Created by M. Turner
“Rain finds me in the end.”
It’s 1964 and JUNEAU is a private eye in a couple of books, Private Eyes (2021) and a prequel, 1, 2, 3, Die (2022), by Canadian author M. Turner.
Juneau’s locked into the rhythm, and rolled in a million tropes, clichés, lifted from old movies and classic detective fiction. Tough. Hard-boiled. Narrates the books in short sentences and spit-out snappy patter that sizzles on the grill.
Because that’s the way Juneau rolls.
And it’s all here.
A West Coast city of “never-ending rain,” full of mean streets and back alleys.
Unnamed, but it might be Seattle. Or Vancouver. The real one, in B.C.
Whatever. Doesn’t really matter–the author’s more into feeling and mood than geography.
There are bars.
Shabby rooms.
Shabby lives.
Nightclub singers.
Mouth-breathing thugs.
Gangsters.
Cops. Good. Bad. Ugly.
A lone investigator.
Clients who lie.
An office bottle.
A snub-nosed .45.
It all seems pre-fab at first, until you start to notice the little tweaks to the formula.
Like Juneau.
At 5″5,” not a bruiser.
And the real name is JUNE OH.
Korean.
And she’s a dame.
Counting the days (1,462) since her lover, also a chick, went away… for good.
She inherited the detective agency from her boss, Rex Brawley, after he was murdered.
Promptly renamed it Juneau Investigations.
You either get it or you don’t.
NOVELS
- Private Eyes (2021) | Buy this book
- 1, 2, 3, Die (2022) | Buy this book
