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5.0 out of 5 stars
What Does Justice Require?, Nov 24 2003
Quarry is a major turning point in the Nameless Detective series. In many of the books beginning with Quarry, women are victimized by men in particularly unpleasant ways. Legal options are probably not going to be adequate to protect the women in the future. Nameless will find himself drawn to wanting to do the right thing, and looking beyond the boundaries of the law to do so. As a result, Nameless becomes more human and appealing as he wrestles with his conscience. The book is set both in San Francisco and in the Salinas valley (and contains the inevitable references to Steinbeck). The local color is particularly strong in this book which adds to its appeal. The mystery plot is a minimalist one which allows for more emphasis on psychology and action. It's a good choice by Mr. Pronzini. Ailing farmer Arlo Haas knows something's wrong when his daughter Grady returns home unexpectedly. Always a loner, she's extremely uncommunicative, but it's clear she is troubled. And she doesn't want to do anything about what is troubling her. Arlo offers to pay Nameless to drive down to the farm to discuss the problem. Nameless takes the case, but cannot get any information out of Grady either. Although she's alive, she might as well be dead for all of the help she provides Nameless. Speaking with her employer, Nameless is hard pressed to find any clues. There may have been a new man in her life. But who is he? Is he the right quarry? Nameless's partner Eberhardt has been proposing to his girl friend Bobbie Jean for some time. She's now accepted his proposal, despite her concerns about her former two unsuccessful marriages. But Eberhardt is driving everyone crazy with the wedding plans, which keep getting more elaborate and expensive. The stress becomes too much for everyone, and leads to an emotional explosion. What will be the consequences? Fans of the early Nameless Detective novels will continue to recognize the noir style, and may like seeing Nameless as a heat seeking missile doling out justice on his own. That's certainly consistent with the original hard-boiled detective novels. On the other hand, it also represents a loss of innocence that makes the books more cynical. Some may enjoy that aspect less well. In either case, you owe it to yourself to read Quarry to decide. Increasingly, this series doesn't make a lot of sense unless you have read earlier books. I suggest that you read Dragonfire and Shackles before this one. Fans of Sue Grafton will enjoy comparing this book to Q Is for Quarry. As I finished this book, I thought about how much we can hope to protect others from harm. How much pain can we personally absorb to do so? What's the right thing to do when the personal pain will be enormous?
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