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The return of Frank Marr, the "refreshing" protagonist of one of the New York Times' Best Crime Novels of 2016. Frank Marr was a good cop with a bad habit, until his burgeoning addictions to alcohol and cocaine forced him into retirement from the DC police. Now barely eking out a living as a private investigator, he agrees to take on a family case: a favor for his aunt, who was like a second mother to him growing up. Frank's surveillance confirms that his cousin Jeffrey is involved with a small-time drugs operation. Modest stuff, until Frank's own home is burglarized, leaving a body on the kitchen floor: Jeffrey. Worse, Frank's .38 revolver-the murder weapon-is stolen, along with his cherished music collection, his only possessions of sentimental value: dozens of vinyl albums that belonged to his late mother. Only Frank's stash, his dwindling supply of the cocaine he needs to get through the day, is untouched. Why? Clearly, his cousin was deeper in the underworld than anyone realized. With the weight of his family, his reputation, and his own life on the line, he'll have to find the culprit by following the stolen goods through a tangled network of petty thieves, desperate addicts, deceiving fences, good cops, bad cops, and one morally compromised taxi driver. Frank's as determined to uncover the truth as he is to feed his habit, and both pursuits could prove deadly. This time, it may just be a question of what gets him first.
David Swindon's 'Crime Song' is the 2nd in his Frank Marr series, and likely the last I'll read. Swindon can write and tell a story, but when your 'good guy' has an insatiable appetite for drugs and a tendency to get himself involved in all sorts of bad situations because of it, it's tough to find a rooting interest. He mines the same sort of material as does the great George Pelecanos (both geographically and story-wise), but where Pelecanos' characters often have tough backgrounds and pull some shady shenanigans, the Marr character takes it to the extreme. One of his few redeeming qualities is that he occasionally feels bad for guys who are murdered because of something he did.
The plot of Crime Story is strong. Marr, a young 'retired' (not voluntarily) cop, works as a private investigator in the DC area. He's working on keeping an eye on his college aged cousin, to whom he used to be close but who now lives out of state, during his college career in the city at GWU. The kid's a screw up, a low level drug dealer whose idea of work-study is selling illegal substances to fellow students and other youngsters. He's hanging with the wrong crowd, but Marr is giving him a wide berth. Unfortunately, returning to his home after some surveillance, he finds the police on site investigating a break in and murder. The victim is his cousin. Marr begins his own investigation, leveraging his past contacts in the police ranks. He finds some leads, follows them while also snorting and drinking an incredible amount of drugs and liquor, and eventually pulls it all together at the end.
I have no illusions about how big city police departments operate at the individual level (I live in the Chicago area, so....), but I really don't think someone like Marr would be allowed to free-lance as he did in a murder investigation. I may be wrong. I also don't think anyone getting as effed up on a daily basis as Marr could function mentally and physically well enough to pull off what was described in this story. I could be wrong there as well.
As I said, Swinson can write but his main character is a loser with no redeeming qualities. Do yourself a favor and explore some of Pelecanos' novels. Same milieu, better writing and characters. ( )
The return of Frank Marr, the "refreshing" protagonist of one of the New York Times' Best Crime Novels of 2016. Frank Marr was a good cop with a bad habit, until his burgeoning addictions to alcohol and cocaine forced him into retirement from the DC police. Now barely eking out a living as a private investigator, he agrees to take on a family case: a favor for his aunt, who was like a second mother to him growing up. Frank's surveillance confirms that his cousin Jeffrey is involved with a small-time drugs operation. Modest stuff, until Frank's own home is burglarized, leaving a body on the kitchen floor: Jeffrey. Worse, Frank's .38 revolver-the murder weapon-is stolen, along with his cherished music collection, his only possessions of sentimental value: dozens of vinyl albums that belonged to his late mother. Only Frank's stash, his dwindling supply of the cocaine he needs to get through the day, is untouched. Why? Clearly, his cousin was deeper in the underworld than anyone realized. With the weight of his family, his reputation, and his own life on the line, he'll have to find the culprit by following the stolen goods through a tangled network of petty thieves, desperate addicts, deceiving fences, good cops, bad cops, and one morally compromised taxi driver. Frank's as determined to uncover the truth as he is to feed his habit, and both pursuits could prove deadly. This time, it may just be a question of what gets him first.
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The plot of Crime Story is strong. Marr, a young 'retired' (not voluntarily) cop, works as a private investigator in the DC area. He's working on keeping an eye on his college aged cousin, to whom he used to be close but who now lives out of state, during his college career in the city at GWU. The kid's a screw up, a low level drug dealer whose idea of work-study is selling illegal substances to fellow students and other youngsters. He's hanging with the wrong crowd, but Marr is giving him a wide berth. Unfortunately, returning to his home after some surveillance, he finds the police on site investigating a break in and murder. The victim is his cousin. Marr begins his own investigation, leveraging his past contacts in the police ranks. He finds some leads, follows them while also snorting and drinking an incredible amount of drugs and liquor, and eventually pulls it all together at the end.
I have no illusions about how big city police departments operate at the individual level (I live in the Chicago area, so....), but I really don't think someone like Marr would be allowed to free-lance as he did in a murder investigation. I may be wrong. I also don't think anyone getting as effed up on a daily basis as Marr could function mentally and physically well enough to pull off what was described in this story. I could be wrong there as well.
As I said, Swinson can write but his main character is a loser with no redeeming qualities. Do yourself a favor and explore some of Pelecanos' novels. Same milieu, better writing and characters. (