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CATFISH CAFE
by Earl Emerson
Ballantine, September 1999
288 pages
$6.50
ISBN: 0345422120


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Catfish Cafe is another entry in author Earl Emerson's steadily expanding body of work. Set in Seattle, where he lives and works, this is a further adventure of private investigator, Thomas Black. It is an elaborate examination of family relationships.

Black is contacted by his former partner on the Seattle Police Department, Luther Little. Luther now drives a hearse for a living. It seems that his daughter, Balinda, has gone missing and is now sought by the police who are investigating what appears to be a murder inside an automobile crash. Luther fears for Balinda's safety and her history of drug abuse complicates his worry. He enlists Black's aid in finding the woman.

Even though Black is aware of Luther Little's family and history of chasing any woman who comes within his awareness, which is pretty extensive, he owes Luther and thus is drawn into the complex relationships and associations of Luther's multi-generational family. There are daughters, sons, cousins, boyfriends, friends, hangers-on, and wives and husbands. It is a large complex cast of characters, sometimes difficult to follow.

Emerson keeps them all straight and focuses the wide-ranging search for Balinda around the neighborhood cafe of the book's title. CATFISH CAFE is an intelligent, compassionate look at a large Black family and its struggles for survival. If the book sags toward the end in a resolution that requires major suspension of disbelief, by that time, most reader will be in a forgiving mood, entangled like Thomas Black in the machinations of the Sand family. The book is distinguished by its sharp dialogue, winning attitudes, incisively described scenes and crafty humor.

Reviewed by Carl Brookins, May 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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