L.A. Requiem by Robert
Crais
At the base of Capital Hill in
Burnaby, just east of the East Hastings junkietown sprawl of Northern East
Vancouver lies a hidden gem of a bookstore, specializing in crime and
science-fiction. According to the current owner it was once a haven for occult
manuscripts as well, and the old owner was considered to be a wizard of some
renown (!!). After the former owner moved on or passed away (I was never clear
which), the new owner quickly tired of the sinister characters who would appear
at odd hours with peculiar arcane requests. He sold off the occult collection
en masse and refocused the shop on mysteries and sci-fi. I don’t know if I
believe this little tale or not, but the store’s labyrinth little corridors and
delightful stacks certainly carry with them the dust and odor of arcana and the
occult.
LT, the Professor, and I
visited this shop for the first time in sunny September. After he told me the
above story, I asked the owner to turn me on to the best mystery novel I’d
never heard of. Without hesitation, he presented me with LA Requiem.
LA Requiem tells us a tale of
serial murder and police corruption in early nineteen-nineties Los Angeles.
We’ve got police corruption, hardboiled noir, a bit of sleazy sex, and some
hard choices. Good stuff, if you like the modern potboiler detective thriller.
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