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More than a whodunit detective story, Picasso Blues is a gripping tale of missed opportunities and hidden desires set amid rampant cynicism, fear, and deadly danger.
In this sequel to Free Form Jazz, Ray Tate and Djuna Brown are reunited in a city being ripped apart by fear, paranoia, and racism. With the police force decimated by a SARS-like disease, Tate and Brown are assigned to a task force targeting a series of murders that seem to be racially motivated. As the city riots around them, can they fashion a future for themselves in their dreamland of bohemian Paris?
Far more than a whodunit detective story, Picasso Blues is the gripping tale of a civil society that flirts with anarchy a society where the very defenders of order risk losing themselves to chaos.
Married to themes of insidious racism, official corruption/cover-up and the bipolar, us-theme police psychology that, under stress, can easily blur the lines of perp and victim, Picasso is a must-read for every cop north of the Rio Grande -- and for anyone wanting the real down-low and up-high on our troubled guardians.
Mixed with really scary gore, this riff on film, life and art is a great bit of writing.
— Margaret Cannon
On one level, its an action-packed, hard-boiled police procedural. On the other, its an under-your-skin story that keeps resonating in your thoughts long after youve put it downThe ending in this must-read mystery is an example of why author Lee Lamothe is at the top of his game.
The ethereal near-death visions of a beating victim nail you to the opening pages of Picasso Blues, a sequel to last year's Free Form Jazz by Toronto gonzo-noir king Lee Lamothe. Twisty plot-lines, vivid imagery and keen portraiture keep you there. The waves of arson, race riots and paranoia set off by a SARS-like epidemic provide grist for Lamothe's authentic police-psychology insights, but it's the crazy-love, salt-and-pepper reunion of scruffy detective Ray Tate and quirky State Trooper Djuna Brown that propel this fast-paced romp.