MANHATTAN .45

A wisecracking Great War veteran turned private investigator takes on a complicated case in 1930s Manhattan.

The winding plot in Brace’s historical novel kicks off when Jack Kerrigan is approached by the beautiful and rich Lola Deshaines in his Empire State Building office. After she asks him to investigate a consignment note, he’s initially skeptical, yet the lucrative case eventually proves irresistible. But as Jack soon discovers, Lola’s seemingly innocent request is a sinister flirtation with danger. Lola is actually a maid to the wealthy Dorothy Acton, whose father owns mines in South Africa. When Lola is kidnapped, Jack decides to traverse perilous waters into Nazi Germany and beyond, where death-defying international intrigue awaits. One of the strengths of this cinematic thriller is its wry humor, delivered by a roll-with-the-punches narrator whose breezy tone persists even amid the worst scenarios. The author frequently indulges in obvious ironic jesting: Drive-in theaters will “never catch on,” while “airships are the transport of the future,” with “little chance of anything ever going wrong on the Hindenburg.” He also takes unsubtle digs at contemporary issues: “‘Last time I looked, Russia was not exactly a threat to the U.S.’ ‘Last time I looked, Mr. Kerrigan, they had already taken the White House.’” Descriptions of Depression-era New York City provide rich immersion, while period-appropriate references further ground the text in the times. Mentions of Henry Miller, Coco Chanel, Joe DiMaggio, and Greta Garbo, as well as period innovations like filter cigarettes, carpeted car floors, and Scotch tape, exist alongside on-page appearances by Charles Lindbergh, Adolf Hitler, and Albert Einstein. While the ending feels abrupt, it nonetheless leaves ample room for future installments.

An intricately constructed hardboiled caper with credible action scenes and a vividly drawn setting.