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Side Pocket
Lesbian couple solve murder of transsexual friend
264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 10, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 2, 2014
I picked up this novel after I heard the author promoting this book at a local book store in San Diego, CA. I thought Norma Posy has a witty personality, so I decided to buy the book.
Although I enjoy this type of novel, it's not the genre that I gravitate towards. However, I liked how she explained the book. I was interested in reading a story where two lesbians try to solve the murder of their transsexual friend (paraphrased from Posy). Also, she admitted that many of the people who read this book found it funny, although it really is a murder mystery.
I loved the characters and their interactions. The novel is comprised of changing points of views. By doing this, the reader is able to really see inside each and every character. We are able to see the background of each character and able to see how they turned into who they are during the current time frame. For example, Jessica showed how she was treated as a kid when she said she didn't understand why she couldn't play with dolls like the other girls. She notes that she didn't have a voice in Jack's body. It wasn't until she snapped at the other boy in the orphanage that Jessica had a voice of her own, not just Jacks. In case that seems confusing, Jessica was born a male named Jack, but she knew from day one that internally she was female. She eventually began the transition.
The story line jumps around, but the time frame is clear due to the dates provided. Mixing up the order of events, so it was not all chronological, made the text more interesting and allows the reader to focus on certain people first (Jack/Jessica, Maggie, and Moe). The story begins with the murder, but then goes back in time to develop the characters. There are tangents to the important characters as others are developed early on, and these stories are significant, but I will note the story of the main characters:
Maggie, a waitress and law student, met Moe, a truck driver, and fell in love. The two women decided to move to where it was warm, so they rented an apartment in San Diego from online. While at a dinner on their way to San Diego, Moe witnesses a woman in trouble. She follows her to the bathroom to help her clean up. The couple felt sorry for her and decided to have her join them since they were headed to the same town. (Later on, the book goes into why Jessica was in Iowa at the time.) The couple become good friends with Jessica and they often frequent the same pool hall in San Diego, Side Pocket. One evening they received a startling phone call that Jessica was murdered behind the pool hall. Maggie, who worked of a PI by this time, and Moe began trying to find out information about the regulars at the hall.
The first revelation was not too shocking except that I did not know the name of the person whom I suspected was responsible of the murder. However, there are many twists and turns as people do both moral and immoral things to help one another. Moe and Maggie become the targets for the next murder. Can they figure out all the details and provide the evidence to the police who want to cold case Jessica's murder?
The characters have great interaction. There is funny, jaw dropping dialogue. It was a crazy ride to go through. I completed the book in only one day because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I thought the crime was resolved, but saw there was 25% or so more of the book left. I had no idea where Posy was going to take it, but her clever writing made everything work, thanks to her not so intelligent side characters making stupid mistake after stupid mistake. It was a cray ride. I recommend Side Pocket to anybody who wants to laugh while trying to figure out the case.The story is a creative and hilarious read.
The only downfall that I see is that there was so much emphasis on they types of pool/bollards, but they were not explained until the appendix. I don't think much of the detail about the games that was in the book was really that important. I could have done with naming the game and moving on. I know others will have a difference of opinion about this because I enjoyed the other research that I know Posy must have done to write this book, but this is how I felt about the pool information. The various games and some of the details around them became overwhelming to me, somebody who has never played a real game of pool. There was also an incident where I lost track of the narrator. That is an issue because what each character knows will change their behaviors.
Humorous Dialogue Example:
"Guess what?"
"North Dakota, 1922."
"Smart a**!"
"Well, you asked me to guess. I guessed. If you don't have a question to fit that guess, that's your problem."
Although I enjoy this type of novel, it's not the genre that I gravitate towards. However, I liked how she explained the book. I was interested in reading a story where two lesbians try to solve the murder of their transsexual friend (paraphrased from Posy). Also, she admitted that many of the people who read this book found it funny, although it really is a murder mystery.
I loved the characters and their interactions. The novel is comprised of changing points of views. By doing this, the reader is able to really see inside each and every character. We are able to see the background of each character and able to see how they turned into who they are during the current time frame. For example, Jessica showed how she was treated as a kid when she said she didn't understand why she couldn't play with dolls like the other girls. She notes that she didn't have a voice in Jack's body. It wasn't until she snapped at the other boy in the orphanage that Jessica had a voice of her own, not just Jacks. In case that seems confusing, Jessica was born a male named Jack, but she knew from day one that internally she was female. She eventually began the transition.
The story line jumps around, but the time frame is clear due to the dates provided. Mixing up the order of events, so it was not all chronological, made the text more interesting and allows the reader to focus on certain people first (Jack/Jessica, Maggie, and Moe). The story begins with the murder, but then goes back in time to develop the characters. There are tangents to the important characters as others are developed early on, and these stories are significant, but I will note the story of the main characters:
Maggie, a waitress and law student, met Moe, a truck driver, and fell in love. The two women decided to move to where it was warm, so they rented an apartment in San Diego from online. While at a dinner on their way to San Diego, Moe witnesses a woman in trouble. She follows her to the bathroom to help her clean up. The couple felt sorry for her and decided to have her join them since they were headed to the same town. (Later on, the book goes into why Jessica was in Iowa at the time.) The couple become good friends with Jessica and they often frequent the same pool hall in San Diego, Side Pocket. One evening they received a startling phone call that Jessica was murdered behind the pool hall. Maggie, who worked of a PI by this time, and Moe began trying to find out information about the regulars at the hall.
The first revelation was not too shocking except that I did not know the name of the person whom I suspected was responsible of the murder. However, there are many twists and turns as people do both moral and immoral things to help one another. Moe and Maggie become the targets for the next murder. Can they figure out all the details and provide the evidence to the police who want to cold case Jessica's murder?
The characters have great interaction. There is funny, jaw dropping dialogue. It was a crazy ride to go through. I completed the book in only one day because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I thought the crime was resolved, but saw there was 25% or so more of the book left. I had no idea where Posy was going to take it, but her clever writing made everything work, thanks to her not so intelligent side characters making stupid mistake after stupid mistake. It was a cray ride. I recommend Side Pocket to anybody who wants to laugh while trying to figure out the case.The story is a creative and hilarious read.
The only downfall that I see is that there was so much emphasis on they types of pool/bollards, but they were not explained until the appendix. I don't think much of the detail about the games that was in the book was really that important. I could have done with naming the game and moving on. I know others will have a difference of opinion about this because I enjoyed the other research that I know Posy must have done to write this book, but this is how I felt about the pool information. The various games and some of the details around them became overwhelming to me, somebody who has never played a real game of pool. There was also an incident where I lost track of the narrator. That is an issue because what each character knows will change their behaviors.
Humorous Dialogue Example:
"Guess what?"
"North Dakota, 1922."
"Smart a**!"
"Well, you asked me to guess. I guessed. If you don't have a question to fit that guess, that's your problem."
June 12, 2014
I loved this story and I loved these characters. A more eclectic set of characters and issues would be difficult to imagine. The author's handling of them combines sensitivity, humor, and crass language, another eclectic combination. The author wraps up the book by sharing what happens to each character in the future. I hope she used this technique as it was used in the 1979 sequel to American Graffiti, More American Graffiti, which provided the details leading up to those endings. I want to read all those stories.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews