#17 Right as Rain, by George Pelecanos (Orion)

Derek Strange is back (as is this blog), but it’s 30-odd years (not about a month) after I first encountered him in Hard Revolution, and now he’s a private investigator rather than a cop (I’m still a journalist, just in case you were wondering).

To the book - which I finished at the start of the month, but have only just got around to writing about. Which isn’t to say I enjoyed it, because I did.

It being my second book by George Pelecanos and all, it was nice to have a continuation of the story and to pick up on Strange’s life, and see him still part of the same Washington surroundings and community, and still battling against the consequences of drugs in scenarios which are never anything other than completely realistic.

In line with the bleak subjects he is writing about, Pelecanos’ style is gritty, and noir-like. Which makes the moments of wit, usually supplied by the street-educated and commitment phobe Strange, plus two half-wit drug dealers in this particular book, a welcome relief.

I couldn’t help thinking Right as Rain was more tightly plotted than Hard Revolution, and I enjoyed the story – of an investigation into a shooting of one (black) police officer by another (white) police officer – more as well. But I couldn’t find it within me to add another point to its rating.

It’s also interesting to note that this book was the first Pelecanos wrote about Strange and his partner Terry Quinn (the cop-killer mentioned earlier), with Strange’s upbringing and past completed in retrospect (in Hard Revolution). I couldn’t tell, and I have to say that I gained plenty of insight into Strange’s attitude and decisions in Right as Rain from reading the books in chronological rather than published order. Which is quite an achievement by the author.

So, rating time:

#17 Right as Rain, by George Pelecanos (Orion) - 8/10

Next up: Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer (Transworld Publishers)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating