I usually reread the previous Chapter before I start a new one and I noticed something they have in common with the first in this month's selections. They are all centered in different cities and the authors each give you a feel for their locales. Dee's books are based in New York City; Crais' books are from Los Angeles; and Lehane uses Boston as his backdrop. (Kaminsky also uses LA but the book I mentioned actually took place in Chicago). You'll find a new location next.
Series - Off The Shelf
The Neon Rain - James Lee Burke ($4.99/$4.99, copyright 1987, 281 pages, Paperback)
This is the first in Burke's Dave Robicheaux series. He's a recovering alcoholic Lieutenant in the New Orleans police department who's not above bending the rules when he thinks it will help. While out fishing near his house boat, he comes across the dead body of a young black woman and calls in the locals. When he checks in several days later he finds out that no one has done anything so he takes it on himself to find out what happened. Turns out she was a small-time prostitute that got in over her head. He brings in his partner Clete to shake up some people she may have dealt with but that quickly escalates. Things get to the point where he's involved in an assault on a drug lord, gets assaulted by a couple of sadistic goons working for some arms dealers, and is force fed liquor which drives him off the wagon and into some dangerous situations. When his half-brother Jimmy is mistaken for him and shot, Robicheaux pulls himself together and goes after those he believes are responsible including his partner. Burke has a way with words and his characters are all well defined. He also paints a great picture of New Orleans and the surrounding areas although, in my opinion, he does overdo it at times. I enjoyed it.
We're still in the same category and we're still dealing with Detectives but there's a difference here. I remember first coming across these main characters when I was a kid back in the '50's watching the "Million Dollar Movie" on a rainy weekend day with my Dad.
Charlie Chan Carries On - Earl Derr Biggers ($1.25/$1.25, copyright 1930, 217 pages, Paperback)
According to the book's cover, this is the 6th volume in the series. I don't know how the others start, but Charlie does not appear right away in this one. Instead we have an old friend of his - Scotland Yard's Inspector Duff. Duff is called to a murder in a respectable hotel in London. The victim is a member of a Tour Group traveling around the world. It's a large, varied group of well-to-do Americans and Duff wants to hold them but the American Ambassador steps in and he has to let them go. He continues working on the case and turns up some evidence against another of the travelers but when he catches up to the party he finds his suspect has been killed. Two more murders follow before they reach Honolulu and Duff gets to meet up with Charlie. When Duff is shot, Charlie picks up the case and vows to solve it before they reach San Francisco in 6 days. While Chan and Duff are solidly constructed characters some of the travelers are stereotypes - the Chicago gangster, the Ingenue, the Rich Old Lady. Still Biggers does right by them and he keeps the story moving smoothly up until the end where he throws in a red herring before wrapping it up. I enjoyed it.
(Chan was played in the movies by several different white men including Warner Oland and Sydney Toler. To satisfy my curiosity, I've ordered the first book in the series from a Discount site.)
Thank You, Mr. Moto - John P. Marquand ($1.25/$1.25, copyright 1936, 190 pages, Paperback)
Tom Nelson, a jaded American expatriate living in Peking during the mid-'30's, stumbles into a deadly conspiracy as tensions between Japan and China threaten to escalate into all-out war. When a British ex–army officer, Major Best, trafficking in stolen goods is murdered, the beautiful American art dealer Eleanor Joyce is implicated in the crime. The search for the real killer leads Tom and Eleanor straight into the clutches of General Wu Lo Feng, a notorious warlord from the North who has surreptitiously entered Peking as part of a secret plan with global implications. Feng will stop at nothing to silence the American pair. Their only hope for survival is Mr. Moto, a secret agent of the Japanese Government. This is a very short book and Marquand does a good job with most of the characters except, in my opinion, Moto himself. He's not in most of the book and only appears when there seems to be trouble, sort of an Asian Deus Ex Machina. It was OK.
(Again, Moto was played by a white man - the great Peter Lorre. I have no interest in reading any of the other books in this series.)
I have some books lined up for the next Chapter that are totally different from what I've written about recently. I hope they hold up as well as I remember. We'll find out. Until then ….
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