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dantastic's review
5.0
Who tried to kill Claire DeWitt in a hit and run? That's what Claire wants to find out but will there be anything left of her when she finds her would-be killer?
A funny thing happened a few days ago. I was driving to work, pondering when/if a new Claire DeWitt book would be coming out, only to find there was a Goodreads giveaway for the newest one AND it was up on Netgalley. Naturally, I was all over it.
Fresh from the events of [b:Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|15814401|Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|Sara Gran|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1368071910s/15814401.jpg|21540836], Claire DeWitt goes through the meat grinder yet again, subsisting on stolen drugs, grit, and shear stubbornness to find the man who tried to kill her. Claire is still Claire, the drug-doing, alcohol-drinking, ass-kicking, lying, detecting machine she's always been. She's a glorious melding of old-school locked room cozy detective heroines with the damaged goods detectives of noir fiction. The Infinite Blacktop is another one of her grand, quirky, funny, broken cases.
The book is told in three threads: one with Claire and her two teenage detective friends, Kelly and Tracy, one with Claire trying to earn her PI license while piecing together the events surrounding an artist's death, and the final one, Claire's search for the man who tried to run her down. Each thread is pretty bad ass and does a great job illustrating the journey of Claire DeWitt.
The artist thread was narrowly my favorite, showing how Claire got her IP license but also showing some vulnerability from her that she doesn't show anymore. The present day thread, with Claire barely hanging on, was nearly as interesting as the artist thread but I just wanted someone to tell Claire to slow down and maybe sleep for ten hours. Although, the world's greatest detective never slows down when she's on a case...
This book answers a lot of lingering questions from the two previous books, namely what happened to Tracy, why hasn't anyone else ever read the Cynthia Silverton books, and who left the copy of Detection, Silette's book, in the unused wing of the DeWitt home all those years ago. It was pretty satisfying conclusion to the previous two books, although I hope it isn't the last we've seen of Claire DeWitt.
I don't really know what else to say without spoiling things. Claire's Dirk Gently approach to detection is as great as it ever was. Much like the previous two books, this one was a darkly humorous, quirky, gritty train wreck.
As per the last two books, Claire just barely holds everything together while searching for her quarry, going on an odyssey of substance abuse and self-discovery while proving why she is the best detective in the world. I fucking loved it. If this is the last Claire DeWitt book, it's a hell of a high note to go out on. Five out of five stars.
A funny thing happened a few days ago. I was driving to work, pondering when/if a new Claire DeWitt book would be coming out, only to find there was a Goodreads giveaway for the newest one AND it was up on Netgalley. Naturally, I was all over it.
Fresh from the events of [b:Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|15814401|Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway|Sara Gran|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1368071910s/15814401.jpg|21540836], Claire DeWitt goes through the meat grinder yet again, subsisting on stolen drugs, grit, and shear stubbornness to find the man who tried to kill her. Claire is still Claire, the drug-doing, alcohol-drinking, ass-kicking, lying, detecting machine she's always been. She's a glorious melding of old-school locked room cozy detective heroines with the damaged goods detectives of noir fiction. The Infinite Blacktop is another one of her grand, quirky, funny, broken cases.
The book is told in three threads: one with Claire and her two teenage detective friends, Kelly and Tracy, one with Claire trying to earn her PI license while piecing together the events surrounding an artist's death, and the final one, Claire's search for the man who tried to run her down. Each thread is pretty bad ass and does a great job illustrating the journey of Claire DeWitt.
The artist thread was narrowly my favorite, showing how Claire got her IP license but also showing some vulnerability from her that she doesn't show anymore. The present day thread, with Claire barely hanging on, was nearly as interesting as the artist thread but I just wanted someone to tell Claire to slow down and maybe sleep for ten hours. Although, the world's greatest detective never slows down when she's on a case...
This book answers a lot of lingering questions from the two previous books, namely what happened to Tracy, why hasn't anyone else ever read the Cynthia Silverton books, and who left the copy of Detection, Silette's book, in the unused wing of the DeWitt home all those years ago. It was pretty satisfying conclusion to the previous two books, although I hope it isn't the last we've seen of Claire DeWitt.
I don't really know what else to say without spoiling things. Claire's Dirk Gently approach to detection is as great as it ever was. Much like the previous two books, this one was a darkly humorous, quirky, gritty train wreck.
As per the last two books, Claire just barely holds everything together while searching for her quarry, going on an odyssey of substance abuse and self-discovery while proving why she is the best detective in the world. I fucking loved it. If this is the last Claire DeWitt book, it's a hell of a high note to go out on. Five out of five stars.
maryehavens's review
3.0
It took me a while to get used to Claire DeWitt. At first, I was put off by her extremely careless, take no prisoners selfishness and I thought Gran was trying too hard to be noir. The pivot occurred when Claire talked about finding ultimate truth. I also am seeking ultimate truth so it was a revelatory concept that it might be a "thing" (not talking about religion here, just talking about true selves, really). I also thought her use of the f-word was gratuitous and out of place but that calmed down after awhile, or I got used to it. I also became a bit confused at the three different mysteries but that also made sense after awhile. Never got used to the Nancy Drew naming of her mysteries but whatever.
The actual plot was super interesting. The imagery of the infinite blacktop/never-ending highway was also on point. And can we get some claps for this cover? I felt cooler just picking this book up!
My favorite mystery was probably The Case of the CBSIS and the book would have been very short if there were just one mystery versus three.
I'm adding the other Claire DeWitt that my library has to my to-read list. We'll see if I still like her after another go. As a person, I would have kept my distance but as a book, she deserves another shot :)
The actual plot was super interesting. The imagery of the infinite blacktop/never-ending highway was also on point. And can we get some claps for this cover? I felt cooler just picking this book up!
My favorite mystery was probably The Case of the CBSIS and the book would have been very short if there were just one mystery versus three.
I'm adding the other Claire DeWitt that my library has to my to-read list. We'll see if I still like her after another go. As a person, I would have kept my distance but as a book, she deserves another shot :)
rbreade's review against another edition
Sun-baked noir in the tradition of Raymond Chandler. The world-weariness of Gran's protagonist, Claire DeWitt, seems always on the verge of parody, but Gran keeps the tone from going over the edge by signaling that she understands and is in control, most amusingly by having this hard-bitten detective name her cases in the manner of Holmes and Watson: The Case of the Bird with Broken Wings, the Case of the Knife in the Heart. The Case of the Infinite Blacktop. Other pleasures include Gran's skillful weaving together of three seemingly unrelated story threads, from 1986, 1999, and 2011, though my favorite moment is when the text of the never-printed last issue of a comic DeWitt loved as a kid, the Cynthia Silverton Mystery Digest, about the "best teen detective in the world," shows up late in the novel, in full, in what turns out to be a painkiller-fueled hallucination/dream. An unexpected delight.
jervonyc's review against another edition
5.0
This series is among the best I've read in a long time. And her dialogue is absolutely incredible.
dondodd's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bunnieslikediamonds's review
5.0
I read an interview where Sara Gran predicted she'd keep writing her Claire DeWitt novels forever and that's the best news I've had all year.
panohchoc's review
5.0
I've been trying to figure out what it is about these books that I like so much, but I can't really articulate it. But I love the specific type of weird it is. Bummed that this is currently the last Claire DeWitt mystery out there. I found in a 2018 Reddit AMA this though: "When I started, I thought it would be four books -- but now, I think I'll be writing this series for the rest of my life! I feel so attached to this character and this world, I can't imagine giving it up." So that's good news.
I really loved this book.
I really loved this book.
coffeeneur's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Such a fun page turner! Clever. Sharp writing. Required some suspension of disbelief and the various storylines were getting a bit much toward the end, but it ultimately all came together well enough. Consider me a fan of Claire DeWitt.
lorimichelekelley's review
4.0
I received a copy of this from the goodreads giveaway. Thank you! I love Claire DeWitt and after I read the first two books in the series, I thought I remembered reading that Sara Gran wasn't going to write anymore. So glad that either I imagined reading that or she changed her mind! I listened to the first two on Audible, and that made this a different experience. I do hope that when it comes out in Audible that it will be read by Carol Monda, because I missed her voice as Claire! In this one, you get a bit more information on Claire's past, but still not enough! I want to know more about her younger detective days and her time with Constance. I'll read the next one, because after all, Claire DeWitt "is the best detective in the world."