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Firstly let me state that I'm a big fan of Robert Crais and have been waiting ages for this release. Crais has proved himself to be one of the best of today's mystery authors, and he excels in building up nailbiting suspense in this latest book. I mostly enjoyed The Last Detective a lot, as a storyteller Crais gets top marks, but there were some disappointing aspects, possibly as a result of my very high expectations, that might not be so obvious to someone reading him for the first time. This is the 9th Elvis Cole P.I. book, and for most of the series Elvis has been an irrepressible hero with a wisecrack to suit every situation. When his girlfriend Lucy's son Ben is kidnapped, however, this latest case turns personal and the jokes dry up to match the seriousness of the situation. The kidnapper's motive seems to hinge around Elvis' war service in Vietnam, and Crais uses this as a vehicle to explore Elvis' past. As deadlines approach the race to find the boy becomes more desperate, and the situation is not helped at all by the appearance of Lucy's ex, Ben's father. Crais extends the technique of multiple viewpoints and flashbacks that he started with L.A. Requiem, and uses many different viewpoints to tell this story, although only Elvis is first person. This series of quite short sections makes The Last Detective seem overly episodic at times, but mostly works very well in building the suspense. The problem with so many points of view was that some of the characters were less than convincing, particularly the kidnapped Ben who seemed much too composed for the situation. The main series characters are undergoing extensive changes, a good way to keep an old series fresh, but fans may not be happy with all of the changes. Right from the start Joe Pike, the normally cucumber cool sidekick, reveals some unheard of self doubts following on from the events of LA Requiem. Elvis Cole takes a much more serious approach and is more introspective as the kidnap situation develops and his relationship breaks down, and I'm one fan who would like the old, perkier Elvis back. An interesting sidelight is the crossover of characters from other books and even other authors. Carol Starkey from Demolition Angel is a major character in The Last Detective, and forensic specialist John Chen has appeared in several Crais books and could well join Starkey as welcome Elvis regulars. He's not mentioned by name, but look for the appearance of a well known Michael Connelly character who lives just over the hill from Elvis, apparently Elvis will also be showing up in the next Harry Bosch book. I thought that the major plot twist was a bit easy to spot, but perhaps I've just read too many mysteries, and knowing whodunnit doesn't bother me that much anway as long as the story is still good. The biggest disappointment, though, was in the kidnap resolution. A lot of episodes covering a very short period of time tended to destroy the suspense rather than maintain it and I thought that Crais could have done much better. The loss of suspense also highlighted for me some lack of credibility in the character actions during the dying moments. The Last Detective should work quite well as a standalone read, but I'd really recommend starting at the beginning of the Elvis Cole series if you can. I've tended to focus a bit on my personal disappointments in this review, but The Last Detective is still a very entertaining book and well worth the time spent reading it. I think my expectations for Crais are probably set very high after enjoying so many excellent books from this author, but I'll still be eagerly awaiting the next Elvis Cole novel. Note : This review is based on the British edition of The Last Detective.
Reviewed by Paul Richmond, March 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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