Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

In the days following the disappearance of both Sherlock Homes and Professor James Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, a new criminal mastermind has come on the scene. Clarence Devereux, a crime boss from America has decided to take over Moriarty’s criminal empire, filling the void. On his trail is a senior Pinkerton investigator by the name of Frederick Chase who joins forces with a Scotland Yard detective named Athelney Jones.

Interestingly, Jones appeared in the Holmes story, The Sign of the Four, but felt he came off in a bad light. Consequently, he has devoted the last several years of his professional life to studying the methods and techniques of Sherlock, himself, and so he now is quite good at the deductive reasoning approach.

This was a wonderful detective yarn, filled with great characters, a Sherlockian-style London atmosphere, and an evil menacing plot. It was like reading a Sherlock Holmes story even though Holmes wasn't in it. Our two protagonists, Jones and Chase fill the roles of Holmes and Watson admirably although neither quite meets the mold of their role models. There are also a number of other Sherlockian characters and references from Conan Doyles’ stories that show up including from ‘The Speckled Band’ and ‘The Red-Headed League’.

There is a huge twist at the end and even though I’ve read Horowitz before and even though I suspected not all was as it seemed, I was still caught up in a “Holy Cow” moment when it happened. It is important to note that this is an “fair-play” mystery, meaning it doesn’t cheat the reader out of any clues. All is there to be worked out on your own…it’s just that I had it figured wrong.

Yet another wonderful read from one of my top 5 authors of all genres. I’m glad he is so prolific because I want to keep reading his work for many years to come.

Dead Stick (Lucas Hallam #2) by L.J. Washburn

A couple of months ago, I read and thoroughly enjoyed Livia Washburn’s first book in the Lucas Hallam series, Wild Night. I knew I would return to the character and series soon and so I’ve made it a point to do so. There’s something about early Hollywood, the Prohibition era, and detectives that always stirs my soul and it doesn’t hurt when you have a high-quality writer behind the story.

This second novel is, I believe, even better than the first. Lucas, former Texas Ranger and current private detective (in addition to working as a stuntman/extra in western movies) is hired by a studio to determine what is behind some recent sabotage. It seems somebody doesn’t want the latest picture to be complete, perhaps because of the subject matter as evident in its title: “Death to the Kaiser!” The incidents of sabotage have gotten worse and may be aimed at one of the stunt pilots who just happens to be a former WW1 German ace.  But when a young pilot is killed, Lucas knows the stakes are high and the culprit(s) must be brought to justice. 

As in the first novel, this one seamlessly meshes the detective genre with that of a western novel. Lucas is an old cowboy and lives up to the high standards of hard, honest work while standing firm in the face of danger. A side plot surrounds his evolving relationship with his main squeeze, but Lucas gets the distinct feeling that may be headed in the wrong direction.

Looking forward to book number three.

Glorious (Cash McLendon #1) by Jeff Guinn

I’ve been a fan of Jeff Guinn’s non-fiction work ever since I read Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, his informative and exceedingly readable account of the Barrow Gang. When I saw he had written a couple of western fiction tales I wanted to try them so now I have.

If this first one is a true indicator of the rest of the series, I can emphatically say, I will be reading every book in the series, and any other fiction he decides to produce in the future. Jeff Guinn is a knowledgeable guy, a researcher extraordinaire with the nonfiction credits to prove it. It certainly shows up in his fiction as well. While the town of Glorious, Arizona is fictional it bears all the markings of a wannabe silver mining bonanza town. They haven’t struck silver yet, but the handful of town founders have put everything in their hopes and dreams.

The plot features Cash McLendon, a man on the run who makes the journey from St. Louis to Glorious, AZ Territory in 1872, chasing after a girl, a lost love. We’re not sure what he is running from in the opening pages, but we do get a nice flashback sequence later on that thoroughly grounds him in our hearts and minds. When he arrives in Glorious, he meets an oddball bunch of characters, and it is clear he doesn’t belong there. A true fish out of water, Cash has never held a gun or ridden a horse, but he does have that sense of stick-to-itiveness that is characteristic of the people of the West. As the novel unfolds, Cash, as well as us readers, come to love these townspeople and all their foibles. So, when the danger comes in the form of a prosperous power-hungry rancher intent on becoming lord of the territory and all its potential silver deposits, we genuinely fear for the townspeople’s futures.

I really enjoyed this one. Unlike many of today’s readers, I read a lot of westerns and have experienced the entire range of the genre, from literary masterpieces like Lonesome Dove to the adult westerns like "Longarm" and "Edge", to the latest potboiler yarn by the current house name authors. This one falls somewhere in between. It has some action but leans more toward the slow build-up of suspense rather than full-on six-shooter action. The real draw is the charm of the town of Glorious and its realistic, if sometimes quirky, characters. Actual historical characters make an appearance too, most notably Ike Clanton who plays a major role. Cash McLendon is a wonderful character, a man who learns to know what it is that he really wants from life, working toward it, making mistakes along the way, and still finding ways to take the nobler path even when it conflicts with his own goals.

The end of the novel leaves Cash and everybody else in a precarious situation so I need to procure book two pronto. Greatly looking forward to reading it and the rest of the series.

Black's Beach Shuffle by Corey Lynn Fayman

Rolly Waters is a 39-year-old musician and has been playing guitar in bars, and clubs, etc. for many years now. Up until about five years ago, he lived the rock guitarist life too: booze, drugs, women…a sordid life all around. But a catastrophic event changed all that and now he’s sober. Still playing with his band. He’s good too, but not quite good enough to make the big time and earn enough dough for a quality life.

So, he’s taken up that age-old profession of private investigator. Usually, he’s hired to find lost children/grandchildren, obtain photographic evidence of marital affairs, etc. But now, out of the blue, he’s hired by a new-age dot.com style start-up company who has plans to make loads of money. However, seems they’ve lost (or had stolen) a key piece of hardware without which they’d be sunk even before the launch. Could it be corporate espionage? Revenge? Or something even more sinister?

I really enjoyed this novel. It’s cleverly written, well-plotted, and kept me interested all the way through. The setting of San Diego and, in particular, the infamous Black's Beach, is also well-handled. As a frequent visitor to the region, I recognized many of the city landmarks and I thought the author (a life-long resident) succeeded at what so many crime authors strive for: establishing the setting as a character in and of itself.

 

One thing bugged me somewhat, but not so much as to lessen my enjoyment of the book. The characters’ names are almost all derived from guitar brands or have tie-ins to the music industry. I picked up on this right off the bat when the character of “Fender” was introduced. Then when I met “King Gibson” I was on to the scheme. Now, I’m not particularly knowledgeable about guitars but I found myself looking up every name I came across and sure enough…names like “Marley” or “Simmons”.  Some names combine two brands, like “Curtis Vox”. A foxy lady is named “Alesis” (a music company), “Porter” and “Hayes” are a pair of insurance investigators. Even our main protagonist, Roland “Rolly” Waters” is a conglomeration of two brands. I suppose that’s all fine, but it smacks of being too cute. As I say, it bothered me some because it took me out of the narrative every time I met a new character and had to look up where their name came from.

This is a solid story with a well-thought-out mystery plot. The author’s own background in music really shines through in a realistic way. Other than their names, the characters are well-rounded and interesting, especially Rolly, who struggles to overcome his past choices.

Looking forward to reading the next in the series.