This is Doolittle's second novel, after the enjoyable "Dirt."
The action is set in southern California, with the Santa Ana winds providing fans for the flames of sporadic wild fires. A very satisfying mystery - a body discovered in the brush in the path of the flames, ostensibly a traffic accident, is identified as a murder victim. His tissues, blood, and brain matter are found in the trunk of his car, making it impossible for him to have driven off the cliff.
Acting on a tip, police visit a beach house where Andrew Kindler is staying. From here, Doolittle begins a wonderful study of the consequences of the choices we all make in life. For reasons he has difficulty articulating, Kindler has left his life in the Eastern US, and is pondering the options open to him now. A parade of uninvited persons begins to show up at his beach house, drawing him unwillingly into the mystery of the dead man near the damaged car.
Doolittle holds a wicked mirror up to some California stereotypes, creates a very appealing group of other characters - a hard working police detective, the owner of a chain of exercise studios, a lovely young woman yearning for news of her twin brother, and assorted cousins, evidence technicians, and security guards.
Don't miss this one! Doolittle is an author to watch!
The action is set in southern California, with the Santa Ana winds providing fans for the flames of sporadic wild fires. A very satisfying mystery - a body discovered in the brush in the path of the flames, ostensibly a traffic accident, is identified as a murder victim. His tissues, blood, and brain matter are found in the trunk of his car, making it impossible for him to have driven off the cliff.
Acting on a tip, police visit a beach house where Andrew Kindler is staying. From here, Doolittle begins a wonderful study of the consequences of the choices we all make in life. For reasons he has difficulty articulating, Kindler has left his life in the Eastern US, and is pondering the options open to him now. A parade of uninvited persons begins to show up at his beach house, drawing him unwillingly into the mystery of the dead man near the damaged car.
Doolittle holds a wicked mirror up to some California stereotypes, creates a very appealing group of other characters - a hard working police detective, the owner of a chain of exercise studios, a lovely young woman yearning for news of her twin brother, and assorted cousins, evidence technicians, and security guards.
Don't miss this one! Doolittle is an author to watch!
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