The Chandler Apartments

Owen Hill's breathless, sly and insouciant mystery novel is full of that rare Dawn Powell-ish essence: fictional gossip. I could imagine popping in and out of his sexy little Chandler building apartment a thousand times and never having the same cocktail buzz twice. Poets have all of the fun, apparently.

With humorous little twists, a large dose of satire and an inside look at the culture, neo-culture and counter culture of Berkeley, Hill weaves a novel not so much a mystery but an exposition of relationships centered around of all things an apartment house. The poet shows through in both the writing and the plot. A good book, a quick read.

Compact, terse and written with a subversive flair, The Chandler Apartments turns the mystery genre on its head. An excellent read that had me laughing out loud at times and nodding my head in agreement at others. Written with a light hand the novel's protaganist, book scout/poet and amateur private dick Clay Blackburn goes on the trail of murderers and smugglers with an irreverance that makes Phillip Marlow look like Joe Friday. Full of local flavor(the story mostly takes place in Berkeley)The Chandler Apartments is a book worth reading.