"I'm the only woman in America who has necked with Nero Wolfe. Nightmare, my eye. He has a flair."
I knew who did it from the beginning. Well, I suspected but couldn't quite flesh out the chain of events.
But man, Wolfe does a whole lot more than leave his house this time.
"‘Let me
tell you something, Jesse. My partner is good and he’s going places in
the department. No doubt about that. But right now he’s a baby. He’s
been a detective about as long as you’ve been growing that peach fuzz on
your chin. Me, I’ve been around and that means I’ve been around a lot
of liars. Sometimes I think all I know are liars. And, Jesse, I can
tell. You’re lying to me and nobody lies to me.’"
Compared to the preceding novels in this series, this one was a bit stilted. It wasn't bad mind you, but it seemed to have distracting explanations that didn't really need to be there. Originally published as a serial and fixed up a bit, it was still a little clunky.
Harry rises to the occasion in his new job though, and continues to irritate the FBI. So how bad could it be?
If anybody is interested, the 'Lincoln Lawyer' makes an appearance in this one too.
"There is nothing you can do about the past except keep it there."
This book is a departure for the Harry Bosch series. Bosch shares the spotlight (among other things) with the lawyer, Mickey Haller. (The Lincoln Lawyer)
Mickey Haller is Matthew Mcconaughey. Or would that be the other way around? Sometimes seeing a movie before you read a book can be a real drag.
"Here am I, sweating my brains out to introduce a really sensational
incident into your dull and disreputable little police investigation,
and you refuse to show a single spark of enthusiasm."
A murder mystery with the flavor of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves series, finds a stubborn and unimaginative police Inspector bested by a privileged and entitled peer, Lord Peter Wimsey, in the quest for a solution to the mystery.
Also, much more talk and far less action than modern murder mysteries.
"Cain said he wasn't Abel's keeper. Are those our only choices, keeper or killer?"
I think I can safely say that this novel brings into question the idea of redemption, and just who is and who isn't worthy.
It is a complex and compelling story, though definitely not light reading.
"He knew one day it would come to
this, that the darkness would find her and that she would be used to get
to him. That day was now."
Loss has been a defining feature of Harry Bosh's life. But then, so have persistence and determination, and new beginnings.
"They called South Buffalo the Twenty-Seventh County, or the County for
short, a patch of Ireland in the wilds of America. Blacks need not
apply; strangers, be on your way; and faggot, can you outrun a bullet?
Back in high school, her neighbors the Sheehans hadn’t even let that
poor redheaded kid John Connell come on their porch to pick up their
daughter Moira for the freshman dance. Not because he was Italian or
German or, God forbid, Puerto Rican, not because he was too poor or
addicted to alcohol or sexually suspect or pockmarked by acne. No. It
turned out his family was from the wrong part of Ireland, Abbie’s
friends patiently explained to her afterward."
Excellent first novel by Mr. Talty. However, like Dennis Lehane, (whose Kenzi & Gennaro series I just completed) somewhat dark and brutal.
Once again, not for those with weak constitutions.
"The
sky was not blue, but a silvery white circle above the mountains
dispersed a strong light that became a warm pink at the outer edges. It
was not the sun and not the moon. It was the light."
If you could call a murder mystery calm and sedate, this would be the one - definitely in a different class than Connelly & Lehane. It was a nice change of pace.
Don't get me wrong. It has all the elements that usually make up a murder mystery.
"That means that although what you do doesn't matter to the universe, it should matter one hell of a lot to YOU."
"What matters is what you do."
This small book started out as a blog post and, has some positive thoughts. The author, however, embraces a Randian philosophy.
Sorry. I find Ayn Rand's beliefs to be repugnant and, if carried to their logical conclusions, outright cruel.
"All mourning takes a long time, and you can't rush it along. "
A competent, independent woman forging her way in a man's world, and solving murders: noir, with a twist (and some likeable characters).
"Chambers!"
Family. What can I say?
(I think this qualifies as my shortest review, ever. It's probably my most accurate, too.)
"Women exist in a world of first names in business. Lois, Janet, Mr. Phillips. Mr. Warshawski. That's why I use my initials."
This is the second book in the series. Vic is a bit stubborn, and maybe she should be a little more forthcoming about the progress of her investigations.
It might lower her medical bills.
"Janet Simon said, "You look like John Cassavetes twenty years ago."
"Who do I look like now?"
This is the first time I've encountered someone in fiction who has the same sick sense of humor as myself.
I'm not sure if that is something to recommend.
"I rolled over and closed my eyes and thought about the phone call that hadn't come. I decided he hadn't forgotten and he wasn't drunk. The spinner was dead."
Scudder is just doing a favor for a friend, and once again scaring up a fair amount of trouble.
"But sometimes you have to go the wrong way to find the right way."
A kinder, gentler Harry Bosch emerges as he comes closer to retirement, and he's certainly grown more introspective, but his core beliefs still stand.
"Little more than a day earlier, he believed the investigation was going nowhere, and that he would soon be repacking the archive boxes, and sending Anika Jesperson back to the warehouse of unsolved cases and forgotten victims. But now there was a spark. There were mysteries and irons in the fire. There were questions to be answered, and Bosch was still in the game."
Things have changed a lot for Harry over the years - but not really.
"When she returned to her office she sat for a long time and looked out at the summer twilight. Her window faced east so she couldn't see the sunset itself but she could watch the sun paint the clouds a violet-red against the dark sapphire blue sky,"
Not one to read with dinner (unless you like that sort of thing), which is funny you know, because I view this series itself as a sort of 'palate cleanser' after some of the others.
Yes. These tales of murder, mayhem, and mystery are somehow more uplifting than many others I've read.
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