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First Avenue
A Seattle beat cop is haunted by his discovery of an abandoned dead infant in a seedy downtown hotel and sets out to uncover the truth about the child and those responsible for its death.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 6, 2015
I have long wanted to read this book. I worked down in the Pike Place Market in the 70's when the donut shop was open. Pre toney coffeeshop and tourist days, Market people, street people and cops all went there.The author did a good job of depicting the flavor of the Market and Seattle back then. His main mystery is a hard one (dead child, missing mother) but as in his later book I feel he addresses topics without sensationalizing them. He also uses family secrets and discoveries as part of the story.
He has taken some artistic license to develop his mystery plot but overall I enjoyed it.
Inexplicably the Seattle Public Library does not have #2 of this series
He has taken some artistic license to develop his mystery plot but overall I enjoyed it.
Inexplicably the Seattle Public Library does not have #2 of this series
May 5, 2013
Mysteries aren't my favorite, and First Avenue is what I would call a typical mystery: not much character development, a cliff-hanging story that is ultimately very predictable, and several dropped plot lines. The charm of First Avenue is its setting in Seattle, where I live. Clausen evokes the city, especially the Pike Place Market, with loving detail. The drug bust on the water was riveting, but other than that I found the book's story unremarkable.
May 1, 2009
Long plodding mystery without much substance. Overly minute details that don't add much to the story.
December 21, 2021
Disclosure: I *live* on First Avenue - the very one in this book so it was fascinating to read a story about my own neighborhood! That aside, this book was great regardless. Clausen is a first time author and this is a wonderful effort. Seattle police - not the big shots, not the homicide guys… the regular beat cops are the center. A baby is found dead in a seedy hotel. She died from being left there on her own. The solving of the case involves a tour of my neighborhood and inspection into the people here. The story is credible and the characters are really interesting. I really hope this is one of many more for Clausen.
January 20, 2026
Picked it up when my kindle was broken and instantly regretted it. The writing was very simple, and often seemed unnecessary- extra words for taking up space. The premise sounded interesting but the story moved along at a snail's pace. The bad guys were obvious and the main baddie was so predictable and grotesquely written I literally threw the book when I read the ending. It may have been a hit at the time of it's publication but it isn't now.
May 18, 2018
As a Seattleite
As a Seattleite I really enjoyed this although it does not always paint a complementary picture. A poet/policeman works to solve some murders, break up some drug smuggling, and discovers his family along the way. Better than average.
As a Seattleite I really enjoyed this although it does not always paint a complementary picture. A poet/policeman works to solve some murders, break up some drug smuggling, and discovers his family along the way. Better than average.
February 12, 2022
(Posted on 2/12/2022)
Read this back in July, 2004. What I wrote then: A story about a Seattle beat cop who finds a dead infant and can’t let go of the case. In it, he discovers that he has an eighteen-year-old daughter. An interesting first novel.
Read this back in July, 2004. What I wrote then: A story about a Seattle beat cop who finds a dead infant and can’t let go of the case. In it, he discovers that he has an eighteen-year-old daughter. An interesting first novel.
September 24, 2013
Most cops find ways to protect themselves from becoming emotionally involved in their cases by learning to distance themselves from the horrors that they see. Every once in a while, though, something will happen that will penetrate that emotional armor. For Seattle beat cop Sam Wright, that something is the death of a baby from malnourishment. The baby is found in a seedy hotel room, with no sign of its mother. What causes this case to resonate emotionally for Sam is the fact that he knows this baby. He's held this baby. He's comforted this baby. She's the child of a young woman who waited on him at The Donut Shop, a woman named Alberta Sanchez. He knows that Alberta cared for this baby, Olivia. And he's not ready to let Olivia' s death go into the records unnoticed without some attempt to find out what went so wrong.
The logical place to start the investigation is at The Donut Shop. There 's no concern over the fact that an employee has disappeared. In fact, Sam finds that this is a very strange business, indeed. The owner, Pierre, is often gone from the premises. There are a lot of young men who just hang around the place, buying nothing. Fortunately for Sam, he befriends the new waitress, a young woman named Maria. Little does he know that Maria also has a connection to him. In fact, she has traveled from Alaska just to meet him and gotten the job because it's on Sam's beat. She serves as an informant to Sam and helps him to discover just what's going on besides doughnut making. And ultimately, she helps Sam to discover himself.
First Avenue in the 1970s and 80s is a rundown area of Seattle that includes struggling businesses, an active marketplace, peep shows and a wide variety of people who are down on their luck. You'll meet drug dealers, prostitutes and homeless people. You'll also meet proud people and hard workers. You'll experience its sights, sounds and smells. It's truly a mixture of the best and worst that a city has to offer. Unfortunately, as a beat cop, Sam is usually dealing with the worst. And this case is truly looking even more detestable than usual when Sam discovers that some fellow police officers may be involved in whatever is going on.
Sam isn't dealing with this case on his own. In addition to Maria, he's working with a homicide detective, other beat cops and a homeless man who's turning his life around. The book moves forward rapidly, carrying the reader along to a suspenseful action conclusion which is followed by a moving emotional resolution.
Sam is a character that is fully realized. He's a bit of a loner in his personal life, with only a sometime relationship with a neighboring married woman to sustain him. He kayaks to work every day and is just a little burned out on his job. He's a sensitive man without being sappy about it. He writes poetry, some samples of which are included in the book. He is loyal and a friend.
The other characters in the book are well drawn too. In addition to Maria, we meet a local restaurant owner named Silve who has been struggling to succeed for years and who tells enchanting stories of bygone times. Sam visits him almost every day and helps him in ways large and small. He befriends a homeless man who is fighting because someone took his shoes. Sam gives him his own shoes, and from that point they move forward in an unstated partnership. There's Detective Markowitz of homicide, the man who mentored Sam when he first joined the force. And fellow beat cop Katherine Murphy, a woman determined to make it in a male-dominated society. These are real human beings, not characters created to advance a plot.
Clausen has written a great book. He's drawn upon his own experience as a Seattle beat cop to craft a compelling and powerful police procedural that doesn't have one false note. The characterization is superb; the setting is perfectly drawn. The plot is well developed, and the usual clichés are absent. The writing is smooth. I'm amazed to find that this is a first book. I predict that Clausen will have a long and successful writing career. I know that I will be the first one in line for any of his future offerings.
The logical place to start the investigation is at The Donut Shop. There 's no concern over the fact that an employee has disappeared. In fact, Sam finds that this is a very strange business, indeed. The owner, Pierre, is often gone from the premises. There are a lot of young men who just hang around the place, buying nothing. Fortunately for Sam, he befriends the new waitress, a young woman named Maria. Little does he know that Maria also has a connection to him. In fact, she has traveled from Alaska just to meet him and gotten the job because it's on Sam's beat. She serves as an informant to Sam and helps him to discover just what's going on besides doughnut making. And ultimately, she helps Sam to discover himself.
First Avenue in the 1970s and 80s is a rundown area of Seattle that includes struggling businesses, an active marketplace, peep shows and a wide variety of people who are down on their luck. You'll meet drug dealers, prostitutes and homeless people. You'll also meet proud people and hard workers. You'll experience its sights, sounds and smells. It's truly a mixture of the best and worst that a city has to offer. Unfortunately, as a beat cop, Sam is usually dealing with the worst. And this case is truly looking even more detestable than usual when Sam discovers that some fellow police officers may be involved in whatever is going on.
Sam isn't dealing with this case on his own. In addition to Maria, he's working with a homicide detective, other beat cops and a homeless man who's turning his life around. The book moves forward rapidly, carrying the reader along to a suspenseful action conclusion which is followed by a moving emotional resolution.
Sam is a character that is fully realized. He's a bit of a loner in his personal life, with only a sometime relationship with a neighboring married woman to sustain him. He kayaks to work every day and is just a little burned out on his job. He's a sensitive man without being sappy about it. He writes poetry, some samples of which are included in the book. He is loyal and a friend.
The other characters in the book are well drawn too. In addition to Maria, we meet a local restaurant owner named Silve who has been struggling to succeed for years and who tells enchanting stories of bygone times. Sam visits him almost every day and helps him in ways large and small. He befriends a homeless man who is fighting because someone took his shoes. Sam gives him his own shoes, and from that point they move forward in an unstated partnership. There's Detective Markowitz of homicide, the man who mentored Sam when he first joined the force. And fellow beat cop Katherine Murphy, a woman determined to make it in a male-dominated society. These are real human beings, not characters created to advance a plot.
Clausen has written a great book. He's drawn upon his own experience as a Seattle beat cop to craft a compelling and powerful police procedural that doesn't have one false note. The characterization is superb; the setting is perfectly drawn. The plot is well developed, and the usual clichés are absent. The writing is smooth. I'm amazed to find that this is a first book. I predict that Clausen will have a long and successful writing career. I know that I will be the first one in line for any of his future offerings.
November 18, 2017
On the whole, this is a good book, just not good enough to make me want to read more of Clausen’s work.
This book leans more toward mainstream than mystery/police procedural. It is as much about Sam Wright and Katherine Murphy – their private lives and their thoughts – as about the crimes they are dealing with. That gives the book a slower pacing than is usual in a mystery/police procedural genre.
There’s nothing wrong with Clausen’s writing. It’s smooth and engaging; in places, almost lyrical. There’s nothing wrong with his storytelling, either, except for a few spots that needed more narrative, as if what he ‘saw’ in his head didn’t quite make it onto the page. The relationship between Sam and Georgia is one place I noticed it very strongly.
Police work has often been described as ‘eight hours of boredom broken up by minutes of sheer terror.’ Clausen does a perfect job of showing that in this story. Except for two scenes in the second half of the story, there is no real action to get the reader’s heart racing. But those scenes don’t elevate it more than a beat or two, a disappointment for readers expecting more.
And I have to call Clausen out on one of my pet peeves: getting automotive things wrong. Clausen has a detective driving a Dodge Dart ‘police’ car. Clausen doesn’t say exactly when this story is set but, unless it’s set in 1961 or 1962, the Dodge Dart is a compact car unsuitable for use as a police cruiser.
While all the major plotlines are resolved by the end of the book, there’s a feeling of incompleteness on reaching that point, as if a final chapter or scene is missing.
This book leans more toward mainstream than mystery/police procedural. It is as much about Sam Wright and Katherine Murphy – their private lives and their thoughts – as about the crimes they are dealing with. That gives the book a slower pacing than is usual in a mystery/police procedural genre.
There’s nothing wrong with Clausen’s writing. It’s smooth and engaging; in places, almost lyrical. There’s nothing wrong with his storytelling, either, except for a few spots that needed more narrative, as if what he ‘saw’ in his head didn’t quite make it onto the page. The relationship between Sam and Georgia is one place I noticed it very strongly.
Police work has often been described as ‘eight hours of boredom broken up by minutes of sheer terror.’ Clausen does a perfect job of showing that in this story. Except for two scenes in the second half of the story, there is no real action to get the reader’s heart racing. But those scenes don’t elevate it more than a beat or two, a disappointment for readers expecting more.
And I have to call Clausen out on one of my pet peeves: getting automotive things wrong. Clausen has a detective driving a Dodge Dart ‘police’ car. Clausen doesn’t say exactly when this story is set but, unless it’s set in 1961 or 1962, the Dodge Dart is a compact car unsuitable for use as a police cruiser.
While all the major plotlines are resolved by the end of the book, there’s a feeling of incompleteness on reaching that point, as if a final chapter or scene is missing.
September 17, 2011
Officer Sam Wright finds a dead infant in a run down hotel on First Avenue. He learns that the child's mother works at the Donut Shop and she is missing.
As he begins the paperwork for the case, he keeps the image of the little child in his mind and becomes determined to find answers.
There seems a connection at the Donut Shop and in an unusual coincidence a young woman, not much more than a girl, comes to Seattle looking for Sam. She seems timid and when she sees the Donut Shop, she goes in and gets a job.
Sam's favorite place on First Avenue is Silvie's Restaurant where he often goes when off duty. Sam has met the young woman and learned her name is Marie but she hasn't told him that she was looking for him. He tells Sylvie about Marie and asks if Sylvie would hire her since Sam feels that the Donut Shop is unsafe.
I was moved by the author's characters. Some are truly coldhearted and detestable. Others, like Sam, are well meaning people attempting to make life a little better with their compassionate manner and desire to help.
This is a wonderful and uplifting adventure. The story is written by a former Seattle police officer and I recommend it highly.
As he begins the paperwork for the case, he keeps the image of the little child in his mind and becomes determined to find answers.
There seems a connection at the Donut Shop and in an unusual coincidence a young woman, not much more than a girl, comes to Seattle looking for Sam. She seems timid and when she sees the Donut Shop, she goes in and gets a job.
Sam's favorite place on First Avenue is Silvie's Restaurant where he often goes when off duty. Sam has met the young woman and learned her name is Marie but she hasn't told him that she was looking for him. He tells Sylvie about Marie and asks if Sylvie would hire her since Sam feels that the Donut Shop is unsafe.
I was moved by the author's characters. Some are truly coldhearted and detestable. Others, like Sam, are well meaning people attempting to make life a little better with their compassionate manner and desire to help.
This is a wonderful and uplifting adventure. The story is written by a former Seattle police officer and I recommend it highly.
June 19, 2008
This is a really good debut novel. I enjoyed the detail that Lowen Clausen puts into it. You can really tell he has walked/rode a beat. Most mysteries you read about how the detective solves everything. This is about a normal beat cop that just uses his gut instinct, years of experience, good intellect and some luck to figure everything out. I really enjoyed his secondary character of Katherine Murphy, who I understand his second book is about. I loved the interactions of the characters with the city of Seattle. Seattle became it's own character. Only bad thing about the book is it really drags some towards the end when slowed me down. Made me want to skip parts. But it's well worth the time and money to read.
October 17, 2010
A police procedural reminiscent of Wambaugh's earlier works. The opening pages are quite gripping, telling of the protagonist discovering a dead baby in a fleabag hotel. A lot of the human element told from a beat cop's perspective. Only criticism is there were a lot of open ends unanswered that leave a reader hanging, and expecting a sequel. Though there is a follow on novel, it doesn't follow the same characters... he was having an affair with a married neighbor (with her husband's approval), that I just didn't get the point of.. plus a hint of a relationship with a co-worker that doesn't go anywhere.. I figured these issues would be pursued in a follow-up, but over ten years later, apparently not.
October 17, 2011
Lowen Clausen's first book about Seattle police officers (he was one)begins with Sam Wright's discovery of a dead infant in a seedy hotel room. The mother is missing, a young woman he remembers seeing with her baby at a nearby donut shop. He is sure something bad has happened to the mother, and he is right. The donut shop is a base of operations for a drug dealer who has something big in the works.
Good characters, interesting plot and an exciting drug bust on the water, with Sam sneaking up on the bad guys in his kayak. Sounds weird, but it works.
Good characters, interesting plot and an exciting drug bust on the water, with Sam sneaking up on the bad guys in his kayak. Sounds weird, but it works.
July 4, 2012
This book was recommended to me by the staff at Elliott Bay Booksellers, in Seattle's Pioneer Square. I read it shortly after returning to Florida, and the book instantly brought me back to the streets I'd been wandering in Seattle shortly beforehand.
Lowen Clausen wrote 3 books in this series, each about a different main character - and I wish he'd have found something new to say about one of them or decided to bright a focus on a fourth, because I was not (and am not) ready to let this series end!
Lowen Clausen wrote 3 books in this series, each about a different main character - and I wish he'd have found something new to say about one of them or decided to bright a focus on a fourth, because I was not (and am not) ready to let this series end!
November 22, 2011
Maybe I'd give it a 3.75? This was one of my first cop/crime books. It was set in Seattle written by an ex-Seattle beat cop. It should probably be a 3 star book, but I personally enjoyed it more, so 4 stars it is.
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/04/1389571...
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/04/1389571...
September 8, 2011
Interesting character study. The book seemed focused more on the character dmotivations than details of the investigation which was interesting all the same. I thought the plot unraveled a bit in the third act when it switched from believable to fantastic. Overall a decent read, and I will be reading the next book in the series.
April 16, 2013
Interesting police procedural/character study about the Seattle of my young adulthood. While the crime to be solved is interesting, I was more involved with the personal stories of Sam and the folks he runs into on and off the beat. A nice story and a nice snapshot of a Seattle before coffee and computers moved in.
April 12, 2009
This was a decent crime novel. I still felt that there were a few things that didn't quite come together that well--the female cop character, for one, felt a little forced, and the neighbor-lawyer didn't really go anywhere--but the central mystery was decent.
July 9, 2009
Police drama based in Seattle. I thought at first it was a little 'wordy' but that thought soon changed to interest. Very well written. In fact I would say the drug bust scene was one of the most exciting I've read.
Highly recommend the book.
Highly recommend the book.
August 5, 2015
This is a mystery/police story set in Seattle. It includes real character development, not just fast-paced thrills. My favorite of Clausen's three (Second Watch, Third & Dorever), but I enjoyed them all.
January 1, 2012
Great mystery/cop book, pegged the Seattle tone to a tee.
April 9, 2012
This seemed slow to me. Sometimes I'd sit down intending to read it, and read the newspaper or Facebook instead. I did like the characters.
June 18, 2013
Sad but satisfying. A bit too wordy but great potential as a series. I wiil read a couple more before I decide. Not in love with any of the characters...yet.
January 24, 2016
Quite cheesy and it's a bit rushy heading towards the ending. But it's not a bad read.
January 31, 2016
Quite cheesy and it's a bit rushy heading towards the ending. But it's not a bad read.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews