The Angels Will Not Care

Unusual - that seems to be the one word everyone can agree on for Straley...this book certainly isn't like anything else I've read. The book is slim and spare, but it doesn't read like a brief indulgence.

I think it's the combination of elements along the spectrum that most stands out for me. It's like a painting where the artist used everything from a palette knife to a very fine brush to apply the paint. Most wouldn't - but in this case it kinda mostly works. For example: the characters range from nuanced and complex to flat-out stock charicature. The humor ranges from sweet and sad to slapstick. Setting: unusual, striking (Alaskan isles) to cartoonish (love-boat like lido decks, etc.)

The mystery itself is completely fresh. I've never show more seen this plot before.

One test of a series novel is whether you'd like to see the characters in action again. Definitely. I probably should have read them in order (Todd's origins, for instance, might be germane to some continuing thematic threads.)

The reason I picked this book up was seeing Straley's name cited 2x in one week...once quoted in a Ken Bruen novel (which I'm still puzzling over) and once in the "favorites" list of someone I admire. show less

This is one of Straley's very good mysteries, which takes place about a whale-watching cruise ship. Lots of creepy goings-on on this floating deathtrap.
I truly enjoyed the whole thing, which is not a depressing as some of his work can be.

I bought this having cruised the Inside Passage and thought the idea of a PI on a cruise ship in Alaska sounded interesting. Had I not been interested in the locale I probably wouldn't have bothered finishing the book.