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Maximum Insecurity |
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 Maximum Insecurity byP.J. Grady Avocet Press Inc. 200 pages, 1999 ISBN 0966107241 Reviewed by Diane Gotfryd Nominated for a Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel [Private Eye Writers Association] Read our author interview Matty Madrid is an unusual private detective. For one thing, she’s definitely blue collar. She only charges $50 a day, plus expenses. She doesn’t have a drinking problem, a love life, an exotic car or a mysterious past. In her Shamus-nominated first book, Grady offers us a truly de-glamorized PI with an endearing in-your-face style - and a conscience. Astounded by a private inmate’s request that she investigate the cover-up of another inmate’s death, Matty nearly refuses after she visits the deceased’s family. The unappealing, gun toting, heartless relatives laugh when she asks for a retainer. Back at the prison she learns from the inmate, her former lover, that his life will be endangered if she doesn’t take the case. Matty winds herself into a maze of lawyers, corrections officers, escaped inmates and assorted old friends as the case begins to take a deadly turn. As the witnesses and minor players turn up dead, Matty and her inmate pal are among the few good guys left standing - but for how long? Grady’s book doesn’t dwell on physical descriptions of its New Mexico setting. The author uses her excellent ability at writing dialogue to remind us of where we are. All of the characters speak naturally, and the inflection of various cultures is loud and clear. Smatterings of Spanish, references to local religious beliefs, superstitions and cultural history run throughout. I didn’t mind meeting the large number of characters because they were all fun to "listen" to, and often witty or profound. Grady also writes confidently about prison life, a bonus because it’s a subject we don’t see in this genre very often. One serious flaw in the book is the ten or so times the author editorializes. Her lecturing, white-collar vocabulary clashes sharply with the lazy speech of her characters and has the same effect on the reader as being poked in the ribs ten times while dreaming. I would have liked to see a sharply dramatic turn in the plot, rather than the several smaller, work-a-day incidents that Matty takes in stride. I’ll be sure to read the next Matty Madrid mystery to see how this author/character team grows. |
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