Anything Short of Murder cover art

Anything Short of Murder

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Anything Short of Murder

By: Tony Piazza
Narrated by: James Romick
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About this listen

If it's anything short of murder, Logan's interested! The minute the dame walked up to Logan, he smelled trouble. A real looker, with tons of money and a daddy who liked to spoil her. She asked him to investigate a threatening note whose message was clear: Keep your mouth shut or die.

The first day on the job its fatal warning comes true, and the woman is murdered, or so it seems. Very shortly he discovers that it wasn't the woman at all but someone who looked very much like her. Twists and turns abound as Logan's investigation leads him through a labyrinth of blackmail, mobs, and of course murder!

Anything Short of Murder is a mystery written in the style of the pulp detective thrillers of the 1930s. It follows the investigation of a former LAPD cop who sets up shop in Hollywood during its golden era, when movies began to talk and studio heads were kings.

©2010 Tony Piazza (P)2015 Tony Piazza Modern Detectives Mystery Fiction Exciting Suspense

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In a word this is rubbish. Bad grammar in direct speech can be put down to inarticulate characters but it is so bad in the narrative it suggest a barely literate author. The writer is a former bit part/stand-in actor in American films and TV shows of the 1970s, and although I haven't looked at his credits I can only assume one of them was Quincy. That show has always been my bench mark for the worst possible 'explain the plot' wrap-ups. The denouement of this book is one of the longest and most convoluted I have ever read or heard. It is written in the form of the classic 1930's 'whodunnit' stage play, and smacks of an understudy being given his chance in the spotlight and refusing to relinquish the stage. The character even says as much at times.

The narrator's attempts at accents, particularly that of the 'Oirish' cop would normally be enough for me to stop listening and delete, but I found it was so funny I kept going just to hear what dialect he would use next. He seems to have attempted all counties of Ireland, north and south of the border, most of the western isles of Scotland, a touch of Geordie, definite hints of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, and at times lapsing into Nigerian. The laughs I got from that are the only things stopping me returning this for a refund.

Laughable

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An okay book, but one which long before the end I had started to find irritating.

Hollywood, 30s, films, a PI, threats, deaths, blackmail, doppelgangers - multiple, an Irish cop, a dual investigation, boredom, annoyance, a headache, bleeding ears, the end, relief.

I'm probably being overly harsh and maybe it's me and not the book, but I just didn't vibe any of the characters, other than the Irish cop who seemed quite happy to let Logan, our PI and main character do most of the heavy lifting here. I wasn't that interested in the case, or the victim(s), ergo the investigation and the outcome.

It's quite a busy book with a lot happening but none of it was particularly exciting for me. The writing is okay and captures the mood of the time. The pace is alright and I've undoubtedly read books that I've enjoyed less, I just couldn't get on with the main man.

The final reveal where Logan sits all the players - cops, suspects, victims and witnesses and pontificates endlessly showing them all what a clever so and so he is was the final straw for me. As he makes the big reveal, someone grabs a gun and unloads, unfortunately not at Logan. It's been a long while since I read a book where the protagonist has such a high opinion of himself. Pity he wasn't made of chocolate, as he could have eaten himself in chapter one and spared me all that followed.

2 from 5

Read - (listened to) October, 2020
Published - 2010
Page count - 293 (7 hrs 1 min)
Source - Audible purchase
Format - Audible

I've read worse, but didn't especially enjoy it.

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