Hard-drinking, practically chain-smoking her way throughout this noir mystery novel, Miranda Corbie, a 33-year-old PI, has a most unusual background. She served as a nurse during the Spanish Civil War and later was an “escort” in San Francisco, where the action takes place in 1940, three years after the Rape of Nanking and a year before the United States entered World War II.
During the Chinese New Year, SF’s Chinatown celebrated with a Rice Bowl Party to raise money for China war relief following the Japanese invasion. Miranda is in the crowd when a small-time numbers runner falls at her feet fatally shot, setting her off on a mission to find his killer. The effort leads to other complications and crimes, all of which the powers that be wish to cover up. But that doesn’t stop Miranda in her quest for “justice.”
The novel delves deeply into the City by the Bay and the times, using the atmosphere and songs of the period to good use. The flavor of the pre-war period is well portrayed, evoking a poignant nostalgia for the songs of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and their bands. The prose is tight and the dialogue sharp. Characters are anything but puppets, moving and authentic. On the whole, the novel is reminiscent of Hammett and Chandler, and is recommended.
