“[A]n intricate and smart plot, authentic dialogue and a heartfelt rendering of remembrance and regret, and Simon’s dark story shimmers with brilliance — and stands as her finest.” – Richmond Times-Dispatch on World Enough
here’s the full writeup in the Sunday, Dec. 31 paper
“Y’know my heart keeps telling me/ You’re not a kid at thirty-three.”
— Danny O’Keefe, “Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues”
And certainly not at fortysomething, no matter how strong the call of lost youth.
The intersection of present and past dominates “World Enough” (224 pages, Severn House, $28.99), a thematic departure for the talented and prolific Clea Simon, author of four mystery series.
Simon’s story opens in 2007 with former music journalist and punk rock clubber Tara Winton mourning the loss of a onetime singer, Frank Turcotte, found dead at the foot of his basement steps after an apparent fall.
But Tara — now a corporate communications specialist bored with her job — suspects something more sinister; her reportorial instincts kick in while she pursues a freelance feature story about Boston’s club scene in the 1980s. Could Frank’s demise be linked to the death two decades earlier of Chris Crack, the charismatic lead singer for the Aught Nines?
Simon also is a former music journalist, and her background provides a wealth of material in her intelligent and sensitive portrayal of Tara. Add an intricate and smart plot, authentic dialogue and a heartfelt rendering of remembrance and regret, and Simon’s dark story shimmers with brilliance — and stands as her finest.