The Dirt-Brown DerbyBy Ed Lynskey
Reviewed by Michelle Boucher-Ladd
Set in rural Virginia, The Dirt-Brown Derby is an
old-school style, murder, and detective story. The book is a kind of
formula Dashiell Hammett meets Tom Wolf attitude with plenty of phallic
fun. Ed Lynskey does an excellent job of creating a strong voice for
the main character Franklin Johnson. Johnson, a rough around the edges
private eye takes us for a ride in his “mutant Yugo” to the “dirty
little town,” of Kaiser Virginia, where he is employed by Mary
Taliaferro to investigate the death of her daughter Emily.
Mrs. Taliferro’s ranch, Dakota Farms is home to some very interesting
characters. There’s the hired help; Ralph the gambling addict gardener,
his wife Rachel the housekeeper, Stanley Pettigrew the drunken security
guard, Pierre the studdly horse trainer, and suspect number one, a wily
stallion named Hellbent. If these characters are not enough then there
are the town folk, including Stanley’s cousin Sheriff Pettigrew, Deputy
Sheriff Thornbird, Adam a local drug dealer, The red-neck Kilby
cousins, and Frank’s old girlfriend Shelia, a hair dresser.
Just as Frank begins to unravel some clues to the so-called riding
accident that killed Emily, Pierre the trainer is murdered giving the
mystery a new twist. Frank also bumbles onto a local girl being raped
by the abhorrent Kilby Cousins. This instantly gives him two enemies to
watch out for but also allies him with Deputy Thornbird. The plot only
thickens when Frank gets beat-up, Ralph the gardener and Sheriff
Pettigrew go missing, Frank becomes involved again with Shelia, gets
beat-up, Mrs. Taliferro puts the moves on him, and he gets beat-up some
more. All this action really does turn this novel into a derby.
Ed Lynskey adds so many colorful bits of trivia and local fine points
that his novel seems to take on a wonderfully descriptive voice of its
own. His lovely writing gives a good balance to all of the booze, guns,
and testosterone that make this a very funny book as well. The
Dirt-Brown Derby is a well-written whirlwind of details.
Aside from the many typographical mistakes that riddle the first few
chapters of this novel, The Dirt-Brown Derby is a fun read. The
only things it lacks are believable woman characters. Mrs. Taliferro is
way too flamboyant and swoonish, Rachael is a bit underdeveloped as she
spends most of the novel sleeping off prescription drugs, and frailty
thy name is Shelia. However, if you are in the mood for a fast
paced old fashion who-done-it, The Dirt-Brown Derby is the way
to go.