California Girl

Like Parker’s earlier Edgar winner,Silent Joe, California Girl is set in Orange County and brought home even more than the earlier book that Orange County is not Los Angeles.
There are a lot of ways one could describe California Girl. It’s a story about two families, the Beckers and the Vonns, and how they intersect and affect each other’s lives. It’s definitely a story of the changes in America, and specifically Orange County, from the 50s through the 60s and onward. Richard Nixon and Charles Manson make brief appearances, as does Timothy Leary. It’s also the story of three brothers – a clergyman, a journalist, and a cop – trying to love and support each other and be honest men in spite of their own human frailties and the show more compromises they sometimes have to make.
I have a hard time reading Parker’s books. They evoke corruption so well I almost have to hold my nose – even this book, which was not really about corruption, has a character who makes a fortune from a cleaner made of rotten oranges. Parker’s world is not a world I want to visit often. Although his characters enjoy the beauty and good weather of Southern California, they are also surrounded by urban sprawl and commercial ugliness (not to mention some extremely right-wing characters and others who are just generally unpleasant.) In some ways Parker’s books remind me of Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti novels. But although Brunetti goes on beating his head against the wall of bureaucracy and corruption that confronts him at the end of nearly every book, he has the many compensations of Venice to console him. Parker’s Orange County doesn’t seem like a good place to live, but it’s a place we need to know about, and the stories he tells about it are worth hearing. So even though in many ways I didn’t “like” this book, I would highly recommend it. show less

On the surface, California Girl is a well written crime novel. It will particularly appeal to those who have a familiarity with Orange County, California and are interested in a story that captures the atmosphere of the OC of the 1950s and 60s with its orange groves, hippie culture, and drive-in churches. There are cameo appearances by California icons Timothy Leary, Charles Manson, and Richard Nixon. Just the local interest and plot action are enough to make this a worthwhile read, but the author has gone a step further and woven some thoughtful issues throughout the setting and plot.

Telling the truth can be painfully difficult and this becomes a noticeable theme throughout the novel. This seemingly black and white concept becomes show more shades of gray when seen in the context of the story and the lives of the characters who find that they may hurt good people and reward the despicable if they tell the truth. A minor, yet not insignificant theme, is the struggle of growing up in a counter culture such as that of the 1960s. Thoughts and ways of life changed rapidly during this period and created much personal and societal upheaval. I appreciated that Parker never trivialized these themes or turned them into cliches.

This was my first T. Jefferson Parker novel and my experience would lead me to seek out other books by this author. show less

Thanks Ellen! My introduction to T. Jefferson Parker. For someone who thinks he keeps up with such authors, it's a rare treat to find a new "police procedural" series.Parker ranks with Michael Connelly, Scott Turow, and Dick Francis as master craftsmen of the genre novel that actually includes depth of characterization. (I'm leaving off Elmore Leonard here, because while his characters are fascinating, his craft is dialogue and an ear for the absurdity and simplicity of the criminal mind.)

The four Becker boys, Clay, David, Nick and Andy, often found themselves at odds with the Vonn boys and during one particularly violent teenaged rumble the two little Vonn sisters, Janelle and Lynette, joined the fight by throwing rocks at the Beckers. The Vonn family, desperately poor and no stranger to crime, stayed at odds with the Beckers for many years. Now in 1963 the boys are grown: David is a minister, Nick a homicide detective for Orange County, Andy is a newspaper reporter and Clay has been killed in Vietnam. The three remaining Beckers are drawn into the gruesome murder of 19-year-old Janelle Vonn whose decapitated body has been found at the old OrangeBlest packing plant warehouse. Janelle had grown into a beautiful young show more woman and although many in the community, including pastor David, reached out to her to keep her on the right path, Janelle fell into the rising drug culture. Nick, the lead on his very first homicide case, takes her murder personally and vows to bring the killer to justice but the suspects are numerous including drug pushers, underground musicians and even some local political figures. Thirty-six years after Janelle's murder Nick and Andy, now in their 60's, stumble upon new evidence that completely changes the decades-old case.

This is the first book I have read by T. Jefferson Parker and I do believe I have found another author that I truly enjoy. The plot was well developed and I cared about all of the Becker boys. The reader knows at the outset that the older Andy and Nick have found the new evidence and that makes for a particularly good mystery trying to figure out who almost got away with murder. I will definitely read more from T. Jefferson Parker. show less

Well written, some twists. Parker could be great but for now a good solid comfortable read. enjoyable, like Robert Parker's first books

Story of three brothers, policeman, journalist, minister (and the one who would probably have been the Indian Chief is killed off early). Begins in 1954 in California with the brothers' involvement with a doomed young woman. It's one of those stories about the past that is supposed to elicit feelings of nostalgia and regret. But it's a little too gimmicky. The writer is worth another look, but I would not recommend this novel.

A great story of a family who interact with a girls murder in the 1960's in Orange county California. Fiction but very historical.