Robert Campbell (1)

The Gift Horse's Mouth is the seventh in this series and Jimmy Flannery teaches us more about politics in a most painless manner as he again gets involved with dead bodies. In this case the investigation into the death of Florence "Goldie" Hanrahan--right-hand women to Boss Carrigan--strikes too close to home when Boss Carrigan asks Jimmy to take a look and report back to him. Was it death by misadventure or was it murder? Great characters as usual for Campbell's stories; little twists and turns and always, always Chicago politics as they were--at their worse and at their best--and always as interesting as the who-dun-it.… (altro)

The 600-pound Gorilla is the second book out of Campbell’s eleven- book Jimmy Flannery series. These books tell the story of the end of old-style machine politics in Chicago and the growing pains that the city experiences as it changes and meets modernity.
For Flannery, Chicago is all about being a party worker who serves his community by doing favor for favor. Others more entrenched see favor for favor as something less benign but more entwining. It’s a system whereby they are all entwined and all beholden to one another. Each Flannery book involves a murder and its usually a murder that someone wants to sweep under the rug because it is more convenient or someone owes someone a favor or something of the like.

Here, the changing of the guard is represented by the Alderman’s seat for the 27th and Flannery’s sponsor, Chips Delvin, is looking more like an old elephant who can’t keep up with the changing ethnic face of the ward. The new face of the ward just might be Janet Canarias, who is not someone the old guard is comfortable with, what with her being lesbian. Deals are going to have to be made to keep her from getting the alderman’s seat. Maybe, even Flannery is going to be set up to take the seat.

Against this backdrop of politics and the changing nature of this part of Chicago is the murder that Flannery feels like he has to solve – even if no one else wants to. Baby, the city’s prized Gorilla, has to find temporary housing during a blizzard when the city zoo’s steam plant is on the fritz.

A gay bathhouse seems like the perfect solution for a tropical beast like a gorilla or, at least, it is until the next morning when the gorilla is marked up with a chain and two dead bodies are found with her. The two corpses were guests in Flannery’s ward even if no one else cares to figure it out. He feels a responsibility to figure this out and not let it get swept under the rug. He is like a junkyard dog in that respect – once he gets his teeth in something, he won’t let go.

The book is written as if narrated by Flannery and Campbell gets the attitude down flat. Flannery’s voice and diction are heard clear above anything else. The book is written well and reads quite smoothly. It is unnecessary to read the first book in the series to dive into this one, although sometimes the background will help if nothing else but to know who all the shady characters are.… (altro)