The
Final Solution: A Story of Detection
By
Michael Chabon
In
his career as an author, Michael Chabon has written a children's
book, a heroic work surrounding the creation of superheroes, and
now a mystery novel. "The Final Solution" harkens back
to those classic murder mysteries of the Agatha Christie age. In
this, his latest creation, Chabon introduces us to a brilliant,
unnamed detective. Now in his twilight years, the old man amuses
himself by tending to his bees and generally living a quiet existence
in a small town in Britain. The arrival of a boy and his African
gray parrot, however, signals interesting things to come. A murder
is committed, an innocent man jailed, and a parrot mysteriously
goes missing. All this is just enough to rouse the old man out of
his lethargy and into a mysterious world of Nazi code-breaking and
World War II intrigues. Most intriguing of all comes when it is
clear that the solution is just a part of the book's conclusion.
Chabon
has deftly turned his skill of penning exciting adventure stories
into this new and gripping tale of red herrings and suspense. The
single image of a mute boy walking with a parrot who can't stop
repeating mysterious German numbers is gripping enough to entice
not only the reader but the nameless detective as well. The book
jumps from one person's point of view to another without skipping
a beat (even going so far as to include a section from the head
of the parrot itself) and presents a mystery that could definitely
be solved by an attentive reader. All in all, the book's a wonderful
hearkening back to the days of drawing room detectives while containing
the depth and great writing you expect from Chabon's pen. A fine
addition to any mystery buff's private library.
|
The
Book |
Fourth
Estate / HarperCollins |
November
1, 2004 |
Hardcover
|
006076340X |
Mystery
- Historical (Britain 1940s) |
More
at Amazon.com |
Excerpt
|
NOTE:
Some violence. Some mild allusions to sex. |
The
Reviewer |
Elizabeth Bird |
Reviewed
2005 |
NOTE:
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