The Second Murderer by Denise Mina

January 31, 2025

The Second Murderer by Denise Mina

While ruminating on a recent case that seems too neat, private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by a nasty millionaire to find (or maybe not find) his missing daughter.

So 1930s! So noir! So fun! This has all the hallmarks of traditional noir: a hard boiled detective who lives by his own code of honor, perpetually short of cash and down on his luck, a job he knows he shouldn't take, women that he should walk away from (or better yet, run), the gritty underbelly of the big city, plenty of wisecracks and slang. But most notably, without the misogyny found in noir mysteries of the Golden Age, probably because the author is female. Who doesn't love a good noir story? Even Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: the Next Generation fantasized about being a noir private eye. Scott Brick narrates the audiobook - I could listen to him read the phone book. Recommended for fans of noir mysteries.

The noir detective at his gritty best

To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas

September 5, 2023

To Kingdom Come by Will Thomas

Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn are back for another adventure. After a radical Irish group bombs Scotland Yard and threatens to destroy half of London, Barker and Llewelyn agree to assist by posing as bombmakers and infiltrating the group.

Historical mystery, the second book in the Barker and Llewelyn series. Lots of colorul characters, including some from the first book:  Mac, Barker's Jewish butler; Llewelyn's Jewish friends Israel and Ira; and Harm the Pekinese. Set during the last decades of the 19th century, incorporating history with fiction. Recommended to readers of historical fiction.

Late Victorian London

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

January 8, 2020

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

Fifteen years ago, Sarah Cook disappeared on the same night that her parents were brutally murdered.  Her boyfriend at the time was quickly arrested and convicted of the crime, and has been on Death Row ever since.  Now a date has been set for his execution.  His sister, convinced of his innocence, wants to make one last attempt to find Sarah, believing that she holds the answers to what happened on that long ago night.  Believing she has seen Sarah in the area, she hires private investigator Roxane Weary to try to locate the woman that she is sure is the missing Sarah.  Roxane takes on the case, needing the money, but already pretty convinced that the police got the right guy, although she soon realizes that there is more to the story.  But Roxane has troubles of her own, dealing with her father’s death in the only way she knows how, by looking at the world through the bottom of a whiskey bottle.

This is quite a decent thriller with a number of plot turns and a flawed detective who lives a messy life.  Roxane herself fits the mold of the noir detective nicely:  she’s always broke, so she takes on cases that she knows she shouldn’t; she has a cool old car; she is attracted to lovers that she knows she should stay the hell away from; she drinks way too much; she hides from her feelings, refusing to deal with the emotional issues looming in her life; she doesn’t take care of herself; she gets stopped by the police frequently since she skitters on the edge of the law in her work.  It’s fast-paced, a quick read, and will keep you turning the pages.