A darkly humorous noir mystery featuring laidback, guitar-playing private investigator Rolly Waters.
Rolly Waters has many reasons to regret going out for Mexican food at 2.30 in the morning. Not least because then he would never have met dance-club DJ Macy Starr – possibly the most infuriatingly unpredictable and secretive client he has ever taken on. Macy Starr wants Rolly to find out what happened to the young woman she knew as Aunt Betty, the woman who rescued her as a child and who then disappeared without trace. The only clue she has to go on is a curious one-stringed guitar. Rolly’s investigation leads to a weird world of alien-obsessed cults, a strange desert hideaway known as Slab City – and to a 20-year-old unsolved murder case. But how can he solve the mystery if he can’t even trust his own client?
Rolly is like a supermellow Elmore Leonard character—seen a lot, done a lot, and has a lot of smart-mouthed opinions. Fans of wisecracking California crime solvers will enjoy this working-class PI with a poet’s soul.
Desert City Diva features colorful characters, snappy dialogue, and a plot that never lets the attention drift. Fayman’s Rolly is a weird, but welcome, addition to the pantheon of literary PIs.
Five Stars. Desert City Diva is a delightfully strange spin on the noir genre.
