Fritz Brown, a burned-out ex-LA cop, makes ends meet by doing car repo's. His "private detective agency" is little more than a tax shelter. When a fat and obnoxious golf caddy who carries a surprising amount of cash hires Brown to investigate his beautiful cello-playing sister's relationship with a wealthy Jewish furrier (an apparent sugar daddy), Brown gradually finds himself mucking through family secrets, Mexican pornography, police corruption, and an 11-year-old arson case that was supposedly solved by a respected senior police officer. This is an admirable debut novel by a writer destined for future greatness. The dialogue is a little too clean and clear, but piquant details include the hero's love of classical German composers, an appreciation of LA golf courses, a good solid look at life in Tijuana and Ensenada, and passing references to Philip Marlowe and Ellroy's ongoing obsession, the Black Dahlia. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - Dry-cynical - How difficult to spot villain? - Somewhat obvious Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60% Murder of certain profession? Misc. Murder Plotlets - "All in the family" murder Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? Crime Thriller Yes Crime plotlets: Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes General Crime (including known murderer) Yes Who's the criminal enemy here? - drug dealers - finding a known killer Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: Motive of antagonist - power The antagonists are: - radical right wingers How sensitive is this character? Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - California The Americas (not US): Yes The Americas: - Mexico City? Yes City: - Los Angeles - Dirty, dangerous (like New York) - dangerous Misc setting - fancy mansion Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey references to deaths/dead bodies and torture Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - actual description of sex - descript. of breasts - descript. of other female areas Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets - perforation--swords/knives Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog |