For some reason, I never became a mystery reader. This is extremely curious because I am the spawn of two very devoted mystery readers. This is one of the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. My parents smoked through these the way they smoked through their cigarettes, back when it was fashionable to smoke. McGee was a hard-drinking Southern knight of a man, imagined by Yankee MacDonald. He's an interesting character who charmed and continues to charm throngs of readers. The Travis McGee books, which all feature a color in the title, are reliably well-crafted. They have been labeled misogynist by some because the female characters are as many men imagined women were back in the days when the books were written, one dimensional "tramps" or ladies. But author John D. McDonald, who used his Harvard M.B.A. to cook up dazzling financial schemes and crimes for the Travis McGee series and other books, is generally admired as a great storyteller.

From the back cover:

We had had something together once. Carrie Milligan and I. But it was long gone. She came to me now, years later, looking older and used and very scared. She had a lot of money with her. Over a hundred thousand dollars. She wanted me to keep it safe. Until she returned. And no questions, please--for old times sake. So I kept the money, but Carrie never came back. And never would. She was suddenly very dead. The papers said it was an accident. But I didn't believe it for a moment. I did not know then that Carrie had been mixed up in a dangerous and dirty business. But I suspected it. And I was certain that someone had "arranged" that accident. Now I was damn well going to find out who.

Of John D. MacDonald's work:

"To diggers a thousand years from now...the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm releasing this in memory of my father and his love for Florida. May it have a good journey in bookcrossing. This book actually belonged to Papa.

Thank you for this surprise! This adventure set in Florida will probably be very entertaining. I'll let you know when I've read it.

I have read it, finished it last night.

It's true, the Florida described in the book has many different facets, which is true for the real Florida of today and of the time when the book was written. Unfortunately, many people don't see it that way, probably because they haven't had any experience of the place or they haven't stopped long enough to notice. So I recommend this book to those people.

As a crime novel, I found it reasonably good and unusual. There are some interesting characters in there but also some stereotypical ones. McGee himself is surprisingly likable, although I don't feel that I know him well after reading this one book.

I'm putting this on available now and I'll start looking for somebody to give it to. I don't want to wild release it here in Germany. Maybe I'll take it to a meetup some day? I'll do my best to find a reader for it because I think it's worth reading.

I've decided to send this book to Meerchen as a surprise RABCK. I know she reads in English, so that shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know whether she likes the genre. Anyway, let's give it a try.

found its way as a surprise RABCK to me :) thanks a lot Oedde ! will let you know what I thought about the book once I've read it.

at first I was a bit sceptical because of the way the book is written (a bit too colloquial for my taste) but then the plot drew me in. interesting story full of suspense and quite a few unexptected murders.