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The Dirty Dog Saloon
What appears to be the random street killing of Jasper Londsberry leads to the surprising revelation that he left the bulk of his large estate to a beautiful young woman whom he scarcely knew. All this, and a rapidly following chain of criminal and violent events, mystifies and disorients Josie Vance, Jasper's lifelong secretary and confidant. As the daily routines of a life spent working for Jasper and his father disintegrate around her, Josie discovers that she did not know Jasper or his family and associates as well as she thought she did. From her insider vantage point of the Londsberry businesses and of Jasper's wealthy friends and drinking companions, Josie follows the tangled chain of events to their surprising and fully motivated denoument.
252 pages, Paperback
First published December 13, 2011
6 people want to read
About the author
Cherokee Randolph
5 books9 followersMy husband and I (both retired) live in an old adobe house just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. We pass our time taking care of plants and fruit trees, in a slow, leisurely study of the Russian language, and in reading and writing books. Our family now consists of three pampered felines. We lost the dog we loved more than any other we have owned (a 13 year old hybrid wolf) last year and have not had the heart to try to replace him.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 28, 2013
The Dirty Dog Saloon comes as a great surprise to me because one does not come across this style of writing anymore. A style of writing which harks back to the fifties and sixties, when authors kept their audiences alive, more with their ‘quality’ of writing and the ‘plots’, were weaved skillfully through the everyday lives of the people and society at large. Completely different to what the majority of the readers today pick up a book for; which is to be entertained through dollops of adrenaline, blood and gore, fast chases and a transparent face of evil.
Crudely, I suppose you could categorize Dirty Dog Saloon as a ‘whodunit’. But this book is far more, it peels away the layers of wallpaper thin outward manifestations of the lives people lead.
It takes the murder of the sole benefactor of the town, to expose their ‘hollow’ lives, which they choose to lead in a blinkered manner. Hopelessly trying to be comfortable within the trappings of wealth, retreating behind the façade of incongruously built opulent houses, flashy cars, failed marriages and worse- hopeless offsprings.
The desperation of the characters in the story, pushes them to the ‘brink’, prompting incidents of arson and more killing. A simple yet superb portrayal of the court scenes, lifts the veil on the motives.
This book epitomizes all that is wrong with modern society, while emphasizing on the ‘solid’ values of ordinary people who may appear down to earth and even ‘dowdy’ at times. But in the end, it is the ‘values’ which these seemingly insignificant characters hold on to, which eventually helps them to stand the test of time.
Crudely, I suppose you could categorize Dirty Dog Saloon as a ‘whodunit’. But this book is far more, it peels away the layers of wallpaper thin outward manifestations of the lives people lead.
It takes the murder of the sole benefactor of the town, to expose their ‘hollow’ lives, which they choose to lead in a blinkered manner. Hopelessly trying to be comfortable within the trappings of wealth, retreating behind the façade of incongruously built opulent houses, flashy cars, failed marriages and worse- hopeless offsprings.
The desperation of the characters in the story, pushes them to the ‘brink’, prompting incidents of arson and more killing. A simple yet superb portrayal of the court scenes, lifts the veil on the motives.
This book epitomizes all that is wrong with modern society, while emphasizing on the ‘solid’ values of ordinary people who may appear down to earth and even ‘dowdy’ at times. But in the end, it is the ‘values’ which these seemingly insignificant characters hold on to, which eventually helps them to stand the test of time.
June 1, 2013
Getting bogged down while handling `back-story' can cripple a great who-dun-it. Cherokee Randolf manages the introduction and development of character histories beautifully with humor and tact. The vernacular melds seamlessly with the plot. A great summer read. The Dirty Dog Saloon lets you into the lives of the people of a small-town village inside a big city. The narrative voice is constant and realistic. Though the book slowed down somewhat for me in the buildup toward the climax, this pace reflected the tempo of life of the patrons of the saloon. The story lulls the reader into predictable mode, then delivers a satisfying conclusion. Any mystery lover will while away the hours reading this beautifully-edited, clearly-written story. There is a bit of the magic of The Maltese Falcon here, despite the female narrator. I look forward to more from this writer after this debut novel.
December 22, 2012
In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Josie and her friends are regulars at The Dirty Dog Saloon, and being the observant sort, she knows a lot about what’s going on in their lives, so she has a lot to think about when they start dying unexpectedly and violently. Her rich boss, Jasper Londesberry, is the first to go, and naturally, there are suspects galore for that one, especially after his will is read. Then the mystery takes more twists as someone else connected to Jasper is killed.
The good:
The author, using Josie’s voice as an experienced, discreet narrator, describes interactions that uncover lots of clever plotting and she successfully develops strong characters that make plausible suspects – rational suspects, not off-the-wall, huge surprise suspects – as the mystery unfolds. I especially enjoyed the author’s use of detailed financial manipulations to explain the suspects’ motivation, and there are a few things I learned more about, which is always a bonus.
The characters are plentiful and although always integrated enough to serve to advance the story or affect Josie’s mood in varying ways, there is enough of interest going on with some of the peripheral characters that I wouldn’t be surprised to find a sequel.
The bad:
Anything I criticize here is trivial because The Dirty Dog Saloon is impeccably edited, but there’s a minor flaw that appears to be common to beginning novelists, and that’s the under use of contractions. For example: “That is what I told myself.” That and a slight tendency to wordiness (“I searched for her with my eyes…”) are the only stylistic flaws I noticed, and they’re very minor distractions.
Overall, I recommend The Dirty Dog Saloon to readers who enjoy a good, entertaining mystery that does just what a good mystery is supposed to do: keep them guessing.
Josie and her friends are regulars at The Dirty Dog Saloon, and being the observant sort, she knows a lot about what’s going on in their lives, so she has a lot to think about when they start dying unexpectedly and violently. Her rich boss, Jasper Londesberry, is the first to go, and naturally, there are suspects galore for that one, especially after his will is read. Then the mystery takes more twists as someone else connected to Jasper is killed.
The good:
The author, using Josie’s voice as an experienced, discreet narrator, describes interactions that uncover lots of clever plotting and she successfully develops strong characters that make plausible suspects – rational suspects, not off-the-wall, huge surprise suspects – as the mystery unfolds. I especially enjoyed the author’s use of detailed financial manipulations to explain the suspects’ motivation, and there are a few things I learned more about, which is always a bonus.
The characters are plentiful and although always integrated enough to serve to advance the story or affect Josie’s mood in varying ways, there is enough of interest going on with some of the peripheral characters that I wouldn’t be surprised to find a sequel.
The bad:
Anything I criticize here is trivial because The Dirty Dog Saloon is impeccably edited, but there’s a minor flaw that appears to be common to beginning novelists, and that’s the under use of contractions. For example: “That is what I told myself.” That and a slight tendency to wordiness (“I searched for her with my eyes…”) are the only stylistic flaws I noticed, and they’re very minor distractions.
Overall, I recommend The Dirty Dog Saloon to readers who enjoy a good, entertaining mystery that does just what a good mystery is supposed to do: keep them guessing.
July 23, 2013
The Dirty Dog Saloon is a clever mystery with (mostly) likable characters and a tight, interesting plot. I'm not normally a huge fan of first-person writing, nor of mysteries, but Randolph pulled off both very deftly. Josie, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, at first seems a little aloof but you quickly grow to like and respect the character. Probably my favorite "character," however, is the saloon itself. Much like Cheers, the Dirty Dog Saloon is the bar where everybody knows your name. I'll look forward to reading more from Randolph in the future.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest, non-reciprocal review.
February 3, 2013
The scenes from this book reminded me of the live mystery dinner shows where they introduce you to all of the characters, then the murder happens quickly, and then you learn a possible motive behind each of the characters who have now turned into suspects, and then you spend a lot of time guessing who might have done it. At these dinner shows, I am intrigued as an observer but really want to be more engaged with what is going on before my eyes. I really liked the premise of this book and the writing and the character development but wanted to be less of an observer and more in the Dirty Dog Saloon with them.
The narrator, Josie Vance, is a believable personality and spends a great deal of energy protecting her former boss who has been murdered. She is the observer and like being at the dinner show, I want to her to get more engaged and bring us into the story. Although all of the characters are colorful and there are some interesting twists in the plot (arson, robbery), I would have liked it to move along more quickly. Still, it is a good read. I would have given it 3.5 stars if there was a half rating scale, especially because the writing is very good.
The narrator, Josie Vance, is a believable personality and spends a great deal of energy protecting her former boss who has been murdered. She is the observer and like being at the dinner show, I want to her to get more engaged and bring us into the story. Although all of the characters are colorful and there are some interesting twists in the plot (arson, robbery), I would have liked it to move along more quickly. Still, it is a good read. I would have given it 3.5 stars if there was a half rating scale, especially because the writing is very good.
February 5, 2013
I think the basic idea behind the plot of this book was solid, but the story as written, moved slowly and held little tension or suspense.
Quite a few of the descriptions, conversations and explanations seemed overlong or were repeated when a simple sentence or two would have been much more effective in moving the story along and building tension. Josie, who is the main character / narrator, tells us what is going on without much emotion or personal insight. I wished there had been more suspense and that Josie's character had been fleshed out.
Quite a few of the descriptions, conversations and explanations seemed overlong or were repeated when a simple sentence or two would have been much more effective in moving the story along and building tension. Josie, who is the main character / narrator, tells us what is going on without much emotion or personal insight. I wished there had been more suspense and that Josie's character had been fleshed out.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews