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New Orleans in the 1930ıs is probably the best possible setting for noirish fiction: corruption in both city and state government, drug running, the complex racial make-up of the city, and crime almost everywhere. Skinner has mined this rich field before; this is the second book in his series about mixed race nightclub owner Wesley Farrell. Farrell is fair-skinned, and he passes for white, which causes him no small amount of inner turmoil. After all, in Louisiana in those days (these days, possibly) even the smallest amount of African genetic make-up branded people as African-American. The book is full of mixed race characters who have no choice about whether or not they can pass; this only adds to Farrellıs ethical dilemma. The plot is very complex for a short novel. Ernie LeDoux is released from Angola prison after serving seven years for armed robbery; he is returning to New Orleans to find his carefully hidden share of the loot from the robbery: $75,000. Archie Badeaux, a cocaine snorting sociopath who works for wheelchair bound criminal leader Jonathan Lincoln, also wants the money. Carol Donovan, a beautiful temptress with a body that wonıt quit, comes to Farrell for help; Badeaux and Lincoln are pressuring her to sell them her nightclub. Farrell is attracted to Carol, and by agreeing to help her, finds himself enmeshed in the a tangled web of lies, blackmail, sex and murder. Skinner is a fine writer, and his depictions of New Orleans in the 30ıs create an atmosphere reminiscent of the finest work of Chandler, Hammett, and James M. Cain. One can almost smell the smoke in the clubs, taste the whiskey, and hear the jazz. He has an excellent sense of pacing which keeps the reader turning the page to see what happens next. The only flaw in this excellent work lies in the timingas Skinner shifts from perspectives, sometimes the narrative shifts back and forth from the current day to the previous night, but this is really just reviewer crankiness; and something that his editor should have caught and corrected.
Reviewed by Greg Herren, November 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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