Catalina Eddy: A Novel in Three Decades by Daniel Pyne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

So much love for this book, it was such a delight to read! I requested this book because noir set in California is especially high up on my fiction favorites. The book’s pacing benefits from being separated into three stories set in three decades which are connected by little details which allows them to stand alone.

Because the stories are shorter they are fast paced and efficient. There’s not a lot of meandering into the larger world beyond the scope of the focal mystery. I love meandering, wandering stories but when an author does it the right way there is something uniquely beautiful about a tight story that is focused from start to finish on a main plot. Because the stories are set in separate decades, as the reader you are allowed to glimpse into details from previous stories like a cliff notes epilogue. There’s a cleverness to this that doesn’t smack you over the head but rather nudges you on the shoulder reminding you that even after one story ends it continues onward.
The stories of Catalina Eddy have a hard boiled quality but there’s an elegance to them that compelled me to add this into my list of favorite books. I cannot recommend this highly enough. I’m still digesting the stories themselves but I can’t wait to reread Catalina Eddy and am looking forward to more from Daniel Pyne.

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