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Mr. Good-Evening - (Raincoast Noir) by John MacLachlan Gray (Hardcover)
About this item
Highlights
- The open-and-shut case of the Fatal Flapper just won't stay closed in this thrilling and immersive 1920s-era murder mystery--the third instalment in the Raincoast Noir series.Gray brilliantly returns us to his wonderfully vivid, sinuously imagined Vancouver, this time six months before the Crash.
- Author(s): John MacLachlan Gray
- 320 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Mystery & Detective
- Series Name: Raincoast Noir
Description
About the Book
"Miss Dora Decker doesn't look like the sort of young woman capable of stabbing her employer, a stockbroker Ralph M. Tucker, twenty-five times with her high-heeled shoe; yet, thanks to a slow news day, she has become internationally famous as the Fatal Flapper, and the police are only too happy to make the arrest. Meanwhile, Ed McCurdy, former muckraking journalist, has traded his typewriter for a career reading radio news as Mr. Good-Evening, Canada's first "radio personality." As a celebrity he draws resentment and paranoia from far and near, and he worries that the next murder victim will be himself. Inspector Calvin Hook scours the wet, boozy streets of gritty 1920s Vancouver, piecing together a mystery that somehow connects Al Capone, Winston Churchill and Brother Osiris, the leader of a mystical cult on DeCourcy Island."--Provided by publisher.Book Synopsis
The open-and-shut case of the Fatal Flapper just won't stay closed in this thrilling and immersive 1920s-era murder mystery--the third instalment in the Raincoast Noir series.
Gray brilliantly returns us to his wonderfully vivid, sinuously imagined Vancouver, this time six months before the Crash. Superb. --William Gibson, author of Neuromancer
Miss Dora Decker doesn't look like the sort of young woman capable of stabbing her employer, stockbroker Ralph M. Tucker, twenty-five times with her high-heeled shoe; yet, thanks to a slow news day, she has become internationally famous as the Fatal Flapper, and the police are only too happy to make the arrest.
Meanwhile, Ed McCurdy, former muckraking journalist, has traded his typewriter for a career reading radio news as Mr. Good-Evening, Canada's first "radio personality." As a celebrity he draws resentment and paranoia from far and near, and he worries that the next murder victim will be himself.
Inspector Calvin Hook scours the wet, boozy streets of gritty 1920s Vancouver, piecing together a mystery that somehow connects Al Capone, Winston Churchill and Brother Osiris, the leader of a mystical cult on DeCourcy Island.
Mr. Good-Evening joins The White Angel and Vile Spirits as the third in a trilogy Gray calls Raincoast Noir.
Review Quotes
"Gray's crafty third historical whodunit featuring Calvin Hook (after Vile Spirits) gives the Canadian police inspector his most intricate puzzle yet...Evocative period detail and a solid roster of red herrings enrich the familiar setup. This satisfies." --Publishers Weekly
"Gray brilliantly returns us to his wonderfully vivid, sinuously imagined Vancouver, this time six months before the Crash. Superb." --William Gibson, author of Neuromancer
"A dreadfully funny novel, and a fitting cap to his "Raincoast Noir" trilogy. As with his Victorian thrillers, Gray takes us down the slippery streets of 1920s Vancouver where, at the edge of the British Empire, world history plays itself out in murderous ways." --John Harlan Hughes, author of Dead in Tangier
Praise for Vile Spirits, Book 2 in the Raincoast Noir series:
"enjoyable and propulsive sequel to 2017's The White Angel." --Publishers Weekly
"From its first pages, Vile Spirits pulls the reader along its wry cavalcade of anarchy, des-per-a-tion, intrigue, coincidence, and frenzy through scenes set by a playwright with an eye for staging and an ear for deadpan dialogue. Stifle your temptation to race toward its startling denouement. Read slowly and savor it from the start." --Washington Independent Review of Books
Praise for The White Angel, Book 1 in the Raincoast Noir series...
"This rich fictionalized take on the real-life 1924 murder of Scottish nanny Janet Smith, one of Vancouver's most famous cold cases, is another feather in the cap of MacLachlan Gray (Not Quite Dead).... There's wonderful dark humor, which Gray uses as a weapon against ruling-class political aspirations, clueless cops, and the shameful racism of the time. This is a highly entertaining work of fiction informed by hard truths." ―Publishers Weekly
"It takes a distinct talent to turn factual murder into fiction and playwright (Billy Bishop Goes to War) John MacLachlan Gray has it.... I found it tightly edited without a single extraneous page. One of the best novels of the year." ―The Globe and Mail
"Labor unrest, enormous class disparities, and racial prejudice all figure into this thoughtful and entertaining novel.... Gray's attention to character development yields fascinating protagonists.... The White Angel is a particularly appealing work of historical fiction." ―Foreword Reviews
"Wonderfully evocative mystery set in Vancouver, 1924. Smog, police corruption, and of course the Klu Klux Klan. I'd so love the CBC to do a limited series of this. The setting, historically accurate, would be as wildly unfamiliar as it is weirdly topical." ―William Gibson, from a New York Times interview