Review: The Novel, A Night Owl Slips Into A Diner (Alexander Southerland, P.I. Book 4)...

First off, this is the type of book I want to write, the one I believe I am writing. It's noir mystery mixed with urban fantasy, steering clear of the usual, sometimes tired fantasy tropes. It’s Raymond Chandler and Jim Butcher all in one. Even the setting is a dead-ringer for Dashiell Hammett’s San Francisco. 

In A Night Owl Slips Into A Diner (Alexander Southerland, P.I. Book 4), by Douglas Lumsden, the story is pure hardboiled mystery peppered with obscure fantasy elements. Alexander Southerland, protagonist P.I. and narrator of this tale of hidden truths and deceitful power players, of ancient Native American spirits and warrior races, of dragon lords and deadly secrets, wades in way, way over his head. 

Early on, I bristled at an aspect of the main character I thought unbelievable in this day and age–his technological ignorance–but this fault soon fell to the wayside. The worldbuilding and plot elements soon proved quite worthwhile. I’m glad I did not abandon the book, since I had enjoyed the first three installments of this series. 

After revealing a white-collar criminal, Southerland faces some tough consequences. Guilt persuades him to look into the coincidental and oddly-timed death of the said white-collar criminal, which then exposes him to powerful people, sinister plots, and civilization-ending secrets. He has one card to play: a flash drive containing a groundbreaking formula, and he proceeds to push his luck, playing one power broker against another. If this doesn’t summon Hammett, I don’t know what does. 

Guilt and the burden of consequences are recurring themes here, not only apparent in the protagonist but also in the supporting characters. His friend Crawford, a local jeweler and were-rat that transforms into not one but an entire mischief of over one hundred rats and willingly helps the P.I. with his cases, tells Southerland that the choices we make are our own, and that he should not feel responsible for other people’s choices and actions, no matter where they may lead. Sutherland hears this, but doesn’t listen, which is another characteristic of the hardboiled detective: stubbornness.  

The story also touches on systematic corruption and geopolitics. The tale ramps up from basic industrial espionage to intense political drama. Southerland soon discovers that what he knows is keeping him alive, and that revealing it would mean his death. Set in a world parallel to our own, immortal dragons rule each continent symbolically, while bureaucracies and other agencies do the real governing. Southerland is up against a shady government agency, the (Dragon) Lord’s Investigative Agency, or LIA, cleverly resembling our own CIA, with a sinister praying mantis shapeshifter as a lead agent. 

Sutherland also finds himself faced with corporeal and incorporeal threats. In many noir tales, there’s an underworld agent, a leader in some organized crime hierarchy, who plays an integral part in the central mystery. Night Owl plays the supernatural version of this trope. He’s an ancient spirit with a hidden agenda, who pulls strings and offers the P.I. money for what he knows. A narumbee–an ancient Meso-American pygmy warrior–named Ralph acts as both Southerland’s nemesis and ally. In the world of noir, Ralph is the ultimate tough guy, the hired muscle, or the jaded enforcer. He answers not only to LIA but to an ancient elf who granted Southerland heightened senses and quickened healing in a previous novel. 

The tough private investigator embarks on an unexpected but essential spiritual quest that oddly connects with his investigation. To navigate the digital and magical barriers on the flash drive, he enlists the help of a hacker, aptly named Walks In Cloud, who’s also familiar with perception-changing drug journeys. Here, he finds his spirit animal, Panther, who sends him on a quest to protect the corporeal embodiment of Thunderbird, another powerful spirit. Finishing this mission will help ease Southerland's guilt. He discovers his spiritual name, Speaks With Wind, which symbolizes a crucial part of his evolving identity as he explores the spirit world and the profound supernatural forces of Yerba City, or parallel San Francisco. 

Critics hail Lumsden’s atmospheric genre blending and bringing to the forefront obscure mythos and lore. Southerland is the quintessential, hard-drinking, gritty hardboiled detective with a chip on his shoulder and a point to make. He gets severely beaten up, deceived, and manipulated into making certain decisions. Conversely, Southerland’s choices and actions are so questionable that I wonder if he has a death wish. Also, the P.I. has no overarching redemption arc–one that can span an entire series–which many classic hardboiled detectives have. There’s much going on here, so much so that some readers may be put off by its labyrinthine plot–this is no straightforward noir mystery. 

All in all, I highly recommend this novel as well as this series. As of right now, there are only seven novels in the series, but Lumsden says that he’s working on another. I’ll gladly read all installments.