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Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
The Charmed Life is a mystery novel by John Miles. Following the buddy genre of detective stories, the plot centers on quirky private eye Gene Harlow and Pinkton ‘Pinky’ Finkelstein, his new police lieutenant sidekick. The unlikely pair go about their business against the backdrop of 1940s California, where the post-war attitude for celebrating freedom has bred a variety of new iniquities for them to police. What they don’t bank on is the emergence of a dangerous serial killer who tests their friendship and sleuthing skills to the limit, whilst other colourful characters invade their lives with a paranoia of their own.
John Miles explores a very interesting period of American history in his novel, weaving his plot perfectly into the time when spies, suspicion, and secrets were already off to a flying start. This makes for a vividly described and well researched historical crime mystery. The Charmed Life is driven by the narration of our central hero Gene Harlow, veering away from the central plot sometimes to give more details on the character’s personal life and relationships. This results in a slower paced mystery than I was expecting, but fans of deep character development won’t be disappointed. I found the conclusion to the mystery to be gritty and satisfyingly realistic, and the overall villain of the piece was well developed enough to enjoy reading his comeuppance. Overall, The Charmed Life was an enjoyable historical read which I’d recommend to fans of crime dramas, dialogue driven stories, and slow burning mysteries.
