Magic City Blues is a novel dripping with action, apprehension, and authenticity. With a violent plotline complex enough to keep a seasoned crime reader engaged, it is the personalities and relationships that kept me captivated. Like other gifted writers before him, Bobby Mathews turns his beloved city into a character all its own, driving the story forward to its dramatic finale.
Kincaid, a veteran and low-level enforcer, had thought the toughest part of his new protection gig was going to be keeping his eyes (and hands, if he was lucky) off Abby Doyle. Hired by Abby’s father, Birmingham’s criminal kingpin, Kincaid soon realizes he is facing dangers from all angles, including a few he never wanted to even imagine.
When BPD detective Laura D’Agostino is assigned to find the killer of Abby’s fiancé, Kincaid is confronted with the last thing he thought possible; his own long dormant emotions. As the unlikely pair chase down leads through the urban center of Birmingham and its surrounding suburbs, they uncover horrific secrets, double dealing, and death at every turn. The only real question is if they can stay alive long enough to finish the job.
At first glance, I was tempted to label Mathews’s writing style as streamlined, but it’s so much more than that. While the prose is shorn of any superfluous verbiage, you can tell that he has poured over each word to find the single most impactful descriptor in each sentence. It is this attention to detail in both his setting depictions and witty dialogue that had me staying up into the early hours of the morning to see what happened next.
You can go ahead and add Bobby’s name to the list of authors leading the revival of what I’ve seen called ‘new southern noir’. Call it whatever you will, but if you have even a passing interest in crime fiction, start picking up these books and this one in particular. We are privileged to be reading at a time when there is an abundance of deeply talented writers producing amazing work centered in the south, many with a focus on breaking down historical stereotypes and illuminating the mercurial transitional period many southern cities find themselves in at the present. Don’t make the mistake of missing out.
Fans of historical giants like Robert B. Parker or our contemporary greats like Ace Atkins and S.A. Cosby, this is a book for you.
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Purchase Magic City Blues
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