The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel (Michael Chabon)

[****] ISBN: 0007149824

What would it be like if most of the world's Jews were evacuated to Sitka, Alaska during WWII? This mystery novel set in that world paints a vivid picture of the possibilities. But the picture is personal and claustrophobic, centered on the life in that city of one rundown Yiddish police detective and a murder case that imposes itself on his life. In that regard, it is a successful homage to the noir detective novels of the 40s and 50s, such as those of Raymond Chandler.

The prose is rich and laced with Yiddish, most of which a non-Yiddish speaker will have to learn by context. The characters and settings are dynamic and richly described. I can understand how the author managed to win a Pulitzer (for another title). The story itself is somewhat lightweight and laughable, also in the vein of Chandler. It's just something to hang the character and settings on.

I liked the book, but would have liked a bit more story.

The Sword-Edged Blonde (Alex Bledsoe)

[***] ISBN: 1597801127

I would have probably never picked this up if I hadn't read a recommendation for it somewhere and it just happened to coincide with my plan to also write a first-person cross-over mystery. I'm glad I did. It's a fun read. This book tries to answer the question: what would happen if Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe lived in a world of sword and sorcery, rather than 20th century Los Angeles. What happens is that you get a hero with an attitude and a story filled with genre-bending non-sequiturs and humor. It just sort of works. This isn't Tolkien, or even C.S. Lewis, but there is plenty of story and interesting characters for the pages allocated. Recommended for a few hours of light reading.

High Five (Janet Evanovich)

[***] ISBN: 9780312203030

I liked this quite a bit better than the first book in the series, One for the Money. The main character, Stephanie, has finally gotten some brains and manages to actually solve a case. The biggest problem is that the police and Treasury department, with the amount of manpower they had dedicated, should have solved it long before she did.

So, I think I'm done. She's still not that smart, takes too many chances, and is surrounded by too many crazies and coincidences. That may be part of the fun for her regular readers, and it keeps the plots fast paced, but it doesn't completely work for me.

Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction (Patricia Highsmith)

[**] ISBN: 0871160722

I skimmed through this and read a bit of several chapters. Interesting, but not earth-shattering. Mostly it recounts how Ms. Highsmith, the author of Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr. Ripley, approached her writing. It's filled with the typical stuff about twisting any old idea into the plot of a whodunnit by combining it with other ideas and real life incidents and allowing them to ferment. A little bit about mechanics, but not enough to suit me. I suppose if I was more interested in her style of writing, I'd be more interested in how she did it.

One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)

[**] ISBN: 9780312362089

I hope these get better. I got this title from the library because I read an interview with the author in Writer's Digest and liked her approach to writing. It also sounded like I might like her books. I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I stuck with it and read the whole thing through in only six evenings. I was fascinated by this brassy, klutzy character and her predicament. The characters and setting were vivid, the pace was (mostly) unrelenting and the thrills and mysteries kept piling up.

On the other hand, the coincidences kept piling up as well. I didn't like that. Just how likable is this dame that her new acquaintance Ranger would bail her out so many times? Isn't it amazing that her brother in law is a cop that can train her to use a gun? How did she ever survive so long in New Jersey by being so stupid and reckless? Why should anyone like a book where the mystery is solved by someone so stupid just happening to be in the right place at the right time? Hello? Stephanie Plum should have been staking out the butcher shop long before 40 pages from the end of the book.

No doubt Ms. Evanovich has figured this all out and her plots have improved. Otherwise, she wouldn't have the fan base she has. Even some of her loyal readers have made negative comments about how much more raw this first book feels. I will have to try another one on for size. And I'll keep busy figuring out how I would do it better.

The Little Sister (Raymond Chandler)

[**] ISBN: 0375415025

I read this while writing a first-person novel set in the same time period and setting, early 1950s Hollywood. It was a great help for kickstarting that process, and there is some genuinely inspired prose in this book, but I ultimately found the story lacking. The connections between characters and the leads the detective follows were a bit too tenuous. Marlowe's observations of other characters is very penetrating, but he came across as a bit too morose and unmotivated. But that may have been part of the point of the book.

This is not considered one of Chandler's strongest stories by many critics. I can't recommend it, but I liked it enough that I will definitely read some more of his work. I may even pick up a copy of this omnibus volume, in order to have it on hand for future reference.

Until Proven Guilty (J.A. Jance)

[**] ISBN: 9781556864148 (audio)

My overall impression of this book is that I didn't like it. I've decided I really don't like the 'hero' J.P. Beaumont. He's not a very good detective and he shows he's much too passive here. He was too easily seduced by the woman in red and I never really quite believed her character at all. Unfortunately, she turned out to be even more key to the story than I was led to believe.

That being said, the writing is not too bad. The settings are vivid. The supporting characters and plot are interesting. And the overall plot was imaginative and surprising. I just won't be spending any more time with detective Beaumont.

Injustice For All (J.A. Jance)

[***]

On a lark, I picked this up from the $1 rack at Half-Price Books. I liked it. It's not necessarily one of my all-time favorite books. But it is a solid, enjoyable read in the mystery genre. The protagonist, J.P. Beaumont, is your typical hard-boiled police detective, softened up a bit for the Seattle P.D.

I discovered after reading the story that this is the second entry in the series. I knew it wasn't the first, based on references to previous events. In this entry, Beau is recovering at the Rosario Resort from the events of the first book. A dead man shows up on the beach almost on page one. From there the body count mounts and the detective must deal with his healing emotions, his feelings for one of the victims and clues that don't add up.

The writing is good. The characters are fine, though I question some of Beau's morals. And that's where some of the problems arise. I think the plotting that involves his relationships with other characters in the book are a bit hard to take.

All in all, though, a good read.

Deception Pass (Earl Emerson)

[***]

This is the second or third book I've read by Mr. Emerson. He's a good writer. But this book was disappointing. The protagonist, Thomas Black, seemed a bit too goofy. There were a few too many coincidences. And there was not enough taking place at the Deception Pass of the title. I think there's enough here to make me sample this writer again.

California Girl (T. Jefferson Parker)

[***] audio

Since we both attended the University of California at Irvine, I've been wanting to read something by this author for a long time. This had it's faults, which other, better critics have called out (the family relations were a bit contrived and clumsy, and the epic sweep did not sweep me up). But I thought the prose was grand and I loved reading about my old stomping grounds in Orange County, California.