Snowball in Hell | By Josh Lanyon
December 17, 2011 in Crime, Drama, Fiction, Mystery
Snowball in Hell by Josh Lanyon is the story of Lt. Mathew Spain, an LAPD detective assigned to investigate the murder of petroleum heir Philip Arlen. Also investigating the murder is Nathan Doyle, a reporter for the Tribune-Herald and former Arlen acquaintance who may have had good reason to want the man dead.
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Plot It’s 1943 and the world is at war. Journalist Nathan Doyle has just returned home from North Africa–still recovering from wounds received in the Western Desert Campaign–when he’s asked to cover the murder of a society blackmailer. Lt. Matthew Spain of the LAPD homicide squad hates the holidays since the death of his beloved wife a few months earlier, and this year isn’t looking much cheerier what with the threat of attack by the Japanese and a high-profile homicide investigation. Matt likes Nathan; maybe too much. If only he didn’t suspect that Nathan had every reason to commit murder. Impressions The story takes place in the early 1940s and Lanyon’s story is an excellent homage of that period of detective fiction. The opening of the story — the body of Philip Arlen being pulled out of the Brea Tar Pits — reads like a great pulp novel, film noir in electronic ink. Lanyon’s references to that era — mentions of the war, clothing — are subtle and effective. I never felt like any of those details had just been dropped in later to remind the reader of where they were. |
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Like all good mysteries, the case is front and center in the narrative, with character development and the romantic chemistry between Spain and Doyle building at a gentle pace in the background. Matt and Nathan are good men, both former soldiers who were wounded and sent home. They’re relatable and immensely likable. Lanyon highlights their differences well — Matt has recently lost his wife to cancer but is still able to function well in his job, essentially conducting a major murder investigation on his own without any help from his distracted and fumbling partner. Nathan still has nightmares about the war and has contemplated suicide on more than one occasion. Nathan takes a lot of risks in his reporting as well as his private life and his recklessness complements Matt’s stability. The mystery succeeds, too! With so much of our mass media entertainment devoted to a few police procedurals story arcs, it’s hard to find new ways to surprise readers but Lanyon manages to do just that — by overloading the narrative with people who would have more than enough motive to dump Philip Arlen in a tar pit and weaving in just enough clues and suspense to keep things interesting. All in all this was a quick, thoroughly enjoyable read and it made me want to check out more of Lanyon’s work. | |
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