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Fiction Hard-boiled

Riviera Blues

A Crang Mystery

by (author) Jack Batten

Publisher
Dundurn Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2016
Category
Hard-Boiled, Private Investigators, Traditional British
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781459733282
    Publish Date
    Oct 2016
    List Price
    $16.99
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781459733305
    Publish Date
    Oct 2016
    List Price
    $6.99

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Description

Crang, the smart (and often smartass) criminal lawyer, finds himself embroiled in a mystery while on vacation on the French Riviera.

Like all the criminal messes Crang has ever found himself caught up in, this one begins in perfect innocence. As Crang is leaving for a holiday on the French Riviera with his movie-critic girlfriend, Annie, his rich-as-Croesus former father-in-law appears to ask if he’d mind checking up on an errant family member who is said to be hanging out in Monaco. Crang says he’ll do the favour, a decision that drops him into a series of ever-tighter spots on the Côte d’Azur.

Crang and Annie enjoy the Riviera’s pleasures, but lurking in the background, gathering menace, is a piece of elaborate fraud and murder. Crang has no choice except to solve all the riddles, nail the murderer and, if he’s adroit enough, eventually tip the scales of justice in the good guys’ favour.

About the author

Jack Batten practised law in Toronto for four years before turning to a life of writing. He has written for all the major Canadian magazines and is the author of thirty-three books including four crime novels. Five of his nonfiction books dealt with real-life Canadian lawyers, judges, and court cases; a biography of John Robinette was among these books. Batten's books have also dealt with sports, Canadian history, and biography. He has reviewed jazz for The Globe and Mail, movies for CBC radio, and still writes a column on crime fiction for the Toronto Star. His biography of Tom Longboat won the $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for best children's nonfiction in 2002, and the book is being made into a feature film. His most recent book is The Annex: The Story of a Toronto Neighbourhood, published in 2004.

Jack Batten's profile page

Editorial Reviews

A master of the genre, Riviera Blues is another outstanding title in Jack Batten’s Crang Mystery series. An authentically riveting read from cover to cover.

Midwest Book Review

Riviera Blues is a spirited romp with a soaring plot that doesn’t stand in the way of Batten’s hilarious sense of humour.

Toronto Sun

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