Bra berättelse som kanske inte är den mest spännande men väldigt fint skriven. Humor och våld går hand i hand med sprit och droger. En riktig 70-tals historia. ( )

Perchè ho voluto leggere un hard boiled già sapendo che non è il mio genere? Non saprei, forse per venir smentita o forse per veder confermati i miei pregiudizi.
E' venuto fuori che a quanto pare avevo ragione a diffidare, perchè mi ha infastidito tutto di questo romanzo: i personaggi, l'ambientazione e soprattutto il messaggio che comunica. Ok che siamo negli anni '70, ma non ho mai visto un tale concentrato di sessismo, omofobia e mascolinità tossica. Tralasciando poi l'esaltazione delle droghe e della violenza, che assumono una dimensione quasi mitica, come se fossero il marchio dell' "uomo vero".
La cosa che mi dispiace è che non sarebbe neanche scritto male come giallo (nonostante una certa tendenza dell'autore a perdersi in chiacchiere), peccato che ogni buono spunto venga annegato in un mare di cinismo fine a se stesso e che tre quarti dell'opera consistano in sesso, risse e sbornie.
Suppongo ci sia tutta un'umanità che va in brodo di giuggiole davanti a certi romanzi, io di certo non sono fra questi. ( )

If Charles Bukowski were a private detective trying to earn a living in a
small hippie-filled city in the Pacific Northwest, he would be Milo, the
hero of the story. This is a hardboiled detective story, containing many
of the usual elements, including the down-on-his-luck detective, the
sexy siren of a would-be client, her missing brother who was too good
to be true. But, Crumley does not stop at giving us a run-of-the-mill
private eye story, he sets in in the seventies where there are stoned-
out hippies everywhere, even working for the chamber of commerce,
and offering up free love like its going out of style. There are also bars
seemingly on every corner and barflies everywhere.
Milo solves everything by going on bender after bender and is so
unorthodox that he even asks if his client will give him her nights in
exchange for his days working. But Milo is ferocious and transvestites,
street thugs, nasty officers, and hippie pig farm communes won't stop
him from getting to the bottom of the situation.
The plotting is not what this book is necessarily about. Its the wild,
almost-legendary drinking and atmosphere that makes this story.
( )

Milton Chester “Milo” Milodragovitch was once a very successful private investigator, he made his living as the kind of sleazy keyhole peeper who kicked in doors to snap photos for use as evidence in divorce cases, then they invented the no-fault divorce and the bottom dropped out. On the plus side he has a sizable inheritance from his wealthy father’s estate coming on his 53rd birthday… on the downside that’s more than a decade away and, between his hard partying ways and questionable life choices, it’s anybody’s guess as to whether he’ll live that long. His mentor is a long disbarred attorney named Simon who has given up on society to become a first rate drunk... Milo is starting to think Simon might have the right idea!

The Wrong Case has Milo agreeing to take on a missing person case for the simple reason that he is attracted to the missing man’s sister… the money isn’t bad either, but it’s mostly for the girl. The resulting investigation turns into a disaster when bodies begin piling up, an inexplicable junkie crime spree hits town, and Milo can’t seem to get a handle on exactly what’s going on or why. But, with a stubborn streak of tenacity that might get him killed, Milo is determined to solve the case and get the girl.

Milo is a redneck in the classic style, a hard drinking, hell-raising good ol’ boy with more guts than brains. He's reckless and self indulgent with no tolerance of rules or regulations of any kind and, like most classic hard-boiled types, he drinks WAY too much. It being the Seventies he’s also known to indulge in illegal drugs like speed and marijuana from time to time. He’s a hard-case (as well as something of a head-case at times) but he’s also a bit of a soft touch. Sure, he’ll knock you on your butt, but then he’ll probably help you up, apologize, and buy you a drink.

This novel won't be everyone's cup of Irish coffee, it's brooding, the mystery itself isn't all that great, the plot is a little hard to believe at times and none of the characters possess much in the way of redeeming qualities. I loved it!

The style invites comparisons to Raymond Chandler mostly due to the genre and the fact that Crumley has a certain way of presenting a sentence that is almost lyrical or poetic at times while still never letting the reader lose the sense that what is being read contains some greater secret about the harsh truth of the meaning of life.

The book contains adult language, sex, violence and racial slurs. ( )

I did not like this book and forced myself to finish it because of other favourable ratings and reviews. The characters and situations were far too "gritty" for my liking (the protogonist and most of the other characters are drunks with much of the narrative focusing on the need for another drink, or drug); and the solution to the supposedly missing person came through accident rather than clues or development. The ending was even worse when we discover that the lady who employed Milo and with whom he fell in love was a pathological liar and "mummy's" girl. Sorry I perserved in reading this. ( )