1988. Eliot Cross is tired of the private detective game
and thinking about his exit. His one-man shop, Cross Examinations, in Columbus,
Ohio, is less than busy. His elderly mother and estranged father both died the prior
month, and the bottle has become more comfort than it should be. His head
hurts, too, since taking a knock the previous night after discovering a dead
body at roadside. The body disappeared and the police are less than interested
in Eliot’s story.
An old flame, Diane Davis, convinces Eliot to take one
last job before shuttering the business. It is an industrial espionage case
involving the theft of a high tech industrial scale developed by Ms. Davis’
employer Justice Scale Corporation. Eliot takes the job for no reason other
than wanting to end his P. I. run with a win. The case, unsurprisingly, is more
than it seems and by the end includes a few dead bodies and even circles back
to Eliot’s disappearing roadside corpse.
Crossfire:
The Scales of Justice is a nicely entertaining private eye
novel. Its plot is complicated, interesting, and satisfyingly over-the-top—it includes
a blackmail scheme threatening the 1988 Summer Olympics. It is written in a
smoothly terse, almost ironic, first person. Eliot is self-deprecating, tough, and
attracts women like a film star. The setting is nicely late-1980s, including vintage
descriptions of Columbus, cars, and music. It is easy to read, more fun than
any Tuesday night on television, and thoroughly enjoyable.
2 comments:
Ben, one last job or case by the PI usually builds up the suspense and expectation for the reader and "Crossfire: The Scales of Justice" scores on both counts, I think. I'm familiar with John Hegenberger's books though I still have to read them.
Prashant. The inherent dissatisfaction of the protagonist is one of the reasons I like PI fiction. Inherent may be too strong of a word, but... Crossfire felt like a well drawn television episode. I enjoyed it.
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