Author: Miles Corwin

Publisher: Oceanview Press

ISBN: 978-1-60809-007-5

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A book rather like the album it draws its name from - spare, moody and full of surprises.

When you hear hoof beats, a character says midway through this spare, swiftly moving thriller, don’t think zebras. And sure enough, Miles Corwin brings to that vast fictional universe that is the police procedural a law enforcer very different from the rest of the herd. Enter Asher Levine , ex-Israeli Defence Force paratrooper, with a penchant for quoting the Talmud, Miles Davis, multi cultural cuisine and – wait for it – surfing! Levine is intriguingly flawed too – equal parts righteous rage and guilt (a result, he admits, of growing up with a Holocaust survivor), an obsession with his job that has ended his marriage and upsets his family, and a tendency toward inappropriate relationships with suspects and witnesses . He is also a disgraced LA cop, suspended from service over the death of a key witness in a store robbery/ shooting.

Told in the first person,’ Kind of Blue’ follows Levine’s reluctant return to the police force to investigate the death of a fellow officer, while also seeking closure on the case of the murdered witness that continues to haunt him. Levine soon finds that what seems to be a routine break in gone wrong may in fact have been a premeditated attack, and the case gets progressively murkier. Faced with prejudiced colleagues, a nagging mother unhappy with his reinstatement (one of the few awkward stereotypes in this otherwise realistic ensemble cast) and his own desperate need to find redemption, Levine unravels a web of deceit involving not just upmarket art dealers and lowlife street thugs, but dirty cops as well.

Author Corwin clearly knows his turf well, having been a crime reporter for the LA Times and written three acclaimed non fiction books that build on his experiences in the field. His debut in fiction is therefore no surprise – assured, well researched, flawlessly plotted and peopled with characters that grab your attention. Through his elegant, pared down prose, he brings LA alive - its neighbourhoods, its smog, its architecture, the mean streets. Also its cuisine, for Levine is clearly a foodie, and practically every chapter is peppered (pardon the pun) with references to the diverse meals he enjoys, deftly indicating his ability to interact with, and understand, the different ethnic groups of the city he so energetically seeks to protect and defend.

With its crackling pace, abundance of plot twists and suspects, and an ending as surprising as it is satisfying, ‘Kind of Blue’ is the kind of book that has one listening out for the hoofbeats of sequels.