David Loogan has a secret, starting with the fact that’s not even his real name. He’s run to Ann Arbor, Mich., from something — we don’t know what, but we can assume it’s trouble. Unfortunately, he runs right into more of it, in BAD THINGS HAPPEN, the debut novel by Harry Dolan.
Loogan finds work as an editor of GRAY STREETS, a small, but beloved magazine of crime fiction run by Tom Kristoll, a frustrated writer himself. The new employee takes an interest in his work, and a slight friendship with his new boss, but also a shine to Kristoll’s lovely wife, Laura.
One night, Kristoll needs Loogan’s help in disposing of a body. Seems a rejected writer came a-calling at Kristoll’s stoop, and things got ugly. Loogan agrees, and that should be the end of it. But then one morning, Kristoll is found splattered on the pavement, several floors below the GRAY STREETS offices. Then, another man with ties to the mag turns up dead as well, in a scene made to look like a suicide. Det. Elizabeth Waishkey doesn’t believe it is, and as event progress, her suspicion toward Loogan grows.
We pretty much know he didn’t do it, so who did? Blame increasingly looks to be placed on one of many of the magazine’s writers, wannabe writers and other staff-related hangers-on. That’s part of what lifts BAD THINGS HAPPEN above the fray, with a slightly meta approach to the procedural: How would a mystery writer solve a real-life mystery? And how would he or she concoct one?
For a debut, Dolan writes with assurance. His dialogue is rich, and plotting tight. If anything, he falls victim to throwing a few too many red herrings into the mix, especially considering I had the culprit pegged before the distractions were introduced.
But here, the pleasure in the character of Loogan, a man who wants to help, even when he can’t reveal all — a man who has something to hide, which will come back to haunt him before it’s all through. —Rod Lott
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