Edsel, Loren D Estleman, The Mysterious Press, 1995, 291 pp
This is the fifth book in Estelman's Detroit Novels series. This series consists of stories of cars, crime and corruption in Detroit, MI, America's former Motor City. I enjoy them because I lived in Ann Arbor, MI, right outside Detroit, for much of my life. One of my uncles was a foreman at Ford Motor Company and my mother's entire family was from Michigan. We visited every summer of my childhood. All I was lacking was this inside look at the ways cars, crime and corruption made Detroit what it was and in many ways what it became.
Each book highlights a particular decade. Edsel is set in the 1950s and ace newspaper reporter Connie Minor, a main character in the first book, Whiskey River, returns. He is more than 20 years older and has been reduced to writing ad copy. He has also just been diagnosed with diabetes. On the first page, Minor is hit with news of his former nemesis, the biggest gangster in Detroit during Prohibition.
Connie Minor lands a job doing advertising and promotion for the upcoming release of the Edsel, one of the worst failures in Ford Motor's history. The story of Ford in those days, its president who is the grandson of Henry Ford, the connections with Walter Reuther who leads the United Auto Workers union, and the mysterious tie-ins with current crime bosses is eye opening. In Loren D Estelman's hands it is also highly entertaining.
As always, the writing is sharp, taut and colored with a noir tinge. It is his perceptive analysis of Detroit in those days compared to the rest of the country ringing with authenticity that always leaves me knowing more about that city with which I was so involved, almost more that I'm sure I want to know!
Do you live in or near a big city and find yourself drawn to novels set there? Hit me with some titles.
If you have ever had anything to do with Detroit, you must read Estleman. His books are sadly out of print in paper but easily found in libraries and as ebooks.
The books I have read previously in the series are:
Whiskey River: set in 1928-1929
Motown: set in 1966
King of the Corner: set in 1990
I still chuckle over the scene in 'Betty Sue Got Married' where she completely cracks up over her father buying an Edsel. My brother (who knows a thing or two about cars) told me that they were pretty good in their day and are, of course, classics now... [grin]
ReplyDeleteSo great to hear an Edsel story from someone I know!
DeleteMr Estleman has a VERY extensive author list! Interesting split between Westerns and (mostly) Crime..... Think I'll be keeping a look out for his Crime stuff.
DeleteEstleman is someone I've had on my want to read list for a while and I think I'm finally going to get to him sometime this year. This one sounds interesting but do I need to read the books in order?
ReplyDeleteThe order in which to read these books has different camps of opinion. I am reading them in order of publication but he skipped around as far as the decades go. You can find out all about that at his website: http://www.lorenestleman.com/detroit.htm. I would definitely start with Whiskey River because several of those characters feature in subsequent books. Have fun!
Deletei've read several Estlemans and enjoyed them.... not this one, tho... i don't suppose, naw... that you'd be interested in Perry Mason's adventures in LA... but beware, they're addictive...
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle, that is a great recommendation! I am an addictive personality when it comes to reading.
DeleteNice review!! I have a read few books by Sue Grafton from her Alphabet Series. Her novels were set in Santa Teresa, the fictionalized version of Santa Barbara, which were fun to read as I lived in a neighboring city of Santa Barbara for 16 years.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa. I have read a few of Grafton's books. In fact I plan to finish the series someday. I also liked the setting of Santa Barbara because I used to go and play my music there often and fell in love with the town.
Deletei thought it was tragic that she didn't get a chance to finish "Z"... not to be nosy, but are you a musician? i used to be one...
DeleteYes, I have been a musician several times in my life. I even have CDs for sale or download on CDBaby and some songs on YouTube. What do (did) you play?
DeleteSue Grafton not getting to Z was so like the story of my life, I had to cry.
classical; clarinet... i played in Mexico for a year and got some other casual jobs in the SF area, but i couldn't make enough money at it so i got a job in a gas station... finally got a degree in geology and worked in the oil field, from which i retired several years ago...
DeleteMaking a living as a musician is tricky. My husband, who is also one, parlayed his love of music into a successful career recording and mixing sound at Walt Disney Imagineering. He also still plays guitar with a few bands though not for the money. That love of music never dies though.
Deleteyou're right about that!
DeleteSuperb review! I love that's set in 1950. Not enough books are set during that time.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carrie. I too find books set in that time hard to come across, maybe because it was such a dull decade overall.
DeleteThis sounds very good. For awhile I was interested in automotive history did a fair amount of reading on the subject. I imagine that in the right hands, fiction on the subject could be very good.
ReplyDeleteI actually read a biography of one of the later heads of the Ford Motor Company but I don't remember his name. I think I prefer the fiction.
DeleteSounds like an interest scheme for telling the history of a city. I lived in West Michigan for ten years and often made it to Detroit for ball games and occasionally the airport.
ReplyDeletewww.thepulpitandthepen.com
A third visit! I better go visit your blog now. I do love fiction that brings a particular city to life for me.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting concept for a series. I have 'Detroit: An American Autopsy' on my Kindle but have not gotten to it yet.
ReplyDeleteIt is and the author has stated that he was attempting to capture American history in the 20th century with Detroit as a mirror to the culture.
DeleteYeah I like reading books about places I have lived, such as Joan Didion's California or novels set in Wash, DC. These Michigan books sound fun that way.
ReplyDeleteYou get it!!
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