As the Publisher's Weekly review describes it, she "uncovers a cast of intriguing characters, all as much Chauncey's victims as they are suspects in his murder, most of them inhabiting a 'poison garden of corruption' and substance abuse where it's not just on Mardi Gras that everyone wears a mask." I could not put it any better.
Skip also happens to be a friend of the victim and his family, and it is that and her family's status in the community that allows her to be a part of the investigation, although she is only a rookie cop.
The setting of New Orleans during Mardi Gras was very interesting. New Orleans is a beautiful city but this book focused on eccentric and rich people and corruption in the government and the police. I always find evil in high places depressing, if realistic.
When I read this book, I found the story, centered on an extremely rich and powerful and dysfunctional family, to be unrealistic and over the top. But just recently I read The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald, published in 1950 and set in coastal southern California. It features another rich family with absolutely no well-adjusted, happy people so maybe those types of families are more common than I think. Or they make better subjects for crime fiction.
Although Skip Langdon is a policewoman, this is not a straightforward police procedural, because she is assigned to work with two detectives who don't really include her in the investigation. She is supposed to be gathering information from the family because she has connections, and reporting back to them. One of the pair totally despises her, the other is sympathetic but still not very supportive. So she basically goes off alone looking for clues and the sleuthing is somewhat haphazard.
Skip is the center of the story, but it is told from the perspective of several characters. I like that method of storytelling although it is not universally popular. Skip has lots of insecurities; she is six feet tall and somewhat overweight and has never fit in with her family. Most of the other characters are extremely eccentric or self-centered.
The ending is unsatisfactory but realistic. I liked this well enough to continue and see what happens to Skip in the next one.
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Publisher: Ivy Books, 1991 (orig. publ. 1990)
Length: 339 pages
Format: Paperback
Series: Skip Langdon, #1
Setting: New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre: Mystery
Source: I purchased this book.
21 comments:
Was the book worthy of the Best Mystery Novel 1991 Edgar Award?
I think I read this one way back in the day. I want to say that I discovered this author in the mid-to-late '90's. I remember liking the books featuring Skip. I just looked and see that there were 9 books in this series, but no new one since 2003. OK, I also can share that apparently the 10th book in the series was just published this last spring. It's called MURDER ON MAGAZINE. I'm glad you mentioned this author, Tracy. Thanks so much for reminding me of her. Curious about the new book. New Orleans has changed a lot in the last decade.
I think Smith does do a good job of evoking New Orleans, Tracy, and I'm glad you found that here. You make an interesting point about how unsatisfying unrealistic aspects of a novel can be. But I'm glad you found things to like about this one.
That is an interesting question, Nancy, and probably one I could not answer for any award winner. Each person has a different idea of what is worthy. Of the novels up for the award that year, I have only read one other of them, and I thought it was better. Who knows? It depends on what you are looking for in a mystery.
Personally, of the books on the short list that year, I thought Reginald Hill's Bones and Silence was a better book.
The last time I was in New Orleans was before I married my husband (in 1979). We stayed in New Orleans both on our way to Birmingham to visit my parents, and on the way back. Both visits were lovely; we concentrated on eating gumbo and going to book stores and just walking around taking photos. I am sure it has changed a lot.
I did like much about this book, Margot. I am always hypercritical when I read books set in the south, having grown up there. But some readers have said that her picture of New Orleans is on the mark.
Rick, I agree with you and that is the one I was alluding to. Two others I have not read -- or heard of -- at all. And Whiskey River is supposed to be very good, but I have not read it. (But I want to of course.)
I remember reading this in paperback not too long after it was published, though with a different cover. It was about the same time I was discovered ing Sue Grafton's A is For Alibi. There was also a female detective in San Francisco by a new writer, but I can't remember her name. I may have bought the 2nd and 3rd in the series, but if so they are boxed.
I remembered the name of the other author I read at the same time: Susan Dunlap, whose first book, Karma featured Jill Smith was published in 1981. I also began reading Marsha Muller at the same time, with Edward of the Iron Shoes.
I have several books by Susan Dunlap, Rick, but have never read any of her books. I will have to find some of them and read them. I am pretty sure I have Karma. I have read Edward of the Iron Shoes by Muller, and have the next few in the series. I should get back to that series too.
Intriguing, Tracy, and taking place in New Orleans also helps with the attraction. I'm a tad backed up right now, but Skip Langdon definitely has my attention!
Hey Tracy -
Good review but I can't say that I like the sound of this one. Glad you enjoyed it. I do enjoy books set in New Orleans and that feel like they are set in New Orleans. I won't know if this one fits the bill or not. Honestly, my bookshelf overfloweth. --Keishon
I read (some of) this series when they were first out, and liked them very much. I really enjoyed the setting, it seemed like a glimpse of a different world when read in the UK! I don't know why I stopped - I still have some of her books on my shelf, I might do a re-read.
We used to visit the US regularly (business trips) and I would pick up piles of American crime books, unavailable in the UK in those pre-amazon days. I would haunt the crime section of Barnes & Noble and try a new author: go back and read the book in the hotel room, then if I liked him or her, re-visit the shop to buy more. That's how I discovered Julie Smith.
I think you would like this one, Mathew. It is witty and you would probably pick up things I missed. I do understand about being backed up, but the books are available on Kindle if you decide to read them.
Me too, Keishon, bookshelves overflowing. I think this book did well with the New Orleans setting, and the author has lived there, maybe still does. But I would not push the book, I don't think it will appeal to everyone. She worked in New Orleans for a year as a journalist, then moved to San Francisco and worked there, then moved back to New Orleans after several years.
I think New Orleans is a different world, Moira. I just watched The Drowning Pool with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward last night and the setting was New Orleans. Of course that is a movie and fiction and 1976, but still, a different place. (The book The Drowning Pool was set on the Southern California coast, I was a bit miffed that they relocated for the adaptation, but it was still good.)
That story of going shopping at US book stores is great. And sounds like lots of fun. I love shopping online but I miss the bookstores we used to have.
Probably not one I'll read myself. TBH Mardi Gras books don't hold a massive appeal for me.
I find Mardi Gras books fun, Col, but the actual event not so much. Much too rowdy. Book stores (in the French Quarter) and eating Cajun or Creole dishes is more my thing. But it has been decades since I have been to New Orleans.
I read some of these books years ago, but lost interest as I thought the writer didn't portray African-American characters realistically or respectfully, so I stopped reading them. I don't think it was intentional, but it wasn't right.
Good to hear from you, Kathy. I hope to read the second book in this series soon, so I will pay more attention to the portrayal of African-American characters in that book.
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