Dirt

A great first novel from Dolittle that got me hooked on all his books. Terrific characters, great dialogue, funny and exciting.

As a former environmental activist (though perhaps not quite an eco-terrorist), and as a former wide-eyed romantic (though perhaps not quite a Byronic figure), I thoroughly enjoyed the blend of these two story elements in Sean Doolittle's first mystery, Dirt. This novel is a fast, fast read, and will surely hold your attention throughout. Individual sentences reward rereading, which is certainly not true of many mysteries. One of my favorite sentences is this gem: "Still, there was something about listening to her describe the putrefaction stages of dead human tissue that filled him with a peculiar discord." I have read all three of Doolittle's novels, and while this, his first novel, may not be as polished as his later efforts, I enjoyed its pell-mell plot and delightful humor a lot more.

DirtSean Dolittle2001ISBN 0-9663473-4-XUglytownMysteryThe opening line of this book is my main selling point when thrusting this book into the hands of hapless strangers on the street. After a stunned glance at the fervor in my eyes and a quick read of said first line, I've got a convert on my hands. "The trouble didn't seem to start so much as it simply landed, like a hunk of blazing debris." Are you converted? Nonetheless, I shall plod on...If I tell you I trust in the savvy, fluid humor of this confection for the mind more than I trust my own mother, would you trust me? What if I told you of my jaded past as a reader of trite, already read plots by apathetic authors not-to-be-named, dismantled and set aside by this sardonic, very human novel exposing the lurid underbelly of the undertaking business? Quince Bishop is yanked into this twisted tale by an ill-spoken "guerrilla" brandishing a gun at a friend's funeral and soon finds himself in an underground world exacting a punishment of frequent beatings as an entrance fee. A beautiful consumer advocate and saucy reporter ex-girlfriend spur him on as he takes on a manic-depressive nemesis and his ganja addled, ex-con sidekick. You and Quince find out more about the funeral industry than you ever wanted to know as he sinks deeper in. How he digs himself out of it is better reveled by reading the book than reading this review. So stop reading this and go buy this book.And I have one word for the author. More.

I bought this book after reading some nice words about it in a review by Tod Goldberg and he didn't lie. Dirt is not your average mystery -- its funny and sleazy and based in a reality I don't want to live in. Great stuff.

Breezy, fast-paced, and filled with sardonic humor, Sean Doolittle's first novel DIRT hits the ground running with a frantic fist-fight at a funeral and doesn't stop until the final page. Offering a fresh twist of seriously black humor in a genre known more for muted sarcasm, DIRT is a thriller that rewards and delights on many levels.Unlike most crime fiction heroes, the somewhat hapless Quince Bishop -- an aging slacker and passive romantic living off a family trust fund -- spends most of the novel being pummeled, kicked, and beaten repeatedly (and those are his better days). Paired with self-appointed funeral consumer advocate Marie Castaneda, Bishop accidentally uncovers the dastardly doings of Joel Moss, whose manic-depressive self-loathing is matched only by his disdain for the dearly departed he "inters" at his Palm Grove Cemetery.Assisting Moss in his shady scheme are Carl Rosen and Billy Guilder, two low-life thugs enjoying a taste of freedom after many years in prison. Guilder's gentle spirit provides for a surprising plot turn, but Rosen's cunning and penchant for violence render him a truly formidable and scary crime villain.DIRT is more than just another Quentin Tarantino or Dutch Leonard wanna-be crime tale. Author Doolittle plants his action squarely against the backdrop of the funeral industry, and when you're not gaping at the profession's practices, you just might find yourself guffawing. Think Donald Westlake sipping bourbon with Evelyn Waugh while collaborating on a rewrite of THE LOVED ONE and you're in the ball park here.Doolittle's black sense of humor serves him well -- bad guy Rosen's Achilles' heel is a delightfully painful running gag -- and is punched up by a sleek writing style honed after many years writing horror short fiction. (Stints as a journalist have been valuable, too -- witness Chapter 21, a hilarious account of a funeral home convention told entirely through the notes of a newspaper reporter).Despite the body count, Doolittle's big heart shines through grandly: after the obligatory sexual encounter, the novel's hero and heroine actually take time to talk to each other about death and religion and watch THE BIG SLEEP on TV. No hip one-liners from too-cool characters here, just two desperate people learning how to reach out to each other.There's a lot going on beneath the surface of DIRT. The wise reader will take no time digging in.