But perhaps the biggest mystery of all lies deeper than that, somewhere out there on the ever rolling highway of life. Set between modern day Las Vegas and LA, The Infinite Blacktop sees 'the best detective in the world' wounded and disorientated, but just about standing.
Elegiac, elegant, and more relevant than ever, this new edition of Sara Gran’s debut novel is a modern literary classic. Cities and families make up our lives in equal measure: both never stop changing, and both can protect us, hold us—or cut us to the bone. For Mary Forrest, 29, her city and her family are deeply entwined: her mother, Evelyn, is the editor of the most prestigious literary magazine in New York, as much a part of the city as the Chelsea Hotel (now condos) or Green-Wood Cemetery (now five figures per plot). In 1999, as gentrification morphs the neighborhoods Evelyn and Mary have known all their lives, Evelyn’s mind likewise starts to slip away. Mary’s life is going the way of the Automat and Luna Park, and she is furious. As her city, her mother, and the other touchstones of her life start to fade away, Mary looks for hope in astrology, men, friends, and work. But when all seems lost, it’s time to stop looking for happiness outside, and start looking for the guiding stars within.
"New Orleans, and Vic Willing, Assistant District Attorney for the prosecutors' office, has been missing since Hurricane Katrina hit. Called in from San Francisco is Claire DeWitt, a detective whose expertise and methods derive from some unique sources.What Claire discovers takes us into the heart of the crime-ravaged, deeply wounded city, where those who can afford it live behind fences and those who can't are slain daily on the streets. And it's there she discovers that the only thing worse than an unsolved case, maybe, is a solved one."--Provided by publisher
New Orleans, and Vic Willing, Assistant District Attorney for the prosecutors' office, has been missing since Hurricane Katrina hit. Called in from San Francisco is Claire DeWitt, a detective whose expertise and methods derive from some unique sources. What Claire discovers takes us into the heart of the crime-ravaged, deeply wounded city, where those who can afford it live behind fences and those who can't are slain daily on the streets. And it's there she discovers that the only thing worse than an unsolved case, maybe, is a solved one.
1950s New York, and heroin has flooded the streets. Josephine Flannigan sure has picked a dumb time to give it up. Now she's reduced to boosting jewellery to get by. So when she's offered a thousand bucks to find Nadine, a good girl turned dope fiend, she's more than happy to give it a go.
Amanda loves her husband, her converted loft apartment and her job as an architect. On the surface she appears to have done everything right. So why does she feel so off-balance? has pointed out, it can't be a mouse because they only hear it when she's around. Much to her husband's disgust, Amanda has also taken up smoking again. Even the friendly dog at the train station shies away from her these days. Could it be something to do with the lustful and violent dreams she's been having recently? coincidental, but most of us don't. Neither does Amanda. After all, what we think is impossible happens all the time...
Rare book dealer Lily Albrecht has just been given a tip-off about The Book of the Most Precious Substance, a 17th century manual rumoured to be the most powerful occult book ever written, if it really exists at all. With some of the wealthiest people in the world willing to pay Lily a fortune to track it down, she embarks on a journey from New York to New Orleans to Munich to Paris. If she finds it, Lily stands to gain more than just money. This could erase the greatest tragedy of her life. But will Lily's quest help her find some answers, or will she lose everything in search of a ghost?
When Paul Casablancas, Claire DeWitt's musician ex-boyfriend, is found dead in his home in San Francisco's Mission District, the police are convinced it's a simple robbery. But, as Claire knows, nothing is ever simple. With the help of her new assistant Claude, Claire follows the clues, finding possible leads to Paul's fate in other cases - a long-ago missing girl and a modern-day miniature horse theft in Marin. As visions of the past reveal the secrets of the present, Claire begins to understand the words of the enigmatic French detective Jacques Silette: 'The detective won't know what he is capable of until he encounters a mystery that pierces his own heart.' Just as City of the Dead was acclaimed for its unique heroine and powerful atmosphere - 'mesmeric . . . unlike any other crime novel you'll read this year' (Guardian) and 'the most unusual, intelligent thriller I've read for years (Sophie Hannah) - Claire DeWitt and The Bohemian Highway is an extraordinarily powerful and moving mystery novel from a rare talent.
