As Avalon’s resident librarian, when I heard that mega-bestselling author Michael Connelly had just written “Nightshade”, a new crime thriller set mostly on Avalon, I was incredibly excited. Not just because the book is likely to be so huge, we’ll be inundated with wonderful hordes of mystery fans who will want to explore the sites and locations found in the novel—but also because “Nightshade” is a terrific book. It would be a good book if it were set in Culver City or Wichita, Kansas. It’s even better set in Avalon!
As you may know, Avalon Library boasts a small collection of mystery novels set in our city. It’s not the first time someone has written a thriller set here. However, most of the works of the Catalina Caper genre are, if we are to be charitable, kind of routine. For instance, I think there was one about a talking cat detective who worked in an eccentric lady’s crystal shop, where they solved mysteries of a very gentle sort. By contrast, Connelly is that unicorn of bestselling authors—a master of the blockbuster, page turning suspense story—and he has brought all his assured skills to bear on telling a harrowing tale set amongst us on Crescent Avenue, in City Hall, off the Green Pier, at the Mole, the Zane Grey hotel, and much more.
As Island locals, get ready to have a great time recognizing your landmarks, and laughing at the ones that have had their names changed (for obvious legal reasons, as some wicked shenanigans happen in some of them). We also get to be in the position of recognizing the town roles of a number of the characters, all of whom have new names, of course, because some of them are heroes and some are villains (and no one wants to get sued about it).
A few years back, just after the Covid year, you might recall that Connelly wrote another crime drama set in Avalon, and the rights to the story were purchased by a production company that actually came out to town to film a “teaser reel” using locals as background extras. Sadly, that material never made it to TV, but the idea of a story set on our gorgeous, sometimes claustrophobic, and mysterious island has seemingly never left Connelly’s mind. And why not? Avalon’s mix of small town America and sprawling tourist mecca makes for a unique backdrop. It is not a terrible thing if this book launches what appears to be a possible whole new franchise with our quirky town as the center.
LA County Sheriff’s Detective Stillwell heads the Sheriff’s Department Substation on Catalina, ostensibly as punishment for reporting a former partner for incompetence during a crime that went sideways. His normal duties would seem to be the sort of crimes longtime residents might read about in the Sheriff’s Log section of this very newspaper—golf cart DUIs and midnight brawls on Front Street. However, two crimes—the first, a discovery of a young woman’s corpse, bound in anchor chains, off one of the moorings at Casino Point, and the second, the seemingly unconnected beheading of a bison in the backcountry—launch the little town into creepier and darker terrain than usual.
Stillwell investigates, sometimes at odds with his Overtown brass who assign Stillwell’s former, still vengeful partner to oversee the case. During the cases, Stillwell finds himself disobeying orders and Sheriff’s Department policies in a way that our own dear Captain King NEVER would—but he also gradually unravels a disturbing solution that takes him from the elegant halls of the Tuna or Yacht Club, to the Eucalyptus Apartments, to our tiny local Courthouse, and then Overtown to Pasadena and points East.
The parallel mysteries are tautly written and harrowingly executed. There are some brilliantly constructed action sequences at various local landmarks, from Avalon’s desalination plant to the landing floats of the Catalina Express. And I don’t think I am giving any spoilers away if I note there are some remarkably diabolical double crosses that you won’t expect. The writing is like candy—entertaining and fast paced. The characterizations are colorful and feel nicely gritty, from a loathsome business owner who goes by the name of Baby Head, to the sweet and rather innocent female harbor master, Tosh, who is Detective Stillwell’s love interest.
But from our point of view, we’re all more interested in the crucial question—did Connelly get the town right? Mostly yes, I think. True, he may mislabel Mt. Ada as Mount Ada, and I’m not sure he has the Catalina Express schedule down correctly. It’s also slightly chucklesome that the local newspaper has a tough-as-nails, scoop-starved reporter, like he’s Woodward or Bernstein, trying to dig up a “big story” in the land of sleepy fishing charters and Descanso drinkypoos.
From your town librarian’s point of view, the absence of the library from the story can be called a minor personal irritant. I mean, Connelly showcases the police station and the courthouse, but he says it’s the fire station next door not the library. The nerve! Maybe in the next volume, we’ll see the library. And if the librarian is the big villain, how can I complain?
Still, Connelly perfectly captures what’s central about life on Catalina—that mix of glaring Mediterranean sun light and furtive, sin-obfuscating night. His Avalon is an amusement park after dark and off season, inhabited by (a few, not all) hard boiled characters with genial charm, living off the grid, and expecting to get away with anything because of the 22 mile moat that separates Catalina from Overtown’s law and order.
Simultaneously, he also finds a sleepy and gentle small town, with the chaos and brutality of the big city left far away—which is why the crimes that Stillwell investigate become so jarring. It’s an awesome, thrilling book, possibly the best work of fiction ever set in Catalina, and we can expect a great deal of excitement in town with its publishing. Happy reading!
Feel free to stop by the library to check out a copy (supplies limited) after we receive them by June 5. We’ll be hosting a book club meeting about the book on Tuesday, June 24 at 6 p.m.
Paul Birchall is the community library manager for the Avalon Public Library.
