Book Review: MORE BETTER DEALS by Joe R. Lansdale

MORE BETTER DEALS by Joe R. Lansdale  (Mulholland Books, July 21, 2020) Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN # 0316479918 / 9780316479912 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

 

Edgar award-winning author Joe Lansdale returns with the hard-boiled story of a no-nonsense used car salesman ready to turn his life around.

Ed Edwards is in the used car business, a business built on adjusted odometers, extra-fine print, and the belief that "buyers better beware." Burdened by an aging, alcoholic mother constantly on his case to do something worthier of his lighter skin tone and dreaming of a brighter future for himself and his plucky little sister, Ed is ready to get out of the game.

When Dave, his lazy, grease-stained boss at the eponymous dealership Smiling Dave's sends him to repossess a Cadillac, Ed finally gets the chance to escape his miserable life.

The Cadillac in question was purchased by Frank Craig and his beautiful wife Nancy, owners of a local drive-in and pet cemetery. Fed up with her deadbeat husband and with unfulfilled desires of her own, Nancy suggests to Ed- in the throes of their salacious affair- that they kill Frank and claim his insurance policy. It is a tantalizing offer: the girl, the car, and not one, but two businesses. Ed could finally say goodbye to Smiling Dave's, and maybe even send his sister to college. But does he have what it takes to see the plan through? 

Told with Joe Lansdale's trademark grit, wit, and dark humor, More Better Deals is a gripping tale of the strange characters and odd dealings that define 1960s East Texas.  

My Four-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

     A fun read, as I've come to expect from the pen of Joe R. Lansdale. 

     

     Lansdale is the modern equivalent of Mark Twain, writing about mid-century East Texas. He captures the atmosphere, mind-set, values and prejudices of the locals to a tee, especially the poorer working class. 

He is a master story-teller as well as an expert at capturing local nuances in his engaging dialogue. Beyond the pure entertainment value of his work, it deserves to be studied by anyone who strives to write compelling fiction. 

     It's a familiar story premise - - down-on-his-luck aspiring male who's not as smart as he believes hooks up with scheming femme fatale to take down a brutal husband and get rich at the same time. Similar themes have been the setting for many a novel of crime fiction. It's the way Lansdale sets it up, depicts it, and puts his own spin on things that make this seem so fresh. You'll be hooked within a few pages. There were a few plot twists that I anticipated but I still enjoyed the ride.