Delighted to highly recommend this title in my spring Thrills and Chills roundup, the list of notable new crime and mystery titles for Zoomer magazine’s Club Zed book section.

His parents really had a sense of humor. With the last name of Doll, they could have chosen so many first names. The one they decided on was .. Happy. Happy Doll, he is .. although he usually goes by Hank or Hap.

Doll is an ex-detective, now working at being a private investigator. An old friend looks him up and wants Doll to donate one of his kidneys to him. Doll doesn't make a decision .. mainly because his old friend shows up at his house, with a bullet in his stomach.

The old man was already dying .. why would anyone shoot him? Doll is determined to find out.

In the course of about 24 hours, Doll kills several people and guess who the prime suspect is?

I really wanted to like this one. The character was great in that the love of his life is a dog named George. I know there was a good story in there, but it felt smothered in all the graphic violence that felt gratuitous. The man suffered so many injuries he should have died at least 5 times. Having one of his kidneys removed .. without his consent .... and then a day or two after this particular surgery, he's up battling the bad guys. Being an ex-cop, I found his treating a crime scene like it was nothing, manhandling evidence, hiding evidence and lying to the cops just annoying. Coming from a law enforcement family, I always look for some sort of credibility to hang onto. Unfortunately .. I found none.

Many thanks to the author / Mulholland Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
2.5 STARS

Totally enjoyed this book! Great character...nice spin with the last name. The situations read realistically and give you a sense of involvement. Recommended.

A Man Named Doll by Jonathan Ames is a superb and engrossing read which will keep you reading until the end. Well worth the read!

This is the first novel by Jonathan Ames that I’ve read. It will not be the last. A noir-esque crime novel set in Los Angeles, it introduces readers to Happy “Hank” Doll: former veteran and LAPD officer, now a struggling private investigator. Over the course of a few days, Happy’s life is upended by a series of escalating, deadly encounters that threaten not only his own life, but those closest to him. A quickly-paced, enjoyable read.

The novel opens with a conversation between Hank and a lifelong friend, who asks Hank if he’d be willing to take a test to confirm compatibility for a kidney transplant. Initially uncomfortable with the idea, after a violent altercation at work (which puts him on the radar of a couple of police detectives) Hank finds himself in a position to take the test: he’s a match. But, for some reason, his friend has become very difficult to get in touch with. And then things start spiralling far out of control, and Doll has a no good, very bad week.

In Happy “Hank” Doll, Ames has created an interesting and engaging protagonist. Through his eyes, we get a glimpse of some of the seedier side of Los Angeles life, and also some of the darker underground options available to those with considerable resources (I won’t go into any more detail, as it would be a spoiler). Devoted to his dog, George, Hank stumbles through personal relationships and connections a bit haphazardly, just about scraping by. Over the course of the novel, we learn more about his difficult and traumatic childhood.

Ames does a great job of bringing his characters to life on the page. Even if we’re only with them for a short while, the author gives readers everything they need to paint a pretty complete, engaging portrait — from diamond dealers, real estate agents, a bartender he hopes to see romantically, to skeptical cops and others. Doll, of course, we get to know very well. He is at heart a good soul, but a fractured one, trying to find a way to get through life and find a measure of happiness. When people are gunning for you, though, that’s a rather difficult proposition.

There was something about the novel that made me think a bit of Richard Russo — which is a little strange, given the considerably different genres in which Ames and Russo write. The humour, however, I thought was comparable and some of the strange situations, the observations about the small moments in life, reminded me of Russo’s novels like Straight Man. There’s a quirkiness to the characters that makes them distinct and engaging. Ames includes many interesting and amusing observations about life, law enforcement, and also pet ownership.

In short: A Man Named Doll is a very well-written, quickly-paced, engaging and quirky crime novel, and I really enjoyed it. I hope there are more novels featuring Happy Doll in the future. Recommended.