Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 28, 1993 TAG: 9302280252
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO BOOK PAGE EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CALIFORNIA MYSTERY ALIVE, WELL, WEIRD
THE CHESHIRE MOON. By Robert Ferrigno. Morrow. $20.DEVIL'S WALTZ. By Jonathan Kellerman. Bantam. $22.95.
In crime fiction, the California mystery is something special. It's where the masters - Hammett, Chandler, MacDonald - did their best work; and that rich, bizarre place still provides fertile ground for writers.
Robert Ferrigno made an impressive debut a few years ago with "The Horse Latitudes." His newest, Ferrigno "Cheshire Moon," is just as vivid and inventive and more tightly controlled. Of all the people working in the field, he's really the closest to Chandler in spirit and execution.
His Southern California is peopled with handsome, crooked politicians; media tycoons surrounded by a sweet aura of decadence; flawed villains haunted by dreams of failure; burned-out hangers-on; cat-quick scam artists; and aggressive young men and women whose dreams of stardom can prove fatal.
His protagonist is Quinn, a fast-lane journalist battling demons of his own, who refuses to believe that a friend committed suicide. He suspects that the death of a young hustler is connected to Sissy Mizelle, the hottest talk-show host in town and wife of John Stratton, ex-cowboy star and possible candidate for governor.
Helped by sexy photographer Jen Takamura, Quinn heads out onto the mean streets to find the truth. The object of his quest is a huge ex-football player who has recently discovered how much he enjoys murder.
The action is fast, sexy and violent. The characters - even minor ones like the delightful retired studio flak Cliff Silver - are believable and original. Just as importantly, Ferrigno is deft prose stylist. In that regard, he really shows the genuine Chandler touch without ever stooping to imitation.
Jonathan Kellerman has followed another route. His books are denser, trolling the psychological depths that Ross MacDonald explored so masterfully. The Alex Delaware novels have become name-brand bestsellers, proving that there is some justice in the world.
"Devil's Waltz" finds Delaware, a child psychologist, called back to his old hospital, Western Pediatrics, to help a little girl who suffers from an array of changing symptoms. Whenever Cassie Jones goes home, terrible things happen. But while she's in the hospital, she's fine. Or is she? Her mother and father appear to be loving, devoted parents, but could they be hiding something? Is the nurse on her ward really taking such an interest in her? And is it a coincidence that her grandfather is the hospital's new boss?
Kellerman sets out the clues in a measured, realistic way. The details of the plot, many of them involved with the currently hot and complicated topic of health care, seem absolutely accurate. But the real focus is on the people involved. The novel is about who these characters are, not simply what they've done.
"Devil's Waltz" is a page-turner in the old-fashioned, Dickensian sense. While you're reading the novel, that fictional reality is as lifelike and interesting as any external reality. That's what good fiction is all about.