No Regrets, Coyote

Wylie Coyote #1

by John Dufresne

On Christmas Eve in Eden, Florida, Wylie “Coyote” Melville, therapist and forensic consultant, is summoned to a horrific crime scene. Five members of the Halliday family have been brutally killed. Wylie’s rare talent is an ability to read a crime scene, consider the evidence seen and unseen, and determine what’s likely to have happened. The police are soon convinced that the deaths were a murder-suicide carried out by a broken and desperate Chafin Halliday, but Wylie’s not so sure.

As Wylie begins his own investigation with the help of his friend Bay Lettique—a poker-playing sleight-of-hand artist with links to the Everglades County underworld—he discovers a web of corruption involving the police union, Ponzi-scheming lawyers, county politicians, and the Russian mob. What follows is a heart-stopping, edgy novel that introduces a completely original crime solver.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Novels, Mystery Thriller

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

John Dufresne teaches in the Master of Fine Arts Creative Writing program at Florida International University. He is a French-Canadian born in America.

Reviews

[John Luiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love it when literary fiction writers try other genres. Last year, one of my favorite novels was The Three-Day Affair, a great crime novel by Michael Kardos, whose previous book was a collection of literary short stories. I knew John Dufresne’s reputation, but hadn’t gotten around to reading any of his literary novels before I read this novel. When I previewed the first chapter online, I thought his foray into the crime/suspense genre would be an entertaining read. The first chapter certainly grabs you by the lapels and makes you feel like you’re in for a suspenseful ride as Wylie “Coyote” Melville visits a crime scene in which a restaurateur, Chafin Halliday murdered his wife and young children and then killed himself. Wylie is a therapist but he’s called in to investigate the scene because the local police rely on his exceptional powers of observation. Wylie immediately suspects all is not as it seems, and the details of the crime scene do not indicate the husband was a man planning to end his life on this Christmas eve. I immediately liked the idea of the sleuth with the non-conventional occupation, which I know has become a fairly common practice now in detective novels. After that razzle dazzle opening, you expect Wylie to slowly start to unravel the mystery. But over the next two thirds of the novel, we get very little detail about the Halliday murder. Instead, the characters in Wylie’s world keep getting introduced to us in what starts to feel like an onslaught. From the outset we know his two best friends are a police detective and a professional poker player and magician with intimate knowledge of the Florida underworld. But then we also meet Wylie’s family – his high-strung overweight sister, her slim brilliant, but unambitious husband and his Alzheimer’s-stricken father. It’s nice to round out the “detective’s” personal life so that we get to know him about him as person. But the parade of characters in Wylie’s life won’t stop coming. We are introduced to several of his patients, a homeless man who starts camping out in his backyard, his ex-wife, his ex-girlfriend whom he still loves but who has since remarried even though she and Wylie remain close friends. Maybe even all that is fine, as one of those characters ends up playing a key role in the ultimate unraveling of the story. But then we also have to learn about everyone else who crosses Wylie’s path. Wylie and his best pal spend a lot of time in bars and coffees shops, and I practically groaned every time they were in one because we had to get a capsulized personal history of the bartender, the waitress, and every regular patron Wylie knew. You really do need a scorecard to keep track of the characters and I actually started keeping notes in the end pages, just to try to remembers all these different characters – and Dufresne makes it even more difficult by giving them similar names – his sister is Venise and one of his patients is Cerise. I got so bored with these endless character sketches that many times I was tempted to give up on the novel because it didn’t seem like any more details on the central mystery would be forthcoming. While he’s a good enough writer to make these mini-biographies of characters interesting, they incredibly bogged the pacing and plotting of the story. It isn’t until about two thirds of the way in – around page 220 of a 325 page novel – that things turns full-scale back to the original mystery – and then things do get interesting. Still I was a bit shocked, because while the opening scene was brutal with young children having been shot execution-style, the violence in the last section of the novel has an over-the-top Brian DePalma-esque goriness. Also, in the final sections and particularly in the final 50 pages or so, so much happens all at once, it feels like the novel is trying to sprint its way to the finish line to make up ground for how slow and deliberate it was over the first two thirds. In the end, I was glad I finished it, but boy in those early sections it was a chore to keep coming back to.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 15%

Is this a novel about solving a mystery or a novel about a therapist's day-in-the-life? I'm not sure, and it seems like the author isn't sure either.

[Lamar Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a mystery written by a literary novelist who had never actually read a mystery before. While it is well written and entertaining, No Regrets, Coyote is mostly a character study about the main character, Wylie "Coyote" Melville, a therapist in Melancholy, FL.

Wylie is dealing with a variety of issues, notably his family, which includes a father suffering from Alzheimer's, a narcissistic, bipolar sister and his own identical twin, although that last one has its own unique touches. Yes, there is a mystery that Wylie has to solve when he is brought in by a friend in the local sheriff's department to help with the case of what appears to be a murder-suicide. Wylie thinks there's more to the case than a despondent father slaughtering his wife and three kids before turning the gun on himself, but the case is quickly closed. Unfortunately, Wylie steps on the toes of some of the local law-enforcement, much to his regret.

The thing is, this horrific crime isn't the only series of horrific crimes Wylie becomes involved with over the course of the book. In most mysteries, if there are multiple crimes, they are generally linked narratively. In this case, the only link appears to be Wylie.

There is, ultimately, a graphic and completely unexpected climax -- unexpected because it's mostly unprepared for, relying on information that we don't have until the climax and even afterward.

In most books, once you reach the climax, the end of the book comes soon after. However, in No Regrets, Coyote, the book goes on for at least another fifth of its complete length. You'd think that there would be something relevant to the central mystery in all that extra text, but there really wasn't.

You might think, reading this review, that I didn't like No Regrets, Coyote. That isn't the case. I actually liked it quite a bit. John Dufresne is good writer, and he makes the characters fascinating to read even if the story itself often doesn't make any sense. Of special note is Wylie's best friend, a close-up magician who makes his living as a professional poker player named Bay Lettique. In some ways, Wylie and Bay remind me of Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, if Elvis were completely helpless and Joe constantly saved his ass by using thrown playing cards as weapons.

No Regrets, Coyote is worth a read as long as you accept it for what it is and don't expect it to conform to any of the typical traditions and tropes of the mystery genre except in the most general ways.

[Vance Gloster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel does not conveniently fit into any of the normal crime sub-genres, though the publisher is calling it "South Florida noir". The protagonist, an amateur detective, is a therapist with his own set of issues, living in a corrupt Florida town. He is trying to untangle murders of an entire family, while dealing with patients who have various levels of delusion and a dysfunctional extended family.

It did not have the snap and rapid pace that the most tightly plotted crime novels have, but instead had the more leisurely pace of a literary novel. It did not seem slow at all to me, and the complex set of relationships I found believable. It was a pleasant change of pace from more formulaic crime novels, and I enjoyed the greater depth of character exploration.

The protagonist's sidekick, Bay, is arguably more interesting than he is (I kept wanting to follow him instead), but the novel really worked for me in the end. Dufresne's experience writing non-crime novels make this better than most debut crime novels. If "literary" in the description of a crime novel does not frighten you, you just might enjoy it!

[William Koon · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Dufresne wrote a wonderfully dense inventive novel called the Louisiana Light and Power Company. He also wrote this book.

[Debs · Rating 2 out of 5]

a mixed bag. the endless tangential side stories were annoying and distracted from the plot which was fairly weak to begin with. I can understand that philosophically everyone had a story to tell but good editing would have been handy.
eg the ending: dramatic semi climax on the beach followed by yet another tangential side story. ????
also I was worried about the kitten the whole book.
not my most eloquent review but hopefully I got my points across

a week later I am downgrading my review to 2. the plot was weak and the ending pointless. glad the kitten was safe though.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smart literary noir(ish) novel. Well/evenly paced with strongly written characters. Wiley Melville, while not quite the anti-hero, he's more of the not quite perfect but well intentioned if a little dark anti-hero, is a remarkable character. Dufresne delivers strong prose with sentences that made me swoon.

[Paul Secor · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Dufresne's best fiction has seemed like seemed like dreams to me, with all of the wonders that dreams can bring. No Regrets, Coyote is more like a terrible nightmare of a world gone wrong, won't never get right.
I look forward to reading future Dufresne works, but I'll pass on any Wylie "Coyote" Melville novels.

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. Although I liked the protagonist, Wylie "Coyote" [get it?] Melville, for his good nature and observation skills, there were too many characters with wacky story lines. It became scattered and confusing, and then just uninteresting. As a South Florida resident, I also found the use of both fictional and specific actual locations very distracting.

[Betsy Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's beautifully written, but I had a hard time following the crime and who did what and why.

Also, there was a charming hobo and a cute kitten. You knew one of them was going to die.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun and I look forward to reading the sequel and I don't care who knows it

[Nina Maether · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly hated everything about this book from beginning to end. The writing is pretentious, jumps around all over the place, and nothing happens until the last 100 pages.

[Keith Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas Eve and Wylie ‘Coyote’ Melville is called to a brutal murder scene by his detective friend, Carlos. By day Wylie is a therapist, but on the side he’s a volunteer forensic consultant working for lawyers and the police. Wylie has an ability to read people and their possessions to determine what they’re thinking – an ‘intuitionist’ as Carlos refers to him.

The killings were carried out by a seemingly ordinary man, Chaffin Halliday, who gunned down his wife, two children, and then himself. Wylie believes something isn’t right with the crime scene, but can’t determine what.

At the same time, Wylie’s private life is messy. His father is struggling in the grip of Alzheimer’s, his love life is in pieces, his sister is failing to cope with her excessive weight and a homeless man, Red, has moved onto Wylie’s front lawn. Wylie begins his own investigation into the Halliday murder/suicide, aided by his magician friend, Bay. However he’s hampered by the local Florida police who take exception to Wylie and subject him to increasingly violent methods to force him off the case. But Wylie won’t go quietly.

One aspect of No Regrets, Coyote is in no doubt – it’s very well written. Dufresne is clearly a talented wordsmith. The style is deceptively easy on the eye. It’s interesting, smart, sassy and eccentric. If I were to judge it on this matter alone, No Regrets, Coyote would achieve a four star rating. But, there’s a problem with the narrative that becomes increasingly frustrating as the book progresses and consequently reels back the overall judgement.

The main theme, Wylie’s investigation into Halliday, is very good. It’s intriguing and captivating. The dialogue is sharp and snappy. Additional tension is supplied by the amateur detective’s interaction with the police, and Officer Shanks in particular. The main characters are strong and well drawn.

However, the author insists on dragging us off into largely pointless cul de sacs. Think of the Halliday murder as a flowing river. It bubbles along nicely with plenty of hidden rocks, twists and turns but then Dufresne creates eddies and whirlpools along the margins that slow the pace down and suck us away from the mainstream. For example there’s Wylie’s family. Okay, it’s interesting back story, but with one exception, doesn’t really add to the story.

Sometimes the level of detail borders on the excessive. For example, Wylie is at dinner with his family and stresses that there are 16 types of mustard on the table, then lists them all. Why? There’s a massive number of characters too. Seemingly everybody, no matter how inconsequential, is named, described and given traits. At one point the interlinked main characters and their roles are outlined over a couple of paragraphs – a bewildering 11 people (yes, I counted them). It’s difficult to keep track of everything.

We learn the killer’s identity in a decent twist, the perpetrator is a good surprise. However I have to say one facet of the reveal did make me question why Wylie was brought in on the case. The last vestiges of the investigation are thrown out as ‘this is what we know now’ reveals. Maybe the author had run out of steam. And then there’s the bewildering end. The investigation is closed, the bad guys dealt with so we move on to the joyous event of a wedding… which turns into a gun battle. Why? I read over this section several times and simply couldn’t understand it.

As I said right at the beginning, from a technical perspective this is a well written novel with a storyline that’s interesting. Unfortunately the execution let it down. Which is a pity.

Originally reviewed for Crime Fiction Lover.

[Craig Pittman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes when literary writers dabble in the mystery genre, the results can be spectacular. Sometimes they fall flat. Sometimes it's a mixed bag, and that's the category into which this book falls. It's got a strong opening and a slam-bang ending but in between is a big, long slog.

John Dufresne's novel is told in the first-person by South Florida therapist Wylie Melville, who is sometimes called in for consultation by a pal on the local police department because he's known for his powers of observation.

The book starts with Melville -- dubbed "Coyote" by his detective pal Carlos O'Brien in reference to the Loony Tunes character -- visiting the scene of a Christmas bloodbath in which an entire family has been wiped out. Melville looks around enough to decide he doesn't buy the official version, which is that it's a murder-suicide by the father, restaurateur Chaffin Halliday. He also stumbles on a cop named Kevin Shanks stealing a watch from the pile of presents in the home and reports it.

Melville and Shanks then clash repeatedly as it turns out Shanks is part of a coterie of corrupt cops who do pretty much as they please. Meanwhile, not much happens with the Halliday case. Instead of proceeding with the plot, we meet a long parade of Melville's friends, family members, patients, ex-loves and acquaintances (including a homeless guy who camps in his yard, and who you just know the minute he's introduced that someone's going to kill him after mistaking him for Wylie).

Wylie's oddball patients seem like a gimmick stolen from the old Bob Newhart show, although one of them provides a brief diversion with a completely different murder case. The parade of characters can get very confusing for readers because Dufresne has given some of them very similar names -- Cerise and Vanise, for instance. Some of the character sketches are amusing, but mostly it turns the middle of the book boring. There are long sections describing what his new kitten is doing, what his Alzheimer's patient father is up to, what Wylie is eating and reading and the play he's in. I found myself repeatedly checking how many pages I had left to go -- the reading equivalent of looking at your watch while sitting through a movie.

The only one of these side characters who's really worth knowing is Wylie's buddy Bay Lettique, an expert at sleight-of-hand magic tricks who dresses up as a gullible tourist to hustle players at various poker games. Bay's magic comes across as beautifully surreal. Meanwhile, despite Wylie's much-touted observational abilities, it's Bay who winds up solving the case and saving Wylie from being killed or framed for murder.

The last 50 pages or so of the novel contain quite a payoff, complete with a showdown in Alaska worthy of the Coen Brothers grisly imagination, a video-aided reconstruction of the Hallidays' murders and then a denouement in a casino and at the beach that involves an ice pick, a bomb-carrying dog and an armed paraglider. But not even Bay's magic can save it from feeling like a rush to wind up all the loose ends.

[Lindsay McMaster · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mystery at the center of No Regrets, Coyote is not terribly suspenseful, and the pacing is somewhat strange, for a novel which chooses to make its central plot point a series of murders.

That being said, I definitely enjoyed this read, and would probably recommend it. This novel is classed as fiction, and while it is nowhere near canon-worthy, it does probably work better as a novel than as a mystery, when so much attention is given to the life and times of Narrator Wylie "Coyote" Melville. The characterization of the residents of Eden and Melancholy, Florida is unquestionably the highlight of this book. What the story lacks in plot is made up for in interaction between the narrator and what sometimes felt like a parade of stranger-than-fiction types. Some readers might have less patience for so many characters, but I usually feel that, while fishing around for evidence in a string of murders and dabbling in a ring of corrupt government officials, one might speak to significantly more people than have a prominent role in the crimes.

The rather no-nonsense style and black-ish (dry might be more appropriate) humor in the writing (this is my first Dufresne; I think he's always like this?) fits the subject matter perfectly and keeps the superfluous personal detail (again, for a crime novel) fresh, funny, and even touching, at times. I probably would have an excess of ambivalence for Wylie unless I saw him interacting with his father, his sister, "his" vagrant, his ex-wife, his patients, and, of course, his kitten.

The real reason I give this novel three stars is because I believe it simply falls a little too close to center between fiction and mystery/crime. We are left without remarkable catharsis or revelation, as with a good work of fiction, and without a twist worth talking about, as with a good mystery. The only thing I have to say about the grisly climax, which occurs relatively early, is that as I was reading it I couldn't stop thinking about the woodchipper scene in Fargo. As a side note, I was somewhat surprised by the amount of cultural specificity (gadgets, films, music, brands, etc.) in the book, which I feel is usually avoided in order to help a novel retain its relevance and avoid a dated appearance. In the here and now, however, it works.

Final Judgment: a beach-/quick-read of the highest caliber, but not a whole lot more.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dufresne has crafted a gem in NO REGRETS, COYOTE. The main character is Wylie “Coyote” Melville (think Roadrunner), a therapist and occasional crime scene consultant, who likes to read and acts in local theater. Wylie has a talent for being able to look at a crime scene and figure out what probably happened. He is called on Christmas Eve to examine what the police think is a multiple murder-suicide. It seems Chafin Halliday killed his wife and three children and then himself, but the pieces don’t fit for Wylie. He can’t stop himself from trying to make sense of the crime. By continuing to investigate, Wylie has unwittingly waded into a dangerous current that threatens to pull him under.

This book is full of diverse and colorful characters with inner values at odds with their occupations (eg. corrupt cops and a trustworthy sleight of hand artist). The message repeated over and over again, things are not what they appear to be at first glance. I found much to amuse me in this tale as well. One of my favorite bits was…” a website called The Indiscernible Library, which it turns out, is a collection of books that have only appeared in other books. The books were unwritten, unpublished, unread, and they cannot, of course, be checked out.” (pg. 66) I found reading this story to be like wandering through an unfamiliar neighborhood, turning a corner may lead you to unexpected scenes you never would have imagined. If you like your crime novels on the quirky and clever side this is the book for you.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw this book in the library on a separate shelf with the description..."Books with Interesting Titles." This title caught my eye.

I don't know if I really gave this one the chance it deserved. I was listening to "11.22.63" at the same time and just got way more into that one and kind of let this one languish. BUT! Would I have done that if it was incredible??? Probably not.

The mystery behind the book was decent enough, but the protagonist never really figured it out. He would notice some odd stuff here and there, but he wasn't getting any closer to solving anything really. The book centred more around his navigating the people in his life, than the actual mystery. So much so that it seemed like the last few chapters were rushed out because the author realized, "Oh my God! I'm almost done this book and my character is no closer to solving this thing! I better tidy this up in a hurry!" So, he does find out what's going on, but not because he's that smart. He just happens to be in the middle of things.

One other slight issue I had. The book is sometimes written where conversations are happening in the middle of paragraphs. No quotations or new paragraphs. Or the characters are talking about something, then you think the next paragraph is expanding on what they are saying, but come to realize after a few sentences that the author is talking about something completely different. You get used to it a little bit, but it's annoying and hard to follow.

It gets a big 'meh' from me.

[Martin Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

In No Regrets, Coyote, Dufresne mixes a cocktail of dark noir and social satire, the flavor of Herzog's Stroszek, a gentler David Peace, a more pungent Hiaasen.

America has lost its soul and filled the emptiness with Styrofoam peanuts: self-help platitudes, designer comestibles and niche boutiques. The nation has become a theme park of desperate gamblers, serial killers and police corruption.

The humor is sly and relentless. The names, human and place, brim with meaning. A character named Pino must be noir. The protagonist lives in Melancholy. The police operate out of Eden.

Great noir can be judged by its shrapnel-like one-liners.

I said I'd drink my dessert and ordered a cognac.

[My father] knew how to push my buttons because he installed them.

[Two dangerous policeman:] They looked spring-loaded.

Ultimately, Dufresne breaks the conventions of the genre and some will not forgive him for that. After the investigation is complete, we receive capsule biographies of the main players and their lost lives. The main climax, the major earthquake occurs three-quarters way in, the remainder of the story plays out, not as denouement, but as aftershocks.

Those who love literature will appreciate this full feast. Bravo, Dufresne.

[Louis Lowy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In John Dufresne’s terrific new novel, No Regrets, Coyote, sunshine state therapist Wylie ‘Coyote’ Melville has been called in by a detective of the Eden Police Department to give his opinion on the murder/suicide of a family of four. What Wylie discovers leads to a chain of unexpected and contorted links.

Dufresne takes the noir genre and turns it on its cranium. His is a quirky and sometimes violent world. It’s a place where former Monkees walk into diners, professional gamblers perform smart phone magic tricks, homeless men set up camp in neighbor’s yards and where good is anything but.

Because Dufresne writes with a depth not usually found in this type of novel his protagonist and those who surround him remain with you long after the final pages have been turned. As a reader No Regrets, Coyote left me with only one regret—having to wait for the next Coyote book.

[Tasula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this mystery/weird novel about two friends (Bay and Wylie "Coyote") who become entangled in what appears to be a family murder/suicide with ties to organized crime. Bay is a professional gambler whose wisdom exceeds Wylie's in everything except when it comes to personal relationships. Wylie is a therapist and part time forensic consultant to Everglades county police, and he has a senile dad and unstable sister. Although I usually shy away from screwed up family relationship books, Dufresne did a good job of incorporating the father and sister into the book without bathos or whining. I found the characters interesting (including the vagrant who camps out in Wylie's yard, and the brother in law Oliver, and Carlos, Wylie's cop friend), and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Tom Goelz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun to read. Dufresne can nail it with just the right turn of phrase and dialogue. A few too many side events and characters and multidimensional intrigue for me. I had a hard time remembering who everyone was and how they connected to each other. Nonetheless, I was happy to be in the hunt. And in the end the apparent pleasure and play that Dufresne took and had in writing this book has a contagious effect.

Favorite lines came near the end:

If love is faith, then marriage is hope, the loftier virtue; if love is blind, marriage is perception; how love is the map and marriage the journey, love a poem, marriage a story, and how if you tell a story right, it never ends.

[✨ Gramy ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book sounded interesting. It wasn't long before I REGRETTED my choice. It's not what I like and there were other books on my list much more interesting. So off I go to read them . . .

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun surprise! Loved it. Am going to give to my dad to read. Fun for anyone who loves snarkiness, mysteries and fun page turners.

[Sarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wild, entertaining romp. Pure eye-candy. And did I mention irreverently entertaining?

[Ray Bearfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do you not drop whatever you’re reading when promised a South Florida noir that rivals the best of Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiassen and James W. Hall?
Especially when it’s the first crime novel by John Dufresne, whose literary fiction you’ve long admired, and whose excellent “The Lie That Tells the Truth” is a guide to creative writing I’ve recommended to many.
All the critics seemed to be saying, Go read “No Regrets, Coyote” now.
Tim O’Connell, writing in the Florida Times-Union, said “Move over Leonard, Hall and Hiaasen. A new king of South Florida noir is ready to be crowned.”
Marilyn Stasio wrote in the New York Times: “Following the loopy plot, with its cartoonish cast of Russian hit men, crooked lawyers and homicidal cops, is actually part of the entertainment. . . . Yet for all his excesses, Dufresne is an original talent. His humor is frightfully dark, but it’s also quite dazzling — even by the exacting standards of South Florida crime fiction.”
NPR commentator Alan Cheuse called it a “mordant, intriguing and ultimately quite satisfying workout on Florida’s follies.”
John Repp, writing in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, said “Dufresne's fortunate readers already know: No matter how sad, ridiculous, terrifying, poignant, goofy, or heroic a particular passage, Dufresne seems to be having the time of his life fitting sentences together. . . . In other words, don't expect a linear, airtight plot. . . . Dufresne has always delighted -- sometimes to a fault -- in digression, arcane speculation, and lush description of food, flora, and fauna.”
In other words, he leaves in all the darlings a beginning writer is ordered to kill.
Dufresne himself admitted in an NPR interview that his first effort at a crime novel was not exactly plotted in advance:
“I've always written about mysteries, but the mystery is generally about like, who are we? Who are these other people? And why are we doing what we do? And this time the mystery is about not a venial sin, in that sense, but a mortal sin. There's crime and ... a crime has to be solved, but I got to page 250 in the manuscript and I didn't know whodunit.”
Dufresne’s plot unrolls in slow-motion, punctuated by name-checks (I love that he mentioned the great Charles Willeford), descriptions of meals and sly ruminations on the nature of story itself.
It’s no accident that his protagonist, Wylie, is a therapist whose supernatural powers of observation and empathy make him a helpful addition to the crime-solving arsenal of the local constabulary. If there’s a theme to the novel, it seems to be that time is relative, that life is story, and that events can be ordered and re-ordered to effect reality in the same fashion that a writer cuts and pastes to weave a tale. Reading it is like strolling, in a dream, through a museum of cultural references. Anyone who's ever tried to construct a narrative from a dream can relate.
Dufresne’s plot, such as it is, seems lifted largely from the headlines. The apparent victim of the Christmas Eve murder is Chaffin Halliday, the owner of a restaurant and former owner of Gold Coast Cruise Lines, ships that carried gamblers past the three-mile limit so they could drink and play without breaking any laws.
It’s almost impossible not to be reminded of the story of Gus Boulis, a Greek national who started a chain of sandwich shops in Miami, made a fortune, and founded SunCruz Casinos. At its peak, SunCruz owned 11 ships with 2,300 slot machines and 175 gaming tables, according to the Miami Herald.
But federal law requires the owners of U.S. fleets to be U.S. citizens. Boulis was not. Federal prosecutors gave him three years to divest. What happened after that, the St. Pete Times wrote, was "so twisted, it makes a Tom Clancy novel read like Bambi."
Boulis called his attorney, who introduced him to uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who recommended a buyer named Adam Kidan. Kidan was a disbarred New York lawyer whose mother was killed by gangsters in 1993. Abramoff and Kidan were fellow Republican activists in college.
Together, they bought SunCruz after preparing enough phony documentation to trick the banks into loaning them the money they needed. Then Kidan brought in Anthony Moscatiello, an associate of the Gambino crime family, as a ``food consultant” and Anthony ''Little Tony'' Ferrari, to provide “security.”
The Miami Herald reported in 2001 that Ferrari once warned a lawyer who had filed a lawsuit against an associate that he had ties to mobster John Gotti. Kidan claimed he needed Ferrari to protect him from Boulis, who retained a stake in the company.
Kidan had a history of bankruptcies, and his management style had Boulis believing another one was on the way. Boulis became a thorn in his side. Four months later, he was gunned down in Fort Lauderdale. Four years later, Moscatiello and Ferrari, along with one of Ferrari's "associates," were charged with murder.
Given Abramoff's access to the highest levels of the Bush administration, at least until he was indicted, convicted and sent to prison, it's no wonder Dufresne's plot depends so heavily on widespread official corruption as the magic pixie dust that makes characters dance on the page. The protagonist can trust no one, not even his own eyes. As if to reinforce this message, his best friend, mentor and sidekick is Bay Lettique, a sleight-of-hand artist who delights in fabricating illusions.
"Corruption is our default mode," Bay tells Wylie.
In real life, Abramoff and Kidan were charged with fraud over the SunCruz purchase.
It was the beginning of the end for Abramoff, whose visits to the White House were expunged from the record book following his professional demise. His law firm fired him when it found out he was bilking Native American tribes out of millions of dollars -- and calling them monkeys behind their backs. Dufresne weaves those threads into his story as well.
Dennis Lehane is a master at hooking grand human stories to the most petty depraved acts, a skill he displayed convincingly in "Mystic River." He calls "No Regrets, Coyote" a novel "so good you want to throw a party for it. . . . it may be a crime novel in name but it's literature for the ages."
Maybe he means it's not the kind of book that has you tearing through the pages, chasing the bad guy and snatching up clues. Rather, it's a walk through a rich landscape, disguised as a hunt.
At one point, Bay tells a couple of bad guys: " . . . it's not the eyes that see. It's the brain. Eyes are just the pinholes where the light gets in."
I suspect Dufresne, a writer known for his literary fiction, has aimed this effort at those who agree.

[Martin Horner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I should have known better than to start a book on Friday the 13th! This was my introduction to John Dufresne.
I initially had some difficulty in really getting into the storyline. I was thrown off a little by the authors continued usage of what my daughter refers to as "SAT words". I wasn't sure if the language was a reflection of the author or was meant to shape the main characters intellect?? Unlike me I would go a couple of days avoiding the book then struggle through a couple of chapters before laying it down... again.
After about 10 or 12 days I finally decided to look up the author and to read a couple of reviews of the book. Eureka, I had my answer. Mr. Durfresne was a Literary Novelist and we had something in common. No Regrets, Coyote was my first book by the author AND the book was his 1st attempt at writing a mystery! Finally, I understood!
So, with a renewed respect for the rookie mystery writer, I was able to complete the novel. I must say that either he got better with the novel as he went along OR my changed viewpoint, made the book easier to read in the back half.
The characters in the book were somewhat quirky and the storyline was well conceived. I will give John Dufresne another shot at mystery writing. I feel like a sophomore mystery novel will be greatly improved upon.
I recommend that IF you are going to read a mystery by this author that you SHOULD start with No Regrets Coyote as it is the first in a series.

[Jojo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book 3.5 stars actually. I really enjoyed it. Coyote is a therapist and a forensic counselor who helps cops with murders. On Christmas Eve he is summoned to a murder/suicide of a family in a town in Florida. I liked the character of Coyote and also his good friend Bay, who is professional poker player, magician and Coyote’s protector. (If you have ever read the Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar series, Bay reminds me of the character of Win. ) There are other colorful characters - Red, who is the mart, “live and let live” homeless man who one day takes up residence on Coyote’s property and (Coyote lets him stay), his dad has Alzheimers and his sister is not mentally well. There are quite a few Other characters to keep track of but that didn’t deter me. Quite a bit happens in the story and as Coyote gets closer to finding out what happened to the family, he becomes a target. The book is filled with quirky observations of the people in Florida in a way that reminds me of Carl Hiassen too.

Dufresne has another book with these character that i already have to read after i finish the Janis Joplin biography.

[Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this short series backwards. I found the second book more chaotic and frenetic, so I was over-prepared for book #1. I appreciate Dufresne as a writer for creating a character who is so removed from the violence and depravity of the content of the book (the story is incredibly dark, with serial murder, dismemberment, rape, cannibalism, organized crime, etc); Wylie manages to remain fussy and prim even as he gets entangled in increasingly violent and life-threatening situations (he repeatedly files written complaints). I enjoy the madcap way the story unspools, with all of the many characters and (perhaps) excessive backstory and personal details about people who appear only once. it's really a lot to cover in relatively a short novel. I'm sad there's only 2 books in this series.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

How refreshing to read a mystery where the main character has an actual life. Even though Wylie "Coyote" Melville is searching to understand what really happened at an alleged murder / suicide, he still has to get on with the day to day. Wylie goes to work, visits with family, cares for his dad, performs in a local theater group, and spends time with his cat. None of those activities have any bearing on the murder, but they do reinforce the "life goes on" nature of the real world. I loved that not every moment of the story, every interaction between characters, was part of advancing the primary plot. Very likable narrator (Wylie) and supporting characters.

[Alan Wightman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like Thomas Pynchon, an endless array of characters with odd characteristics. Unlike Pynchon, it's funny. I found the tonal shifts a little challenging, as amusing scenes have sinister undertones and are occasionally followed by disturbing events. The author is a professor, or similar, in "creative writing", and I felt that I was reading someone practising being creative. But, overall, I was engaged, I enjoyed it and I read it quickly.