Sauce for the Goose

I hadn't seen a Jimmy Flannery mystery for over 15 years. I guess I got busy and missed the last three of the series. I am 3/4 of the way through Sauce for the Goose, and it is totally entertaining, like all the other Flannery mystery stories. If you want to get everything out of it, then you have to slow down and just read the Flannery Chicago dialect to completely enjoy it; but Jimmmy is one of the most likeable "detectives" (actually a sewer inspector and, self-proclaimed "busybody")out there. Campbell nails the Flannery formula perfectly in this story.

Jimmy Flannery is one of the most original creations in American detective fiction and a delight in every outing. He's a new-old man who straddles the worlds of the Democratic old-school party machine in Chicago's ethnic wards and the reformers who are putting the machine out of business. He owes his job in the city sewers to his political connections and sees nothing wrong with it. He makes it all work by trading favor for favor, in an impeccably moral way in which he seeks a good solution for all involved. It's that skill that often leads him into unraveling complicated criminal circumstances in a way that pleases (or equally displeases) all involved. His exploits are always recounted in picturesque ways, and his underclass dialogue is riveting to the ear and the mind. In Sauce for the Goose, Jimmy has just finished moving up in the world (as he should after 8 previous novels in the series including The Junkyard Dog, The 600 Pound Gorilla, Hip-Deep in Alligators, The Cat's Meow, Thinning the Turkey Herd, The Gift Horse's Mouth and In a Pig's Eye). He has succeeded his old Chinaman, Chips Devlin as the unpaid 27th ward councilman after having served as a precinct captain for about 15 years. His new job of inspector of the sewers means he doesn't have to go down into them every day any more. He has married the delightful nurse, Mary Ellen, and they have a newborn daughter, Kathleen. They share Mary Ellen's dog, Alfie, and their in-laws. Mary Ellen's mom has married Jimmy's dad. One of Jimmy's best political allies is the "lipstick lesbian" Janet Canarias who took the 27th aldermanic seat away from the regular Democratic organization. These facts are briefly and effectively displayed at the beginning. Thus, you can read this book and enjoy it without having read any of the earlier books in the series. That's a rare treat for mystery fans these days when series seem to get more and more interconnected so that each new book is incomprehensible without reading 15 others.As the book opens, Ms. Canarias informs Jimmy that there's a shake-up coming from city hall and that more city services are about to be outsourced (to help keep the reformers happy) . . . maybe even some of the Municipal Pier, Canal, Garages, Public Curbs and Expansion Agency which is headed by attorney and power broker, Frank Vollmer. That's curious . . . because Jimmy finds himself taking a course in political science in night school from Vollmer. What's a $400 an hour doing teaching 20 of the relatively unwashed? What's more, why is there a semi-illiterate Mob supporter falling asleep nightly in the same class?Jimmy's also taking an English course to help get rid of the "ain'ts" in his speech and to expand his spoken vocabulary. It's all part of Mary Ellen's plan for helping Jimmy move up in the world. Pretty soon it takes him twice as long to say everything . . . as he continually and self-consciously corrects his verbs and objects. It's even getting on Janet'