Badger Game

Thomas Curry and Sandrine Cadette Curry #1

by Michael Bowen

Ex-lawyer Thomas Andrew Curry and Sandrine Cadette--romatic sparring partners and occasional sleuths--go into action when an avant-garde painting and their painter-client's lawsuit against a rival lead to murder, in a mystery set in 1962 New York

Genres: Mystery

298 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Chazzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas Andrew Curry is under a grand jury investigation about stock manipulation. A past co-worker, Katherine Colleen Ferguson, had warned him about it but she couldn't give him any more info as she had passed after hitting the sidewalks of New York from 128 straight up. Next, Sandrine Cadette and Thomas find artist Harrison Tyler dead in his garret studio and a controversial painting viciously slashed. It looks like Art and High Finance have collided.

Set in 1962 in the heart of New York, it is a time of dirty politics, nasty little wars, JFK, fashion changes and changing viewpoints on politics. Thomas and Sandrine have experienced the world of foreign intrigue early in life and now find themselves on home soil trying to make sense of these two murders and their connections.

The New York background supplies brassy cabbies, seedy joints, fist-fights, office buildings and clues - real and red herrings - that give the plot action. Reminiscent of Nick and Nora Charles (Dashiell Hammett), or Pam and Jerry North (Frances and Richard Lockridge) with a humourous and snappy style, the characters' personalities move the story along while adding entertainment to their search for the answers during this classic time.

A fun read set in the Mad Men era.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attorney Michael Bowen has written three mystery series. The only things they have in common are clever plots, scintillating dialogue, good writing, and interesting characters. It has always puzzled me that they are not more popular. In this book, set in 1962, Thomas Andrew Curry, who has ceased to practice law because he is reluctant to be pressured about his colorful past, is asked to help an artist avoid being sued. When the artist dies suddenly, Thomas and Sandrine Cadette, the lovely Frenchman whose life he saved in Algeria, find that he was curiously involved with a lawyer who was a classmate of Thomas's--and who is also dead. And she, in turn, was involved with a Grand Jury investigation that Thomas fears is directed against him.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Am Glad I Read This Unique Story

Michael Bowen's Badger Game is a very different approach in the mystery genre. It did take a few chapters for me to get use to his writing style, but, once I did, I really enjoyed the story and plot development. The story is related by one of the main characters after the fact and perhaps when he is much older in life. I am usually able to figure out the climax of the plot in most novels, but not this time. The twists in the plotline kept me very intrigued and kept me analyzing the situation as I unsuccessfully tried to solve the legal entanglement. I am very glad that I read Badger Games and highly recommend it.