In this third novel featuring Happy Doll, our protagonist struggles with his knowledge that he must quit taking lives. It is incompatible with his Buddhist beliefs. This is especially hard, because he frequently finds himself in position where he has to kill, either in immediate self-defense or to prevent worse things being done to innocent people in the future. He does it, of course, but he’s worried about karma.

Happy is thoughtful, big hearted, loyal, and while he gets in all kinds of tough spots, pretty darn lucky most of the time. His inner monologues are deep and frequently funny. He loves his dog, and he cares about what passes for his friends. He just can’t seem to get out of the cycle of death. All the better for us, because we get to enjoy his misery.

Happy’s hard-boiled tales are both thought-provoking and fabulously entertaining. You can tell the author loves Los Angeles, as the city is an honorary character in these novels. The Happy Doll books are worthy additions to the LA noir canon.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an interesting read! The themes of suspense, thrills, sneaking around, and detective for a murder was a good mix of all these different topics. I think the writing was good, and the characters were well developed. There were a bunch of funny parts in the book too so that kept it entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!