One Good Deed
Early in the novel’s introductory prefatory material there’s an allusion to dime detective novels. Wonder, with tap on the side of the nose, if this is the author’s way of tipping a hat, a beat-up Fedroa, at a noir, or early, anyway, pot-boiler detective stories.
She gave him a condescending look. “Really, Mr. Archer, I highly doubt that if cigarettes were really bad for you the companies making them would continue to do so.” Page 37.
Might not catch it totally, but it was amusing. Pastiche, neo-noire?
There were other examples, and there’s always that thin patina of pastiche, albeit colorized with modern sentiments.
Halfway through, I wasn’t sure where it was going, but I kept reading because I was invested and engaged. Mark of a good author, if you ask me.
By three-quarter’s of the way through, I was sure the book hit every hard-boiled trope leftover from the dime-detective novels.
Yes, hit all the marks with the idea of clever words and descriptions that pay homage at the old darkly comic novels with their down-on-their-luck shamus solving mysteries.
One Good Deed
One Good Deed – David Baldacci
Tightly plotted, with more than enough twists to satisfy the discriminating reader. Rather well-done, and one wonders if it is one-off or the start of a new series.