Review of 'Epitaph for a tramp & Epitaph for a dead beat' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
"The door behind me opened while I was standing there and a face poked itself out. It was a woman's face, about forty years older and not too much longer than Seabiscuit's. The face stared at me, probably wondering if I'd brought the hay. I stared back. Finally the woman grunted and went away." pg 94
This is a pitch perfect hard-boiled noir and I don't even mind that it's dated with old ideas about race, gender, sex, and psychology. Though our hero is calloused his hard shell is made of the kind of irony that makes this genre sing. It also gives enough distance between old notions and today that the reader doesn't have to take any of it with solemnity.