I was saddened to read of the death of Edward Wright in the latest PWA newletter. I enjoyed Wright's books, and I'm glad I was able to congratulate him when he won the Shamus award. This review originally appeared on April 21, 2007. My reviews of three of Wright's other novels can be found here, here, and here.It's L.A. in the late 1940s. At one time John Ray Horn starred in B westerns. That was before he went to prison for assault. Now he collects debts for Joseph Mad Crow, formerly his faithful Indian sidekick. An old friend calls John Ray about a problem he'd like some help with, but he dies in an apparent suicide before John Ray can really get a handle on things. Naturally John Ray suspects murder (and of course he's right). This leads him to discover, among other things, a box of pornographic photos of young girls, one of whom just happens to be the daughter of Horn's ex-wife. There are real estate scandals, buried secrets, and great post-war period details. David Thompson at Murder by the Book recommended this one to me, and I'm glad he did. I've already bought the sequel. Check it out.
5 comments:
CLEA'S MOON is the only one I've read (in 2004), though I liked it quite a bit.
Jeff
I read all his books and enjoyed every one. Ordered a couple from the UK through Book Depository when they weren't available in the US. When one book later was published in the US, I bought a copy and didn't realize until later that the title had been changed and I had already read the UK book. Just donated that copy to a Friends of the Library sale earlier this week.
Sorry to hear this news. I've read the first two Horn books and they were excellent.
I love all the John Ray Horn books, and wish there had been a whole lot more of them. I discovered them at Jim Huang's bookstore (The Mystery Company, now sadly gone, in Indianapolis), where I discovered a lot of great authors.
Neo-Chandler. Sounds promising.
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