Mystery Girl can be simply described as a pulpy mystery novel–handsome detective, beautiful women, crime, drugs, sex, etc. Sam Kornberg is no Philip Marlowe (which in some ways is a good thing), but he’s a pretty hilarious narrator. In fact, Mystery Girl is full of characters who are larger than life (no pun intended, in the case of Kornberg’s detective boss) and quite chuckle-worthy. The plot itself is just ridiculous (in a good way).

The mystery aspect of Mystery Girl is very good–it’s suspenseful and well-written. I had parts of it figured out here and there before the end, but I couldn’t figure out how it all tied together until the very end, which is a good thing. Had Gordon stuck to the mystery and Kornberg’s personal life, this would have been a great mystery novel.

Aside from one small annoyance (that you can read about in my full review), Mystery Girl is a good book. Again, I really enjoyed the mystery itself and Gordon is a good writer. I plowed through the book because I wanted to know what happened next, which is always a good sign. I’d recommend this book to readers who like a good, modern, noir-type mystery.