Body Copy: A Novel [Paperback]

Michael Craven (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2009

Introducing Donald Tremaine, P.I.

Once the world's number one surfer, Donald Tremaine quit at the top of his game, moved into a trailer in Malibu, and became a detective. Beautiful women don't ask for his autograph anymore. Now they ask for his help—like the stunning Nina Aldeen, who wants Tremaine to solve the murder of her uncle, advertising mogul Roger Gale, brutally slayed in his L.A. office a year earlier. The police investigation went nowhere. The suspects are many, and the victim had more secrets than anyone ever knew. But the closer Tremaine gets to the truth, the closer he comes to a killer who just might make his most complicated case his last.

A novel that both honors and invigorates the classic private eye novel, Body Copy loudly heralds the arrival—with a bullet—of a major contender on the noir scene.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ad man Craven's first novel introduces an extremely likable detective, Donald Tremaine, a former champion surfer, now a Malibu PI living in a trailer by the beach. Tremaine's willingness to go with the flow and trust his intuition in a crisis proves useful in the cold-case murder of a genius advertising executive he investigates. There appear to be no unexplored leads left until he dives in with his unorthodox tactics. Sometimes Tremaine squeezes more out of witnesses than the police could, sometimes he squeezes policemen, and a lot of the time he simply lays out the available facts and lets his subconscious play with different arrangements until a new pattern appears. Readers may be as baffled as Tremaine at the novel's unexpected plot twists; however, the mystery's solution is neatly set up and emotionally satisfying. Rather than solemn detectives like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe, Tremaine resembles Jim Rockford, a sometimes clumsy, usually canny, always cool dude. (Feb.)
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Review

“Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiassen should be proud, there’s finally a writer to carry on their tradition.” (James Frey, author of Bright Shiny Morning )

“The style is slick....If Harlan Coben doesn’t write fast enough for you, this might ease your drought.” (Kirkus Reviews )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061657166
• ISBN-13: 978-0061657160
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #512,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Body Copy. It's in the details., February 10, 2009

By 

Thomas A. Carver "well red" (Fairway, KS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Body Copy: A Novel (Paperback)

I read this book in 2 sittings. As a huge fan of murder mysteries in general and Robert Parker's "Spenser Series" specifically I found Craven's 1st effort to be right on the money and very promising. Craven's P.I. character, Donald Tremaine, is a likeable loner, well-crafted and brimming with personality and character. Craven hits all the necessary beats of an effective crime novel but his book stands out through his ability pepper the story with a ton of wit while simultaneously weaving in heartfelt emotion and psychological intrigue. I was fully engaged throughout and am craving some more.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Body Copy is GREAT - 2 Surfs Up, February 18, 2009

By 

Alice (Los Angeles, US, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Body Copy: A Novel (Paperback)

I loved this book and could not put it down. I highly recommend it. Whether or not you like mystery/PI novels or not, this is a page turner with cool characters and great settings. I find it hard to believe that this is Craven's freshman effort - it reads like one of the greats. Buy it asap - you will not be disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A laugh out loud page-turner that will keep you guessing, February 15, 2009

By 

Bookeloo "Bookeloo" (Bookville, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body Copy: A Novel (Paperback)

I haven't enjoyed a book this much in ages. LOVED IT! Funny as hell and yet peppered with some genuinely moving insights into human nature. Oh yes, it's also a `whodunit' that draws you into the world of the upscale advertising scene when a titan of the industry is found murdered at his desk. The book follows former surfing champion turned detective, Donald Tremaine, who has been living the laid-back life in a Malibu trailer park. Catching waves and deciphering the Daily Jumble are the hallmarks of his day. That all changes when a good lookin' dame comes a-knockin' on his trailer for some assistance with a murder, and he finds himself pulled back into a life of crime solving. Get ready to ride shotgun with Donald as a fly on the wall on a fun ride through every nook and cranny of L.A., from the privileged world of old-money country clubs to the grittier environments of the city and everything in between. The people that Tremaine meets along the way are a real patchwork quilt of characters, and Craven has a gift for injecting a deep sense of reality into the story -- you feel that you are living it every step of the way. Underneath the humor and gumshoe narrative is a very astute depiction of human nature in all of its nuances. It's a fast ride that you won't want to miss. I read this book in two evenings and did not want it to end. Here's hoping there's a sequel in the works and that Donald Tremaine has many more cases to solve and we all get to go along for the ride.