A strangely compelling story of an investigator who solves cases with the philosophy of a vague, existential sort while using drugs and isolating herself. Trigger warnings for self-harm and drugs
A strangely compelling story of an investigator who solves cases with the philosophy of a vague, existential sort while using drugs and isolating herself. Trigger warnings for self-harm and drugs
I‘ve enjoyed this series, generally, but this one was just so-so for me.
I was in New Orleans as a volunteer a year after Katrina. This wonderful book is set in the same time and place, and Sara Gran really captures what it was like. The characters “survived” the flood and are marked by it, almost ruined, but enduring. More than a mystery; a great twisting tale.
“It‘s like it happened, every bit of it. But somehow, you can go on anyway” (p. 269)
Cracking open another Claire DeWitt mystery and a 2 Towns Pacific Pineapple cider! It just feels right.
Too much drug use. It got on my nerves. I won‘t be continuing with the series.
In a fog of cocaine numbed grief, Claire is driven to find the killer of her ex-lover while dealing somehow with a case about miniature horses in the here and now. Parallel to it is the obsessed search for a missing friend from her wild teen years. Claire goes into the mystic, relying on gut instinct for coincidences, omens, signs, and connections for clues based on oracular French detection manual. Noir fueled love and can‘t wait to read next one
Was struggling for a photo idea- went with what was close by. 😉 I have really enjoyed the Claire DeWitt series so far. Parts of the stories are bizarre, but in a good way. Claire Dewitt is not a likeable character- but also in a good way. This book ended on a cliffhanger, so I am anxious for the next story.
Been feeling like a Litsy failure, lately. The first 2 weeks of teaching have been exhausting, and I haven‘t been reading or checking Litsy. Also haven‘t responded to any of my #justbecause mail!! After I finish watching my Nittany Lions, I am going to try to catch up!
Catching up with my favorite P.I. before the next book is released in September!
Another deeply, darkly mysterious book featuring private detective Claire DeWitt. After a friend's murder, Claire begins to crumble under the weight of her memories. She uses her remarkable powers of detection, her metaphysical attunement to the clues the universe provides, and a truly terrifying quantity of cocaine in search of the truth, but this case takes a painful toll. A haunting and unique mystery.
This book was different from the kind of mysteries I usually read. I'm not sure if different is good this time. The story was good enough, but apparently I like my detectives a bit 'cleaner'. I really wanted Claire to get some help 😳...
Gritty hipster noir set in San Francisco that's more about the deeply-troubled bisexual detective than the solving of her cases. Claire strives to help every underdog except herself, disregarding her own safety and wellbeing. Start with book 1, Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead. Then pray that Sara Gran will write a third in the series.
“With each day that passed something ugly was growing in me. I watched it grow. I fed it cocaine. I loved it and held onto it, kept it alive.”
"I cancelled my ticket and didn't go to New Orleans. Instead, I did the rest of the coke and cleaned my apartment. Meaning I moved stacks of unpaid bills and unopened mail from one table to another."
[Stacks of paper aren't interesting, so here's some homemaking done by a French artist and live finches, which I saw at a museum in Brisbane.]
"Do you drive?" she asked.
"Legally?"
Constance flipped her hand in the air. The law was for people who needed instructions, she would later tell me. The same people who needed to be told not to put a baby in the dryer or a dog in the microwave.
Sara Gran's hipster noir style and her drug-addicted detective Claire DeWitt is hitting the sweet spot for early morning jet lag. #audiobooksforever
Something of a departure from the previous novel: where City of the Dead looked at Dewitt through the lense of a gripping mystery, B.H. instead strips away the mystery in order to reveal the character's broken heart. Still every bit the page-turner, and I can wait to see where the next story goes.
Think I'm a little late to the whole #readathon thing, but I've got 200 pages left before having to return this to the library tomorrow, so here we go. (also a cat, because it seems like everyone is doing it)
Claire DeWitt is not the typical damaged-goods, rough-around-the-edges private eye. While her goods are mightily damaged and her edges splintered indeed, she's mystical, obsessed with a cultish French detective, and, in this installment, keenly worried about the plight of miniature horses. Imagine Nancy Drew plus drugs or Stephanie Plum plus otherworldly visions: that's our heroine. I really, really hope that Sara Gran will continue this series.
An original brew of mystery, mysticism, and character study that upends genre conventions. Oh, and Claire does A LOT of cocaine. Man, I wish Sara Gran would write more of this series.