Monday, February 20, 2017

Wicked Is the Whiskey (Sean McClanahan) by Tom Purcell

World-famous Pittsburgh resident John Preston jumps off a bridge and dies. PI Sean McClanahan investigates the death while also working in his own bar.
Sean is a nice enough, but tough when necessary kind of guy in the Spenser vein. He's also fond of describing exactly how he makes his sandwiches. The whole story has a kind of breezy vein and it never gets very dark. The prose is easy to read and the characters are fun.
One gripe is that sometimes the progress of the story leans a bit too hard on coincidences and Sean gets away with too much too easily like breaking into cars but also escaping capture. It makes this story fun, but never very thrilling.

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