The Dead Beat Scroll

August Riordan #7

by Mark Coggins

Private investigator August Riordan returns to San Francisco to avenge the death of his friend and one-time partner, Chris Duckworth. Duckworth has taken over Riordan’s old business, his old office and even his old apartment, and Riordan suspects Duckworth’s death is linked to the missing person case he was working when he died.

An alluring young woman named Angelina hired Duckworth to look for her half-sister, but what Riordan finds instead is a murderous polyamorous family intent on claiming a previously unknown manuscript from dead Beat writer Jack Kerouac.

Following clues from Duckworth and a trail of mutilated bodies left by the family, Riordan soon realizes that avenging his partner will first involve recovering the manuscript—and then saving Angelina and himself from kidnap, torture and death. As the bodies pile up, Riordan must work with old allies and enemies to untangle Duckworth’s last case before time runs out.

288 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2019

About the author

Mark Coggins’ work has been nominated for the Shamus and the Barry crime fiction awards and selected for best of the year lists compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Detroit Free Press and Amazon.com, among others. His novels Runoff and The Big Wake-Up won the Next Generation Indie Book Award and the Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) respectively, both in the crime fiction category.

Reviews

[Ann Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

In two words: Loved it! In the past few months I've read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (finally), The Snatch by Bill Pronzini, and now The Dead Beat Scroll. All three are PI noir, all are set in San Francisco, and the three span almost a century in timeframe (Maltese Falcon published 1930, The Snatch in 1971, Dead Beat Scroll in 2019). Great fun to read them one after another in this way! In Dead Beat Scroll, PI August Riordan takes to the mean streets to find out who killed his friend and one-time partner. (Sound familiar?)... I love Coggins' writing. Spare, elegant turns of phrase, and the story moves along at a smart pace. Well done, Mark! I hope there are more August Riordan mysteries in the future...

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be clear, this was a perfectly adequate book for distracting me from work stress. Two stars should not be seen as a hate review. And I appreciated the photographs and the nod to an earlier novel (character traits and locations should tip people off). The reason I didn't give this 3 or 4 stars was that August often seemed like *such* an idiot, and sometimes it felt like characters' dialog was overwritten.

August's constant depiction as out of touch with tech and cultural trends grated at times, but to be fair people *are* like that, and it did give Gretchen and Ray things to do.

I do want to read other August Riordan books to see if my impression of the character and dialog improves.

[John McKenna]

August Riordan is “an old meat-eating dinosaur” type of Private Investigator who’s returned to San Francisco to track down the person that killed his friend and one-time partner, Chris Duckworth, who’d taken over Riordan’s business, office space and apartment, was working a missing persons case when he died, and Riordan thinks that the case has something to do with the murder.  Chris Ducksworth was hired by an attractive young woman named Angelina to find her half-sister, who’s gone missing.  But when Riordan takes over the case, he discovers a demented and violently murderous polyamorous “family” intent on obtaining an unknown manuscript, written by Jack Kerouac, one of the most famous of the Beat Writers from the late 1940s and early 50s.

As Riordan follows clues left by Duckworth, and a trail of mutilated dead bodies left by the family, he quickly realizes that recovering the manuscript is the key to avenging his old partner and saving himself and Angelina from kidnap, torture and death.

The Dead Beat Scroll is fast-paced and propulsive, written in a style reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, with a plot that will surprise the reader on more than one occasion.  But beware, it’s also a deep dive into the alternate lifestyles of one of America’s most notorious cities!

[Alli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn’t finish reading this book. The narrator can’t stop describing women he finds attractive as “childish” in some way. When he described one physically with the adjective of “childish” and a different character called her “jailbait,” I was no longer in a reading mood. When the narrator had sex with her three pages later, I nearly threw the book across the room.

I decided not to wait for the narrator to continue to disappoint me with how adorably out of touch his sexism is, as though this is another part of being a dinosaur detective we’re supposed to find funny.
https://m.mythcreants.com/blog/five-s...

I’m disappointed in the writer. I could understand if this was written 10+ years ago, but this insane. Can men stop describing grown women as being “childlike” as a precursor to attractiveness? It’s creepy as hell.

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping and action packed book, entertaining and well written.
I liked the plot, the fleshed out cast of characters and the style of writing.
I look forward to reading the other books in this series.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

A couple of things bugged me enough to hinder my enjoyment of this book.

When I started reading "The Dead Beat Scroll", I thought the San Francisco references and photos were fun. After a while though, the "name dropping" of San Francisco streets and buildings got to be very tiresome. Sometimes a single paragraph would have four or more references. I imagine it would be even more tiresome if the reader is unfamiliar with the area.

I'm not sure how old August is supposed to be. He is painted as a luddite, and says things like "...gave it the old alley-oop." So I thought it was kind of creepy when he quickly fell into bed with the hot and trendy millennial whom he was supposed to be helping. There were some other sexist boys' club tropes I didn't care for. I guess we're remaking the Sam Spade era detective, including a good natured jab from August's ex-fiance that she left him for a urologist because urologists make good money. (eye roll)

The mystery was okay, but I won't read another August Riordan.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Dead Beat Scroll is the 7th August Riordan mystery by Mark Coggins. Released 16th Sept by Down & Out, it's 288 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

This is a very well written PI story set in modern San Francisco (despite the manual typewriter on the cover and the 'vibe' of the book). The author has an intimate familiarity with the setting, in fact the verso chapter headings are full page B&W photographs (apparently taken by the multi-talented Coggins). The plotting and story arc are precise, controlled, and well orchestrated. It's fast paced and action filled. This is a PI novel in the proud tradition of Chandler, Hammett, Runyon, and the rest.

I read this one as a standalone and it works perfectly well, with one huge caveat. There's a massive spoiler on literally the first page of the book which will overshadow the first books if one is planning on going back and reading the earlier books afterwards (I am).

This is a good one for readers who love old school gumshoe PIs which hearken back to the rain-slicked mean streets of 1940s black and white cinema. There are even punch ups between the protagonist and assorted bad guys and our guy comes out on top, bruised but unbowed.

I really enjoyed this one and have sought out the earlier books. Possibly worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, the first 5 books in the series (but not this one or the previous one) are available to borrow and read included in the KU subscription.

Four stars, solidly entertaining. The photos were a nice bonus, beautiful work.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Grace Koshida · Rating 4 out of 5]

PI August Riordan returns to San Francisco when his best friend Chris Duckworth has gone missing. Duckworth has taken over Riordan’s PI business, office and even his Post Street apartment. When Ducksworth is found shot dead at a massage parlor, Riordan thinks the motive for his murder lies in one of his recent cases. Duckworth's last client, Angelina Evangelista had hired him to find her half-sister Corinne White. Riordan follows a trail of mutilated bodies left by a murderous polyamorous family obsessed with finding an unknown manuscript from dead Beat writer Jack Kerouac.

But when Angelina is kidnapped, Riordan must come up with a plan to find the missing dead beat scroll to set a trap to save her and avenge his friend.

This was another fun romp through San Francisco with the stubborn old-fashioned PI and his band of friends. The black and white photographs in each chapter are also taken by the author and adds a nice cinematic touch to the story.

I received an eARC from Netgalley and Down and Out Books with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

[Sharon C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! That's how I would describe The Dead Beat Scroll. This is my first introduction to private investigator August Riordan, who has just returned to San Francisco to discover the truth about the murder of his former partner and friend, Chris. Chris had taken over August's PI agency and was mostly working on cyber cases, so why had he been found in a sleazy massage parlor? Not exactly the kind of place a gay man like Chris would be hanging out. In his search for the truth, August meets Chris's last client, Angelina, who was searching for her half-sister. The trail leads to a bizarre cast of characters, including a polyamorous family, a Chinese ganglord, a massage worker/manicurist, to name a few. It also leads to a manuscript written in a scroll by Beat writer Jack Kerouac. What more could a reader want? Like I said, fun!!

It's a fast-paced book and a wild ride. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

[Randal · Rating 5 out of 5]

August Riordan is back! And, so is Mark Coggins in this welcome addition to a strong PI series. The city of San Francisco has a starring role in this story that starts with the death of August's longtime (but now estranged) partner, Chris Duckworth. The investigation into Chris's death takes August all around the city, and each chapter is beautifully illustrated with one of the author's stunning black-and-white photographs (in case you didn't know, Mark is also a supremely talented photographer).

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was entertaining with a creative plot and quickly moving story line. I was thinking that I wish I had read all the other books in this series before the current one. However, even though I know how things end up for one person, I can still enjoy the journeys that brought the characters to this point in their lives, or deaths by starting at beginning.

Thank you NetGalley and Mark Coggins for the early read!

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Coggins cooks up his best mystery yet! Love the hidden gems about Hammett and long-loved Beats.