Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Kitty Please - WONDERFUL, 11 Mar 2008
Every so often a book comes along and just sweeps you away; which is exactly what Richards' homage to private eye fiction of the 1930's did for me. This is a huge departure from her Madeline Carter contemporary thrillers; not only with the setting, but also in terms of style and pace. It features Katherine `Kitty' Pangborn who works as a secretary for boozy and troubled Private Eye Dexter `Dex' Theroux in depression hit Los Angeles; just after Wall Street crashed around them. The collapse of the stock-market claimed her wealthy industrialist father, a man who gave her financial security but not the emotional support she needed. Kitty suddenly finds herself losing the sheltered and privileged lifestyle she once enjoyed. She is haunted by her father's suicide, never knowing her mother; she tries to pick up the pieces in her world now tumbled upside-down. Despite being nearly destitute, she is resourceful and strong in spirit and those traits are exactly what Dex needs in his life. The troubled P.I. is a former veteran of WW I, who looks at the world through the ridges of a whisky tumbler. Hints are made about why he drinks so much, but I am sure more will be revealed in further adventures; because this novel screams `series', such is the gentle intensity of the narrative. Taking the familiar conventions that shaped the work of Chandler, Hammett and the like; Richards reshapes them from their genre-mould, creating a fresh outlook on the era we term the `golden age'.
So when a shapely woman named Rita Hepplewaite comes knocking at their office, you know right-away that Kitty and Dex are in for some very serious trouble. There are moving insights into how the rich and the ever-growing poor in 1930's L.A. co-exist and of course where there is disparity, there will be crime. As Dex struggles due to his love of the bottle, Kitty acts as his guide through this adventure. Through their mutual friend [the kindly fixer] `Mustard', they find themselves seeking a dead-man, who may not be dead. The trail leads Kitty and Dex to San Francisco where Kitty meets up with her wealthy former friends, and soon, even stranger women appear who are also seeking the missing dead-man. To make matters worse, it seems many of L.A.'s bootleggers and crime-lords are also after the mysterious dead-man who could be the missing Harrison Dempsey; because not only did he have lovers, including the vampish Rita Hepplewaite, but he was also married, as well as heavily in debt to the mob. The trail will snake through the East Coast drinking parlours, diners, shipping liners as well as traversing the roads and tram-system of the city of angels. The writing is well researched, captivating, hard-boiled but with a compassionate eye that makes it impossible to escape the flow of the narrative.
In a day when some books come to my table bloated, over-written and vanilla, it is with sheer delight to read such a sharp and captivating mystery. I felt moved by the descriptions of poverty but also by the sheer pride and resourcefulness in Kitty Pangborn. I have a prediction: Pangborn will become a major character in the genre, because her life [and what we yet do not know about her], makes me thirst for more. At times the book is heartbreaking, at times it's fast and furious and at times perceptive about how people lie and deceive - but at all times it showcases brilliant storytelling. I loved it completely as it is an excellent tale of a bygone age told by an unusual talent featuring an amazing character.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Enter Kitty Pangborn, 7 Aug 2008
Don't judge a book by its cover, cynics might say. But this one, a throwback to vintage pulp fiction, drew me in fast. As a fan of film noir, I already had a taste for hard-boiled crime. Not only is the cover to die for, so is the title - Death Was The Other Woman - and its mordant wit sets the tone perfectly, casting a shadow over the narrative as the reader hunts for the elusive `whodunnit'.
Thankfully, Linda L. Richards has ventured some way beyond superficial pastiche. The period details are sharply-drawn yet unobrusive, and her Depression-era Los Angeles has an unsettling atmosphere of gaudy glamour chased by gloom. What places this book in a league of its own is the leading protagonist, an unforgettable heroine in her own right.
High-born Kitty Pangborn finds herself in reduced circumstances, and takes a lowly job as a secretary to Dexter J. Theroux, a bourbon-slugging detective with a murky past. Far from being merely decorative, Kitty is at once the wide-eyed observer and daring sleuth, trailing hunches when her boss flakes out. Her forays into the underworld are punctuated by pithy one-liners and inventive plotting that packs an emotional punch, taking the reader on a sometimes dangerous, but thrilling journey.
Transforming her Girl Friday from drudge to streetwise Nancy Drew, Richards subverts a formerly male-led genre. She makes Kitty true to her generation, and not a time-traveller from CSI. Dexter, and his associate Mustard, represent the tough guys, exuding worldly charm while never diverting attention from their leading lady. But if Kitty is the detective, what role is left for the obligatory femme fatale? Actually, there are several - the voluptous, fur-coated Rita; golden girl Brucie; and ice queen Lila. Each plays their part as the riddle deepens.
By giving each of these characters a back-story, Richards ensures them a future as well. They linger in the mind long after the tale is over, paving the way for a sequel (Death Was In The Picture, due in 2009.) Richards's characterisation memorable, and her prose is never less than elegant. Deceptively simple, each short chapter builds suspense and is wryly funny and thought-provoking. If the next in the series is half as beguiling, discerning crime readers are in for a treat.
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by Megan Abbott
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