The Devil's Own Rag Doll - Hardcover

Bartoy, Mitchell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312340885 ISBN 13: 9780312340889

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2005

Synopsis

1940's Detroit: the war effort is in full swing and racial tensions are running high. When a vivacious white heiress is murdered in the black part of town, the city threatens to erupt into mob violence, bringing the factories to a grinding halt and imperiling Allied forces around the world.

Newly minted Detective Pete Caudill is charged with covering up the crime in the interests of civic peace and finding some kind of justice for the dead girl. Odds are the girl was killed by her black boyfriend, but some whisper of an Axis plot to hamper America's war effort. Or is Detroit's shadowy political machine manipulating events to its own ruthless ends? As he delves deeper, Caudill soon learns the hard way that friends are rarely what they seem, family ties are often deceptive, and sometimes the bravest thing a man can do is think for himself.

About this title

About the Author

Mitchell S. Bartoy was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and has lived his entire life in the Detroit area. A graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, he has worked in various capacities for the United States Postal Service and as a college writing teacher. He lives in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, with his wife and two children. The Devil's Own Rag Doll is his first novel.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Devil's Own Rag Doll

"Too many writers have been hailed as the heir to Dashiell Hammett. Mitchell Bartoy, however, really hits the mark. I definitely want to see a lot more of his work and soon. This is as hard-boiled as they come and as good as it gets."
--Stuart M. Kaminsky, Edgar Award-winning author of The Last Dark Place
"Brutal, hardboiled, and often quite moving, The Devil's Own Rag Doll is a stunning debut."
--Jason Starr, author of Twisted City
"The Devil's Own Rag Doll is a deep and complex book--big and mean and ambitious."
--Christopher T. Leland, author of Letting Loose
"Mitchell Bartoy's gaze is hard and relentless, and he's a hell of a writer."
--Jon A. Jackson, author of the Mulheisen series
"Mitchell Bartoy's The Devil's Own Rag Doll captures the tension of an industrial city--the engine behind the Arsenal of Democracy--with the accuracy of an eyewitness and the terror of a victim, yet never abandons its faith in heroes. He belongs in the first rank of artists working in the subgenre of the Detroit thriller."
--Loren D. Estleman, author of the Amos Walker novels

Reviews

Set in Detroit during WWII, Bartov's fast-paced first novel will appeal to fans of hard-boiled noir. Det. Pete Caudill uses tough tactics to get information from snitches, but has a heart of gold when it comes to dead, violated teenage girls—in particular, an auto company big-shot's wayward daughter, whose body turns up in the black part of town. Capt. John Mitchell rides hard on Caudill and his partner, Bobby Swope, to solve the case, which takes the pair into Detroit's rough-slick underbelly. The victim's African-American boyfriend is implicated, but the roots of the murder may lie deeper. Historical references come fast and furious in the author's fevered attempts to evoke the time period. Sometimes the references work, and sometimes they don't. The same goes for the tough-guy dialogue, which alternates between convincing and forced. A maudlin ending underscores the book's unevenness. Still, Bartov remains a writer to watch.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Like a rookie fighter with lots of heart but not much guile, Bartoy starts swinging from his heels on page 1 and never lets up throughout this relentlessly hard-boiled first novel set in 1940s Detroit. The hero, Detective Pete Caudill, is a bruiser with several chips on his oversized shoulders. A lost eye, the result of a knifing incident, has kept him out of the army, leaving him both maimed and guilty about not doing his fighting over there. Then he lands a case that will change his life: an heiress has been murdered on the wrong side of town, and Caudill's job is to find a fall guy. Bartoy unleashes such a barrage of plot elements--simmering race riots, police corruption, sexual deviancy--that he never quite lets his characters breathe between onslaughts. The result is a novel that always seems on the verge of running off the tracks. Still, even if there's way too much plot here for one book, Bartoy gets the 1940s mood just right, and he sure knows how to throw a punch. Once he learns to box, he could be a contender. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312340885
• ISBN 13: 9780312340889
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304