I have always known Burl Barer as an excellent True Crime writer and was somewhat surprised to learn recently that he had also written mystery fiction. I ordered his book “Headlock” hoping that it could match his True Crime writing in standard.
“Headlock” is the story of Jeff Reynolds, a half-hearted private eye, writer, psychic, ex professional wrestler and full time cynic whose speciality is turning cases into novels. Richard Tibbit, a prospective client, approaches Reynolds wanting him to find out if “it” is all over and he can safely leave his home where he has lived as a recluse for fifteen years. Tibbit suspects that his stepmother murdered his father. In fact, he is convinced that he knows this for a fact and that that knowledge has placed him in mortal danger, hence the necessity for him to go into hiding.
Jeff Reynolds sets out to discover the truth behind the death of Mr Tibbit senior and to bring about a peaceful conclusion to the matter for the paranoid and petrified Tibbit junior. Along the way, he enlists the help of warring prostitutes Verna and Lori and forms a love interest with Randy, a tart with a heart. His investigations lead him into confrontations with everyone from the police to professional wrestlers from which he cleverly manages to extricate himself – or does he?
Barer’s book is set firmly in the present day but is very evocative of the old black and white private detective movies in style. The plot is quite complex, yet Barer keeps it well under control and successfully ties in all the lose ends at the book’s conclusion. “Headlock” is sharper than a stiletto, funny and tongue-in-cheek, with some classic one-liners thrown in for good measure, one of which I’d love to have printed on my headstone when I die! (“I can’t be dead; I’m still sarcastic.”)
Being a British reader, some of the contemporary American references sailed completely over my head, despite which I thoroughly enjoyed my first taste of Barer’s fiction, which I would describe as both intelligent and quirky. The writing merits a full 5/5 rating, however the book itself loses a half mark because of its extremely small print and also because, unless my eyes were deceiving me, the font size actually changed briefly several times, something which I found quite disconcerting.
Printing problems aside, though, this is a book that is very different and I’m looking forward to the next Jeff Reynolds mystery, which I understand that the author is currently in the process of writing.
Publisher: Deadly Alibi Ltd
ISBN: 1 886199 09 4
Price: £10.97 / $18.99 p/b
Date Reviewed: October 2002
My Rating: 4.5/5
