claire dewitt and the city of the dead review

With Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, Sara Gran has pulled the traditional female sleuth into the twenty-first century with a novel that's smart and hip, dark and funny. Everything here - from the smallest touches to the grander mythology setting the tone of the series - just sings.'-Drew Williams, Little Professor Book Center'Not your mother's girl detective, Claire DeWitt is a cool blend of Nancy Drew and Sid Vicious. Gran's evocation of the exposed wounds of New Orleans - before and after the storm - is a master-class in descriptive and emotive writing, and Claire is one of the most exciting new characters in years a Raymond Chandler heroine with just enough of an off-beat vibe to tilt the whole thing enticingly off-kilter. 'I just burned through Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, and it's the first truly fantastic book I've read this year. Sara Gran recombines all the elements of good, solid story-telling and lifts something original from a well-loved form.'-Sue Grafton

This is the first fresh literary voice I've heard in years. And while I confess to having very little objectivity about New Orleans and no credentials to judge its literary portrayal, this is a valuable addition to the (way too small) body of post-storm novels.'-Laura Lippman'Terrific. Sara Gran has long specialized in shaking up and revitalizing other corners of the genre world, so it's no surprise that she performs this same magic in CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD. 'Just when I begin to despair that the PI novel has worn out its welcome, a writer with a fresh take reminds me why I fell in love with the genre. 'Reminds me why I fell in love with the genre.'-Laura Lippman 'The hard-living, wisecracking titular detective bounces around post-Katrina New Orleans trying to track down a missing prosecutor in this auspicious debut of a new mystery series-and the Big Easy is every bit her equal in sass and flavor.'- Elle When a respected DA goes missing she returns to the hurricane-ravaged city to find out why. Claire also has deep roots in New Orleans, where she was mentored by Silette's student the brilliant Constance Darling-until Darling was murdered. A one-time teen detective in Brooklyn, she is a follower of the esoteric French detective Jacques Silette, whose mysterious handbook Détection inspired Claire's unusual practices.

This knock-out start to a bracingly original new series features Claire DeWitt, the world's greatest PI-at least, that's what she calls herself. DeWitt's mesmerizing character and memorable voice take your breath away.'- New Orleans Times-Picayune 'What would you get if that punkish dragon girl Lisbeth Salander met up with Jim Sallis's Lew Griffin walking the back streets of New Orleans? Or Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone transformed herself into a tattooed magnolia driving a 4x4? Clare DeWitt, that's what you'd get. as if David Lynch directed a Raymond Chandler novel.'-CNN

Claire dewitt and the city of the dead review