Book Review: Sayonaraville

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Sayonaraville     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Curt Colbert
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Jake Rossiter and Miss Jenkins # 2

This Colbert's second entry in a very entertaining series set in Seattle in the late 1940's. Part screwball comedy, part private eye, part loving homage to the early days of crime fiction, part word play - I could go on and one listing the features of the book which pleased me.

Jake Rossiter and Miss Jenkins return. Miss Jenkins has recently been promoted by Jake to junior partner, and is anxious to do a good job on her first case - locating the criminal behind the destruction by arson of a store owned by a Japanese American businessman. In the meantime, the insurance agent who works in an office near Rossiter's detective agency has been beheaded in his office, and Jake is hired by his widow to find the killer.

This is a quick, delightful read, filled with the slang of the late 40's and atmospheric trips to strip joints, dark alleys where danger lurks, suspicious cinnamon rolls, an overly amorous client, and the bitter memories of WWII veterans who fought in Europe and the Pacific, learning rather grudgingly to trust again.

Colbert is on a roll here - and I hope it lasts. The book jacket reports he is working on a third entry.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM