The Long Lavender Look is a decent novel written by the revered crime writer John D. MacDonald and features his best-known protagonist, Travis McGee. It was first published in 1970.
Travis McGee is a salvage consultant with a peculiar tendency to get involved in murder investigations. He lives in a houseboat called The Busted Flush in Florida and just has a talent of falling into dire peril involving greed, corruption, and murder.
This story begins when McGee and his friend, Meyer, are returning home from attending a wedding when a scantily clad woman darts across a darkened road right in front of his car, causing them to end up in swamp water upside down. As McGee and Meyer make their way to civilization, they are accosted by someone in a truck passing them taking shots at them. When they make it to the authorities, they find themselves arrested for the murder of a guy in Cypress County who was apparently involved in an armored truck heist some years prior. McGee finds himself in the middle of a complicated web of corruption where he is not sure who he can trust as he fights to clear his name and return home.
First of all, I will say that I will likely be revisiting this author’s works again, but MacDonald does require some patience because he is a bit wordy. His exposition at times slows down the story and kind of makes it a bit of a chore to get through.’
I do appreciate that MacDonald does display an impressive eloquence in his prose for what is classified as a hard-boiled crime novel. The friendship between Meyer and McGee has its charm as well. I had heard of Travis McGee for years but did not really know much about this series. I do like the set-up MacDonald has created for him. For example, The Busted Flush seems to be a great name for a boat.
MacDonald is generally considered one of the great ones in this genre, and I can understand how he gained that acclaim even though I struggled a bit with this one. I suspect that I have spent too many years with writers who are much more abrupt and simple in their prose to fully appreciate MacDonald’s writing style.
Once again, I may not be doing myself any favors by starting well into the middle of a series. MacDonald has numerous standalone novels, which I will also likely explore, but I doubt this will be my last effort to hang with Travis McGee.
I wish this particular novel hooked me more, but I am not ready to throw in the towel in my exploration of the works of John D. MacDonald.
My next read is going to take me further back in time to another legendary suspense writer named Daphne Du Maurier, who is most famous for the novel Rebecca. I thought I would be introduced to this author’s works by way of Jamaica Inn.
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