Do Good Girls Die Bored, as the title of Elizabeth Little’s new crime thriller suggests? One thing is certain, readers of this alternatingly funny and hair-raising book will not. The protagonist, Juno Hardwick, is a US Marine Corps veteran who learned a lot of ways to protect herself, subdue an attacker and skirt regulations in her tours in Afghanistan. In this story, she probably uses every last hard-won skill. Our appreciation of Little’s clever heroines goes back to her debut novel, Dear Daughter, which we reviewed back in 2014.
When the story begins, Juno is working in very down-market Los Angeles bikini bar, where her situational awareness, honed to a sharp edge, not only keeps the dancers safe, but manages to intimidate a number of customers, to the point where she’s fired even from that bottom-rung job. Luckily, a close friend from her Afghanistan days, a CIA officer named Min, renews her offer to hire Juno for a short-term assignment. Min’s company offers private security services for people who are rich or famous, preferably both. She’s a bit short-handed for a gig coming up, and wants Juno’s help. Juno has turned down Min’s previous offers, but she’s taking care of her sister now, and she needs the cash.
The assignment is coming right up, and Juno quickly meets several other members of Min’s team. Harry, a bumbling technology whiz, and – surprise, surprise – Bianca, one of the bikini bar dancers. Also on the team is Ethan, a hunky man Min once fixed her up with. Juno described their date as a bust, but what Min doesn’t know is that Ethan and Juno actually hooked up and are still engaged in a steamy relationship they are determined to keep private.
Min and her business partner Gabe are having financial difficulties, and they absolutely need this big-deal assignment to work. Their client is Maelle Ruiz, an investigative journalist who is scheduled to receive an award at a big museum gala. Maelle’s past revelations about defective military equipment, among other corporate secrets, have made her the target of powerful interests, and most of her time is spent in near-hiding. The gala is one of the few times her enemies could actually find out where she is.
Tagging along with Maelle is Alice, a documentary filmmaker, and her cameraman, Vittorio. They are filming everything. The team has only a few days to work out their security protocols, driving routes, and the comms they’ll need. They must keep Maelle safe while she slips into a small Southern California airport, then they will whisk her and her entourage away to a secluded location. But the team’s every precaution and plan fail to work as expected. They are followed in a risky freeway chase. The vacant building where the dress fitting is arranged is fired upon. They barely make it out of a parking garage. Is there a traitor on the team?
All that is a boatload of tension and danger. Balancing it out is Juno’s dark humour and relentless can-do attitude, which reminded me of another intrepid and witty female protagonist, Sailor Cassidy in the recently reviewed book Dirty Myrtle.
You’d think Juno has her hands absolutely full, but she’s also responsible for her younger sister Cassie. Cassie is struggling to come back to a normal life after a deep depression that left her near-catatonic. She’s on new medications and is starting to come out of it. Even better, Cassie has computer skills that rival Harry’s. With Juno in deeper and deeper difficulties, Cassie finds new purpose, given the chance to help her sister.
Los Angeles and its fast-paced amalgam of Hollywood glamour and crowded freeways, its ethnic stewpot, its high life and low crime is the perfect, indelible backdrop for many great crime stories reviewed here at Crime Fiction Lover. Little’s vivid descriptions of the car chases and narrow escapes, as well as the social dynamics of this vibrant city feel absolutely real. Her Los Angeles becomes part of the city’s long history of sparking memorable crime dramas, from authors as diverse as Mickey Spillane and Raymond Chandler to the top-notch yarn-spinners of today, among them Joe Ide, Walter Mosley, and Michael Connelly, with his telegenic Harry Bosch.
This is the kind of book that, in earlier decades, might have been called a romp, for its humour, lively pace, and the pure enjoyment that Juno gets out of doing what she does best. She’s all-in, all the time, and you have to admire her for it. Good Girls Die Bored is only the author’s third book in 12 years, but is well worth the wait.
For other takes on LA see Jordan Harper’s A Violent Masterpiece or One-Shot Harry by Gary Phillips
Bantam
Print
£22.34
CFL Rating: 5 Stars
