World Enough
A Boston-based noir mystery

by Clea Simon
Severn House
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 01 Nov 2017

Review

Clea Simon is never one to bow to convention. Her highly original, noir infused mysteries stand far above and far apart from the vast quantities of formulaic fare. While I’ve long been a fan of Clea Simon’s unique pet mysteries, World Enough is the first of her non-animal novels that I’ve read. I was very impressed. World Enough takes the reader into the clubland of Boston where in the 80s a generation of hopefuls rocked. Now, years later the scene is tired. Dreams have given way to the realities of growing up and growing older. Tara Winston loved the scene for the music and for the comraderie, but she only begins to delve deeper into the past when Frank, an aging rocker, falls to his death. What begins as a retrospective, a lament for a dying age becomes something more as her suspicions grow and she learns that there was far more going on behind the scenes than she had ever realized, and that the death of a shooting star twenty years before may be linked to Frank’s death.

Clea Simon’s approach to the 80s music scene is frank, nostalgic but not rose tinted. Alcohol and drugs flow as freely as the music, and the long reaching damage caused by both is clearly seen. World Enough is not a traditional whodunnit, and is all the better for it. The novel is about finding the truth and dispelling illusions. The world explored in World Enough is gritty and fascinating, providing readers with a unique taste of the past. I can’t praise the novel enough.

5 / 5

I received a copy of World Enough from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

–Crittermom