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Ruby Murphy #1
Hex: A Ruby Murphy Mystery
Having drifted through thirty-three years of life, Ruby Murphy has put down roots in a rootless place: Coney Island. A recovering alcoholic who is fanatical in her love for animals and her misanthropic friends, Ruby lives above a furniture store and works at the musty Coney Island Museum. One day, Ruby is on the subway heading into Manhattan when the train stalls between stations. An elegant blond woman with a scarred face strikes up a conversation, and a misunderstanding between the two women leads to an offer Ruby decides she can t refuse. The woman needs her boyfriend followed, and she thinks Ruby is the woman to do it and do it right.
Ruby s life has been flat and painful lately. The Coney Island Museum isn t doing much business, Ruby s live-in boyfriend has moved out, and her best friend Oliver is battling cancer. Ruby agrees to follow the woman s boyfriend, Frank, a man who works at Belmont Racetrack and seems to hang out in odd places with bad company. Ruby soon finds herself pushed headfirst into horse racing s seamy underbelly. This is a dangerous world where nothing is as it appears, and people and horses seem to have limited life spans. When Ruby finds herself staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, she begins to have second thoughts.
Only now it s far too late. "From the Trade Paperback edition.""
Ruby s life has been flat and painful lately. The Coney Island Museum isn t doing much business, Ruby s live-in boyfriend has moved out, and her best friend Oliver is battling cancer. Ruby agrees to follow the woman s boyfriend, Frank, a man who works at Belmont Racetrack and seems to hang out in odd places with bad company. Ruby soon finds herself pushed headfirst into horse racing s seamy underbelly. This is a dangerous world where nothing is as it appears, and people and horses seem to have limited life spans. When Ruby finds herself staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, she begins to have second thoughts.
Only now it s far too late. "From the Trade Paperback edition.""
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First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
Maggie Estep
25 books57 followersMaggie Estep grew up moving throughout the US and France with her nomadic horse trainer parents. She attended the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Co. and received a B.A. in Literature from The State University of New York.
Before publishing her first novel, Maggie worked as a horse groom, a go-go dancer, a dishwasher, a nurse's aide, and a box factory worker. Maggie has published seven books, DIARY OF AN EMOTIONAL IDIOT (Harmony Books 1997, Soft Skull 2003) SOFT MANIACS (Simon and Schuster 1999) LOVE DANCE OF THE MECHANICAL ANIMALS (Three Rivers Press 2003) HEX (Three Rivers Press 2003) GARGANTUAN (Three Rivers Press 2004) FLAMETHROWER (Three Rivers Press 2006) and ALICE FANTASTIC (Akashic Books 2009). HEX, the first book in Maggie's trilogy of crime novels, was chosen by the New York Times as a notable book of 2003.
Maggie has recorded two spoken word CD's, NO MORE MR. NICE GIRL (Nuyo Records 1994) and LOVE IS A DOG FROM HELL (Mercury Records 1997).
She has given readings of her work at cafes, clubs, and colleges throughout the US and Europe and has also performed her work on The Charlie Rose Show, MTV, PBS, and HBO's "Def Poetry Jam". Her writing has appeared in The New York Post, Self Magazine, Village Voice, New York Press, Harpers Bazaar, Spin, and Nerve.com, as well as in dozens of anthologies including but not limited to BROOKLYN NOIR, THE BEST AMERICAN EROTICA, and HARD BOILED BROOKLYN.
She is currently at work on The Angelmakers, a novel about female gangsters in late 19th century New York.
(from MaggieEstep.com 2-4-09)
Estep suffered a heart attack on February 10, 2014 and died from complications of it on February 12, 2014. She was 50. [Wikipedia]
Before publishing her first novel, Maggie worked as a horse groom, a go-go dancer, a dishwasher, a nurse's aide, and a box factory worker. Maggie has published seven books, DIARY OF AN EMOTIONAL IDIOT (Harmony Books 1997, Soft Skull 2003) SOFT MANIACS (Simon and Schuster 1999) LOVE DANCE OF THE MECHANICAL ANIMALS (Three Rivers Press 2003) HEX (Three Rivers Press 2003) GARGANTUAN (Three Rivers Press 2004) FLAMETHROWER (Three Rivers Press 2006) and ALICE FANTASTIC (Akashic Books 2009). HEX, the first book in Maggie's trilogy of crime novels, was chosen by the New York Times as a notable book of 2003.
Maggie has recorded two spoken word CD's, NO MORE MR. NICE GIRL (Nuyo Records 1994) and LOVE IS A DOG FROM HELL (Mercury Records 1997).
She has given readings of her work at cafes, clubs, and colleges throughout the US and Europe and has also performed her work on The Charlie Rose Show, MTV, PBS, and HBO's "Def Poetry Jam". Her writing has appeared in The New York Post, Self Magazine, Village Voice, New York Press, Harpers Bazaar, Spin, and Nerve.com, as well as in dozens of anthologies including but not limited to BROOKLYN NOIR, THE BEST AMERICAN EROTICA, and HARD BOILED BROOKLYN.
She is currently at work on The Angelmakers, a novel about female gangsters in late 19th century New York.
(from MaggieEstep.com 2-4-09)
Estep suffered a heart attack on February 10, 2014 and died from complications of it on February 12, 2014. She was 50. [Wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 9, 2018
I sought this book out because of Sara Gran, author of Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, mentions it in an interview listing five of her favorite books (https://crimereads.com/sara-gran-my-b...) and the writing lessons she learned from them. In this case, Gran notes that she learned you can take mysteries and set them in places you know and love; in the case of Hex, the oddly conjoined worlds of Coney Island, a Queens racetrack and Julliard School of Music.
So anyway, this is good stuff. I realized rather quickly that it wasn't really about the mystery, not very much. It's like one of those lit-fic books that is about a group of people connected to the main character, Ruby, sort of like a Tales of the City, I imagine, with a lot less sex and a lot more mystery. Although there is quite a bit of sex for a mystery book, at least the kind I tend to read, where lone private eyes are, you know, lone. It does lead to one detraction for me--besides the fact that it was included at all--in that all the women love sex, all the men are irresistible, although many of them have various hang-ups, and apparently, no one who has sex is gay.
All of that aside, characterization is interesting. It's all first person point-of-view, largely from Ruby's viewpoint, although every other chapter is from one of her friends or neighbors. Somewhat surprisingly, because sometimes it seems like there's a certain sameness to an author's style, the voices all feel quite different. Estep manages to make most of them feel quite human: troubled, caring, vulnerable, funny.
The writing is solid. The stables, the subway, Coney Island; all feel very real, artfully created for the reader in a few solid sentences. As Gran mentions in her description, "Maggie took the amateur sleuth mystery and put in a world she loved and understood." I can picture the opening scene so clearly, I feel like I'm there:
"I'm eyeing a willowy blond woman's red wallet when the F train stops abruptly, causing two large Russian ladies sitting across from me to loose control of their grocery bags. As the Russian women make loud guttural exclamations, frozen pierogies spill out of one of the bags and all over the mottled floor."
I wasn't so sure about the narrative from Ruby's good friend Oliver at first--what was he, an addict?--but he turned out to be a fascinating, unpredictable character.
"Some days it's so bad I can't move, other days it's the kind of bad where I have to move. I wasn't quite sure which this was gonna be but the sun was streaming in, blending with the bright yellow of the walls, hurting my eyes a little with its brilliance, and though I was nauseated and had pain traveling up and down my body, I threw back the covers, got up, and put on Ol' Dirty Bastard's first record, which I knew was the only thing that would get me moving."
Which reminds me of a small complaint: I didn't care for how his character was dealt with in the end. It felt more plot-convenient than realism convenient, and everything until then had felt quirky-but-possible, but that just seemed highly improbable.
I'm wandering all over, aren't I? It's much like this book, really; there's a plot, certainly, but the reader has to be okay watching it wander, or waiting as pieces slowly come together, with occasional sidetracking. It's kind of like going to ride your favorite roller coaster at an amusement park, in fact: you may have an ultimate goal, but half the point is the walk getting there.
Three and a half tokens, rounding up
So anyway, this is good stuff. I realized rather quickly that it wasn't really about the mystery, not very much. It's like one of those lit-fic books that is about a group of people connected to the main character, Ruby, sort of like a Tales of the City, I imagine, with a lot less sex and a lot more mystery. Although there is quite a bit of sex for a mystery book, at least the kind I tend to read, where lone private eyes are, you know, lone. It does lead to one detraction for me--besides the fact that it was included at all--in that all the women love sex, all the men are irresistible, although many of them have various hang-ups, and apparently, no one who has sex is gay.
All of that aside, characterization is interesting. It's all first person point-of-view, largely from Ruby's viewpoint, although every other chapter is from one of her friends or neighbors. Somewhat surprisingly, because sometimes it seems like there's a certain sameness to an author's style, the voices all feel quite different. Estep manages to make most of them feel quite human: troubled, caring, vulnerable, funny.
The writing is solid. The stables, the subway, Coney Island; all feel very real, artfully created for the reader in a few solid sentences. As Gran mentions in her description, "Maggie took the amateur sleuth mystery and put in a world she loved and understood." I can picture the opening scene so clearly, I feel like I'm there:
"I'm eyeing a willowy blond woman's red wallet when the F train stops abruptly, causing two large Russian ladies sitting across from me to loose control of their grocery bags. As the Russian women make loud guttural exclamations, frozen pierogies spill out of one of the bags and all over the mottled floor."
I wasn't so sure about the narrative from Ruby's good friend Oliver at first--what was he, an addict?--but he turned out to be a fascinating, unpredictable character.
"Some days it's so bad I can't move, other days it's the kind of bad where I have to move. I wasn't quite sure which this was gonna be but the sun was streaming in, blending with the bright yellow of the walls, hurting my eyes a little with its brilliance, and though I was nauseated and had pain traveling up and down my body, I threw back the covers, got up, and put on Ol' Dirty Bastard's first record, which I knew was the only thing that would get me moving."
Which reminds me of a small complaint: I didn't care for how his character was dealt with in the end. It felt more plot-convenient than realism convenient, and everything until then had felt quirky-but-possible, but that just seemed highly improbable.
I'm wandering all over, aren't I? It's much like this book, really; there's a plot, certainly, but the reader has to be okay watching it wander, or waiting as pieces slowly come together, with occasional sidetracking. It's kind of like going to ride your favorite roller coaster at an amusement park, in fact: you may have an ultimate goal, but half the point is the walk getting there.
Three and a half tokens, rounding up
September 30, 2018
I am sucker for lists, especially lists of books. Facebook knows this about me, no surprise there, since that's where I'm always clicking on the links to check them out. Far too many of them turn out to lead to potential literary treasure, and a recent one led me to this book.
Some of you may remember the author from the hilarious performance of her poem, "I'm an emotional idiot," back in the 1990s. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbcGn...
Anyway, when I saw she'd written a mystery novel, I immediately checked the library: They had it, so now i've read it. It was not your typical murder mystery, but then, I was not expecting it to be, either. The story is told by multiple characters in different chapters, and I am not always a fan of that approach, but it worked pretty well in this case, I'd say.
Another positive note about this book: Many protagonists in murder mysteries do stupid things, and I always want to yell at them, even though they are fictional characters. In this book, I did not need to yell at the protagonist, because her friends in the book did it for her. So that was nice.
Sadly, the author died at age 50 (complications following a heart attack, according to her wikipedia page), but she left us a good handful of books, so I'll be reading my way through the rest of them.
Some of you may remember the author from the hilarious performance of her poem, "I'm an emotional idiot," back in the 1990s. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbcGn...
Anyway, when I saw she'd written a mystery novel, I immediately checked the library: They had it, so now i've read it. It was not your typical murder mystery, but then, I was not expecting it to be, either. The story is told by multiple characters in different chapters, and I am not always a fan of that approach, but it worked pretty well in this case, I'd say.
Another positive note about this book: Many protagonists in murder mysteries do stupid things, and I always want to yell at them, even though they are fictional characters. In this book, I did not need to yell at the protagonist, because her friends in the book did it for her. So that was nice.
Sadly, the author died at age 50 (complications following a heart attack, according to her wikipedia page), but she left us a good handful of books, so I'll be reading my way through the rest of them.
October 7, 2018
This was not a conventional mystery read but it was a fun book and unique compared to much of what I consume.
I’m always down for books where folks get dragged unwittingly into being private eyes. But this one is different. Rather than focus solely on the perspective of the protagonist, each chapter has a different perspective from a different character. Some are more relevant to the plot than others, which can be frustrating but over time, I got used to it and even came to appreciate it.
The mystery is well done here but I’m not sure anyone should read this for the case itself. Rather, if you want a book set in early-00s NYC (still post-9/11 with only one reference thank God) in which characters exist on the fringes of the city (in this case, Coney Island), you’ll enjoy it.
Ruby Murphy makes for a quality protagonist. She’s a recovering alcoholic and aspiring pianist who gets dragged into doing scut work at Belmont with horses (horses feature prominently in this one), a job she winds up loving despite the nefarious circumstances unfolding around her. She’s the kind of character I appreciate: funny but not too sarcastic, aware but not unrealistically prescient, conscious of self yet prone to understandable mistakes. Many writers make their main characters in their own image and if that’s the case here, Maggie Estep did a good job being honest with herself. I cared about Ruby. I rooted for her when things went well and feared for her when they didn’t.
Thanks for the recommendation, Sara Grann. This was not what I expected in the best sense of the phrase.
I’m always down for books where folks get dragged unwittingly into being private eyes. But this one is different. Rather than focus solely on the perspective of the protagonist, each chapter has a different perspective from a different character. Some are more relevant to the plot than others, which can be frustrating but over time, I got used to it and even came to appreciate it.
The mystery is well done here but I’m not sure anyone should read this for the case itself. Rather, if you want a book set in early-00s NYC (still post-9/11 with only one reference thank God) in which characters exist on the fringes of the city (in this case, Coney Island), you’ll enjoy it.
Ruby Murphy makes for a quality protagonist. She’s a recovering alcoholic and aspiring pianist who gets dragged into doing scut work at Belmont with horses (horses feature prominently in this one), a job she winds up loving despite the nefarious circumstances unfolding around her. She’s the kind of character I appreciate: funny but not too sarcastic, aware but not unrealistically prescient, conscious of self yet prone to understandable mistakes. Many writers make their main characters in their own image and if that’s the case here, Maggie Estep did a good job being honest with herself. I cared about Ruby. I rooted for her when things went well and feared for her when they didn’t.
Thanks for the recommendation, Sara Grann. This was not what I expected in the best sense of the phrase.
June 6, 2017
I feel like this book touched me on a cellular level. Being a 'get er done' kind of person, it's a struggle for me to stay in the moment and enjoy the journey. But the rhythm of this book, the pacing of the story, the little side trips of the characters put me in a place where I was so enjoying the trip I let the end happen when it was ready...no rush, no struggle...it just happened. Sigh. My husband asked me a question while I was reading the book, and when I looked up at him I was so present in the moment I was aware of HIM, every line in his face, every emotion he was emitting, the movement of his chest as he spoke.
I normally don't like books with flawed characters because they are often portrayed as if they need to justify themselves...look at ME!....I'm FLAWED!....I STRUGGLE so therefore I AM! But Maggie's characters, although aware of their human weaknesses, didn't make excuses or justify their past actions. They're self-aware, and I mean that in the way I believe all humans need to strive for...without judgment. I'm sure many people will not enjoy this book, but for me it was wonderful.
I normally don't like books with flawed characters because they are often portrayed as if they need to justify themselves...look at ME!....I'm FLAWED!....I STRUGGLE so therefore I AM! But Maggie's characters, although aware of their human weaknesses, didn't make excuses or justify their past actions. They're self-aware, and I mean that in the way I believe all humans need to strive for...without judgment. I'm sure many people will not enjoy this book, but for me it was wonderful.
September 5, 2012
Maggie Estep creates a wonderfully dense story of several out-there characters and the back-street worlds of Coney Island and Belmont Race Track. As with most things Estep, Hex gives a deeply human face to a type of character often sketched in two dimensions. Main character/narrator Ruby's obsessive kindness to and awareness of animals and down-and-out humans brings an unusual depth to the mystery genre, while her stark account of events prevents a lapsing into sentimentality. The novel uses several narrators to provide supporting back-stories, and Estep's sure hand in rendering each voice and story is a pleasure to read.
July 26, 2018
Absolutely terrific horse mystery. The plot clunks a bit roughly three-quarters of the way through, but nonetheless this is a wonderful first novel, and Ms. Esteps's superb characterizations and lively writing style carry Ruby through to a slightly disappointing ending. I enjoyed this enough to order the next in the series.
February 23, 2015
A nice change of pace. While the actual mystery plot was only so so the quirky characters and the interesting locales (Coney Island, the Belmont Racetrack, and the Juilliard Music School) made this well worth reading.
July 20, 2009
Some interesting characters, and I liked that the point of view switched off, but each character kept a clear and individual voice.
October 7, 2018
I was drawn to read Hex because it is set in Coney Island (a place which fascinates me), and I found that this was probably the best aspect of the book for me. It was a great backdrop for the story and it was described well. Ruby became a very admirable character (for me), she’s quite weird and quirky, but I have a lot in common with her; cats, yoga, piano. “She’s a live one all right. Quick-witted but sincere. Pretty but relatively unimpressed with herself”. I felt like her character really came to life in this book. The other characters in the book weren’t necessary brought to life as well. Some were just missing a little bit more development and some just didn't feel right. Oliver was very likeable but the characterization was lacking something and had slightly conflicting elements. The story was intriguing but quite odd and not one that I thought was particularly praiseworthy or had a lot of depth to it. The book had a good ending though and one of the last paragraphs re her letting go of her fears was beautifully written.
May 25, 2018
Likeable main character but then just too many other characters all trying too hard to be quirky. I did not find the horse racing setting to be as well done as it is in the Dick Francis books so all in all this one was reaching to get 2 stars.
October 10, 2018
Quirky and fun.
December 6, 2024
It was interesting. Already knew about the photo. Love makes people crazy!
September 28, 2020
The three stars is really because this was hardly a mystery. This was more a book of characters. All are related or refer back to Ruby but not all have to do with the actual "mystery" (deaths at a racetrack, investigated by Ruby who is not even a detective).
Days later and I'm still thinking about this and have started the next in the series. At times it feels a little dated (written in the early 2000s) with some cliched views on women...but it also nods to classic noir fiction, so...
If you can separate your expectation from reality on this, or, if you you like books about New York, or like horses and racing, this might be a great read! In fact, the characters are really interesting and kept me reading.
Days later and I'm still thinking about this and have started the next in the series. At times it feels a little dated (written in the early 2000s) with some cliched views on women...but it also nods to classic noir fiction, so...
If you can separate your expectation from reality on this, or, if you you like books about New York, or like horses and racing, this might be a great read! In fact, the characters are really interesting and kept me reading.
October 22, 2014
This was my first experience reading a Maggie Estep novel. Compared to other mystery writers I read the story wasn't quite as edge of your seat/thriller with a considerable amount of time dedicated to character development. That being said it didn't seem like the book dragged or anything like that, on the contrary I was able to get through it relatively quickly and enjoyed it. Plus there were a few chapters of edge of your seat suspense towards the end. The story movies between different character's viewpoints and I felt that was done very well. Also as a racing fan I enjoyed the role racing and Belmont Park (a personal home track favorite played) even though as is so often the case some of the racing characters were nefarious.
August 21, 2010
This was different: Thoroughbred horse racing, classical music, yoga and carnies. There's also a mystery here, and a readable one. Maggie Estep mixes things up and has a different narrator for each chapter. But the story doesn't suffer from the jerkiness the technique can add to a novel. (Maybe because the different narrators have strikingly similar voices.) The story: After a chance encounter, Ruby Murphy is hired to follow a woman's boyfriend. To do that, she becomes a hot walker at Belmont Racetrack. She gets more than she bargains for, however. Estep keeps things lively -- and unpredictable. She's written at least two other Ruby Murphy mysteries. They're worth a look-see.
March 10, 2008
I really enjoyed Hex. There wasn't much horse action, but Hex is a beautifully written story with interesting, fun characters. It took me a while to get oriented. Maggie wrote Hex in first person, present tense. Now, I love both; I just wasn't prepared for her to switch viewpoints like she did, and I was skipping the chapter subtitles, so it took me a chapter or two to figure out what she was doing. Once I did, I was fine. The morale: read the chapter titles. :-) A very good read. I'll be looking for all of Maggie's books.
January 31, 2010
I hate horse racing and I hate classical music and Bukowski made it work but Maggie Estep doesn't. The sexcapades in the book aren't bad - she once wrote for nerve.com - but not enough to redeem "Hex", a mystery novel with no mystery. Dick Francis, your place in horse racing mysteries remains unchallenged.
March 29, 2008
I read this book while on a train to and from Chicago, if I had another book to read at that time I would have read it but this sufficed.
June 16, 2011
Personally I think some parts were unneeded and slightly boring, but most of this book was brilliant. Considering this is the author's first attempt at a horse racing mystery, it is excellent.
April 25, 2012
3/14/12 - started
Read
June 18, 2013this did not hold my interest long enough to continue reading it.
Read
March 19, 2018Episode 12:
1. My husband loves hard boiled detective books. Some of his favorites include Richard Stark and Lawrence Block (Scudder). He also enjoys Ken Bruen, James Lee Burke, Ed McBain and Robert B. Parker along with some of the more popular authors. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to the new podcast.
–Susan
Recommended by: Jenn
1. My husband loves hard boiled detective books. Some of his favorites include Richard Stark and Lawrence Block (Scudder). He also enjoys Ken Bruen, James Lee Burke, Ed McBain and Robert B. Parker along with some of the more popular authors. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Looking forward to the new podcast.
–Susan
Recommended by: Jenn
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews