The Smiling Affair by
Jeremy Sheldon
pbk out July 05
(Cape)
at £10.99
Raymond Chandler meets Harry Price in this odd but engaging novel by Jeremy Sheldon. Jay
Richards, half English and half Chinese-American, is a San Francisco P. I. with a difference –
he investigates paranormal phenomena. This isn't a conventional ghost story, as Jay brings
as healthy a dose of scepticism to his work as any reader might; yet neither is it a
conventional detective novel.
When one particular case in a career of minor investigations hits the headlines (and General
Lockwood's plea for the investigation of the death & supernatural appearance of his
granddaughter is surely an homage to The Big Sleep's General Sternwood), Jay achieves
some fame and a series of other cases swiftly follows. And then comes the Smiling Affair. Jay
receives first of all a necklace belonging to an ex-lover, Helena Smiling, and then a message
from her twin sister Zelda. Helena has, it seems, abandoned her husband and baby son to
run away from her failing marriage, but some strange phenomena have occurred at the family
home and Jay is asked to investigate.
In a story filled with suitably Chandler-esque characters (and it's tempting to cast the film of
the book as one reads) it doesn't take long for Jay's researches to take him down some very
dark paths indeed. Jay is an extremely interesting and likeable character; along with
tantalising and highly entertaining glimpses of previous cases, we learn about his upbringing
and the start of his unusual career – and his strange eating disorder (he can only eat food
when it has been made into sandwiches). And his dog called Marlowe – whose nomenclature
is, of course, in keeping with the general theme.
One of the most striking things about this most unusual detective story is the clever and
beautiful things that Jeremy Sheldon does with letters of the alphabet – but you'll need to read
the book to find out more about both that and the startling ending.
The Smiling Affair by
Jeremy Sheldon
