Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Dark Jenny (Eddie LaCrosse #3)

by Alex Bledsoe (Goodreads Author)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 391 ratings · 88 reviews

Alex Bledsoe’s novels featuring detectiveEddie LaCrossehave drawn rave reviews for their ingenious blend of classic fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. Now with Dark Jenny, Bledsoe returns with an all-new tale of intrigue and murder. . . .

For twenty-five gold pieces a day, plus expenses, Eddie LaCrosse will take on most any case. But the unexpected delivery of a cof

...more

Paperback, 348 pages

Published March 29th 2011 by Tor Books (first published March 1st 2011)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 844)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 25, 2012 Stephen rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, fantasy, mystery, ebooks, 2011, hardboiled, crime, political-fiction

sigh…and another relationship that started off with such hopeful and limitless promise…

...hits a sadness-filled rough patch complete with disillusionment and severe chafing from which it may not recover

I have liked everything that Alex Bledsoe has written...until now. When The Sword-Edged Blonde came out, I thought I had discovered a great new series that bucked convention by combining the hardboiled detective genre and a standard “human-centric” medieval world with a light dusting of fantasy...more

like 54 likes · see review

Apr 27, 2011 Kat Hooper rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

"I remembered the way her hair smelled as she wrenched my fingers back into place."

While drinking a beer with his girlfriend on a snowy day in Angelina’s Tavern, middle-aged sword-jockey Eddie LaCrosse gets a strange delivery: a coffin. This unusual event sparks some interest in Angelina’s lethargic patrons, and soon they’re all gathered around while Eddie regales them with the story of how he came to be the recipient of such an odd gift and, more importan...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

"I remembered the way her hair smelled as she wrenched my fingers back into place."

While drinking a beer with his girlfriend on a snowy day in Angelina’s Tavern, middle-aged sword-jockey Eddie LaCrosse gets a strange delivery: a coffin. This unusual event sparks some interest in Angelina’s lethargic patrons, and soon they’re all gathered around while Eddie regales them with the story of how he came to be the recipient of such an odd gift and, more importantly, who’s in it.

If you haven’t read one of Alex Bledsoe’s Eddie LaCrosse Mysteries yet, go ahead and try this one — you don’t need to have read The Sword-Edged Blonde or Burn Me Deadly to enjoy Dark Jenny (though I should say that I liked the plots of the first two novels better). Dark Jenny can stand alone because the story Eddie tells happened before the events in The Sword-Edged Blonde. This is a Bledsoe-style version of the King Arthur legend. What is “Bledsoe-style”, you wonder? His fans know what I’m talking about, but since Dark Jenny is a fine place for newbies to start, let me prepare you:

Eddie’s world is completely fictional and, technologically, it’s medieval — they ride horses and carry swords. However, the names are jarringly modern and, in this novel, groan-worthy (Marcus Drake = Arthur Pendragon, Jennifer = Guinevere, Elliot Spears = Lancelot). The language is modern (“yeah”, “whatever”) and (this is the really weird part) there are allusions to our modern culture. So, for example, Eddie uses terms like “shock and awe” and, when he’s about to explain the solution to the mystery to all the suspects at the end of Dark Jenny, he says “I suppose you wonder why I’ve asked you all here.” Some of these will make your eyes roll, but others are rather amusing. My favorite one in Dark Jenny is when Eddie is traveling to Cameron Kern’s (= Merlin) house and he keeps seeing barns with “See the Crystal Cave” painted on the roof. (For those of you who’ve never driven through Tennessee, where Alex Bledsoe lives, do a Google Image search for “See Rock City”.)

The strengths of the Eddie LaCrosse Mysteries are Bledsoe’s excellent pacing and story-telling abilities and the character of Eddie. Eddie is an awesome hero. He’s tall, strong, and brave, yet he’s smart, mature, and sensitive. He can be brutal, and sometimes he goes too far — even to the point of killing someone with his bare hands — but his brutality is evoked by wickedness in others. He’s most likely to snap when he witnesses someone being cruel to a weaker person. It’s impossible not to like Eddie LaCrosse.

Dark Jenny is available in print from Tor and on audio from Blackstone Audio. Even though Tor sent me a copy of Dark Jenny weeks before its release and I was anxious to read it, I waited for the audio version because I love to hear Stefan Rudnicki read the Eddie LaCrosse Mysteries (which are written in the first person voice). Stefan Rudnicki is Eddie LaCrosse for me! (less)

like 2 likes · see review

Aug 18, 2012 Jacob Proffitt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, mystery

In this entry in the series, Eddie receives a mysterious package from a mysterious messenger one dark and stormy night. Since it's the middle of a long winter storm and he takes delivery at the inn where his office is, all the patrons (as well as Liz and the enigmatic Angelina) pressure him to tell them what's in the box. That sets up the framework for a story set several years in Eddie's past when he was first making it as a sword jockey.

The result of this framework is to strip much of the weig...more In this entry in the series, Eddie receives a mysterious package from a mysterious messenger one dark and stormy night. Since it's the middle of a long winter storm and he takes delivery at the inn where his office is, all the patrons (as well as Liz and the enigmatic Angelina) pressure him to tell them what's in the box. That sets up the framework for a story set several years in Eddie's past when he was first making it as a sword jockey.

The result of this framework is to strip much of the weight of the past two books from this one so that Eddie is free to explore the trouble in an island kingdom that has experienced 20 years of relative peace. We're given enough up front to know that the island kingdom is now a pit of betrayal and constant war, so we know that failure of one kind or another is more or less inescapable.

This book is also a more self-conscious mirror of myths/legends of our own world. The current king pulled a sword from an ancient oak back in his youth accompanied by a wise and mysterious advisor so you know this is going to parallel the Arthurian legends more or less. Bledsoe puts his own twist on things, as usual, so knowing that it shadows Arthur doesn't really reveal much about the actual story, even if familiarity with the source material does pull the teeth of some of the more dramatic reveals. As you might expect from reading the earlier books, you also know going in that the shiny good guys are going to have tragic flaws and the dastardly bad guys are going to show the occasional virtue (except when they don't).

Bledsoe managed to avoid the worst pitfalls in this type of novel. The frame story of telling the inn patrons mostly worked, particularly the interactions with Liz as an uncertain conscience/confidant. And he managed an original enough take on the Arthurian tale with a wonderful twist on the whole Lancelot/Guinevere nonsense. Still, this felt like a much weaker entry in the LaCrosse canon and, while pleasant, it ended with a much softer impact than I've come to expect and enjoy with his books—much as it had a lesser impact on Eddie himself.(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Mar 29, 2013 William Bentrim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

Eddie LaCrosse may be my new favorite character. Alex Bledsoe has crafted a great believable hero. This installment of a terrific series has Eddie caught up in a war of secessions in a Camalot type of island.
Foibles are what make Eddie so believable. He gets hurt, he isn't always right and he is not invincible. When he hits someone in the head with his hand, his hand is injured as well as the face he it. Regardless of unlikely scenarios, a believable hero makes for a m...more

like · see review

Feb 09, 2013 Debby Kean rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: No one!

Shelves: rubbish

Dark Jenny is appallingly bad!
It's difficult to work out when it's supposed to be happening. If Arthur/Camelot etc ever existed, the events happened in about the 5th century.
Mallory sets it all in the 12th.
Bledsoe seems to move between the 15th (the clothes) to the 20th (Iris Gladstone.) The American slang and the American "cussing" through out render any suspenstion of disbelief pretty well impossible.
But the names are the most cringe-worthy part of Dark Jenny.
Arthur Pendragon and Guinevere...more

like · see review

Sep 27, 2012 Melissa Proffitt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: detective-stories, action-adventure, arthurian-mythology, mythology

I'm still not sure what I think about Bledsoe's use of Arthurian mythos here. It's a good retelling/interpretation of the stories, with some important twists that you really wish had been part of the original story. (view spoiler) On the other hand, it's more or less the King Arthur story...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 13, 2012 Shanna Swendson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd finished what was supposed to be my airplane book during WorldCon, so on the last day of the convention, I wandered the dealers room, looking for something to read on the way home. One of the booksellers recommended the Eddie LaCrosse series and said it didn't have to be read in order, so I bought Dark Jenny, the first book in the series he had in stock. It was a good call. This is a hardboiled PI series set in a fantasy sword-and-sorcery kind of world. It has all the tone of a Raymond Chand...more

like · see review

Jun 11, 2012 heidi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, paper

I picked this book up because I had heard good things about The Hum and the Shiver, by the same author, but it wasn't available in the bookstore I happened to be standing in.

So I laughed pretty much all the way through this book. I think we should start with the fact that the woman on the cover is wearing an Elizabethan dress and the period of the book is, well, as much as it's period at all, Arthurian/middle ages. This is actually a cunning warning that history as you may think of it is not th...more

like · see review

Oct 05, 2011 D. Alan rated it 5 of 5 stars

High Fantasy Noir maybe an accurate way of describing Alex Bledsoe’s third installment in the Eddie LaCrosse saga, Dark Jenny.

Eddie LaCrosse is a self described ‘Sword Jockey’. A former mercenary turned P.I (albeit middle-ages style), Eddie is hired to check up on a nobleman suspected of adultery. A turn of events however has our wise-cracking hero at the pointy end of a sword, manacles on his wrists and a lot of people calling for his execution.

At a reception for Queen Jennifer Drake, a murder...more

like · see review

Aug 01, 2011 Alan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Sword-totin' gumshoes and their dolled-up dames...

Recommended to Alan by: Previous work

I'd read and liked The Sword-Edged Blonde several years ago, but had no idea that everyone's favorite sword-toting gumshoe Eddie LaCrosse was threatening to turn into a franchise operation. Yet here we are... Dark Jenny is actually the third Eddie LaCrosse novel (somehow I missed the one in between entirely—it's called Burn Me Deadly, which I figure is a Spillane homage of some sort).

Like a bicyclist who's been too long away from two wheels, Dark Jenny's a bit wobbly starting out, but once the s...more I'd read and liked The Sword-Edged Blonde several years ago, but had no idea that everyone's favorite sword-toting gumshoe Eddie LaCrosse was threatening to turn into a franchise operation. Yet here we are... Dark Jenny is actually the third Eddie LaCrosse novel (somehow I missed the one in between entirely—it's called Burn Me Deadly, which I figure is a Spillane homage of some sort).

Like a bicyclist who's been too long away from two wheels, Dark Jenny's a bit wobbly starting out, but once the setup (a not-very-necessary framing story) is out of the way, it soon straightens out and gets rolling. This time out, LaCrosse is on the trail of the adulterous Lord Astamore, a minor noble in the aristocracy of the recently-unified island nation of Grand Bruan. LaCrosse is quickly diverted and under suspicion himself when a Knight of the Double Tarn gets poisoned by an apple obviously intended for someone else, and Eddie is the first one to reach the victim.

Grand Bruan bears a suspiciously close resemblance to another nation whose initials are G.B.—Grand Bruan too has been unified under the aegis of a great warrior king who pulled his all-powerful sword Belacrux from a tree (not a stone? Nope, not this time...). Marc Drake, the king in question, has his circle of good and noble knights; in this case, they're the Knights of the Double Tarn. Drake has his wizard in exile, Cameron Kern. He has his beautiful wife Jennifer, and his greatest knight Elliot Spears. Nothing untoward has ever been proven to exist between Spears and Queen Jennifer, but the dark rumors, gossip and court intrigue have been quite enough to send Spears into virtual exile anyway, and the poisoned apple implicates (or seems intended to implicate) Queen Jennifer in the plot to kill Sir Thomas Gillian to boot.

I don't blame you if this sounds all too familiar. Bledsoe's mixture of Arthurian court intrigue, sword-and-sorcery (more swords than sorcery) and hard-boiled detective fiction works for me, but I do think that he relies a bit too much on the combination seeming fresh even when the individual ingredients are rather stale. The mixture also lead to some significant inconsistencies in tone, at least in this installment... inconsistencies which character names like "Dave Agravaine" (seriously?) do little to dispel.

Maybe it's due to the archetypes Bledsoe has chosen, but I was disconcerted by the way casual humor gave way to graphic bloodshed and a substantially darker tone as the story progressed—and I don't remember that from The Sword-Edged Blonde, either. There's also a certain amount of what seems like gratuitous sexism to me... Bledsoe makes a point of showing Eddie pretty much every major female character naked at least once, even the Queen of Grand Bruan, whereas the male characters do not receive nearly so much description.

Still, though, Eddie LaCrosse remains a likeable guy, and the world he inhabits is just different enough to keep you on your toes. The body count is fairly high, and includes people you'd rather not have lost... but there's enough action to paper over most of the inconsistencies, and all is eventually explained. All in all, Dark Jenny is... okay.
(less)

like · see review

Mar 27, 2011 Shaun Duke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Every once in a while I go out to the mailbox and discover a book in the mail that I wasn't expecting. A lot of those books end up sitting on my review shelf, but some of those books intrigue me enough to dig my eyes into them. Such books tend to be quite good. Dark Jenny is one of those books.

Dark Jenny follows Eddie LaCrosse, a witty sword for hire who'll solve any case for a reasonable price. But Eddie also has a history that most people don't know about, and it involves the fall of
the kingd...more Every once in a while I go out to the mailbox and discover a book in the mail that I wasn't expecting. A lot of those books end up sitting on my review shelf, but some of those books intrigue me enough to dig my eyes into them. Such books tend to be quite good. Dark Jenny is one of those books.

Dark Jenny follows Eddie LaCrosse, a witty sword for hire who'll solve any case for a reasonable price. But Eddie also has a history that most people don't know about, and it involves the fall of
the kingdom of Grand Bruan, a feudal utopia with an Arthurian legend at its core. When a mysterious coffin is left in the snow outside his place of business -- i.e., a tavern -- Eddie begins to weave a tale about murder, dark family secrets, unscrupulous and vengeful characters, and a version of Grand Bruan's fall that nobody has ever heard before.

Dark Jenny is a lot like the movie Clue on a twisted date with The Princess Bride. Bledsoe's novel is one part dark comedy and one part social critique. As a dark comedy, it benefits from having a strong protagonist and a solid cast of secondary characters. Eddie is sarcastic, witty, and clever, but he is also a farcry from the antiheroes of many popular fantasy series, despite his attempts to avoid involvement in anything other than his business. The result was a character I enjoyed reading about and a character whose motivations I could understand, even if I might have disagreed with him. This feeling is helped by the fact that Dark Jenny is a first person narrative, the result of which is a thorough understanding of Eddie's thought processes and a lack self-referentiality -- that is that the novel doesn't suffer from requiring some familiarity with Bledsoe's other works, however minute.

Instead, the novel is made internally consistent by a character who feels fully-developed from the outset (the novel opens in a tavern and does a fantastic job of creating a sense of familiarity through Eddie's interactions with the various minor characters around him) and whose development is then displayed full-force by a flashback narrative (one which shows that development morally through his interactions with the people of Grand Bruan, in which his aggressive nature is challenged by -- and challenges -- people above his stature; we then get to see how his personality functions and why he is who he is). Eddie's voice is perhaps the strongest aspect of the novel next to the genre critiques, without which I think Bledsoe's tale would falter.

The core of Dark Jenny is an Arthurian legend twisted on its head, in part because the kingdom has descended into barbarism, which the opening of the novel indicates, but also because Bledsoe doesn't avoid breaking down the utopianism of feudal myths (often through humor) in order to show the dark inner workings of societies which are served by those myths. To put it another way: Bledsoe's novel, despite presenting itself as a fun, but dark comedy, is one which critically engages with the mythologies societies give to their citizens, showing the tenuous balance between maintaining order and manipulating one's subjects. (Bledsoe is engaging with the fundamental unknowability of utopia, which Fredric Jameson discusses throughout his writing, but specifically in Archaeologies of the Future). Bledsoe relays these critiques largely through humor, which is refreshing when one considers how many fantasy novels deconstruct the feudal utopia through elaborate political or metaphysical pessimisms.

Dark Jenny does have some issues, though, some of which will be the result of the reader's taste. While the novel contains within it a heavy social critique, its outer skin -- that of its comedic nature -- sometimes falls short from a language perspective. Eddie frequently uses euphemisms which are far too modern for the world he is playing with. Though Dark Jenny is set in a secondary world, I felt myself being drawn away from the story when phrases like "she's a knockout" appeared in the text. Many readers may not be bothered by such things, but I find that the language can only be modernized so much before the story's medieval settings starts to feel strained against an encroaching modernity.

There are also issues related to the Bledsoe's use of sexual relationships. I never got the sense that certain characters were reasonably attracted to one another (though there is a twist which explains why some characters are that way). In Eddie's case, there is a love interest, but it felt somewhat strained to me. I tend to prefer romantic relationships which develop realistically. Eddie's "charm," while usually evident in other avenues (such as his interactions with Kay), wasn't given enough space in the romantic subplot. There needed to be more interaction, because without it, I got the sense that the relationship did not contain the depth that Eddie frequently announced in the text (the relationship seemed to be about sex rather than some kind of attraction beyond the physical; the novel suggested that the relationship wasn't just physical).

The novel's structure is also interesting to note. I feel that some readers will have issues with Dark Jenny's jumps between the world's present and its distant past (at about the same frequency as The Princess Bride), but I found the structure enjoyable and fascinating. This means that the novel doesn't present itself in a straight way. Some details are revealed from the start, while others are left to be discovered -- by the Eddie's past self and by the reader. The structure works well with the mystery plot that begins the novel's present and past, and will certainly please fans of other genres than fantasy (mystery fans might find Dark Jenny enjoyable).

Overall, however, I greatly enjoyed the book. It's a dark comedy/fantasy romp with a strong lead character, plenty of mystery and twists, and a solid plot. I've been inundated with too many epic fantasy stories; receiving this book in the mail was a welcome shift from what I usually read in the genre. You should definitely give it a whirl.(less)

like · see review

May 26, 2012 David Caldwell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, noir, fantasy, series

The third installment in the wonderful Eddide LaCrosse series.It starts during a winter storm.When eddie has a coffin delivered by an old man, everyone wants to hear the story.It all is a result of a case Eddie worked near the beginning of his career as a sword jockey and how he became involved with King Marcus Drake and his Knights of the Double Tarn.

Basically a reinvention of the King Arthur legend, but with a mystery that only Eddie can hope to solve in time.Like the other Eddie stories,99% o...more

like · see review

May 31, 2011 Kristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

rating 3.5

originally posted: http://newborrowedused.blogspot.com/2...

This is the third book in this series, even though I have not read the first two, I never felt lost or like I was missing backstory. This book can and does stand on its own. This reminded my a lot of Arthurian tales but with some twists. The main character Eddie reminded me a lot of Dresden from Jim Butcher's series. They both are more gritty type characters that aren't afraid of getting dirty to get to the bottom of the case....more

like · see review

Dec 31, 2012 Jeffrey Grant rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Dec 23, 2011 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Was drawn to this book because the Jenny in the title caught my eye. Wasn't too keen on the first few chapters of the book. They weren't terrible, but I wasn't absorbed by the story, and I actually considered putting the book down and not continuing on. Plus I could see that it was a take on the King Arthur tale, and I wasn't particularly enthused about that either. The good news is that I did keep reading and the book did improve. The main character, Eddie LaCrosse, wound up being pretty likabl...more

like · see review

Nov 11, 2011 Ranting Dragon rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: caitrin

http://www.rantingdragon.com/dark-jen...

Dark Jenny is the third novel in the Eddie LaCrosse series by Alex Bledsoe. The series is a blend of fantasy and hard-boiled detective/noir genres, and both suffer a bit in the mix. Having not read the previous novels, I tried to give my disappointments with Dark Jenny a grain of salt. However, I believe that each novel in a series should be able to stand on its own at least as far as character, plot, and setting are concerned—especially in a series such a...more http://www.rantingdragon.com/dark-jen...

Dark Jenny is the third novel in the Eddie LaCrosse series by Alex Bledsoe. The series is a blend of fantasy and hard-boiled detective/noir genres, and both suffer a bit in the mix. Having not read the previous novels, I tried to give my disappointments with Dark Jenny a grain of salt. However, I believe that each novel in a series should be able to stand on its own at least as far as character, plot, and setting are concerned—especially in a series such as this, where each story is the main character solving a different mystery with no other overall plot to connect the novels. Dark Jenny was an average read and didn’t fall into the bad end of the spectrum, but was nowhere near the supremely good end, either. The novel was boring for me and easy to put down. I probably never would have finished it if I wasn’t reviewing it.

I guess you could call me a detective…
Eddie LaCrosse is a sword jockey—a sort of blade for hire who provides services for clients. The novel begins ten years in the future as a coffin arrives for LaCrosse while he is sitting in a tavern. He volunteers to tell the tale of the coffin to the other bar patrons as it relates to an old case. I suppose I should give LaCrosse a bit of leeway as it didn’t sound to me as if a sword jockey was really in the business of solving big mysteries. Usually they just investigated cheating husbands, as LaCrosse was doing just before the first murder and central mystery to the story occurred. However, if I’m going to read a detective novel, even one meshed with fantasy, I want a good mystery and this, alas, was not.

LaCrosse himself says towards the end that he should have understood much sooner. Given all the clues we learned as he did, I have to agree. Some things LaCrosse did made me want to bang my head on the nearest hard object. For example, he doesn’t tell the Lord—who he had traveled a long distance to see—that he had seen a great load of dust on his way, which signified a large army was headed towards the King—along the path the Lord would soon be traveling. His skills just weren’t up to par, even on such a so-so mystery, which makes it all worse. You want the detective to be smarter than you when you’re reading a detective story. I was looking for Sherlock in fantasy and ended up with Joe Schmo.

Where are we again?
Another, admittedly minor, annoyance was the use of names in the book. Gary, Ted, Liz, Angelina, and Bob… I’m no expert in medieval or renaissance names, but I do notice when names throw me out of a novel. These all seemed way too modern and not fantastical enough. Additionally, I felt like the author was trying too hard taking conventions that occur in detective noir and translate them to a fantasy setting. I felt like he sat down and brainstormed a bunch of ideas to blend the two genres and then used them without spending the time to really make them gel. For example, LaCrosses’ office conveniently has a large free-standing cupboard where he keeps his old case files on vellum sheets. Sounds suspiciously like a file cabinet to me. To others the blend of fantasy and noir may have worked, but for me it was definitely more of a hindrance. There was too much modern-day and not enough fantasy for me.

King Art… Marcus Drake and Co.
The case that LaCrosse relates is basically a parody of the classic King Arthur story. Bledsoe throws in some twists in an attempt to make the mystery somewhat fresh as we all know how Arthur’s story turns out. In fact, we all know how Marcus’ story turns out as well. The interest from the bar patrons in LaCrosse’s tale is not simply because of the casket but because of the legend of the country of Grand Bruan (sound familiar?) which has been famously embroiled in bloody civil war for the preceding ten years. They want to know from a reputable source what really happened the day that King Marcus died. I’ve never been much of an Arthurian literature fan, so I haven’t read the myriad books which retell his story, such as The Once and Future King by T.H. White or the Avalon series by Mercedes Lackey. I’m not sure if part of my disinterest in the novel was because of this, so I really can’t say whether Arthurian fans would enjoy the book.

Why should you read this book?
If you’re a fan of detectives or noir fiction and are interested in the blend of noir and fantasy, you might enjoy the series as well as this book. But if you prefer your fantasy a bit more fantastical, I would opt for another novel that might be more suited to your tastes. It’s like one of those summer reads, light and airy and quick but just kind of okay.(less)

like · see review

Dec 10, 2012 Donna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, fantasy

This caught my eye while browsing the library's shelves. Nothing in the blurb indicated that the story was a noir retread of Arthurian legend, so I was a little disappointed in that aspect of things. The protagonist is one of those hardboiled detective types, but the prose isn't punchy enough to keep him from feeling like a thin stereotype.

I might have finished the book despite those issues if it wasn't chock full of awkward sexist bullshit. The story begins with near-constant one liners (from...more

like · see review

May 28, 2011 Mel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eddie LaCrosse is a man who works hard to be fair--he's a sword-for-hire detective. And since he tells his story as a frame narrative, the technique makes for an intriguing first person read. I really enjoyed Eddie's voice throughout the novel--wry, but matter-of-fact, pointed, somewhat reminiscent of Sandtiger in Jennifer Roberson's Sword series. However, what I didn't expect was the connection between this novel and Arthurian legend. While not a strict retelling, it's obvious Bledsoe drew on t...more

like · see review

Aug 04, 2012 Andy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was the best book yet! When Eddie LaCrosse is delivered coffin in the middle of a snowstorm all the locals wonder who is inside and why their remains are delivered to LaCrosse. They all gather in Angelina's tavern as Eddie starts to recount a case from before he came to town and how he was coerced into investigating a plot to upset and overthrow the king and queen of the peaceful island nation of Grand Braun.

Many of the elements of this story tied closely to the Arthurian legends, but I did...more

like · see review

Apr 20, 2012 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: action, adventure, black-humour, conspiracy, crime, detective, fantasy, mystery, male-author, 2010s, 2011

The third book in the Eddie LaCrosse series is a prequel of sorts with Eddie telling the story of events set before the first two books. This book brought the series back to the detective style of the first book and was better for it. Eddie once again on a proper, paid job to discover the truth through his unique methods.

It brought the mystery and intrigue back the previous book was missing. Here Eddie working his way around the land in his youth is in an unfortunate place at an unfortunate time...more

like 3 likes · see review

Apr 13, 2012 Dawn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2012

It was really difficult to decide how to rate this one. I was so annoyed with it most of the time I was reading it. The story and the way the characters behaved and reacted to situations just seemed so utterly unrealistic, it had me rolling my eyes so much that it made me dizzy. But in spite of that.. I felt compelled to keep reading. I would put it down, but then pick it back up because I wanted to know what would happen next. I even ended up staying up a little later than usual so I could fini...more

like · see review

Sep 07, 2011 Synobal rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is Alex Bledsoe's spinning his own 'authorian' myth for Eddie Lacrosse's setting. The framing device used is pretty interesting and has a purpose. The characters are interesting and all properly flawed sometimes too deeply so that Eddie feels like the only honest character. I am still concerned about Mr. Bledsoe's lack of any real females who are more than Damsels or Victims. But I guess in this one a couple get cast in the villain role though they don't really get much scene time or fleshi...more

like · see review

Apr 16, 2011 Hobart rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

I'll be honest with you, I have only the vaguest of memory of what actually happened in the first Eddie LaCrosse novel (The Sword-Edged Blonde), and only somewhat better recall about the second (Burn Me Deadly). That's a reflection on the amount of stuff I've read in that time, and is in no way a reflection on Bledsoe. I do have a very clear recollection about what both books told me about Alex Bledsoe's talent and that I enjoyed them a lot. I'm equally certain that Dark Jenny won't suffer from...more I'll be honest with you, I have only the vaguest of memory of what actually happened in the first Eddie LaCrosse novel (The Sword-Edged Blonde), and only somewhat better recall about the second (Burn Me Deadly). That's a reflection on the amount of stuff I've read in that time, and is in no way a reflection on Bledsoe. I do have a very clear recollection about what both books told me about Alex Bledsoe's talent and that I enjoyed them a lot. I'm equally certain that Dark Jenny won't suffer from that same fading from memory/excuse to reread them. This one is gonna stay with me for awhile.

Essentially, this book is a variation of an Arthurian story--ideal king, queen rumored to be less than ideal, noble knight corps with a few rotten apples thrown in, a wizard figure, wicked half-sister, and a whole lotta intrigue--with a few unique twists of Bledsoe's own thrown in for good measure. Not a sour note to be found here--some notes that were hard to listen to, sure, but...okay, there's a metaphor that went awry. I was trying to say that yes, there were things that were less pleasant than others--this book goes to some dark, nasty places--but it all worked well.

We get this Arthurian tale via an extended flashback--in the middle of a nasty winter storm, with nothing else to occupy the attention of his neighbors, Eddie receives an interesting package. One so interesting, there has to be a great tale that goes along with it--which he ends up telling to the crowd at his favorite tavern (with only the tiniest of breaks to remind us that this is all in Eddie's past). By making this all an extended flashback, Bledsoe is able to give us a slightly different version of Eddie--one on the way to being the guy we've seen in the last two books. It also gives him the excuse to have a great femme fatale to grab Eddie's attention without having to write around his lovely lady.

A great, riveting fantasy noir. Can't wait for the next one already. A decent jumping on point for those new to the series, and a great third installment for those who've been around for awhile.(less)

like · see review

Mar 28, 2012 Ashley E rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, owned

Alex Bledsoe writes an amazing new twist to the classic tragedy of Arthur and Guinevere in the latest Eddie LaCrosse novel. When a mysterious coffin is delivered to the tavern housing Eddie's office, Eddie tells the true tale of what happened on the island of Grand Bruan seven years ago when the happy peace established by King Marcus collapsed. The legends told since then haven't quite gotten it right, and Eddie just might be the only one still alive who knows the truth... even if it's not so gl...more

like · see review

Jun 15, 2011 Deborah Blake rated it 5 of 5 stars

Alex Bledsoe is one of my favorite authors, and I love his Eddie LaCrosse books most of all. The combination of sword and sorcery fantasy and noir detective novel is one of the most original, clever things I have ever seen, and Bledsoe pulls it off with panache and wit.

Eddie LaCrosse is a sword-jockey for hire and the books follow his various adventures. But the tale told on a winter's day of his travels years before to the island kingdom of Grand Braun hold an even more unusual theme than most....more

like · see review

Oct 19, 2012 Scotchneat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, dark-professions, mystery

This time, LaCrosse is at the wrong place at the right time, once they figure out he's not an assassin.

The kingdom of Grand Braun is a kind of camelot with the swishy King and beautiful queen Jennifer, until she is accused of adultery and murder.

It's up to Eddie to figure out what the real story is, and to do that, he ends up on an adventure to the strange ends of the kingdom. All the while, he has people trying to kill him and a real problem with his sword-hand.

There's something about the LaCr...more

like · see review

Mar 24, 2011 Jeremiah Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It was a good blend of an Arthurian style legend and a mystery novel. I haven't read any of the other books in the series, but I certainly will now.
The main character is very well done and I liked how cynical he is. I also like how the book is in the first person, which is a rarity in a fantasy novel.
The only negative thing I can say about the book is that it felt like two different books. The beginning and the end read like a good mystery, but the middle is just a ba...more

like · see review

Jan 22, 2013 Fred Fisher rated it 4 of 5 stars

I listened to the audio book version of this at work. I kind of wondered about it until I realized that Bledsoe has combined alt. Universe fantasy with 40's and 50's style PI fiction. I found it to be very clever and enjoyed listening to it. I was a bit disappointed at the ending where the mystery was quickly summed up and the various parts brought together. I guess it's the style. Books that end that quickly do bother me somewhat. I'd rather the narrative followed more naturally to it's conclus...more

like · see review

Jan 05, 2013 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, series

Read The Sword-Edged Blonde and Burn Me Deadly first. Fun mash-up of hardboiled detective (think Philip Marlowe) transposed into a generic swords-and-sorcery milieu. Fast and easy read. First in the series got a fourth star for originality; this one isn't worse, just more of the same.

like · see review

Mar 03, 2012 Taracuda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have never liked Arthurian legend. Ever.

The impending tragedy (and the frequent stupid decisions that led to it) frustate me--as does the fact that the dream is never realized, something I didn't realize until I read this book. I really appreciated Alex Bledsoe's take on the whole hypothetical mess.

I like Eddie LaCross, and his adventure through the legend is one of the best versions I've encountered. The book worked very well as a stand-alone novel, and I'm ready to go back and read the fir...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 28 29 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (10)

More editions...

Genres

Fantasy

57 users

Mystery

20 users

Mystery > Detective

4 users

Mystery > Noir

3 users

Fantasy > Magic

3 users

Adventure

3 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

3 users

Mystery > Crime

2 users

Fantasy > Epic Fantasy

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Alex Bledsoe

I grew up in west Tennessee an hour north of Graceland (home of Elvis) and twenty minutes from Nutbush (home of Tina Turner). I've been a reporter, editor, photographer and door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. I now live in a big yellow house in Wisconsin, write before six in the morning and try to teach my two sons to act like they've been to town before.

My latest Eddie LaCrosse novel, Wake of...more

More about Alex Bledsoe...

Books by Alex Bledsoe

The Sword-Edged Blonde (Eddie LaCrosse, #1)

Wake of the Bloody Angel (Eddie LaCrosse #4)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Dark Jenny

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Dark Jenny
avg rating	preview: Dark Jenny Goodreads rating: 3.71 (391 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8684873-dark-jenny?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312051949l/8684873.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8684873-dark-jenny?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe[/url]

Dark Jenny (Eddie LaCrosse #3)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website