Review: The Case of the Blonde with the Bad Nose Job by Carlo Armenise

Creating an engaging and unique PI is far from an easy job for an author, but in The Case of the Blonde with the Bad Nose Job by Carlo Armenise, this genre niche gets a fresh new face with an attitude that’s hard not to love. Sam Razor is a hard-nosed private detective with something to prove, and this first case of his is a sparkling and sharply written tale that should earn this author plenty of new fans.

When Margaret, a wealthy debutante with a banged-up nose and a worried sister, is kidnapped, there are plenty of potential suspects and a laundry list of motives. This leaves Sam Razor with the unpleasant task of sorting through lies and luxurious lifestyles to get to the bottom of the case. Razor fits the profile of a fearless and sly investigator who isn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty, making him a prime protagonist for pulp fiction like this. As an investigator, he cuts to the chase, is quick with a one-liner, and has enough unique quirks to avoid being just another hackneyed caricature of a PI.

This is quite a short read, so Armenise needs to fit in a lot of action, interrogation and character building into a relatively short amount of space, meaning that there’s no room for wasted words. There is also an egg timer on solving the mystery – linked to a major cash bonus for Razor – which adds a sense of constant tension to the story. Las Vegas as a setting also imbues the plot with an inherent grittiness and danger, which lends itself well to the noir PI genre, but the author also foregoes taking himself too seriously.

The most notable thing about the book is the humor – comedy is peppered throughout, both in subtle turns of phrase and in heavy-handed pieces of dialogue that elicit as many eye-rolls as chuckles. Overall, readers will find themselves grinning through many of these scenes, as the interactions and conversations are not only naturalistic, but also whip-smart. There are a few instances where the author flexes some descriptive muscle, but the narration is generally terse and to the point, which moves the story along at a good clip.

Combining elements of slapstick mystery and classic tropes of PI novels in a modern-day setting can often come across as disingenuous, but Armenise has a believable tone, and readers will find themselves quickly immersed in this seedy, dangerous world. There are plenty of cliché moments in Armenise’s depiction of wealth and the upper class, which juxtaposes well with Sam’s rough-around-the-edges approach to solving crimes. The tension is carefully curated until the very end of the novel, and the plot takes some very surprising twists in the final chapters.

Moving the plot forward is important for a fast, afternoon read, but to save time, Armenise occasionally presents information unnaturally to readers – telling, rather than showing. Fortunately, the author is an artist when it comes to organic dialogue, which drives much of the action in this freshman case for a potential PI star in the genre.