Having worked in Washington for most of the last twenty
years, I will make a few preliminary comments about writers
using the setting with the expectation of saying more later
in the month.
First a question. Is the Robert Andrews, author of A MURDER
WITH HONOR, the same Andrews who wrote spy novels such as
FIRST SPY OUT? I think that was the title. I don't have it in
front of me.
I always rather enjoyed the Steve Bentley novels of E. Howard
Hunt but would not consider them more than slightly above
average. One Washington writer from long ago not mentioned is
Richard Starnes, a DC reporter who had some success around
1950 with novels like AND WHEN SHE WAS BAD SHE WAS MURDERED
and ANOTHER MUG FOR THE BIER. A decade later, he also turned
to spy novels. I won't push one of my favorites Audrey Walz,
who wrote several Washington novels under the name Francis
Bonnamy, as they were not hard boiled.
I will mention Charles McCarry. Most of his writing involves
espionage, befitting someone who spent years undercover with
the CIA. He is, in my humble opinion, one of the best living
Washington writers.
One other writer of the past to mention who is not normally
associated with Washington: Joel Townsley Rogers. I always
loved his THE RED RIGHT HAND and one day back in the early
80s I happened to notice his name in the DC phone book. Pure
accident. I wrote to the address and had a nice letter from
his wife. Rogers had a stroke a few months before and was
unable himself to write back. I would have loved talking with
him it I had made the discovery a few months earlier.
But to get back to the present, I would have to rank George
Pelecanos at the top. Somebody sent me the ARC of his first
novel and I bought the second on my own. While not as good as
his later work, his talent and ability was obvious. Okay,
there are things that appeal to area residents that may not
be evident to out of towners. Such as his treatment of music.
He is spot-on with radio stations and with the sense and feel
of the DC music scene. I am not a big clubber but I do get
out now and then and love and appreciate his picture of the
club scene. DC is a very complicated music city. It is a
hotbed of jazz and bluegrass. It is also the home of Go-Go, a
very syncopated, improvisational music form that has never
really broken onto the national scene but is very
influencial. Go-go is DC and Pelecanos knows Chuck Brown
("The Godfather of Go-Go"), Rare Essence, Northeast Groovers
and The Huck-A-Bucks. I always feel that readers sense
accuracy. It does not matter that most of them never heard of
Go-Go or much of the other music mentioned. They sense this
guy knows what he is talking about--both the music and the
scene. It is something that can't be faked.
The other thing that impresses me about Pelecanos is his take
on issues, social issues. I have always respected writers who
deal with issues in a way that prompt thought without turning
the story into a tract. I happen to be in a period when I am
rethinking some issues and the novels have certainly had an
impact on me beyond the pure literary. The institutional
indifference to some issues is both tragic and unforgivable.
Pelecanos cares and whether that has an impact or not, I
can't say beyond the personal impact I feel. But the issues
are important and he at least is confronting them.
Richard Moore
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