Hypocrite’s Row
Miami, Florida. This novel begins with tragedy, and Nate Moran, Miami police detective, having to give the worst possible news to the wife of a fellow law enforcement officer. In Miami during the Prohibition era, police were sometimes thought of as the bad guys, and “rum runners” were often hailed as heroes to a public that generally disagreed with Prohibition laws. And, as the author writes, Prohibition was “just a suggestion” in Miami.
This is a crime procedural/noir with a fedora-wearing protagonist, but it is so much more. Going over and above the no-nonsense tone of hardboiled fiction, we see vivid description, such as the aftermath of a hurricane, and we feel so much emotion, whether it is the heartbreak of a wife finding out her husband is dead, or the anger at learning a little girl has been murdered. When Moran digs a murdered child out of the ground, every moment is felt. His interactions with his own children and “The Missus” range from lighthearted to deeply emotional moments that add layers to the story. Nate is flawed, but his flaws mostly involve crossing lines when trying to catch murderers instead of the classical moral defects. Small personal details define his individuality. He drinks lemonade. He chews candy cigarettes because The Missus doesn’t like him smoking. It’s a glorious contradiction of character for the genre.
Hypocrite’s Row is inspired by an actual hotel hallway that led to a speakeasy in Palm Beach where elites would go to drink during Prohibition, some of them while actually supporting Prohibition publicly, and Nate definitely finds hypocrisy in this book. This is hardboiled fiction presented in the best possible way, with emotional depth and a refreshingly likeable protagonist. Highly recommended.
