I am always on the lookout for new authors, and I am pleased to have found Patricia Brooks. I simply could not put this book down. Highly recommended!

Patricia Brooks and her delightful heroine Molly Piper are welcome additions to the mystery fiction genre. Molly is smart, sassy, and 4' 9" tall. She's a former gymnast, a former big-city police officer, and now setting up her own business as a private investigator on rural Grace Island in Puget Sound WA. Molly's idol is Kinsey Milhone (of the Sue Grafton alphabet series) but she's inventive and daring enough to teach Kinsey a thing or two. "Falling From Grace" deals with the appearance of a serial killer on Grace Island. With the island as backdrop, and a carefully wrought cast of characters to assist her, Molly Piper snoops, sleuths, and brings all to a surprising and satisfactory conclusion. Don't be put off by the cover (a speeding tractor trailer). This is fine mystery fiction and I hope we see more of Molly and Grace Island soon!

At 4'9", Molly Piper stuns people when she insists she is a private investigator. Most individuals do not take Molly seriously even though Washington State has licensed her as a professional sleuth. Molly has an office on Prince Island just off the coast. She has previously solved a homicide (see FALLING FROM GRACE) and is highly regarded by individuals who populate the valuable island real estate.

Posters anonymously appear throughout the community proclaiming that Edmund Bercain, President of the East Island Chamber of Commerce, is guilty of crimes against the people. The aspiring politician is livid. He hires Molly to uncover the identity of the person behind the smear campaign. However, before she can begin, someone kills her client. The spouse of the deceased retains Molly, but her task is to learn who murdered her husband. As she digs into the victim's life, Molly learns he made many enemies due to his ruthless business methods, several of who had the motive to kill him.

If one word is used to describe BUT FOR THE GRACE, grim would be the choice. The island weather is dark and damp. The heroine is alienated from her lover and her best friend. The murder suspects are more pitiful than feared. In spite of all that gloom, the story line contains a cleverly designed who-done-it with a shocking climax that will grab reader empathy. The characters seem like genuine individuals who enjoy being islanders so that they can avoid mainstream American life (whatever that is). Fans who enjoy unabashed realism will fully relish Patricia Brook's dark but compelling drama.

Harriet Klausner

I read this book from cover to cover last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. I will also add that I am already familiar with most of the information covered in this book and I still enjoyed it. I gravehunt for a hobby which is basically as good as saying I've never seen a cemetery I didn't like. Heck, I even waste entire vacations hopping from one cemetery to another. That having been said, here is the scoop on this book.
This is not a guide for gravehunters per se. It does not provide precise instructions as to where all identified personalities are buried. It also does not contain comprehensive listings of all permanent residents of interest buried in the cemeteries included.
What this book does do is highlight the best cemeteries in the continental United States. It provides the addresses for these cemeteries, their hours of operation, good information regarding the safety of the areas being visited, and a thumbnail history of each cemetery selected for inclusion. It also may contain a general list of celebrities interred within, as well as mini-biographies of some of the more prominent subjects as well as generalized instructions as to where specific graves are located.
This information included is about 99+% correct. I did find a couple of errors which I believe were obtained from other sources which have been proven false but continue to be perpetuated in other books and/or publications.
As for the overall appearance of the book, the publisher did a fantastic job of presenting an appealing package. The photos are very clear and the general layout of the book is not only user friendly but very attractive. Amazingly, this book is very clean in the sense that it was well-written and well-edited. I've seen a lot of really badly done books in the past 5 years or so. THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT ONE OF THEM.
Now for the big question......why buy this book? It is a lot of fun. There have been a lot of books published in recent years covering this subject (i.e., cemeteries). Some are very specific in terms of geographic location, the type of person buried within (movie stars, politicians, historical figures, etc). This book takes those elements and basically is a compilation of the very best of the best. It cuts through a lot of garbage and gives you the ones that tourists will like the best. Whether you want to visit a large number of the cemeteries included or visit a couple of them, this book will provide you with enough information to base your decision on. It is also a neat read.

Visiting cemeteries is not only a lot of fun, but it is cheap entertainment when visiting a large city. Autor Patricia Brooks has divided the book into regions of the country and provided both pictures and interesting tidbits of the famous and infamous who are buried around the country. More photos in the book would have been desirable, but then the amount of text would have had to have been reduced. Following the information as to who is buried in each of the visited cemeteries, the address, visiting hours, and telephone number is provided for those who plan on a closer look of their own. Many interesting individuals had to be omitted due to the number of people buried in places such as New York and California. However, the book may be on an off-beat subject, but it is, nevertheless, an interesting book on an interesting subject. If you enjoy prowling through cemeteries looking for the graves of notables this book will not disappoint you.

Patricia Brooks brings to her role as food critic for "The New York Times" a sure palate, fluid style and voice of decorous authority. But she often garnishes her reviews with a wry and piquant humor and -- when some meal or dish fails to meet expectation -- can readily throw the pepper and spice.
It hardly surprises then that the author brings the same sure style, wry humor and zestful approach to what some might regard as a ghoulish undertaking -- cemetery reviews. Making us first aware that -- much more than mere resting places -- they additionally serve as tourist attractions,parks,places to picnic,sit,read,meditate and even in my case,jog -- she guides us not only through final resting places but through American history, culture and sociology.
It fascinated me to find that pugilistic hero of my Irish youth,Gene Tunney went down for the 'eternal count'in Greenwich -- not far from my own CT 'corner';that the full 40 inches of Tom Thumb lie beneath a "40-foot-high white marble tribute" in Bridgeport;that John Ford -- director of classic westerns like 'Stagecoach' that even in rainy Dublin caused me try to swagger like John Wayne on some cactus-dotted plain -- lies beneath the "grassy land and rolling hills" of a cemetery in Culver City and finally, that the headstone of James Dean, whose appeal -- since all the girls had already fallen for him -- made me feel so inadequate as a teen,is still covered with lipstick kisses, though he would be over 70 were he still alive.
Pat Brooks has presented us with a thoroughly researched, beautifully written, rich-textured and fully-flavored book that everyone should savor.

This book was fine for touring around Boston. It was very informative. As far as the rest of New England, there must be something better. We found ourselves in the middle of some great towns with nothing more than a couple of sentences, if that, about the area. After getting out of the car and exploring, we found many interesting sites and attractions. If we made our decisions based completely on the book we would have passed up many interesting stops. Next time we travel in New England, we will buy a different book.

Once you buy your first DK Guide, you will seek them out anytime you are getting ready for a trip. My husband and I had not traveled to Massachusetts or Rhode Island previously and used the guide for much of our trip. We found it extremely helpful for the Boston Area-for the sites to see and the handy map of the "T", which is their subway system. I also recommend purchasing the compact fold-out DK street maps of Boston, that can be purchased separately at most book stores. We used the guide throughout our stay in Plymouth, our day trips to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Rhode Island. As always, I love the full color pictures and descriptions of the sites. We felt that we were able to make informed decisions about the places to visit that would interest us the most. Also helpful is the Survival Section in the back that gives you much of the information that you need to know when traveling to a new area. We used the guide also for restaurant recommendations, while out driving, and were not disappointed with any of the stops we made. I plan to use the guide the next time we go back and would highly recommend it to those thinking about a trip to this beautiful area of the country.

I live in New England and this is one of my favorite books on this region of the country. DK has always published quality books in their Eyewitness Travel Guides. They seem to have done an even better job with the crafting of this book. The colorful layout of this book with maps, illustrations, photographs and text really captures the spirit of New England past and present. This is a very dear and heartening book because it genuinely captures a sense of the people and the land. I think it is also very informative, not only from a historical perspective, but as a point of reference for sightseeing, travel and enjoyment.

I recently bought this book for myself on-line. I had not seen the book in real life but I was not disappointed. The photographs are stunning. They are all black and white and bring an erie reality to how I pictured a lot of the places shown. I have been reading a lot of Native American history and it is nice to have photos of a lot of the places I have read about. The narratives are well written, although a little general in nature. Overall - a good coffee-table type book.

Appears to be simply a compilation from other books - and unfortunately not very useful at that. A total waste of money.

You work with Windows 2000 both the server and professional in your job and you need to be able to configure, administrate and troubleshoot. You are looking for study material for those exams in one place and the material must have hands-on labs. Where do you go to get this, well Prentice Hall may have your answer in the book and lab manual set.

While the book is not specifically written for any either the 70-210 or 70-215 exams, it does give you information and material on both. It also has material for the 70-26 and 70-215 exams as well.

The book starts off with the overview of Windows, from 3.X to 2000 Advanced Server. From there you are installing, customizing, managing and administrating both the Professional and server. File Sharing, Group policy, data storage, disaster recovery, troubleshooting and security round out the text.

Written with great detail, I found the manual to be easy to follow and understand. I also found the step by step exercises in the book to be very helpful as well. One thing I really liked was that both review and test questions are included in each chapter.

The lab manual has over 35 labs, as with other books in this series, I again think this should be incorporated into the manual. The labs are both excellent tools for learning as well as helpful for every day network involvement. There is also a cd included with practice questions for both the 210 and 215 exams and overall this is a good study tool in the self study arena or in the classroom environment.