Crime novels are as common as the cold cold or the coronavirus, but riveting crime novels set in northern California are as rare as criminals with real brains in the world of Dashiell Hammett, the author of The Maltese Falcon, the detective story that unleashed an avalanche of down and dirty murder mysteries. Criminals with and without brains play leading roles in The Lost Coast, (Encircle; $15.99), Scott Lipanovich’s new “mystery thriller,” as he calls it, that rambles from Fort Bragg to Ukiah, Santa Rosa and beyond, and picks up speed as it goes. The beginning is a bit sketchy. But don’t give up. By the end of chapter one, when Lipanovich introduces state senator Allan Watkins— “the last of the Heartland liberals”— the story gets really interesting.
Norcal settings make the novel an enjoyable read, as do the quirky characters, especially the private investigator, Jeff Taylor, who tangles with the kind of folks—”plumbers, realtors, nail pounders and people employed in the marijuana industry”— you might meet in a bar in Hopland, Cloverdale, Whitethorn or Little River. After listing the names of the suspects in the case, and adding himself, Taylor asks “What did we have in common? We’re all part of the same struggle. We’re human, and though we share more than ninety-eight percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, we are a million times more complex. We confuse love with desire, we confuse needs with greed.” He adds, “If there are gods above, they are surely laughing at us much of the time.”
The Lost Coast is a mystery thriller for a reader who thinks and enjoys thinking about things like human nature, the state of the State of California, democracy, boys and their mothers. In a way it’s too well written. That means that in order to appreciate it you have to slow down, and resist the impulse to turn the pages quickly and find out whodunit. “The land dropped and we walked to a grassy mesa, where there was a pond,” Lipanovich writes. “Night was falling fast. A flock of tiny birds wheeled, dipped toward the water, rose in unison and flashed white bellies,”
By all means dig the mystery, but make the time to dig the word painting and the poetry, too. In Lost Coast, which is his first novel, author Scott Lipanovich, who lives in Santa Rosa, finds his own voice and amplifies the many voices of the characters he has created in his Lost Coast, a magical place that appeals to lovers of adventure. You might not actually make it there in person, but you can travel there in the pages of Lipanovich’s poetic meditation on landscapes and the people on the edge of the Golden State.
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