Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead (Claire DeWitt Mysteries, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 26, 2013 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, quirky, southern, private-detectives

It's very difficult to do this book justice in a review - it simply operates under a completely distinct and somewhat weird logic all its own, and as such resists easy classification. What Gran achieves with it, though, is an incredibly vivid and unstinting portrait of post-Katrina New Orleans and its inhabitants. Nothing is easy in a devastated city, but Gran's world will draw you in. ...more

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Jun 06, 2011 Tony rated it really liked it

Shelves: novels

If you like your crime fiction, or heck, just your regular fiction, a little offbeat and dark -- this is well worth trying. The titular Claire is the world's foremost private detective and we meet her in 2007 New Orleans at the start of a new case. The nephew of a much-liked prosecutor has hired her to find out what happened to his uncle, who went missing during the post-Katrina flooding. The case is a bit of an uneasy homecoming for Claire -- she used to live in New Orleans, but left following If you like your crime fiction, or heck, just your regular fiction, a little offbeat and dark -- this is well worth trying. The titular Claire is the world's foremost private detective and we meet her in 2007 New Orleans at the start of a new case. The nephew of a much-liked prosecutor has hired her to find out what happened to his uncle, who went missing during the post-Katrina flooding. The case is a bit of an uneasy homecoming for Claire -- she used to live in New Orleans, but left following the murder of her mentor several years ago.

Claire is a compelling, but very damaged protagonist, and definitely not your typical fictional detective. Just to give a sense of her, there's a brief throwaway line in the first third of of the book in which she mentions off-handedly that she's shot four people, killed two -- "none in self-defense." No further explanation given (nor necessary). She's also a devotee of the mysterious French detective Silette and his enigmatic treatise "Detection". She uses the I-Ching, takes whatever narcotics are at hand, follows hunches based on dreams, lies, cheats, steals, and is generally unstable.

The book tacks back and forth between Claire's investigation and glimpses into her messy past. Unlike most conventional crime stories, it's hard to tell what's relevant to the investigation and what isn't. There's a fair amount of time spent detailing her girlhood friendship with two other girls in New York, and the mysterious disappearance of one of them when they were teenagers some twenty years ago -- and you'll have to read to the end to learn if this have anything to do with the main plotline. Missing people are a recurring theme in the book, and creates a core of sorrow to the story.

The book also has a lot to say and show about post-Katrina New Orleans. Both the city and Claire are suffering from what might be considered post-traumatic stress disorder, and the pain of this contrasts with the deadpan prose and dialogue. The author lived through the floods, and the book doesn't shirk from grim and heartrending descriptions of what happened during and after the flooding. It's not a happy book, but it is one well worth reading by anyone with an interest in New Orleans, or if you like interesting female protagonists. ...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Janet Whalen rated it really liked it

Complete bizzaro whack mess with your head would make more sense f*&ked up on whatever book. Loved it, almost got lost in it, recovered. Hated it. Stupid confusing fantastic horrible great book. I need more stars to work with. Agh!

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Jan 22, 2012 Agatha Donkar Lund rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2012, fiction, mystery

This just staggered me; no one's likeable, the whole thing is heartbreaking and awful, and I fucking adored it. The writing is otherworldly. ...more

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Feb 06, 2015 Megan rated it really liked it

The conceit for this book is good. It drew me into the story. I ... well, I didn't *like* the main character, but I enjoyed her as a character, if that made sense. The mystery was everything a mystery ought to be--mysterious, with enough red herrings and with a very satisfying conclusion that followed logically from all the events that had unfolded through the story. But as I read it, I couldn't help but feel that the premise would wear thin through a series. Which means that I really might have ...more

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