Big Red Tequila (Chapters 34-51)

Did I mention testosterone in the last entry?  As much as I’m enjoying the action, the boldness of the good guy(s) and the butt-kicking in this story, I have to admit that the testosterone levels seem to be leaving the logic and the realism behind, in some instances.  Tres can be given a pass, just maybe, for bending the rules … no, breaking the law … in his quest for justice due to his emotional melt-down.  We’re not really excusing him, but if he’s that fragile, we understand.  But what about Maia?  She started out by trying to talk sense into him, trying to get him to leave town and let things cool down while The Law looks into things.  But when the two of them go to “visit” Guy White, the alleged mob boss of San Antonio, they illegally force their way in to his home and she is the first one to start blasting away, apparently in total disregard not only for the law, but with a seeming willingness to throw away a highly successful career as an attorney and probably face some serious jail time.  Totally out of character, and quite unprovoked. 

Several factors help make up for this infraction of artistic license.  The characterizations of minor players, for instance; here’s more on the rather oversized Larry Drapiewski:  “Drapiewski’s red jeep seemed right at home in the Hill Country.  So did Larry.  Off-duty he was wearing boot-cut Levi’s and black leather Justins that must’ve been made from an entire alligator, a red shirt that made his hair and his freckles seem a little less neon by comparison.  Howdy Doody on steroids.”  And another minor player:  “Drapiewski’s friend with the Blanco County Sheriff’s Department had the unfortunate name of Deputy Chief Grubb.  We met Grubb outside the Dairy Queen, a place he had obviously frequented over the years.  His white hair had a slightly greasy tinge to it, and his upper body, once that of a football player, had swollen up over his belt buckle until it bore an uncanny resemblance to a Dilly Bar.”  Lovely. 

Tres finally works out a clue, in the form of out-of-place notes jotted on a sheet of paper among his father’s old investigation documents; “Sabinal.  Get whiskey.  Fix fence.  Clean fireplace.”  This leads him to the old family farmstead, run by the caretaker, Harold:  “Harold looked like he and the cows had been partying pretty hard the night before.  His shirt was buttoned wrong so his collar stuck up on the right side.  His jeans were half tucked into his boots.  At one point his third-grade teacher had probably told him: ‘You make that face at me and one day it’ll stick that way.’  She’d been right.  Harold always looked like he was trying his best to look ugly.” 

A big part of the fun of this series for those of us who live in the San Antonio/Austin area is the setting.  Much of the action takes place in the better known areas of these cities, from the La Villita, where Lillian and Karnau’s art shop is, to the Hilton Palacio del Rio, where Karnau meets his end, to the Congress Street bridge in Austin where the tourists go to watch the bats come out at dusk, to the Riverwalk itself, with a very colorful description of a typical tourist season evening.  It’s a treat to be able to visualize the setting as it really exists as the action takes place.

 

The reader continues to get the sense that the plot has been very meticulously mapped out, and that each of the rather short chapters has a perfectly good reason for being placed precisely where it is in the sequence.  With sixty-six chapters in all, one imagines sixty-six sheets of paper tacked up on the wall of Mr. Riordan’s study, or wherever it is that he writes.  I would not usually be interested, but in this case, I wouldn’t mind seeing those notes for myself!






Next week: Conclusion

December’s book of the month; “Shakespeare’s Christmas,” by Charlaine Harris.  If you are familiar with the Sookie Stackhouse (“True Blood”) novels, you know how great the writing is.  This series is a little more “hard-core mystery”, without the supernatural twists of Harris’ other books, but still a lot of fun!  Merry Christmas!

 

"Fresher, more unusual, than any other mystery I've read lately."
--The Washington Post Book World

"This one works on every level. The writing and plotting are first-rate."
--The Washington Times

"A seamless story... In her Lily Bard novels, Charlaine Harris blends a noirish atmosphere with a traditional mystery."
--Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel