Night Watchman — Tony Dunbar

In this EIGHTH entry in the Tubby Dubonnet series, the laid-back New Orleans lawyer finds himself caught in a twisted trip down memory lane, distracted by a luscious new love, and, as usual, surrounded by screwball denizens of everybody's favorite city. But he's also caught in someone's crosshairs, and so are half the cast of crazies and screwballs. Which makes for a delicious mix of danger and humor (with a dash of romance!), best consumed with a tall cold one and a bag of Zapp's Spicy Cajun Crawtators . When in the 1970s a young war protester is killed in broad daylight on Canal Street, it appears that his murder will be forgotten, a back page story lost in the big news of an especially violent era. But a youthful Tubby chanced to see it happen, and the tragic event's haunted him throughout his life. Decades later, an established (but not exactly driven) lawyer, yet successful enough to have time on his hands, Tubby decides to conduct his own investigation into the forgotten crime. He quickly stirs up a hornets' nest of far-reaching political feuds, police corruption, government agents, and old men with secrets to hide. But as in all Tubby Dubonnet novels, the plot takes a backseat to local color, colorful characters, odes to fine food, wry observations, and a whole lot of humor. It's a little like spending a weekend in da Big Easy, dawlin'--complete with three well-chosen meals a day! WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Tremé, softshell crab po' boys, Domilise's, the Upperline Restaurant…wait, let's start over -- ok, legal mysteries, particularly Parnell Hall's Steve Winslow series and anything by Lia Matera, comic mysteries, Elmore Leonard, funny lawyer movies like My Cousin Vinny, TV shows like Ally McBeal and Night Court; and everyone's favorite New Orleans yarn, Confederacy of Dunces. “The literary equivalent of a film noir �"fast, tough, tense, and darkly funny…so deeply satisfying in the settling of the story's several scores that a reader might well disturb the midnight silence with laughter.” -Los Angeles Times Book Review “Take one cup of Raymond Chandler, one cup of Tennessee Williams, add a quart of salty humor, and you will get something resembling Dunbar's crazy mixture of crime and offbeat comedy.” - Baltimore Sun “Dunbar catches the rich, dark spirit of New Orleans better than anyone.” --Publishers Weekly