Baby's First Felony

Cecil Younger #7

by John Straley

Shamus Award–winner John Straley returns to his critically acclaimed Cecil Younger detective series, set in Sitka, Alaska, a land of perfect beauty and not-so-perfect locals.

Criminal defense investigator Cecil Younger spends his days coaching would-be felons on how to avoid incriminating themselves. He even likes most of the rough characters who seek his services. So when Sherrie, a returning client, asks him to track down some evidence to clear her of a domestic violence charge, Cecil agrees. Maybe he’ll find something that will get her abusive boyfriend locked up for good.

Cecil treks out to the shady apartment complex only to discover the “evidence” is a large pile of cash—fifty thousand dollars, to be exact. That is how Cecil finds himself in violation of one of his own maxims: Nothing good comes of walking around with a lot of someone else's money.

In this case, “nothing good” turns out to be a deep freeze full of drug-stuffed fish, a murder witnessed at close range, and a kidnapping—his teenage daughter, Blossom, is snatched as collateral for his cooperation. The reluctant, deeply unlucky investigator turns to an unlikely source for help: the misfit gang of clients he’s helped to defend over the years. Together, they devise a plan to free Blossom and restore order to Sitka. But when your only hope for justice lies in the hands of a group of criminals, things don’t always go according to plan.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Thriller, Detective, Audiobook

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2018

About the author

Novelist John Straley has worked as a secretary, horseshoer, wilderness guide, trail crew foreman, millworker, machinist and private investigator. He moved to Sitka, Alaska in 1977 and has no plans of leaving. John's wife, Jan Straley, is a marine biologist well-known for her extensive studies of humpback whales.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

2019 Best Private Eye Novel - Shamus Award Nominees:

• Wrong Light, by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
• What You Want to See, by Kristen Lepionka (Minotaur)
• The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
• Baby’s First Felony, by John Straley (Soho Crime)
• Cut You Down, by Sam Wiebe (Quercus)

Ongoing character (this being installment 7 in the series) Cecil Younger, an investigator for the Public Defenders Agency in rainy, grimy Sitka, Alaska, does his best for pathetic and dangerous clients. Cecil hasn’t had a drink for twenty years. He has pretty much straightened out his life. Since we last met him he and his wife, Jane Marie, now have a thirteen year old daughter named Blossom.

Unfortunately, through a series of unfortunate events, a war for control of the local meth trade makes Cecil the holder of a bag of dirty drug money. Cecil, to his peril, discovers that many of the local cops are involved with the bad guys.

In order to force Cecil to act as a hitman and eliminate a potential female witness against the would-be drug boss, his daughter Blossom is kidnapped, drugged and forced to be a sex toy for the local cops. Cecil discovers she is being held captive on the top floor in a leaky old hotel in downtown Sitka.

The first portion of the book reads like a courtroom narrative of a witness describing events to a magistrate. I quite enjoyed this portion of the book, The next section details Cecil’s capture and subsequent confinement in the Alaskan prison network.

The book is one long narrative with no chapters delineating events. Then about two hundred and thirty pages into the book we arrive at Section Two, the court sentencing of Cecil for the crimes he was forced to commit in order to try and save his daughter.

Along with the criminal plot is an interesting side story involving the use of humor as therapy for autism, leading the book to be packed with jokes as told by Todd, the sort of adopted son of Cecil. Some of these are really funny.

An added section at the end of the book is an illustrated version of the book Cecil and his boss are collaborating on “Baby's First Felony” detailing the rules to follow when apprehended by the law, which is almost worth the price of admission itself.

The tone of Baby’s First Felony varies dramatically and moves unexpectedly to a very dark place at times, yet the book is quite a compulsive read.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been seventeen years since the last Cecil Younger Alaska mystery. I enjoyed all of the first six, gobbled them up, loved some and liked them all. I thought Straley had stopped writing and was thrilled to learn about "Baby's First Felony."

Cecil Younger is a terrific character. Like Straley (was) he's a defense investigator living in Sitka, Alaska. The first six books give you a great feel for the town and Cecil. He's hard-boiled and soft-hearted at the same time, a recovering alcoholic with a great sense of humor. The series should be read in order because his life evolves with each book. They're full of native lore and lovely writing about Sitka and its surroundings, and one of the main characters is Todd, an autistic man who becomes Cecil's ward.

From the beginning of "Baby's First Felony" we learn Cecil has been found guilty of felonies. Almost all of the book is his allocution to a sentencing panel. There are no chapters. He's relating the tangled tale of how he came to be arrested, tried and found guilty, along with characteristic tangents and wit. Ultimately we read their decision.

Though not by Cecil, there is sex trafficking of tween and young teen girls. This is beyond what I want from this series. I don't read violent fiction with the exception of quality true crime books. I'm too easily upset by these things. The allocution is sprinkled throughout with Cecil's humor and entertaining way of speaking, but that can't pull the book out of the darkness. There's white supremacists, murder and meth labs. I won't say more because of spoilers, but very quickly the stakes become very high for Cecil. And I care about him. As uncomfortable as much of this book made me, Straley is such a great writer I never once thought of pulling the bookmark.

I remember finding "The Woman Who Married a Bear" and being so excited to discover this talented writer and great series. But one of these books is not like the other It ends with part of the comic book full of instructions to their clients his boss is working on, which gives the book its name. It offers advice including "Don't eat the cheese puffs when burglarizing a house. The yellow dust makes your fingerprints pop when the cops arrive" and "Do not wear the shoes you stole to court." Those few pages are fun and it was a clever choice on Straley's part to leave the reader laughing. I'm hoping for more in the Cecil series, just not so dark.

[Barbara Monajem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baby's First Felony is the long-awaited seventh book in the Cecil Younger mystery series. It’s fabulous—but I say that about every one of Mr. Straley’s books. Just read the cover quotes and you’ll see that I’m not the only one who loves his writing. The Alaska setting just adds to the reading pleasure. I must say, though, that although Baby’s First Felony can be read as a standalone, you’ll appreciate it much more if you read the other six books first, starting with the The Woman Who Married a Bear. Cecil Younger is a completely screwed-up yet nevertheless adorable character, and reading Baby’s First Felony was like visiting an old, much-loved friend. Great mystery, chilling suspense that was almost unbearable (I had to read ahead), and some wonderful bursts of humor. Highly recommended.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

BABY'S FIRST FELONY
John Straley

This is the second book by John Straley that I have read. Funny, I started at the very end of the series and am now working my way back towards the first one. In this book, Cecil is trying to clear a previous client of a domestic violence charge and ends up in a hella of a mess! His daughter, Blossom is kidnapped, his wife is pissed at him, he falls off the wagon and the messy list (and I do mean messy) goes on and on.

The list of normal, or what I assume to be the normal list of characters was all present. But I really enjoy the relationship between Todd and Cecil, he is a great character (Todd). In this book, he was learning to tell jokes and one never thinks about the difficulties in making sure that a special person knows what and how to be appropriate. I appreciate that Cecil is so patient and understanding in his tone and words when speaking with Todd.

Although I didn't find the same level of humor in this book nor was Alaska as prominently discussed, I did enjoy it and am looking for another in this series.

3.6 rounded to 4 stars

Happy Reading!

[Paul Wilner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Straley's work. This seemed darker than the previous Younger books (no relation to Cole, of course), but it worked just as well, perhaps better in some ways. Will post more later, if I can find the time.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like this book more if it were a stand-alone novel. It is not, however. It is the seventh book in a series that the publishers are now referring to as "The Cecil Younger Investigations." This book was published in 2018; the previous volume in the series, Cold Water Burning, first appeared in 2001. The characters have aged realistically, even if not entirely in real time; a child who was an infant in the 2001 book is thirteen years old in Baby's First Felony.

In the first six books in the series, Cecil Younger was a private investigator, mostly working on behalf of defendants in court cases. In this book, Younger works exclusively in that capacity. He has now married and is living with his wife, Jane Marie, their thirteen year old daughter Blossom, and Todd, a man who, like Younger, is in his late fifties. Younger used to be Todd's guardian, as he "rests comfortably on the solidly affected end of the Asperger's scale." Younger has always been portrayed as a kind and concerned man who strives to help others. Readers familiar with the previous books in the series have, I believe, come to like and respect the character of Younger. That is why the terrible things that happen to him and his family in this book are especially unsettling.

Almost the entire book as presented as Younger's allocution before a panel of judges. Wikipedia explains that an allocution is:

a formal statement made to the court by the defendant who has been found guilty prior to being sentenced. It is part of the criminal procedure in some jurisdictions using common law.

The reader does not know until much later in the book what crime Younger has been found guilty of committing.

I have never been involved in an allocution, but I strongly suspect that judges would not allow a defendant to recite a 232 page statement to the court unless they are actually compelled by law to do so. I also doubt that the defendant would even want to wonder as far off-topic as Younger does. The following is a small excerpt from Younger's statement:

The rain had stopped momentarily, and the wind carried the faint smell of the sea. Straight overhead, the sky was blue, and I could hear gulls calling above the harbor. A fat raven with a black cookie in its beak stood on the lip of a municipal garbage bin that was propped open. It bobbed on its twig legs and twisted its head one way and then another suspiciously, as if it was certain I was going to snatch the cookie away. As I approached, it bobbed deep, and the lionlike mane flared before the bird bobbed again, then lifted into the air and flew away with its plunder. Just as the raven crested out over the harbor, the clouds covered the sun and rain began falling again.

This may be splendid prose, but I think that it is most unlikely as part of the allocution.

The story involves a great amount of casual cruelty and violence, white supremacy, illegal drugs, and child molestation. Because Straley is such a good writer, readers might well care about the people who are injured or killed (well, some of them, at least); I know that I did.

There is also a lot of humor. The entire last section of the book is a comic manual for criminals entitled "Baby's First Felony," written by the public defender with whom Younger works. In that context, the title makes sense. As a title for the book as a whole, I think it is terrible. I believe that the title makes the book sound like a light and funny caper story; that is far from what it truly is.

There are also a series of jokes that Younger's former ward, Todd, is learning to tell, because "joke telling...helps create a kind of ready-made emotional relationship for people with autism." I thought some of these were really funny, others (intentionally) offensive. One of my favorite scenes in the book is the repetition late in the story of a joke first heard much earlier.

In addition to things that I have already mentioned, other flaws include the unexplained hostility toward Younger of some of the people with whose defense he has assisted. I understand that they might resent the fact that the defense may have been unsuccessful, but there is never an implication that Younger did not do as much as possible to help these folks. (And, of course, he was not the attorney representing them, but merely an investigator in that attorney's office.) It is clear that the criminal identified only as "the Sweeper" has considered Younger to have been condescending, but there is no evidence that this is true.

The often-repeated appellation "Sweeper" is irritating, because its use makes no sense. Younger tells the judges whom he is addressing that "I don't like to use real names for anyone not named as a co-defendant, so I call him Sweeper, like the clown who sweeps up the spotlight." This is nonsense. At this point, Sweeper's real identity is a matter of public record. Also, it simply is not true; Younger evidently uses the real name of every single other relevant person in the book.

A large plot-hole takes place when a police lieutenant who has been notified by Younger about a missing child calls Younger and says, "We need to talk, I think I can help you out." The lieutenant leaves his personal cell phone number. This might well be the information Younger desperately needs, but he does not call the lieutenant back. I repeat: Younger does not call back the police lieutenant, who might have information that could save the child's life. I do not believe that there is any explanation given for why he does not.

As with every book in this series, there is much that is fine. Characters, even minor ones, are convincingly human, with believable quirks. The folks, mostly former clients, who assist Younger in his effort to recover the missing child are kind and, indeed, heroic.

The setting, Sitka, Alaska in a period of one hundred six consecutive days of rain, is nicely presented. It makes frayed nerves and violence more understandable.

I don't know if there will be further books in this series. That seems unlikely, but I would have thought that publishing this book after a seventeen year hiatus was equally unlikely. If this is the last book in the series, I am sorry that the story of Cecil Younger does not have a more cheerful final chapter.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems to me that John Straley is nowhere near as widely known as he should be, but most of us who have read him are always excited to hear that a new Straley book is out. His latest novel, Baby’s First Felony, is the next in his series about Alaskan investigator Cecil Younger.

Straley was an investigator for 30 years, so he knows whereof he speaks. He shares other similarities with Younger, including living in Sitka, Alaska, and being married to a career whale biologist. Let’s hope that that’s where the similarities end, since Younger is also a recovering alcoholic and regularly finds himself in peril for his life.

What stood out for me when I read my first Cecil Younger novel, The Woman Who Married a Bear, was Straley’s deep empathy for the characters that populate Cecil’s work and life. As a public-defender investigator, Cecil’s days are filled with the people at the bottom of Sitka’s food chain: career alcoholics, drug addicts, and small-time crooks (Baby’s First Felony contains the occasional big-time operator), along with the generally broken. Whether in spite of or because of his decades in the trenches, Straley appreciates the spectrum of grays between black and white that color his characters’ lives, and Cecil treats these people accordingly. As a result, when he needs help from a crew that defines the word “motley,” he gets it. In Baby’s First Felony, he needs a lot of help.

Among Straley’s novels, this one is particularly plot-driven and intense, touching Cecil’s family directly and dealing with issues of underage sex trade and cross-border drug dealing. Still, as in all Straley’s novels, his exploration of human nature in all its forms more than balances the mayhem. Straley continues to impress; he leaves me eager for whatever comes next.

[Mary Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first half but when the plot became outrageously unrealistic and brutal I gave up, could see no reason to continue. That a small time drug dealer could be revealed as a drug kingpin with a huge operation was too much, and I had had enough of brutal murders. I felt like the author had read too many superhero comics.

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a cozy mystery. I would have avoided it if I knew what was in it. But it is movingly written. Maybe this falls under the category of a tragedy?

[Grant · Rating 2 out of 5]

A court testimony monologue structure that could have been interesting is derailed by winding and often disturbing narrative choices - keep me reading but I didn't always want to be.

[Diogenes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wild tale of murder, corruption, drug dealing and worse. Things go wrong when a girl is kidnapped and steadily get worse. A motley and bizarre cast of characters, with humor, pathos and human frailty.

As the author explains: "...it is a hallucinatory dream of everything that could have gone wrong for me while working thirty years as a criminal defense investigator in Alaska."

Likable in every way except the gimmicky format of an allocution to a court that was so long, involved, and often irrelevant that would have been shut down in minutes - but is the novel itself.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this, having expected much because I love The Big Both Ways, but this is a very different kettle of Alaskan fish. Cecil's motivation was often hard to understand, his reactions extreme (falling off the wagon after 30 years?!) and while the central motif of the the criminal's first book of do's and don'ts is clever and made me smile, the things that happened were long and drawn out and very unsatisfactory. I read to the end, it's all well-written, but I sure didn't like it.

[Mary Ahlgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic writing, pretty loosely drawn characters, but Cecil Younger is one of my heroes. Always has been, and it is great to have him back even if he is in the middle of a major breakdown.

[WroteTrips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heartbreaking look at crime in island-Alaska. Death, drugs, major crime and assault against women and young girls. Amusing title for un-funny crime.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... I loved his previous books but this one was depressing, violent and crazy

[Meredith Rankin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary
Cecil Younger, a criminal defense investigator, is no stranger to rough characters. Heck, the majority of the public defender’s clients are “rough”: alcoholics, drug users, petty criminals, but Cecil likes them. Well, most of them. A long-dry alcoholic, he’s built a nice life with his researcher wife Jane Marie (who’s working on a grant proposal and stressed about their daughter); his brother with Asperger’s Todd (who’s learning jokes as therapy); and his teen daughter Blossom, who’s taken to dyeing her hair, calling her parents by their first names, and losing herself in her phone. A young teen girl has disappeared, with drugs as a possible factor, and Jane Marie is worried about Blossom and her BFF, Emily (now known as Thistle). He works for a public defender, David, who’s written a self-help guide of do’s and don’ts for more, uh, intellectually challenged criminals, titled Baby’s First Felony.

When Sherrie, a returning client, begs Cecil to find evidence she says will clear her of criminal charges, he does it . . . and lives to regret this decision.

The evidence is $50K, found in a dubious location frequented by druggies and shady deals, and Cecil’s got it now. But things do awry: that’s what happens when you add meth-heads with guns, drug-stuffed frozen fish, various dirty cops and crooked business people, and a bloody killing.

Cecil wants nothing to do with Sherrie’s money (if it’s even hers). But then his young teen daughter Blossom is abducted to secure his cooperation with the criminal behind the drug deals. Suspecting police involvement, Cecil turns to a motley crew of former clients to aid his rescue of Blossom. Not such a great idea. Get a bunch of ex-cons, add a liberal dose of drugs and alcohol and non-stop rain, and you never know what might happen.

My thoughts
This is seventh in the Cecil Younger series. Though I haven’t read any of the others, this book works as a standalone.

What didn’t work for me:
There were a lot of things I enjoyed about the book, but somehow I was disappointed. I don’t know why. That frustrates me, as this book had many of the elements that I normally enjoy. I had problems reading it and contemplated not finishing it. I hate saying that.

Maybe it wasn’t a good fit for me, or I wasn’t a good fit for the book. Sometimes that just happens.

What worked for me:

Cecil’s narrative tone is wry and often humorous.
Here are two quotes that I enjoyed:

Your Honors, Dashiell Hammett once wrote, “The cheaper the hood, the gaudier the patter,” but in my experience, the cheaper the hood, and the more excited they are, the more frequently they use the word “fuck.” page 86

With bears and with meth heads with guns, the basic rule is this: don’t seem like food, and don’t challenge them to a fight. Make it seem like you are just too much trouble to kill." page 87

Minor characters were well-rounded.
No spoilers. Sherrie surprised me, as did Gudger, when they showed different aspects of their personalities. Though Sherrie might be a hardened woman, she’s capable of sorrow for a vulnerable person. Though Gudger is an alcoholic inebriate, “institutionalized”, when given the right environment, he thrives.

Cecil’s view of the clients is realistic.
Straley spent several decades as a criminal defense investigator, and that experience shows. Cecil’s realistic about the work of a public defender and their clients. While he has compassion for their situations, he’s not sentimental, optimistic, or soft on crime. Most are guilty. Most will continue to do drugs, shoplift, assault, whatever, no matter how harshly the legal system penalizes them. Some, like Sherrie, have been so mistreated their entire lives that they cannot accept kindness, even genuine kindness. Others, like Cecil’s pal Gudger, are homeless and any roof, even a jailhouse roof, is preferable. All will justify their crimes:

"The hardest lesson for a young public defender to learn is that your clients, even in the midst of doing something completely antisocial, violent or self-destructive, feel justified" page 174

My final thoughts:
I really struggled with this book. As I said earlier, I can’t quite figure out why. I think it might be a case of a mismatch between reader and book. Straley knows how to tell a good story. 3 stars, but I think fans of his previous books might rate this higher.

[Marilyn Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading John Straley's books when they first came out in the 90s, intrigued by the woodblock cover illustrations and the strange titles: The Woman Who Married a Bear, The Curious Eat Themselves and The Music of What Happens. The stories were as good as the covers promised them to be. I wrote to the author once (an actual paper and pen letter) and he replied! I have continued to read his books and still love them. This one is told as a lengthy allocution to the court, and while it reads as a novel, Cecil Younger interrupts the tale to explain to the court why he did what he did in the moment. There is such a moving observance of the thought processes behind those on the societal margins, the homeless, the drug addict and the alcoholic, making them real and worthy of compassion though they repeatedly do the stupidest things. "Baby's First Felony" is a guidebook referred to often in the story that explains the rules involved when a defendant is commiting a crime or making statements to the police, like, "Don't eat the cheese puffs when burglarizing a house. The yellow dust makes your fingerprints pop when the cops first arrive." All of these rules are "no-brainers" based on actual crimes or statements to the police and are simultaneously hilarious and sad. The whole story, though quite gritty and graphic, is infused with humor, and demonstrates that even intelligent people can do the dumbest things.

[Stven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've not read John Straley previously so I don't know how this story fits into or compares to the rest of the "Cecil Younger Investigations set in Alaska." The frame for the story is peculiar, as the reader is asked to believe that Mr. Younger is making a statement in a court of law which will go on for some 230 pages and possess many of the characteristics typical of fictional text such as conversations punctuated by quotation marks and colorful descriptions of the ambient situation. "The next morning the rain was a quiet patter on the roof, building to a steady staccato as it gathered strength." Not really the words of a man addressing a court.

Nevertheless the story, though not compulsively so, was interesting enough to read, and narrative peculiarities are hardly the worst thing I've ever had to forgive in a writer. A sketch of life in Sitka emerges with some thoughtful illumination of our criminal justice system and the situation of our drunks and homeless, and a reasonable amount of humor and mayhem.

[Tasula · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author's books are offbeat, with strange characters in precarious and outlandish situations. I probably should have first read an earlier book featuring Cecil Younger; in this he is in late 50s, with a long history of investigations for a criminal defense attorney. Cecil winds up in trouble, with both police and gangsters chasing him, because as a favor for a jailed client, he picked up a bag containing $50,000. Things go from bad to worse for him, and in his desperation he turns for help to some of his former clients (one described as a "homeless inebriate and another known for blowing things up). There are some eye opening descriptions of life in prison and the burdens placed on prison guards. About the only respectable person Cecil seems to know is his employer, the defense attorney. Everyone else (and sometimes seems like everyone in the town) has a police record or an illegal activity.

[Viccy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been 17 YEARS since the last Cecil Younger book; John Straley, how I have missed you. Cecil is back in action as a criminal defense investigator. He is asked by a client to go to her apartment to retrieve evidence that will help free her, but when he gets there, Cecil finds more than he bargained for: $50,000 in cash; an illegal poker game; corrupt police being blackmailed by an Alt-Right crime lord; as well as the makings of an enormous criminal conspiracy. But when his daughter is kidnapped and the crime lord tries to suborn Cecil into murder, things really get out of hand. Cecil manages to violate almost all the rules in his boss' secret book on how to survive the justice system, Baby's First Felony that walks a client through the steps of a police interrogation, but Cecil is ready to burn down Sitka to find his daughter and get her home safely.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first book by this author. It was pretty funny. The title refers to a manual that he and his boss, the Public Defender of Sitka, Alaska, put together for all the hapless crooks they represented. Cecil Younger is the investigator for this 3 person office, the other employee being a secretary. Cecil gets himself into a lot of trouble trying to rescue his 13 year old daughter from some murdering drug dealers, once of whom is a pre-eminent citizen of their small town. The book consists of his explanation to the judge of what happened and how he had no choice in certain matters, and therefore deserves less than 25 years for his misdeeds (his allocution). At the end, we read the decision of the court.

[Kelly J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book review is very hard to write without giving spoilers so this review is going to be a bit different than others I have written.
Before I get started let me just say “I have never read any of Mr. Straley’s books and I have always read books in a series in their order. “ Well I stepped out of my comfort zone I tried a new author and I read a book that is not the first book of the series.
Mr. Younger a criminal defense investigator lives with his wife Jane Marie, their daughter Blossom and Todd who has Aspersers which is a form of autism they live in Sitka, Alaska. Sitka is the perfect setting for corruption, drugs, kidnapping, and murder.

"Full book review can be found: http://addicted2reading.forumotion.com/"

[Fussnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were maybe two dozen pages I had to read fast, as there was too much violence. But the book as a whole was delightful. Followed by intelligent comments on jail: "Men longed for the things they abused and things they had forgotten they had loved. ..Jail teaches you nothing so much as covetousness and the fixation on desire. "
"Most people in the straight world overlook the homeless. They are becoming invisible in our communities. Everything we do for them ,,, shelters and food and medicine has a hidden priority. That is, to make them go away.. from their natural habitat, which in America now is jail."
You know the characters as if you were married to them. Plus he's funny , when he's not killing people right and left. interesting mix.

[Dorothy Hodder · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Baby's First Felony" is the title of the Sitka, Alaska, Public Defender's hilarious manual for first offenders. As a public librarian in a downtown library, I feel like I know some of the clients personally. The engaging narrator is the office's Investigator, a recovering alcoholic and devoted husband and father. The suspense nearly killed me and I skipped over some crucial action sections, because I'm a lightweight when it comes to violence against children. I think there are some holes in the plot, but they might just be the parts I skipped reading.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seventeen years passed between the writing of the last book in the series and this one. In the novel, thirteen years have passed and Cecil's baby, Blossom, is now a teen-ager.

But Blossom and her mother are having a tough time. Cecil tries to play peace maker but winds up in the middle of a deadly drug ring showdown in Sitka.

The fact it took so long for this book to be written added to some of the things that happen in the book lead me to believe this is the last Cecil Younger adventure. It was a grand ride.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of Straley's that I have read. It is a very unusual approach to the genre. For one thing, it essentially has no chapters. I depend on chapters to find a clean break to quit reading for the night. Aside from that the book has other issues such as being a little too wordy in places. That being said, I enjoyed the very unusual character and circumstances of his life, his viewpoint and his approach. The setting in Sitka, Alaska could maybe have been used more (don't know, never having been there.) Anyway, it's a pretty good read. I will probably try another by Straley.

[Bob Rehfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live in Southeast Alaska near Sitka where Straley bases his novels so I always appreciate his description of the weather and culture. This novel while a fun read stretches the bounds of believability but what the heck, it’s fiction.

He beats up the Sitka PD in this book and although he vehemently disclaims there is no truth to any part of the story, in this time of fake news when it’s hard to separate fact from fiction one wonders how the local constabulary received this book. I hope he has a lot of friends in the police force.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason this one didn’t seem quite as satisfying as the earlier Younger books. I liked the return of Todd to the position of key supporting character and got a kick out of his efforts to tell jokes and understand the humor behind them. I liked the ragtag group of “clients” that Cecil enlisted to help. I was disappointed in many of Cecil’s actions. I think there was one major plot hole involving Cecil’s daughter Blossom. I thought the climax was lacking in suspense and action. I hope if Straley does another in this series he gets back to the level he reached earlier.

[Beesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the deep, satisfying, occasionally profound read that earlier books in the series were. The book has a cartoon-like quality and then turns into an actual cartoon with the inclusion of "Baby's First Felony," an advice manual for criminals, already quoted liberally throughout the story, and presented in its entirety in comic book form. Given that it's been almost 20 years since we last heard from Cecil Younger, I wanted more than this book gave.

[Virginia Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecil Younger, a criminal defense investigator in Sitka, Alaska, gets embroiled with some local bad guys who abduct his teenage daughter in an effort to get him to kill a potential witness against them. Whew! The title of this mystery comes from a manual Cecil's boss, a Public Defender, is writing to guide his clients as they face incarceration; and the appendix with an illustrated version of that manual is almost as good as the novel itself.