The Long Lavender Look

The Long Lavender Look: Having read a lot of non-fiction [1] and heavier fiction [2], my mind was aching for something lighter and simpler.  So I dove back into familiar waters and read another in the Travis McGee series.

This one started out in a way that made me think I was not going to like it much.  Travis and Meyer end up stuck in a town halfway between nowhere and the swamp.  All of the characters looked to be the Florida equivalent of swamp people and I was not too excited.

Except that in the time it took me to make that discernment, I had read another page or two and MacDonald had me hooked.  I read the whole thing in three sittings and in the middle sitting I only read about fifteen pages.

The story is about small town people who live near the swamp in Florida, but the story doesn't actually go into the swamp and while some of the characters had clearly been there a time or two, MacDonald doesn't wallow in it. [3]

There's murder and unsolved crimes and the requisite "love" interest. [4]  Drugs, solicitation, misdirection and the hiding of a dead body.  Everything you'd want from the tale.

At a couple of points near the end the writing got a shade to "implying" the action and less "telling" the action. [5]  And the ending was kind of rushed in the way MacDonald endings sometimes are.  Sort of like he either was tired of the tale or had hit a page limit and decided to wrap it up quick.  But neither of those things can keep me from saying I was thoroughly engaged and very much enjoyed it.

So much so that I'm going to start the next in the series as soon as I post this.

The Long Lavender Look: A-

[1] - If you're lucky I'll write about it.
[2] - If I'm lucky I'll finish it.
[3] - Like Reality TV would have.
[4] - Such as they go with McGee naturally
[5] - Of course it is just as likely that I was tired.