Atmospheric slice of crime fiction with superb period setting capturing the social codes & attitudes of the 1950s.
This atmospheric debut novel is both an excellent piece of crime fiction and a stunning portrayal of the strict social codes and attitudes of the 1950s with regards to both gender and race. Set amongst the white picket fences of Sunnylakes, a well-heeled suburb of Santa Monica which seems to epitomise the American dream, the mysterious disappearance of housewife and mother, Joyce Haney, strikes at the heart of the settled community. Populated by white middle classes and a place where men go out to work and women either care for children or are in the kitchen, behind the perfect facade is many an oppressed housewife. Numbed into submission and often medicated to cope with the monotony of a life dictated by their menfolk attitudes to women are only marginally less hostile than attitudes to ethnic minorities, specifically the Negro ‘help’ that clean their homes.
It is Ruby Wright, the young black maid from South Central who is the first to discover the absence of Joyce Haney when she turns up to clean her home and finds her two children alone and the kitchen covered in blood. Ruby is arrested at the scene, purely on the basis of her colour, and the case is assigned to Detective Mick Blanke, newly transferred to the suburbs and broiling in the oppressive heat of August 1959. With Joyce’s husband, Frank, at a conference and vampish neighbour and close friend, Mrs Ingram, unable to shed any light on her disappearance, Blanke finds himself seeking an ‘in’ with the ladies of the Sunnylakes Women’s Improvement Committee, run by shrewd Mrs Genevieve Crane. With his boss breathing down his neck for a result and unable to crack the Sunnylakes veneer, Blanke proffers up the prospect of the hefty reward on offer to Ruby in exchange for crucial information. Compelled by her fondness for Joyce and a shot at enough money to finance college, Ruby makes the perfect detective due to the fact that the folks of Sunnylakes treat the ‘help’ with disdain and do their best to avoid casting eyes on them. A three way narrative follows with the perspective of both Detective Mick Blanke and Ruby Wright in the days after the disappearance of Joyce, and the thoughts and actions of a flighty Joyce in the hours leading up to her vanishing.
The period setting, sense of place and attitudes are terrifically conveyed and give the novel a wonderfully atmospheric feel and the rigid rules and attitudes of the era adds a clever subtext to the disappearance of Joyce. The characterisation of Ruby, dismissively referred to as ‘the help’ by all but Joyce is captivating. Wary of the cops and the white middle classes she works for, and reticent to bring trouble to her door, she has aspirations to attend college and eventually to teach. Feisty enough that she is no pushover and clever enough to read between the lines, for me Ruby was the standout of the novel and I was vying for her all the way. It takes Ruby to make apparent to a cop more used to the mean streets of Brooklyn like Detective Blanke that it isn’t all picture perfect behind the idyllic exterior on show. Despite his open-minded and liberal attitude, Detective Blanke proved disappointingly colourless and lacking in nous, making him the weak link in his informal partnership with savvy Ruby. The mystery itself is easy to follow and although not particularly pacy the social commentary throughout more than makes up for this.
It is Ruby Wright, the young black maid from South Central who is the first to discover the absence of Joyce Haney when she turns up to clean her home and finds her two children alone and the kitchen covered in blood. Ruby is arrested at the scene, purely on the basis of her colour, and the case is assigned to Detective Mick Blanke, newly transferred to the suburbs and broiling in the oppressive heat of August 1959. With Joyce’s husband, Frank, at a conference and vampish neighbour and close friend, Mrs Ingram, unable to shed any light on her disappearance, Blanke finds himself seeking an ‘in’ with the ladies of the Sunnylakes Women’s Improvement Committee, run by shrewd Mrs Genevieve Crane. With his boss breathing down his neck for a result and unable to crack the Sunnylakes veneer, Blanke proffers up the prospect of the hefty reward on offer to Ruby in exchange for crucial information. Compelled by her fondness for Joyce and a shot at enough money to finance college, Ruby makes the perfect detective due to the fact that the folks of Sunnylakes treat the ‘help’ with disdain and do their best to avoid casting eyes on them. A three way narrative follows with the perspective of both Detective Mick Blanke and Ruby Wright in the days after the disappearance of Joyce, and the thoughts and actions of a flighty Joyce in the hours leading up to her vanishing.
The period setting, sense of place and attitudes are terrifically conveyed and give the novel a wonderfully atmospheric feel and the rigid rules and attitudes of the era adds a clever subtext to the disappearance of Joyce. The characterisation of Ruby, dismissively referred to as ‘the help’ by all but Joyce is captivating. Wary of the cops and the white middle classes she works for, and reticent to bring trouble to her door, she has aspirations to attend college and eventually to teach. Feisty enough that she is no pushover and clever enough to read between the lines, for me Ruby was the standout of the novel and I was vying for her all the way. It takes Ruby to make apparent to a cop more used to the mean streets of Brooklyn like Detective Blanke that it isn’t all picture perfect behind the idyllic exterior on show. Despite his open-minded and liberal attitude, Detective Blanke proved disappointingly colourless and lacking in nous, making him the weak link in his informal partnership with savvy Ruby. The mystery itself is easy to follow and although not particularly pacy the social commentary throughout more than makes up for this.