Customer Reviews

Saratoga Haunting: A Charlie Bradshaw Mystery

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Dobyns is amazing. Here he continues a mystery series with a fine novel that is better by far than some "literary" novels getting raves in THE NEW YORK TIMES. I don't understand why he is not better known.

This one was a head-scratcher for me. I like Dobyns's writing a lot: The Church of Dead Girls was an amazing read, Boy in the Water a little less so, but still competently done. Dobyns has a special talent with atmosphere; he can paint a scene or the attitude of a character with just a few simple sentences, and the few shining moments of Saratoga Haunting are when Dobyns treats us to descriptions of aging hotels, the flavor of old town main streets, and forest lakes.

But 'Haunting had me stymied. It feels like it was written over a long weekend. The action and the internal monologues seem to repeat themselves, with only slight variations, sometimes three or four times. I understand the value of this kind of repetition, especially for the kinds of suspenseful build-ups that Dobyns is so good at. But some of these iterations seemed to lack any meaning. Charlie's self-recriminations over a dismal younger self got old after the third time; I wanted to say "we got it...move on, Charlie!" The dialog was also stilted at times and the minor ending (i.e., the caves and reward money) seemed to come out of the blue. The sub-plots coud be distracting at times.

A decent effort, but I plan to read the entire Saratoga series and hope to find Charlie in more cohesive shape than in this one. If you liked Haunting, however, by all means pick up The Church of Dead Girls...a better book by far.

This book is hilarious and wonderful! Why, oh why won't Dobyns be more prolific with this series?

Charlie Bradshaw, a PI, likes a life without interference. His friend Victor does not. Charlie's desire for freedom arises from his twenty years on the police force. A divorced man, Charlie has a friend, Janey Burris. Charlie goes to the police stations to look up the files on an old case of his because a body has been found on the construction site for a new library.

The case had been closed as a missing persons case in the first instance. Reading his old notes, Charlie discerns that he had used a moral grid in working the case. He is tormented by something he calls the ambiguity of experience. Revisiting the old scenes, he is told by someone that shy people have a lot of anger. Investigating the case makes Charlie aware of his younger self. He questions his previous judgments and perceptions.

This book is thoughtful verging on the philosophical. It doesn't have that typical American brassiness. It resembles the novels and stories of Agatha Christie.