Femme by Bill PronziniMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is the second Bill Pronzini book I've taken out of the library. The first -- I think it was Betrayers was a really enjoyable, tightly written mystery/thriller that left me wanting to read more.
The book was part of Pronzini's "Nameless Detective Agency" series. It's one of the only times I've seen detective literature deal with an agency of several detectives instead of the traditional solitary private-dick. Different chapters take different detectives as their point-of-view character, sometimes weaving back and forth between different cases that have little or nothing to do with each other. So the book came out feeling like a really well-written television serial, the kind that pulls you in and makes you want to keep watching.
Unfortunately, Femme seems to be where the series jumps the shark. It's shorter. It only focuses on two point-of-view characters, who are both working the same case -- a case either one of them should have been able to handle on his own. It builds up a lot at the beginning but never quite delivers on its promises.
The previous book I'd read was good enough that I'll give Pronzini, and his "Nameless Detective" series, another chance. But if I'd started with Femme, I can't say that I would have.
View all my reviews
