Hoke Moseley’s latest case is the suspicious death of a junkie who’s overdosed after swiping a large chunk of change from drug dealers. But then he’s put on a special assignment to solve a stack of cold cases in two months to make his boss look good enough to be promoted and also bring new hope of justice for the (possibly) dead. Then, suddenly, his ex-wife dumps their two teenage daughters in his lap and takes off for the west coast! Now, Hoke’s not only gotta find a new place to live soon but he’s gotta find a place big enough for his kids too. It never rains but it pours, eh…
New Hope for the Dead is a decent but underwhelming follow-up to the more exciting previous novel, Miami Blues, mostly because that novel had a strong antagonist in psychopathic serial killer Freddy Frenger pushing the action forwards and this novel doesn’t have that.
Not that it doesn’t have anything, but this book is mostly character-building stuff, clearing up administrative bits and pieces and table-setting for future novels. Which is fine - it’s clever how Charles Willeford works the junkie OD into Hoke finding a place for him and his family to stay - but it’s also much less enthralling to read, particularly as it gives the story a leaden pacing.
It’s surprising that both daughters don’t seem to have any resentment towards Hoke considering he’s barely been in their lives at all up to that point, and it’s also surprising how decent a father Hoke turns out to be. He’s a bit rough, but then he’s also like that with everyone, and some of the blatantly sexist attitudes he expresses read very outdated today. The way he treats his new partner, Ellita Sanchez, like a typist and an unequal partner would definitely not fly these days - nor would someone in that position simply take it!
But I like that Hoke is kind of a prick and yet he’s the hero of the series - that dash of anti-heroism makes him a more compelling character. Even when he’s going about his day-to-day, he’s not a boring dude to read about.
The cold cases themselves are interesting but Hoke, Ellita and Bill Henderson solve two right off the bat without really trying which is very convenient and unlikely, and even the main story of the junkie OD is resolved in a contrived fashion.
Still, Willeford’s writing is sharp, his characterisation and dialogue is bang on, and he does accomplish building up Hoke’s character some more in this book. There’s also enough going on so that it’s never too dull, but, particularly after reading Miami Blues, you definitely notice the lack of a really great core storyline. It’s not a bad read but I think New Hope for the Dead wouldn’t really appeal to anyone but Willeford fans.
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