The Two-Bear Mambo

The Two-Bear Mambo, Joe R. Lansdale

Another @mrbsemporium pick, and another good one. Back in crime territory but somewhere in the middle of a series that I've never heard of known as the Hap and Leonard novels. The protagonists are friends who sporadically play investigators in their corner of the Deep South. Hap is white, blue collar and a former 1960s idealist, while Leonard is black, gay and a Vietnam veteran, making for a classic "odd couple" pairing.

On this outing, the pair travel to East Texas to track down Florida Grange, a journalist and former girlfriend of Hap, who's gone missing while covering a seeming miscarriage of justice. However, deep in Klan territory, a black journalists sticking her nose into a death in custody doesn't go down well, let alone the arrival of Hap and Leonard in pursuit. Cue violence and mayhem as the boys only gradually discover who they can trust, and who knows Florida's fate.

Considering that I jumped in some way into a series, I didn't have any trouble with this at all. Quite a rollicking read, somewhat akin to Carl Hiaasen, but with more violence and more serious undercurrents. And very satisfyingly twisty, although well within the normal bounds for crime fiction.