Straight No Chaser: A Crang Mystery

A Crang Mystery #2

by Jack Batten

Hardcover First Edition of "Straight No Chaser" ....by Jack Batten...Copyright 1989 ...Published by Macmillan of Canada....Toronto....310 pages...8vo.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Canada

310 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Jack Batten, after a brief and unhappy career as a lawyer, has been a very happy freelance writer for many years. The author of thirty-five books, Batten writes the weekly Whodunnit column in the Toronto Star, has reviewed jazz for the Globe and Mail, and has reviewed movies on CBC Radio for twenty-five years. He has written over thirty books on subjects that include biography, crime fiction, law and court cases, and sports. Not surprisingly, jazz, movies, and crime turn up frequently in Crang’s life. He lives in Toronto.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The plot moves along nicely and I like protagonist/narrator, Crang (of seemingly no first name). I will read the next book in this series.

[Marnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jack Batten's series.

[Mj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a light read and enjoyable read and having rated Crang Played the Ace, the first book in the Crang Mystery Series 4 stars, I decided to read Book 2 – Straight No Chaser.

It had the same principal character – Crang, a lawyer specializing in fraud, who loves vodka and jazz, who wisecracks constantly and seems to have lots of chutzpah and absolutely no fear. His girlfriend is a movie critic and the locale is Toronto, a city I’m familiar with.

Batten’s prose flows well and introduced me to a number of new words – in an interesting not hoity toity way. Its story has many references to jazz and movies and is filled with fun and humour. Given the wonderful locale, what more could I ask for?

Straight No Chaser delivered a fun mystery that included both humour and suspense and an ensemble cast of characters. While not as funny and keeping me on the edge of my seat as Book One, Straight No Chaser was enjoyable and exactly what I was looking for – a fun, refreshing and can’t figure it out until the end read.

I’m rating Straight No Chaser 3 stars which is average for me because it was exactly what I was looking to read. It didn’t disappoint and didn’t excel and provided lots of fun and interest.

[donna_ehm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I drifted away from this about the three-quarter mark and kind of skimmed the last bit. Batten put the work in and came up with a suitably tangled plot but ultimately it was a shell game and I just didn't care which cup had the ball under it when it all came to an end.

I will say that I thought Big Bam was a great character. He had a unique voice and presence, and popped right up in my imagination from the minute he turned up in the story. I don't know if he'll turn up again in the series but I'll be glad if he does. For a drug-dealing gangster and killer, he was a hoot.

[Saoirse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still can't decide if I like this series or not. Crang may be starting to grow on me a bit. But only a bit. He's just too... too Canadian? No, that's not quite right. Maybe he's not Canadian enough. Not sure. I'll have to think on that a while. Straight, No Chaser does have a pretty good plot. There's enough suspense to keep you intersted - maybe only just enough, but it's not a bad read. I'll be keeping my eyes open for followups.

[Russ Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the plot, but as a bonus, there were many mentions of people and places I enjoyed at the time (still miss you, Peter Gzowski). Enjoyed the creative use of soon-to-be gone TTC gates to disable a malefactor.

Worth the read.

[Eric Aubin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok read. Not much in the way of suspense and the arch villain is way too chatty to be threatening but the 1980's Toronto scenes brought back fond memories of when we younger and lived in the area.