Jessica Harper Uncanceled

★★★★☆

A murder-mystery set in Savannah, practically my hometown: how could I not have read this before? After spotting it on Amazon recently I decided to give it a go for a bit of light relief (having just attempted David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest and failed).

However, scepticism set in when When Savannah Blues arrived in the post and I found myself wondering if what sounded like a slight tale could justify the 400 pages of very small type now in my hands.

But I was in the mood to spend some literary time in Georgia, and so I tried to dive in with an open mind. Was I pleasantly surprised or wishing that the editor had been more, well edity?

Firstly, what is it about? The opening establishes that Weezie (aka Eloise) Foley, a feisty antiques “picker,” has been banished by her spiteful ex-husband from the house she restored in Savannah’s historic district, to the more lowly two-bedroom carriage house.

It’s not long before she is accused of murdering her ex’s new beau, the annoyingly perfect Caroline DeSantos, who had taken up residence in the main building and was being driven mad by Weezie’s dog (death was probably a relief, given some of the things the dog put her through).

Beyond that I will say nothing more, to avoid spoilers. But we have the best friend, Bebe; the potential new love interest guy (there’s lots of sex talk and some actual steamy sex (surely “steamy” is a redundant adjective: isn’t all sex steamy? If it’s not you’re doing it wrong), gay uncles, shifty lawyers, and various rival antiques “pickers” and property “flippers” (obviously two areas of speciality for the author as most of her books seem to be about these occupations).

I loved Savannah Blues and my only criticism is indeed that yes, for a light confection, it’s far too long (there are a lot of descriptions of antiques, which didn’t mean much to me). I don’t know what her editor did but it sure as hell wasn’t suggesting any cuts because it’s very overwritten – 400 pages of small type is too long for a light mystery novel, frankly.

But the book feels so fresh, different from any book I can recall, in fact; it’s like Mary Kay Andrews has created a new genre. It’s neither twisty nor complex enough to really be a conventional mystery novel but there’s too much of a concentration on plot for it to be a light romance or chicklit. This sounds like it falls between two stools but it actually works really well as a hybrid – you feel like you’re vacationing in a really nice place (murders excepted) and are just happening to be having a really incident-filled stay. It’s great fun to hang out in these pages – it’s kind of like a literary equivalent of a Robert Altman film (Nashville, M*A*S*H, Gosford Park, A Prairie Home Companion): loose-limbed and escapist.

Savannah Blues is the first in the four-book Weezie and Bebe series. The next one, Savannah Breeze, is already bought and ready to be packed for my vacation. Recomended.