The Devil Raises His Own
California during the Edwardian era is an interesting place. The blurbs call this a “crime saga,” and there is crime and violence galore, all against the backdrop of the nascent movie industry (both legitimate and pornographic) in Hollywood. The book begins with the first of many murders – Flavia, a mild-looking school teacher, has had enough of her husband’s drunken escapades, and when he makes the mistake of attacking her, she aims for the fences and frees herself. Now unmoored, she heads out to California to join her grandfather, Bill Ogden. Bill is a photographer and, despite his age, quite the ladies’ man and bon vivant. His new and naïve assistant, Henry, is shocked to discover that despite a thriving photographic business for everyone from movie stars to rich dowagers, Bill has no problem also shooting stills for “blue” movies.
These movies star Trudy, abandoned by her violent husband, Ezra; Trudy works in pornography to provide for her two children. When those making the movies begin receiving threatening letters from an unhinged US postal inspector and World War I looms, a series of violent tragedies occurs.
There are plenty of colorful characters here, some who serve as set dressing to convey the mechanics of the early studio system in Hollywood, and others who are more central to the plotting. Very few are likeable or sympathetic. I’m not sure this novel gets the ambience quite right to qualify as noir in the classic sense, but it’s certainly gritty and visceral in its imagery. The violence is almost casual, and there is plenty of suspense, with a gripping pace. There’s also plenty of graphic sexual description. It’s an absorbing read that will appeal to those who like their crime hard-hitting and lascivious.
