L.A. Boneyard by P.A. Brown

Title: L.A. Boneyard
Author: P.A. Brown
Publisher: MLR Press
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

From a shallow grave in Griffith Park, to the bucolic streets of West Hollywood into the dark heart of the gang-infested streets of East L.A, evil is pursued in this dark story of passion and redemption. Detective David Eric Laine is no stranger to violence and brutality, but even he is taken aback at the sheer viciousness of the murder of two pregnant Ukrainian women. This is just the beginning of a baffling case which leads from their shallow grave to a bungalow community in West Hollywood, tree-lined and tranquil, on to the heart of the gang-infested streets of East Los Angeles, and points in between. And what of Jairo Hernandez, David’s new, young partner? The attraction between them was immediate and intense and growing by the day. Would this be a threat to David’s settled life?

Review:

As a fan of the first book, L.A. Heat, I’m very happy with the sequel and the fact there will be a third book coming out. While not perfect, L.A. Boneyard concentrates on the author’s strength in writing an interesting, complicated mystery with thorough but never boring police work. Police procedural aspects are kept current and engaging, carrying the intricate plot. The relationship between David and Chris is a nice addition and adds more complexity to both men, although clearly taking the backseat to the murder mystery. The resolution to the murder is well crafted, yet the emotional pay off is too easy and short after dragging on for so long. Not without its problems, L.A. Boneyard remains a great, entertaining read for those that like the hard boiled, detail driven cop books.

Detective David Laine is called in to investigate a half buried body in Griffith Park. He discovers not just the one body but another as well. The burial site causes immediate problems sending David working overtime as a rift starts to appear between him and Chris. Unfortunately that’s not the only problem David has as his sexy new partner, Jairo, has made it clear he wants David and has no problems getting in the way of David and Chris’ relationship. As if all of this wasn’t enough, more bodies seem to be piling up and David struggles to find the common thread while clinging to his relationship with Chris despite temptation and horribly bad choices.

The plot is rather complicated as it weaves four almost separate murders together into a large, complex mystery involving slave trading, black market gun running, baby selling, prostitution, and child pornography. Given the numerous elements, Brown does a superb job keeping the plot moving with a minimum of confusion. There are perhaps too many aspects that keep getting thrown in and the book/plot didn’t need quite so many tangents to create a compelling mystery. This is a minor detail as there are very few dropped threads, but there are several elements that could have been dropped without adversely affecting the story. For the most part, the skillful weaving of details and careful, thorough police work creates an interesting story even as body after body and a plethora of seemingly random connections are introduced.

Since the murder mystery is the real focus of the book, the narrator is David’s third person point of view. There are a handful of scenes from Chris’ point of view and a few awkward view shifts mid-scene, but this is really David’s book. Following step by step as he works to solve the murders while simultaneously trying to save his relationship with Chris. David’s struggle with temptation, his annoyance with Chris’ bitchy behavior, and later his fear of losing his lover all present a very nice contrast to the day to day detail of police life. This helps humanize David and shows the personal side of his personality, a side that is rarely ever shown during his investigation. Although the relationship drama and fidelity test are welcome and very nicely drawn, none of these scenes really offer in depth characterization. All of the characters introduced are given enough outline to be recognized, but nothing goes further than at best a two dimensional characterization. Chris is especially absent and deserved more than the few scenes he’s given.

Part of this problem ties into the too easy resolution for the relationship aspect. Since the murder mystery is drawn out and includes a lengthy gun/chase scene at the end, the lesser back story of David’s relationship drama is resolved in about a paragraph. The quick and easy resolution had me wondering why that didn’t happen 200 pages ago when the issue was first brought up. Here Chris’ character is contradictory as he waffles from moment to moment and ultimately capitulates without any real prompting. Given this happened after 350 pages of police drama, I can understand wanting to wrap up the remaining emotional issue nice and easy, but it lacked any real romantic satisfaction. Hopefully the next book will even the focus on both men and give both men the additional depth and characterization they deserve.

The pace is mostly even with a lot of action and prolonging suspense. Some of these scenes are over the top slightly and didn’t necessarily need to be added as there is a sense of the plot getting chaotic at one point. However stick with it as the book evens out and the murders slowly start to form a common thread. The additional fourth murder and its implications could have been dropped entirely in my opinion and I would have rather seen David deal with all the problems without such an easy out but this is definitely a personal preference. Most readers won’t mind the added element and it does eventually weave itself into the main plot. There are a few too many rhetorical questions asked which have a tendency to annoy and a few too many random slang words thrown in that don’t really match the dialogue. However, these minor qualms do not take away from the book.

Overall this is another solid installment in the police procedural series and I look forward to the next one. Even if the story gets slightly confusing, stay with it and the plot will weave itself together very well. This sequel stands well on its own and does not need to be read with the first book; in fact there are a few erroneous details about the timeline that don’t match the previous book. So this is a great one to pick up on its own if you’re looking for a solid, engaging detail orientated book.