Crime Always Pays by Declan BurkeMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
From the Book Description:
"Who says crime doesn't pay? The perpetrators of a botched kidnap make their getaway in this hilarious sequel to The Big O
Karen and Ray are on their way to the Greek islands to rendezvous with Madge and split the fat bag of cash they conned from her ex-husband Rossi when they kidnapped, well, Madge. But they’ve reckoned without Stephanie Doyle, the cop who can’t decide if she wants to arrest Madge, shoot Rossi, or ride off into the sunset with Ray. And then there’s Melody, the wannabe movie director, who’s pinning all her hopes on Sleeps, the narcoleptic getaway driver who just wants to go back inside and do some soft time.
A European road-trip screwball noir, Crime Always Pays features cops and robbers, losers and hopers, villains, saints – and a homicidal Siberian wolf called Anna. The Greek islands will never be the same again."
Through much of this book I wondered who were all these people and what were they doing in this story? A confusing jumble of short chapters didn't help my understanding. But I'm a fan of screwball and of noir, and this book seemed to be headed in one of those directions so I kept plodding along. Then a wonderful thing happened. I started figuring it out, and actually enjoyed it.
I come down on the side of screwball. I'm told Crime Always Pays would have made more sense to me if I'd read Burke's The Big O first (Now they tell me!). It's worth the time spent. Enjoy
View all my reviews
