The Gentlemen’s Hour, by Don Winslow

In Dawn Patrol, Don Winslow introduced us to Boone Daniels, a very laid-back ex-cop turned private investigator, and a man with a talent for detection. Boone Daniels is a likable, sharp guy, and has a passion for surfing as well. A very interesting protagonist indeed.

And now we get to meet him again, in The Gentlemen’s Hour. Times are tough for private investigators – there is little work for our PI, and Boone has plenty of time on his hands. So his life revolves around his surfing sessions. However, one day at the beach, Daniels stays on into what is known as “the gentlemen’s hour”, when older surfers come and do their stuff, and is approached by a millionaire surfer named Dan Nichols. Nichols, it turns out, has a new case for Boone.

The millionaire believes his wife is cheating on him. And now he wants to find out if it is true, and if it is, he wants evidence. This is not exactly the kind of job Boone loves the most, and under other circumstances he would have said no. But times are tough, and he needs money and takes the job. And then, of course, once he has said yes to one job, many more come his way. And in the case of the suspected cheating, he quickly discovers that Nichols had it right – he is being cheated. So he considers the job done and over – until, that is, the man Nichols’ wife cheated him with turns up dead with a hole in his head.

Don Winslow is a great writer, quite noir in his style, and knows how to tell a tale in a way that makes it intriguing and suspenseful. The characters in his books – and in this one as well – are cool, bright, have humor and are believable, and some of them are very fun. Also, the action is quite fast and intense, so the book is actually hard to put down. I read it in two days, and each time I opened it, I found myself sitting longer than I had intended to. The Gentlemen’s Hour is very, very enjoyable, and Don Winslow is now high on my list of authors to watch: He can make me alternate between biting my nails and laughing out loud while sitting alone in the back yard. I strongly recommend him and this book in particular!

PS: On July 23rd, CWA announced the shortlist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award, 2010. And The Gentlemen’s Hour is on the list! A very well deserved honor!

Links to books by Don Winslow at Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Tagged as: book review, Boone Daniels, crime fiction, Don Winslow, noir