Lowertown (Herman Jackson Mystery)
The world is ready for a hard-boiled hero named Herman. Especially this one. He’s a bondsman in a shady part of St. Paul—the Lowertown of the title—and he’s witty, urbane, and good natured. So are most of the people he runs into as he goes about seeking solutions. In fact, for long stretches, the novel is a series of lively conversations with congenial spirits. The reader would like to sit in. Oh, yes, the mystery. A public defender who seeks Herman’s help is murdered, but the defender’s corpse turns out to be somebody else’s remains. Another somebody forges Herman’s name to get a mad-dog killer out of jail. Herman’s efforts to right the wrongs leads him toward a white-slavery scheme. All the interesting people become, unfortunately, stooges of the plot as it warps into an actioner. Now the cute girl is chambering a round, Ma and Pa are shouldering shotguns, and Herman is leading a blazing attack on the villain’s redoubt. Flip through the action, but savor the good stuff: Herman jawing with his funny friends. --Don Crinklaw