Summer, 1962. A scorching heat wave is suffocating L.A. PI John Keegan is offered a small fortune to find a beautiful woman from a set of photographs. He refuses; the job seems suspicious.
But the next day the same woman, Eve, turns up, unbidden, on his doorstep. Eve fears for her safety. She is being watched. Before Keegan knows it, someone has been killed with Keegan s own gun, and he gets sucked into a world of suspicion and betrayal where he s never quite sure where the truth lies. Before long he s the prime suspect in a murder he didn't commit, and all the evidence seems to point in his direction.
It's almost like someone planned it that way.
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[IT WAS BARELY dawn when the little dog's yapping put an end to Jim Keegan' restless night of ankle-deep sleep]***
(@Legend_Press, 1 April 2020, 272 pages, ebook, #ARC from @Legend_Press and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 19 April #Legend100)
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I really enjoyed this book. It's got a real gritty noir feel about it which really appealed to me. There are echoes of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and James Cain to be found in the book. Keegan is a great character, well drawn and fleshed out. I really liked the premise: Keegan turns down a job to find a woman in a picture, despite needing work and then by chance (or not), sees the very same woman in his neighbour's garden and finds out she's his neighbour, a B-movie actor who likes the ladies niece. Eve is rather attractive and intrigues him. Queue flirting. Queue Keegan teaching the little lady how to use a gun for self-defence because she's being followed. Queue Eve shooting her Uncle, by sheer accident, of course and poor Keegan being framed for the whole thing. Eve is a femme fatale and quite fascinating. This is a slow burner noir mystery. Buchanan doesn't rush; he takes his time, drip feeding you the book in tiny bites with plenty of scene setting and descriptions. He takes his time to bring 60's LA to life and I felt like I was really there. Apparently this is the first in a series. Bring it on I say!
