Author: stumberry

Genre: Book

Grade: B+

Notable People: Jon Talton

Title: South Phoenix Rules

Review: This is the seventh in the Phoenix/Arizona based series featuring the detective/history shamus, David Mapstone. Quite an intriguing story and the characters continue to grow and develop. Now ex-sheriff Peraltha continues to be a story in himself. Talton’s a good writer and his stories move really quickly, capturing all kinds of wacked out contemporary themes. These books will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the citification of Phoenix…and Talton (a lifelong Arizonian) is obsessed with what once was…gets a bit pedantic after a while. I’m kind of satisfied to be done with this series pretty soon…there are better “noir” genre writers out there….but I did read it in three days….

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Tony Dunbar

Title: Trick Question

Review: The fourth in Dunbar’s Tubby Dubonnet series is winner. Dunbar’s writing seems to improve with each entry in the series, and the usual suspect- characters are getting sharper and sharper. Tubby is a true everyman and hard not to love. His associates are to die for. Best thing about these books is Dunbar’s obvious infatuation with, and love for, NOLA. You can easily plan your next trip to The Easy by making a map of where Tubby frequents –and especially, eats- in his books….and that would make a great visit. Great short, winter reads.

Genre: Book

Grade: A

Notable People: Steve Hamilton

Title: Die a Stranger

Review: for my money, Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series is the best around these days in the detective/mystery genre. The icy waters of Lake Superior in Michigan’s UP provide the dramatic backdrop for the barn burner tales of the ex-Detroit cop trying to lead a quiet life renting cabins his father built in the boonies in 20 years ago. Hard to imagine one guy getting into this much sturm and drang….but the stories are top notch. McKnight is a powerhouse character and he is surrounded by both extraordinarily portrayed environments and rich cohorts. What a read for the beach in San Diego on a mid-winter’s sojourn. Try this guy out.

Genre: Book

Grade: A-/B+

Notable People: Walter Mosley

Title: John Woman

Review: Mosley is back! The creator of the wonderful Easy Rawlins post war LA Noir series, periodically steps back into free standing novels…and this is a long awaited doozy. Complex, haunting, dark and at times, funny….a sweeping story of a young Black man , raised by a self-taught, share-croppers’ son, bed-ridden mystic and a wild gangster- involved lower east side Italian woman (separately). The tale wanders form the Alphabet –city mean streets of New York to the Arizona desert…and the transformation of young Cornelius Jones in to the Deconstructionist historian working at a cult university in the dessert. Murder, mayhem, dangerous right wing organizations, Zen-like prostitutes….this book is a whirlwind….Not for everyone….very heady and rich in language, Freudian analytic diatribes and metaphors galore. I found it hard going for the first half of the book, but enjoyed the ride once a groove was established with language an complexity. Very unpredictable.

Genre: Book

Grade: A-

Notable People: Tony Dunbar

Title: City of Beads

Review: this it he second in Dunbar’s N’Awlins- centric Tubby Dubonnet mysteries…and as I had previously intimated, the writing improved A LOT from book one to book two. This one is much more Noir-ish and philosophical. Dubonnet is an interesting character- torn daily between being a shyster lawyer and doing the right thing for his family, friends and the city he loves. He has a little bit of early Saul Goodman in him- for Better Call Saul fans. The books are a spectacular visit to the Big Easy, for anyone who has spent considerable time there…..Tony frequents all the classic out of the way places that you would want to go to, if you knew about them. The story is good, the characters are evolving impressively. There’s a lot more of these- so I will keep busy this winter.

Genre: Book

Grade: B+

Notable People: Tony Dunbar

Title: Crooked Man

Review: Got new one! My friend, The Nave, referred this series to me as he knows of my lust for all things N’Awlins. Dunbar has created a classic Big Easy shyster, Tubby Dubonnet (you gotta love that, right)…and he is a pretty interesting character. I cannot really say the first book is all that well written (though I started the second and it seems quite an improvement)….but the characters are appropriately sleazy for the environment, the story is rich….and well…it’s N‘Awlins- and Dunbar clearly loves and portrays his home very, very well. It’s definitely got the vibe of this unforgettable place for anyone who has spent considerable time there…and has a rich look at its filthy history to boot. Definitely going to play this series out.