A gloomy start to this 11th of December but so far it isn't raining. That is your brief weather forecast for today. Now your Advent Book.
"The Cool Cottontail by John Dudley Ball is the 2nd book in his Virgil Tibbs mystery series. I enjoyed the first story, In the Heat of the Night, and this book was just as entertaining. In the 2nd volume, Tibbs is once again back in California as an LAPD investigator.
Tibbs is called out to the scene of a murder. A dead body has been found in the pool at a nudist park. The body also is nude. Tibbs begins the investigation, helping the local cops with the investigation. It's all done very methodically, first the work to identify the victim and also the final investigation to discover the murderer. It's a well-crafted and presented story with nice character development as well.
There are interesting, topical (for the period, the 60s) issues covered as well as a crime investigation. Tibbs' constant having to deal with being a black cop, even to the questioning of his actual job, is an ongoing issue. I also enjoyed the discussion of the nudist park people, of their standards. It's not made a big issue but it is an ongoing theme. Tibbs is an excellent character and his methods make me think of the Spenser books by Robert Parker. He's low-key and capable, both physically and mentally. Excellent 2nd story and I look forward to the next one. (4.0 stars)"
Enjoy your week!
No comments:
Post a Comment