In present day Los Angeles, Dash Fuller is subsidising his stand-up career (going nowhere fast) with some unlicenced private-eye work. The laughs and the gigs are few and far between in either job, but at least it’s better than his previous job. He used to run interference for Manny, a fixer in Hollywood’s seedy underbelly.
But Dash has had his fill of bribing hotel staff, threatening paparazzi, killing stories, basically doing whatever was necessary to Hollywood’s excesses out of the news and offline. It’s left him jaded, cynical and burnt out, but with a skill set that would be the envy of other private investigators.
Dash takes a job working for a young lady called Madeline Ironwood. Anyone moving in the right circles in LA – or should I say the wrong circles – will have heard of her father. Ken Ironwood was a notorious drug trafficker and other things, and mixed with the movie moguls back in the day. He disappeared without trace when Madeline was two.
Now, his body has been found stuffed in a barrel in a receding lake in nearby San Douglas. His murder looks to be decades old and the police and FBI aren’t interested, so Madeline wants Dash to investigate Ken Ironwood’s murder.
If you have ever read any of Nick Kolakowsk’s books – and we’ve reviewed several – then you know what you’re getting. Where The Bones Lie isn’t a big departure. This author likes to hook his readers early – here it’s with one last dirty job for Manny – and then the story kicks in to high gear and the pace never lets up.
There’s plenty of action and comedy, and an irreverent, anti-establishment tone; all the principal characters have an outlaw edge to them. Sophistication isn’t necessarily the top of his list (and I mean that in a nice way), but comparing Where The Bones Lie to earlier work such as Boise Longpig Hunting Club, there is an obvious progression in the author’s writing. Characters are sharper, and written with a little more depth, but not at the expense of his strengths. Dash, for example, has a little more vulnerability than I previous protagonists, and Madeline is more than just a quirky dame. As a result, Where the Bones Lie has more substance whilst the gonzo, pulp shenanigans are as entertaining as ever.
Dash and Madeline begin their investigation by driving down to San Douglas to collect Ken’s belongings from the local sheriff. All he has for them is an old wallet, some basic ID, a rusty key and an attitude which says strangers aren’t welcome. It’s not too long before the pair are being warned to back off. At first it’s a box of chocolates and a polite note, but it doesn’t take long for the situation to escalate to threats and gunfights. There are some rich people in San Douglas, and it seems they value their privacy.
I can’t say that everything that happened in the story made perfect sense, or that Where the Bones Lie is rich in themes or subtext, but that’s not why I read Kolakowski’s novels. Where the Bones Lie is entertainment, it’s fun (an under-rated quality sometimes) and a great palette-cleanser before you tackle that 700 page Russian classic that’s been sitting on your shelves for the last decade.
Datura Books
Print/Kindle
£6.34
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
