Several folks have warmly praised Bruen's The Killing of the
Tinkers in the last couple of weeks.
I don't get it. I tried, but I didn't get it.
To my eye, the book is structured like this [warning:
SPOILER]:
PI hits self on head with skillet.
Someone kills Tinker A.
PI hits self on head with saucepan.
PI thinks about some loud half-talented rock group. He thinks
about George Pelecanos. His thoughts about each are not very
interesting.
Someone kills Tinker B.
Lead Tinker insists that a single person is killing the
tinkers because they're tinkers.
PI makes limp wisecrack, hits self on head with waffle iron,
says he'll get the killer.
Someone kills Tinker C.
PI feels bad about his headache, hits self on head with
branding iron.
For no apparent reason, PI gets a reading from A
Profiler.
Profiler describes the killer as left-handed, prone to spill
his buttermilk, who buttons his shirt from the top down and
uses washcloths with stripes on them.
For no apparent reason, PI spends some time with someone who
is left-handed, prone to spill his buttermilk, who buttons
his shirt from the top down and uses washcloths with stripes
on them.
PI hits self on head with cricket bat.
PI tells Lead Tinker that someone else did the
killings.
After Lead Tinker takes care of the named culprit, PI says,
"Oops." Hits self on head with bootjack.
Book ends.
Michael Etchison
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