LA Noir
Joe Ide has resurrected Raymond Chandler’s Philip
Marlowe investigating the seedy underbelly of today’s Los Angeles. He is acute
in noting how the residents of Malibu obstruct the required coastal access
lanes and the fact that the USC campus has failed to uplift its adjacent
neighborhood. Although not mentioned Ide’s Marlowe is likely an African
American with his detective father living in South Central Los Angeles.
His main case involves the fading movie star Kendra
James who seeks his help in finding her wayward teenaged daughter who has fled
after her father is murdered. The daughter accuses Kendra and her paramour of
the murder. His other case involves Ren Stewart who is seeking to recover her
daughter who was kidnapped by her estranged husband now living in LA.
Along the way we meet more than a few sociopaths, an
Armenian gang and Russian mobsters who laundering their ill-gotten gains
through Kendra’s husband’s production company. The writing is fast paced as the
very well-dressed Marlowe cruises in his Mustang on the freeways and side
streets of LA. Ide has written a true LA noir mystery.
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Amazon fixed its glitch the URL is here: LA Noir (amazon.com)
