Byline: Ray Sawhill
Elvis Cole, the hero of Robert Crais's
third private-eye novel,
does business the California way -- it looks
like casual recreation
to people from less forgiving climates.
The genre hasn't spawned
a purer example of mankind in its L.A. incarnation
than Elvis. When
friends visit, he puts salmon and eggplant on
the grill. His wise-cracks
usually include a movie reference. His detecting
skill is always ready
to be called on. But why make a big deal
of it?
In "Lullaby Town," Elvis is hired by a film director
to find his ex-wife
and child; the search leads to rural Connecticut
and into the heart of a
Manhattan mob family. Shivering in the
cold and wincing at the filth,
Elvis is unable to understand why anyone puts
up with life in the North-
east. But he gets to the brutal heart of
things in his own way, and he and
his ninja-style partner make an impressive team.
In terms of lethal effic-
iency, they're a match for the bullet-spraying
East Coast goons.
Crais has a reader-friendly style, and he's
a meticulous craftsman; the
relaxed-seeming plot keeps paying off with scenes
of surprising tension.
Supple and low key, he's actually far better
at the private-eye-novel
racket than most writers who make a loud
point of being down and dirty.
He gets the job done without losing track of
the pleasure.