The Devil's Own Rag Doll
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
1940's Detroit: the war effort is in full swing and racial tensions are running high. When a vivacious white heiress is murdered in the black part of town, the city threatens to erupt into mob violence, bringing the factories to a grinding halt and imperiling Allied forces around the world.
Newly minted Detective Pete Caudill is charged with covering up the crime in the interests of civic peace and finding some kind of justice for the dead girl. Odds are the girl was killed by her black boyfriend, but some whisper of an Axis plot to hamper America's war effort. Or is Detroit's shadowy political machine manipulating events to its own ruthless ends? As he delves deeper, Caudill soon learns the hard way that friends are rarely what they seem, family ties are often deceptive, and sometimes the bravest thing a man can do is think for himself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Detroit during WWII, Bartov's fast-paced first novel will appeal to fans of hard-boiled noir. Det. Pete Caudill uses tough tactics to get information from snitches, but has a heart of gold when it comes to dead, violated teenage girls in particular, an auto company big-shot's wayward daughter, whose body turns up in the black part of town. Capt. John Mitchell rides hard on Caudill and his partner, Bobby Swope, to solve the case, which takes the pair into Detroit's rough-slick underbelly. The victim's African-American boyfriend is implicated, but the roots of the murder may lie deeper. Historical references come fast and furious in the author's fevered attempts to evoke the time period. Sometimes the references work, and sometimes they don't. The same goes for the tough-guy dialogue, which alternates between convincing and forced. A maudlin ending underscores the book's unevenness. Still, Bartov remains a writer to watch.
