THE YANKEE CLUB (Jake and Laura # 1)
Michael Murphy
Alibi
August 12, 2014


The Yankee Club is a very promising beginning to a noir mystery series with echoes of The Thin Man. Mystery author Jake Donovan is returning to 1933 NYC after a two year absence spent in Florida. He has been concentrating on his writing but the main reason he left NY is that his long-time love, Broadway actress Laura Wilson, refused his marriage proposal one time too many. His reason for the visit is a meeting with his editor who doesn't like the ending of his newest book. In the first few hours after his return he gets shot, a close friend is killed in the same attack and Jake finds out that Laura is engaged to a rich banker. Jake sets out to find out who killed his friend, with Laura's help. In the process the two get tangled up with fascists, a visiting Nazi official and nefarious plots against President Roosevelt.

The central mystery of The Yankee Club was very well done indeed and reflected the unsettled times. The Great Depression made the US a very unsafe place, a breeding ground for crime and desperation. The atmosphere as well was very evocative of the times and I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of real characters like Cole Porter, Dashiell Hammet, Lillian Hellman and Joseph Kennedy, Sr. Jake and Laura also have supporting helpers as colorful as any Damon Runyon might have created. However, I was not as taken with Jake and Laura as I had hoped. They both seemed a little thin and I was not particularly engaged by them but the book was a fast and enjoyable read. I have hopes for the next book, which is coming in early 2015. Recommended for fans of historical mystery and noir.

Thanks to netgalley.com and Alibi for an advance reading copy.