Review: Smart, funny and gripping
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 13, 2012
Some Kind of Genius: Murder in Mission Park is the latest in Henry Simpson's series of crime novels about band manager-turned mob lawyer-turned small-town attorney Joey Costa. Narrated by Costa himself, the story centres on Max, the former leader of Costa's rock band and a musical genius whose career and life crashed and burned as a result of drug abuse and mental illness. Max appears in Costa's life after a long absence, homeless and washed up and needing money. Soon afterwards his corpse is discovered in a park, the ears cut off. Costa is asked to defend the two youths arrested for the murder, and thereafter sets out to find the real perpetrators, independently of but working loosely with the local police. Along the way he's assisted by his grizzled ex-military father Jack, and Joey's former lover and fellow lawyer Donna, whose teenage daughter complicates matters in ways that remain ambiguous even at the end.I would have read this in one setting had the opportunity presented itself, but I'm glad I didn't. Although the narrative whips along, with perfectly paced dialogue and dramatic points in exactly the right places, the language deserves to be savoured. The smart, wisecracking banter between the deftly drawn characters brings to mind Elmore Leonard and the police procedurals Ed McBain; but unlike both of these authors Simpson has terrific powers of description and an ability to evoke a sense of location that the aforementioned masters - dare I say it - don't. The people, the sun-soaked California settings, all feel utterly real. Costa himself is an excellent protagonist, something of a reformed character but giving off the impression that he hasn't quite let go of his raucous and at times extremely morally dubious past. And there are moments of genuine poignancy in the descriptions of his relations with various significant people in his life, family and otherwise.A gripping plot, dialogue to murder for, and lyrical prose: all make for a supremely satisfying read. Wholeheartedly recommended.