Customer Reviews

The Bedroom Bolero (Ed Noon mystery)

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The Bedroom Bolero is one of the earliest Ed Noon mysteries - back when he's still a hard-boiled private eye, and hasn't evolved into a global super-spy or alien-fighter. (Alas, I'm not kidding).

Bolero is probably the best in the long-running series, and, happily, makes an excellent stand-alone mystery.

When a series of horrific murders begins to pick off some of New York's more attractive residents, Ed Noon is called in to track down the 'loony' serial killer. As a result, he's drawn into the seemy underbelly of New York's nightclub scene.

As a warning, Bedroom Bolero comes from a more traditional time, and not written for today's enlightened modern readers. Ed Noon is fairly liberal in his views, but, even then, his views on both race relations and homosexuality can be pretty shocking. Similarly, the early 'Goths' don't come out well at all - one of the foils in Bedroom Bolero is an oddly necromantic nightclub performer (an early Elvira type), and she's hilariously awful.

Those flaws (hopefully they're just seen as ignorant and amusing) aside, the mystery is actually very good. Despite some good clues (in hindsight, dang it!), the killer managed to surprise me. Fans of serial killer mysteries will also find this a quick and enjoyable read.

Noon does some good detective work, and isn't shy about sharing his thought processes with the reader. Plus, as a solid genre novel, there are the typical assortment of wisecracks and curvy young women. Noon isn't the best of the era's detectives, but this undoubtedly his finest hour. -- PORNOKITSCH