Fri 12 Aug 2016
Reviewed by Barry Gardner: WALTER SATTERTHWAIT – A Flower in the Desert.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[6] Comments
WALTER SATTERTHWAIT – A Flower in the Desert. Joshua Croft #3. St. Martin’s, hardcover, 1992. Worldwide Library, paperback, 1993. University of New Mexico Press, trade paperback, 2003.
Besides the three Joshua Croft books, Satterthwait has also written a historical mystery featuring Oscar Wilde, Wilde West. It received mixed reviews, but I liked it considerably, as I have the previous two Croft books.
Croft and his partner, the crippled Rita Mondragon, are hired to find the (divorced) wife and child of a well-known TV actor. The case is complicated by the fact that the actor was charged with child abuse, though cleared of the charges.
The missing wife had worked in LA for a group aiding Salvadorian refugees; her sister living in LA has just been murdered. Connections? There is an ongoing subplot concerning Croft’s so far unrequited passion for his partner.
Croft, wisecracking but caring, is a member in good standing of the PI fraternity and represents it well. It really isn’t a regional mystery, as much of the book takes place in LA, but still gives a nice feel for Santa Fe. I think Satterthwait one of the better of the new PI writers, and look forward to his books. This one is good, but not great.
The Joshua Croft series —
Wall of Glass (1987)
At Ease With the Dead (1990)
A Flower in the Desert (1992)
The Hanged Man (1993)
Accustomed to the Dark (1996).
August 13th, 2016 at 5:50 am
This is another series I liked, especially for the regional aspect. I read the first four in 1994 and the last one four years later.
August 13th, 2016 at 9:29 am
This is the only one of his mysteries I’ve been able to finish. And I liked it enough to try four or five more. As well regarded as Satterthwait is here (and by Bill Crider on his blog) I am sure the failing is mine.
August 13th, 2016 at 9:06 pm
I enjoyed the Croft series as well as a historical series he did about a tough agency tec and a smart young woman. A smart entertaining writer.
August 13th, 2016 at 10:05 pm
There are three books in the historical series you’re referring to, David. They take place in the 1920s, I believe, and star Pinkerton agents Jane Turner and Philip Beaumont:
1. Escapade (1995)
2. Masquerade (1998)
3. Cavalcade (2005)
Why the big gap, I don’t know. Satterthwait is an author I seriously have to catch up with. I recall starting one of the Croft books, but I don’t remember finishing it, though I’m sure I must have.
August 14th, 2016 at 7:01 am
He had a good collection of stories published by Crippen & Landru too: The Mankiller of Poojegai and Other Stories.
August 14th, 2016 at 10:56 am
From the C&L website:
“This collection includes stories about the Neanderthal sleuth, Berthold the Mead Master (narrated by his companion Doder, Watt’s son); Lord Byron and his days at Missolonghi; Sergeant Andrew Mbutu in modern Africa; and contemporary investigators Grober and Joshua Croft. Also included are the first mystery story set in a “chat room” and a gentle satire on the Golden Age of fictional detecting with an unexpected sleuth.”
I must own a copy of this one, but where?