Customer Reviews

Case of a Lone Star

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Kinky Friedman's 2nd detective novel, Case of Lone Star, is better than his first simply because it takes place in the music world, Kinky's other love. Our country singing, cat-owning, cigar smoking part-time detective (with a new espresso machine) once again falls into a string of murders. This time, however, the killer is using the music of Hank Williams to drop his clues.

I'll admit that Kinky's mysteries are a little too pat sometimes. The killers always leave "real" clues (not the kind you have to find, the kind you get in the mail or on the doorstep). But, the detective work is sound and that's still not the best thing about this book...the greatest gift we get here is the feel of the music business and the club life (and the people who inhabit that world). I always think of Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder with a guitar when I read the tales of detective Kinky, and that's a compliment indeed.

It's an easy read, it's a true page-turner, and it's funny as hell. What more you want?

As far as kinky freidman goes, this is not a very good effort. That does not mean it is not a good novel, however. It is tremendously funny, and just a tad sexy. If you are first getting started on kinky, then maybe you should start with another one. This book is only for serious freidman fans only.

I bought this book for my twin brother. He was so happy that I found it and that he can add it to his collection of rare well written mystery novels!

"A Case of Lone Star" is Kinky's second book, and was first published in 1987. As with his other books, Kinky has cast himself as the amateur-PI hero, while some of the other characters have been based on actual friends. As with real-life, the book's Kinky is a cigar-smoking, cat-loving, espresso-guzzling, whiskey-drinking, ex-country and western performer. He shares his loft on Vandam Street with his cat - who he occasionally leaves in charge. Conversations between Kinky and the cat tend to be somewhat one-sided, while the cat consistently refuses to answer the telephone.

Much of the action takes place in the Lone Star Café - a famous New York establishment that's played host to musical legends such as the Blues Brothers, the Rolling Stones and Kinky Friedman. The book opens with Kinky being contacted by Cleve, the manager of the Lone Star. Cleve has a slight problem with Larry Barkin, the frontman of Larry Barkin and the Barkin Brothers. Unfortunately, Larry isn't in any fit state to go on for the second set, having been murdered in his dressing room after the first set. A note that had arrived through the post the previous day - previously discounted as just fan mail - is now being viewed in a different light. It contained the lyrics of an old Hank Williams number that tied up with the scene of the crime. Bill Dick, the club's owner, asks Kinky to help with the club's woes.

Five people had been in Larry's dressing room after the first set. Three of them are known to Kinky : Chet Flippo (an old Texan friend of the Kinkster, who'd recently written a book about Hank Williams), Mike Simmons (an excellent country singer, who is not only partial to the sauce but also to Hank Williams' music) and Ratso (the Watson to Kinky's Sherlock). However, he knows nothing about the other two : a beautiful British photographer - or a lovely limey shutterbug, as Kinky puts it - and a bald cocaine-dispensing lawyer.

"A Case of Lone Star" has much in common with the other books by Kinky I've read. While it's not an entirely serious `whodunnit' it is a fast moving, enjoyable and very easily read book. It's also packed with superbly delivered one-liners - though the humour may not quite appeal to everyone.