The Monkey’s Raincoat

The Monkey’s Raincoat (1987) Robert Crais

Elvis Cole went to war, then he came back to the US and was a security guard for awhile, and then he became a private investigator, which is what he when Janet Simon drags her friend Ellen Lang into his office. Her husband and son have disappeared, and Ellen wants her son back. Unfortunately, the situation is not quite as it appears at first, and nothing seems to turn out well for anyone involved.

I did enjoy the story, although at times it felt an awful lot like a Spenser book. Mind you, I love Spenser, so that’s a good comparison, but he also needs his own voice and feel. Which he did have most of the time, but not enough that I didn’t occasionally make comparisons.

However, this is the first book in a series that has gone on for quite awhile, and the first book in a detective series seems to be where the author is getting a feel for the characters so I’m assuming those kinks are worked out relatively quickly (after all, Spenser in The Godwulf Manuscrpit is little like the Spenser of later books).

Of course there was action. And there was plenty of boinking, and I have to admit the boinking was a bit of an issue at times. I kept thinking, “Really? You really think she’d boink him right then?” But I got over it. The book was written in the late 80s after all.

So I definitely want to read more of the series–if nothing else a good hard boiled mystery is a nice romp away from reality.
Rating: 6/10

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