There are lots of humorous snappy-patter detective/noir books out there, and most of them have their good moments. But, consistency is elusive. It's hard to put together a good plot, interesting characters, and a steady stream of clever dialogue. To me, this book succeeds on all scores.
The humor here is jokey, bordering on parody. But, for every obvious joke there were a few really clever or sly observations, and every now and then there was a particularly engaging bit of dialogue or narrative. The writing can switch from lite to a bit edgy and then back to lite again in a wink, which keeps it from just being just the same one-note joke over and over.
To be fair, the book starts out a bit slowly and doesn't necessarily feel very promising. But, once the opening is set and the characters are introduced in the first few pages it gets up to speed nicely and maintains its momentum as it carries the reader along on a cheerfully antic wave.
The story has its bizarro elements. Our hero is dating Santa Claus's daughter. Alien space technology is involved. But that stuff just spices up the tale; the story doesn't turn on those elements and the book isn't pumped up with just antic silliness, which can be wearing. Rather, the book is mostly carried by the dry running narrative of the hero, who can be rueful, manic, snarky, resigned, confused, or just fed up. It helps that our p.i. hero, Nick Flebber, is an engaging and generally good-humored companion who holds our interest and sympathy.
So, a pleasant and entertaining find featuring some snappy writing and clever humor. Very nice. (Please note that I found this book while browsing kindleunlimited freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
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