'm a big fan of Robert B Parker's, and this is up there. Reminds me of Elmore Leonard, too, in the mastery of dialogue and richness in character. I think the characters are more solid in this outing than the first, though.
May 10, 2009
Steve
added it
book on tape
i chose this one only for the "READER" loved the voice in a previous book on tape.
1/2 through, this one, although a stand alone character, is quite enjoyable. "Tres Navarre has just hours of apprenticeship time to serve before he can go for his P.I. license" good car book. Love the voice of Tom Stechschulte.
i chose this one only for the "READER" loved the voice in a previous book on tape.
1/2 through, this one, although a stand alone character, is quite enjoyable. "Tres Navarre has just hours of apprenticeship time to serve before he can go for his P.I. license" good car book. Love the voice of Tom Stechschulte.
Rick Riordan is a great writer. I really enjoyed his books for children. His books for adults have sexual content and profanity, which I do not enjoy. I wouldn't recommend Rick Riordan books if you prefer clean literature. If it doesn't bother you, then I think you'll enjoy his books.
Jul 19, 2012
Scott
added it
I really liked the first book in this series and the one about Austin so I expect i'll like this one too. Riordan lives in San Antonio and sets this series in San Antonio and Austin. While better known for his children books this adult series is also quite good and fun
While I love Tres Navarre and his cat Robert Johnson, this book dragged a bit for me. I guess the country music business of Texas just doesn't interest me that much. Regardless, the writing is good and the snark is snarky so I'll keep reading about the trials and tribulations of Tres.
Navarre is oddly appealing. Enough that I still will continue in the series. Just remember folks, this is not Percy Jackson. Nor was it written for a YA audience. So don't try to make it fit or you will be disappointed.
This is Rick Riordan's second detective story, and it's as lively as the first. I like his protagonist and the pace (tho it's probably not realistic, but this is fiction after all).
I read this quite a few years ago and don't remember details, just wrote that it was "a very good Tres Navarre story".
Better known for his teen-oriented Percy Jackson series (which are excellent), Riordan's private-eye wannabe, Tres Navarre, is an affable Texan w/some non-traditionally Texan characteristics which serve him well in the sticky, seedy underbelly of the southwest. The Widower's Two-Step follows Tres' awkward journey into the wild TexMex blend of country music and organized crime. Riordan's strength is giving our hero enough character flaws to make him likable while dangling him on the edge of enoug...more
Not bad. Pretty funny writing at times. Good mystery and good characters.
Quick light mystery read. Liked the Texas setting and flair.
SM
I read this book for a new book club I just joined. I found the story intriging with a twist of comedy. If you like light hearted mysteries, then this is the book for you.
Audio Book:
Tom Stechshulte narrator. Not my favorite narrator, but he does a good job.
The book is interesting and a pleasant way to pass the time, but nothing overly special.
Tom Stechshulte narrator. Not my favorite narrator, but he does a good job.
The book is interesting and a pleasant way to pass the time, but nothing overly special.
This is a Sam Sade"ish" mystery, by the author who wrote the Percy Jackson and the Olympian Series (The Lightening Thief). He has written a series of books for adults that are mysteries. They have a Private Eye in them named Tres Navarro, and they take place mostly in Southern Texas. they are fun, however this one had a lot of characters in it and I had a hard time keeping track, but...I loved the end!
I didn't like this book as well as the first Tres Navarre one. I was able to figure out the mystery way too soon in the story and even suspected the twist at the end. Darn it! I really like the character of Tres though, and hope the mysteries in the rest of the book in the series aren't as easy to figure out.
A pretty quick and easy read once I had a bit of free time to devote to it. I don't think Riordan is a great mystery writer, but his stories are entertaining enough and I love all the references to places in San Antonio. His descriptions of the city are spot on.
I had a bit of trouble getting into this one. After 3/4 of the book, it finally caught me. I don't think I enjoyed the characters or the mystery quite as much as the book before this. I adore Rick Riordan's humor very much in everything he writes.
May 06, 2008
Mark
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of Robert Crais' Elvis Cole mysteries and Parker's Spenser novels
Shelves:
mystery-thriller
This is a fun mystery in the same vein as Elvis Cole or Spenser. Granted, Tres Navarre is not in the same league as Cole or Spenser, and the plot twists are a little too convoluted for my tastes, but all-in-all a fun way to spend a weekend.
The book started out really slow, and I almost stopped reading it, but I made myself finish it. It did get a little better at the end, but not a book I would recommend. A very weak who-done-it story.
The story left me flat and the flow from scene to scene seem choppy instead of tightly written. I didn't care for any of the characters.
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Born: June 5, 1964
Place of Birth: San Antonio, TX
Education: Attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio. Worked as an editor for the school newspaper and won third place in state for UIL feature writing. Also got in trouble for publishing an underground newspaper that made fun of the school, especially the losing football team. (The football team later egged my car). Began college at North T...more
More about Rick Riordan...
Place of Birth: San Antonio, TX
Education: Attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio. Worked as an editor for the school newspaper and won third place in state for UIL feature writing. Also got in trouble for publishing an underground newspaper that made fun of the school, especially the losing football team. (The football team later egged my car). Began college at North T...more
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May 13, 2012 11:32pm