Prudence Couldn't Swim

by James Kilgore

Set in Oakland, California, white ex-convict Cal Winter returns home one day to find his gorgeous, young, black wife, Prudence, drowned in the swimming pool. Prudence couldn’t swim, and Cal concludes she didn’t go in the water willingly. Though theirs was a marriage of convenience, he takes the murder personally. Along with his former prison inmate, Red Eye, Cal sets out to find out who did Prudence in. His convoluted and often darkly humorous journey takes him deep into the world of the sexual urges of the rich and powerful and gradually reveals the many layers of his wife's complex identity. While doing so, Cal and Red Eye must confront their own racially charged pasts that still haunt them if the killer is to be caught.

Genres: Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2011

Reviews

[Candis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling characters, solid whodoneit, strong writing. Couldn't ask for much more!

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

We partly chose this for Switchblade because of who the author is -- ex-member of the SLA, a fugitive from the FBI for over 20 years, and while on the 'run' a professor in South Africa. His life is the very stuff of noir, so we figured anything he wrote would be fascinating for those reasons. Luckily it was also a most enjoyable book, with a couple of unforgettable characters: Cal the harelipped ex-con fueled pretty much exclusively on wild turkey and his sometimes partner-in-crime Red Eye, hotdog eating champion. They stumble and fall repeatedly and often hilariously in this novel as they try to find the killer of Cal's trophy wife Prudence. It also explores the distances not just between Black and white, but also between African and American lives of hardship. There are a few places where Mandisa (a black South African friend to Prudence), resets the whole perspective with just one laconic comment. I loved that, and I quite loved her. Cal tries to understand it and essentially fails, but the reader is comfortably smarter than he is. Altogether a great read that was a pleasure to edit.

[Marc Lucke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea of Switchblade Press: noir fiction from an alternative press? I'm in! Prudence Couldn't Swim is a good example of what to expect from this imprint: decent writing with a chocolate-and-peanut-butter feel to the mix of pulpy potboilder and cultural criticism.

Although it sometimes reveled too much in the melodrama of its genre, the story still satisfied and I'd be willing to check out more of Kilgore's fiction.

[Renee Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an awesome book. I have never read a book by an author that was a fugitive for 27 years and in prison. He has a very unique writing style and I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. It was a short, easy read and highly entertaining. Look forward to more books by this author.

[Rieta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very unique situation and characters. I seriously wavered between 3 and 4 stars because the characters themselves I had such a tough time relating to but a good story. Probably more realistic than I might otherwise choose.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time.