The Crime Writer

Crime writer Drew Danner wakes up in the hospital with no memory of how or why he's there. It seems he was found convulsing next to his very dead ex-fiance Genevieve Bertrand and to make matters worse he's just had a brain tumor removed, so he can't remember the last 24 hours. Did he do it or not? He thinks not. He thinks he's being framed. But how to prove it without any memory? His attorney convinces him he can't win, so he pleads guilty by reason of insanity. But he can't let go of the fact that he doesn't think he could have done it. So he decides to write a book about it and to research it the way he would any other book. That way, looking at it objectively, he'll get to the real truth of the matter. Or so he thinks. In the process of reading this book we see Danner's rough drafts and his editor's remarks. We learn what it's like to be a crime writer and we learn a lot about Los Angeles in this book that is a different kind of crime novel, but different in a good way.

What a great read! Although it took me a few chapters to get into the story (it's told in alternating real-time and past-tense chapters), this was one thriller that grabs on and never lets go. I've read other Gregg Hurwitz titles, but THE CRIME WRITER is the first one that had me reading late into the night just to see what happened next. This is one read that definitely keeps you on your toes, and questions everything you think you know about what has happened or what's going to happen. Highly recommended -- this one's a winner!

I am glad I didn't read these negative reviews prior to getting the book. It might have dampened my spirits. True, the book has a melancholy narrative; but please, Drew is being charged for murder. He's not sure if he did it, plus a piece of his brain is floating in a jar. I think the book was set up perfectly. Fantastic book. Fantastic writer.

Thirty-eight year old Andrew Danner, who lives in Los Angeles, has written five books featuring fictional hero Derek Chainer, of LAPD's Homicide Special. One of Drew's novels was made into a terrible movie that few bothered to see. The crime writer learns that real life is stranger than fiction when he wakes up in a hospital in excruciating pain. A belligerent cop, who has been keeping a grim vigil at his bedside, shows Drew an eight by ten crime scene photo of Drew's ex-fiancée, Genevieve Bertrand. She died from a knife wound to her abdomen. Danner asks groggily, "Who did that to her?" The detective replies, "You did." The police arrest Danner and accuse him of murdering his former girlfriend in a rage after she broke up with him and started seeing someone else. Drew has no memory of having committed the crime. Four months later, Andrew Danner is a diminished and humbled man. He has survived emergency surgery to remove a benign brain tumor, and his lawyers have gotten him off using a temporary insanity defense. However, the not-guilty verdict doesn't prevent Drew from being hissed at in public by people who believe that he got away with slaughtering a defenseless woman. Could he have carried out this vile act in the throes of a seizure brought on by his brain tumor? Admittedly, Drew did have motive, means, and opportunity, but he refuses to believe that he is capable of murder. If he is indeed innocent, then the real perp is setting him up. Therefore, Drew decides to do what any self-respecting protagonist would do--solve the crime himself. Unfortunately, his situation worsens considerably when another dead woman turns up; the police believe that Danner has claimed his second victim. So far, this seems to be a cookie-cutter thriller, but Hurwitz has something else in mind: a diverting parody of the kinds of potboilers that Danner routinely produces. With tongue firmly in cheek, Hurwitz puts his hero through his paces: trying to recreate the night of Genevieve's death in his mind, enlisting the aid of his friends to look into the case, and even endangering his life to find the truth. Hurwitz populates "The Crime Writer" with a lively cast of characters. Drew is a recovering alcoholic who perversely buys expensive liquor and then pours it down the sink. He is smart and savvy, but nothing in his experience has prepared him for this grueling ordeal. Hardboiled detectives Bill Kaden and Ed Delveckio have Drew firmly in their sights and they are determined to nail him. Lloyd Wagner, a criminalist (CSI), has served as Drew's consultant in the past, and Drew takes advantage of Lloyd's considerable expertise to process and interpret evidence. The most amusing character is Drew's best friend, Chic Bales, an African-American who is "Philly born and East Coast loyal." Chic is a smart-mouth who teases Drew unmercifully, but he has many resources (some legal, most not) that prove invaluable to the beleaguered Tanner. What would

In Los Angeles crime writer Andrew "Drew" Danner wakes up in the hospital with no knowledge of how he was found holding a knife and blood is all over him that is not his while his former fiancée Genevieve Bertrand lies dead nearby. Having recently undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, his short term memory is off. Thus he cannot remember how he came to the crime scene let alone killing Genevieve, but refuses to believe he would murder her as he feels that goes against his natural instincts. Drew is found not guilty due to temporary insanity. However, he obsesses with knowing the truth as to whether he committed the homicide as everyone else assumes he did. He makes himself the amateur sleuth in a detective story and begins his investigation. When a second murder similar to the Bertrand homicide occurs, Drew looks guilty, but this time he knows he did not murder anyone. Someone is out to get him by using seemingly innocent people that Drew knows to point the police at him. The first part of this exciting thriller may be the best opening ploy in the mystery genre this year. Once the court case is finished, the story line remains strong as readers will want to know whether Drew is capable of killing especially an innocent, but loses some of the momentum as the police become culpable with mistakes in their inquiry. Still Gregg Hurwitz provides an exhilarating tale starring a fascinating beleaguered protagonist who along with the audience wonders if H. Rap Brown's famous saying "violence is American as cherry pie" is true? Harriet Klausner