Curt Colbert

1940s Jake Rossiter stars as a P.I. who takes a bad domestic case because he needs the money. Coincidentally within minutes of each other, both sides of a divorce case hire Rossiter to prevent the other spouse from murdering them. A fun story, but not in a dreadful way.

I have a theory about why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed another entry in in Akashic Books noir series, Delhi Noir. Seattle Noir solid, but it didn’t grab me quite like the earlier anthology.

Theory: I have a lot of biased assumptions about Delhi that made the setting very foreboding. But being Seattle born and raised, I know this place much better and have a much harder time seeing its seedy underbelly. Oh, we have our problems. In its early days, Seattle could hold it’s show more own against any up and coming city. But today this is not a place where crime runs rampant, the cops are on the take, or organized crime takes a cut of everything.

In addition, with a few exceptions, the stories don’t mine the reputations and possibilities of the Seattle neighborhoods in which they’re set. Or they do use genteel areas which limit the crime possibilities to a fairly narrow set. Where’s Lake City, or Aurora, White Center, Rainier Valley? Conversely, a couple of the stories set in places I wouldn’t have expected to be so scary turned out to be quite good at imparting a dark mood. show less

The stories were a mixed bag for me. There is a variety of genres and times, all set in Seattle (duh), and some of the stories just felt forced or cliched. But some were pretty great and overall I'd recommend the book for crime readers looking for something a little light, and for anyone interested in reading about Seattle and learning some of the city's culture and history.

“All Along The Watchtower” relates Matt Rossiter’s efforts to identify the person systematically killing the members of his Viet Nam platoon. The police find a list of the platoon members on the first victim and contact Rossiter, now a Seattle PI, because his name is on the list. The list and some reference to the music of Jimi Hendrix are the only clues Rossiter has to guide the direction of his investigation. The book is named after Jimi Hendrix’s version of the Bob Dylan song of show more the same name.

Readers learn at the outset that Rossiter suffers from PTSD and a sizable portion of the brief 145-page book deals with his flashbacks. During these Rossiter relives the horrors he experienced in Viet Nam. The emphasis on flashbacks kills the feeble forward movement of the plot. It’s rather remarkable that such a short tale comes across as bloated.

The premise sounds interesting, but the book is a boring disappointment. show less