Book Review: East Texas PI Turns Vigilante in Funny and Wild ‘Sugar on the Bones’

Minnie Polson was in some kind of trouble, so a friend recommended the private detective firm of Hap Collins, his wife Brett, and their friend Leonard Pine. But when they meet, Minnie doesn’t like their attitude, and they don’t like her attitude.

Hours after they agree to separate, Minnie’s mansion catches fire – the fire is so intense that the only thing left of Minnie is a blackened arm. At first, authorities assume it was an accident, but Hap and company aren’t so sure.

Feeling a little guilty about rejecting her and wondering if she would be alive if they hadn’t, they decide to do a little snooping to see what they can find out. They appear a lot in “Sugar on the Bones”, Joe R. Lansdale 13th thriller featuring East Texas private detectives.

Hap and his partners are intelligent, persistent, politically incorrect, heavily armed, and capable of extreme violence when threatened or provoked. They also think they are funny and often are, with the humor tending towards irony, jokes and sarcasm.

At first, the detectives focus on Minnie’s relatives, some of whom had much to gain from the rich woman’s death. However, someone doesn’t like private detectives asking questions. Soon, people interviewed about the case start turning up dead, and Hap and his partners are targeted for murder.

It turns out that Minnie’s death was a small cog in a huge conspiracy involving a series of heinous crimes. For a time, the private detectives work with a senior police officer, but he can’t figure out a legal way to end the carnage. So he tells the detectives that he will turn a blind eye if they take the bad guys off the board.

“It’s murder. It’s illegal. It’s vigilant,” says Hap. “And I didn’t want to do that. But I knew I would do it.”

So Hap and company recruit three old friends who have even less qualms about violence than they do, and go to war. The result is what may be the best novel in this beautiful series. The quirky characters are well-drawn, the prose is hard-hitting, the pacing is furious, the surprises keep coming, and the violent climax is nothing short of savage.

___

Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Edgar Award from Mystery Writers of America, is the author of the Mulligan detective novels, including “The Dread Line.”

___

AP Book Reviews: