So Far and Good

Cecil Younger #8

by John Straley

The verdict from the three-judge panel is in. Cecil Younger, bumbling criminal defense investigator and totally embarrassing father, has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for his involvement in ... well, a number of things, ranging from destruction of private property to killing a guy. But compared to the original twenty-five-year sentence, it's not so bad. His success with getting his sentence reduced has attracted the attention of his fellow inmates, and one man, Fourth Street, reaches out for advice for his upcoming parole hearing in exchange for protection and companionship.

When he isn't reading Adrienne Rich or James Baldwin with Fourth Street, Cecil spends his time filling up large yellow legal pads. He writes, mostly, about his teenage daughter, Blossom, who is on a Nancy Drew-like quest to help her friend, George, discover the truth about her biological parents, which turns out to be complicated. After submitting a mail-in genetics test, George learns she is the infamous Baby Jane Doe who was kidnapped from her Native mother shortly after she was born. A media and legal circus quickly ensues, but George's reunion with her birth family isn't the heartwarming story the journalists hoped it would be. There is an even darker secret about the baby-snatching case, one that threatens to destroy not just George's family--but Cecil's as well.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Contemporary

288 pages, Hardcover

Published December 7, 2021

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

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for an interesting mystery that hinges on a consumer DNA test. Georgianna, who goes by George, decides to do a DNA test of both herself and her mom. She swabs her mom's mouth while her mom is sleeping. The test results show that her mom is not her biological mother. This opens up a long buried secret. Her mom is arrested and Blossom Younger, George's best friend, goes to her dad who was a private investigator until he killed someone. Blossom visits her dad in prison for advice.
This is book 8 in the series, and I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous books in the series, which explain why he ended up in prison. The book is set in Juneau, Alaska. George and Blossom are teenagers in secondary school.
My wife and I have visited Juneau twice and it is a lovely place, but it rains a lot.
One quote: "Rain had fallen the night before, and as the sun burned through the clouds,steam rose off the blacktop and rays filtered down through the spruce and the hemlock trees."
DNA tests can be a good thing. My wife and I have done DNA tests to find out which of us carries the Cystic Fibrosis gene. We learned that I am the CF gene carrier.
Thanks to Soho Crime for sending me this eARC through Edelweiss.
Pub. date Dec 7, 2021

[Robyn]

SO FAR AND GOOD
John Straley

This is part of a series, #8 to be exact, but I read it as a stand-alone book. It has sort of that Alaskan Micky Spillane feel. Staring Alaskan PI Cecil Younger, while in prison he learns his teenage daughter has started her own detective agency, but her first case might be her last. This case goes so far sideways that she has to get dear old dad to help her even though he is locked up.

Meanwhile, Dad is having his own issues with another inmate "Fourth Street" who finds Cecil very attractive, both intellectually and possibly in other ways. Cecil is a pretty smart character, a deep thinker so I am going to have to find the other books in the series and see where he went wrong and ended up in prison. His daughter, Blossom is an enjoyable character, 17, smart and sassy. Her first job is finding out who exactly George's parents really are. George is Blossom's best friend, George short for Georgina.

But the investigation is more complicated than Blossom really thought. It seems she was stolen from her native mother shortly after birth and the media is having a field day because the supposed baby thief is a State Senator who commits suicide shortly after being arrested. George's daddy is arrested and she is returned to the birth family and that is where the whole thing goes haywire.

This is a plot-driven work that I ended up really enjoying. The story is spry, a motivated pace, and complicated enough to really make you dig in a bit. The characters, while a bit short on development can be easily managed as a stand-alone, but I bet they are really well done if you read the series. The book is engaging and I read it in a single sitting.

I will be back!

4.4 stars

Happy Reading!

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first of John Straley's Cecil Younger books was published in 1992. Younger was a private investigator in Sitka, Alaska, a more rural version of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, a man who traveled through mean streets "but was not himself mean." As years went by and the first six books in the series appeared, Younger became a more human figure, a caring man with a wife and child. I wrote in a review of the sixth book in the series, Cold Water Burning, that "I did not ever feel that the violence was there for the sake of violence." And then there was a seventeen year gap between the sixth and seventh books in the series, from 2001 to 2018.

In the seventh book, Baby's First Felony, Younger was less Philip Marlowe and more Joe Btfsplk, the guy in the Li'l Abner comic strip who always walked under a personal rain cloud. Terrible things happened to Younger and his family, and at the conclusion of the book there was an ending which, if not tragic, was more than just sad. Younger's thirteen year old daughter had been kidnapped and sexually abused. Younger's efforts to save her were so violent that he was sentenced to a seven year imprisonment. And in that book, I felt that the violence was there for the sake of violence.

In So Far and Good, Younger has been in prison for four years. Younger, who narrates all the books in the series, explains that convicts may accrue "good time" and be released sooner than the full term of their sentence. He then writes "I am close to what should have been my release date, but the events I am writing about occurred six months ago." And in those events, Younger and his family continue to be followed by misfortune.

I am going to deal with the worst issue first. I considered putting this into "spoiler" status, but I have decided that potential readers of the book should be alerted: Younger's daughter Blossom, now seventeen, is kidnapped once again. In one (mercifully brief) scene, she is tortured by a madman. Repeating a horrifying scenario from the previous book seems to me to be not only extremely unpleasant but also most unlikely. (Blossom also has a frightening encounter with a bear in this book and awful things happen to her two best high school friends.)

One of those friends precipitates much of the action of this story. Blossom's friend Georgianna, usually called George, decides that she will send away to one of the companies that determine your ancestry from your DNA. She decides to have a similar test done on her mother, without her mother knowing. (It is never really explained how George obtained the mother's DNA.) The tests discloses not only that they are not related, but also that George was kidnapped from her biological parents as a newborn infant. The woman whom George had always believed to be her mother says that this is indeed what had happened, explains how this had taken place, and states that her husband had had no part in the abduction. That woman is arrested; while in prison, she is soon found dead from hanging, presumably a suicide.

George's father is also arrested. George is put in the home of her biological parents and her younger sister. Her biological mother and sister seem nice; the father, considerably less so.

Younger tries to keep to himself as much as possible in prison. However, he is contacted by one of the most powerful of his fellow inmates, Albert Munro, "an old-school...gangster...of mixed race - African, Hispanic, and Irish." Munro wants help in preparing himself for an upcoming parole hearing. Munro says, "There are four white women sitting on the parole board. I want you to teach me how to speak respectfully to these bitches." Munro makes it plain that Younger may not refuse to help.

Younger's tutoring consists largely of discussing literary works with Munro. Straley is a poet as well as a mystery writer, and poetry plays a large part in Younger's teaching. (The title of this book, which is somewhat puzzling as a title, is a quote from a poem by William Stafford.)

Two of the most important continuing characters in the series have been Younger's wife Jane Marie and their autistic friend Todd. They both have essential parts in this book as well.

Other folks, new to the series, I believe, are well-delineated - Blossom's almost-boyfriend Ned, an enormously helpful attorney, Harrison Teller, and his extraordinary assistant, Otis Betts, Munro and other prisoners (especially the one known as Shawn Day), and Georgianna's birth parents are all believably portrayed. I think that George's newly-met sister is less so; she bonds with George and Blossom more rapidly than I think might actually happen.

Violence is a large part of this book, not just violence to save oneself or a loved one, but terrifying cruelty. A revelation about one of the major characters late in the book is shocking in its implications. I read a lot of mystery fiction and literary murders almost never bother me; torture, especially torture of children, does. I know that these people are not real, that no actual human being is suffering, but I still find this distasteful, at the very least.

Straley, as always, writes well. It seems to me that there is rather less prose that is deliberately "beautiful" than in previous books in the series. The sad, hopeful last paragraph of the book is perfect.

I like this series very much. I wish that the two latest books were not quite so dark - but then, I also wish that the world had not been quite so dark lately. If the series continues, I will continue to follow it, and hope for more joy for Younger and his family, and for us all.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is filled with gratuitous swearing and grit. It's characters are developed and I'm sure it will have an audience. It just is not me.

This particular plot was convoluted and rather outlier preposterous but entertaining if you like convict, trailer trash talk and violent action. It's not in placements or tone that makes me think- although it does raise some introspective questions.

It's strange that I can tolerate some of this trash talk but not when it is so predominant and tips over the balance to dumb as it does here.

[Steven Levine · Rating 3 out of 5]

My earlier review from May, 2022:


The first of John Straley's Cecil Younger books was published in 1992. Younger was a private investigator in Sitka, Alaska, a more rural version of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, a man who traveled through mean streets "but was not himself mean." As years went by and the first six books in the series appeared, Younger became a more human figure, a caring man with a wife and child. I wrote in a review of the sixth book in the series, Cold Water Burning, that "I did not ever feel that the violence was there for the sake of violence." And then there was a seventeen year gap between the sixth and seventh books in the series, from 2001 to 2018.

In the seventh book, Baby's First Felony, Younger was less Philip Marlowe and more Joe Btfsplk, the guy in the Li'l Abner comic strip who always walked under a personal rain cloud. Terrible things happened to Younger and his family, and at the conclusion of the book there was an ending which, if not tragic, was more than just sad. Younger's thirteen year old daughter had been kidnapped and sexually abused. Younger's efforts to save her were so violent that he was sentenced to a seven year imprisonment. And in that book, I felt that the violence was there for the sake of violence.

In So Far and Good, Younger has been in prison for four years. Younger, who narrates all the books in the series, explains that convicts may accrue "good time" and be released sooner than the full term of their sentence. He then writes "I am close to what should have been my release date, but the events I am writing about occurred six months ago." And in those events, Younger and his family continue to be followed by misfortune.

I am going to deal with the worst issue first. I considered putting this into "spoiler" status, but I have decided that potential readers of the book should be alerted: Younger's daughter Blossom, now seventeen, is kidnapped once again. In one (mercifully brief) scene, she is tortured by a madman. Repeating a horrifying scenario from the previous book seems to me to be not only extremely unpleasant but also most unlikely. (Blossom also has a frightening encounter with a bear in this book and awful things happen to her two best high school friends.)

One of those friends precipitates much of the action of this story. Blossom's friend Georgianna, usually called George, decides that she will send away to one of the companies that determine your ancestry from your DNA. She decides to have a similar test done on her mother, without her mother knowing. (It is never really explained how George obtained the mother's DNA.) The tests discloses not only that they are not related, but also that George was kidnapped from her biological parents as a newborn infant. The woman whom George had always believed to be her mother says that this is indeed what had happened, explains how this had taken place, and states that her husband had had no part in the abduction. That woman is arrested; while in prison, she is soon found dead from hanging, presumably a suicide.

George's father is also arrested. George is put in the home of her biological parents and her younger sister. Her biological mother and sister seem nice; the father, considerably less so.

Younger tries to keep to himself as much as possible in prison. However, he is contacted by one of the most powerful of his fellow inmates, Albert Munro, "an old-school...gangster...of mixed race - African, Hispanic, and Irish." Munro wants help in preparing himself for an upcoming parole hearing. Munro says, "There are four white women sitting on the parole board. I want you to teach me how to speak respectfully to these bitches." Munro makes it plain that Younger may not refuse to help.

Younger's tutoring consists largely of discussing literary works with Munro. Straley is a poet as well as a mystery writer, and poetry plays a large part in Younger's teaching. (The title of this book, which is somewhat puzzling as a title, is a quote from a poem by William Stafford.)

Two of the most important continuing characters in the series have been Younger's wife Jane Marie and their autistic friend Todd. They both have essential parts in this book as well.

Other folks, new to the series, I believe, are well-delineated - Blossom's almost-boyfriend Ned, an enormously helpful attorney, Harrison Teller, and his extraordinary assistant, Otis Betts, Munro and other prisoners (especially the one known as Shawn Day), and Georgianna's birth parents are all believably portrayed. I think that George's newly-met sister is less so; she bonds with George and Blossom more rapidly than I think might actually happen.

Violence is a large part of this book, not just violence to save oneself or a loved one, but terrifying cruelty. A revelation about one of the major characters late in the book is shocking in its implications. I read a lot of mystery fiction and literary murders almost never bother me; torture, especially torture of children, does. I know that these people are not real, that no actual human being is suffering, but I still find this distasteful, at the very least.

Straley, as always, writes well. It seems to me that there is rather less prose that is deliberately "beautiful" than in previous books in the series. The sad, hopeful last paragraph of the book is perfect.

I like this series very much. I wish that the two latest books were not quite so dark - but then, I also wish that the world had not been quite so dark lately. If the series continues, I will continue to follow it, and hope for more joy for Younger and his family, and for us all.

---------------------------------------

May 26, 2023

I don't want to change the review above, just to add some material. First, I didn't think about this when I read the book before, but exactly what crime is Richard Paul put on probation for? There was in fact no kidnapping and Kristy Thompson told this "to the prosecutors who were bringing the charges against Richard Paul." I suppose lying to the police and admitting to a crime that had never really taken place might itself be a crime of a sort - maybe.

I can not understand why I didn't praise the excellent book jacket of the Soho Press, Inc. 2021 hardcover edition, with art by Francesco Bongiorni. The jacket picture shows a scene that is not actually in the book but definitely represents the spirit of the book. Orange-clad convicts have paused an outdoor basketball game and are looking out at a large bear, who is watching them as well. Between the convicts and the bear is a high metal-mesh fence topped with razor wire. Behind the bear is a landscape of trees and mountains. The men are turned subtly into inhabitants of a type of zoo, with the bear as an interested observer. On top of the fence, almost at the edge of the picture, is a black bird, which I believe is intended to be one of the many ravens in Straley's work.

I liked the book more on this second reading. I still think it is flawed (especially Younger's daughter Blossom being kidnapped and tortured for a second time) and I believe that anyone reading this without having read earlier volumes in the series would find much of the story confusing. But it is definitely a pleasure to spend time with Cecil Younger and his family and (some of) his friends.

[Marilyn Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book this well written is difficult to review. What can I say about how good it was and what made it so good? It started with a simple idea. A girl wished to surprise her mother with a DNA test for both of them (the mother's DNA taken without her knowledge) and then a trip for both of them to countries of their ancestors. Unfortunately, the DNA results came back showing that the mother and the daughter were not blood relatives. In fact, the daughter had actually been kidnapped as a baby and was at the center of that thirteen year old mystery. Naturally, that simple idea became a huge and complex news story and disrupted many lives. My impressions as I was reading were that it was a book in which no character was only one thing. Every character was complex and had surprising aspects about them that made them each seem so authentic, just as real people we know are rarely just one dimensional. I also was struck by how well the world inside a prison was drawn. All of us have stereotypical ideas of how awful prison life is but this story went into fascinating detail about how inmates interacted, the power dynamics, the need for acceptance and even love each of them had that coexisted with the absolute necessity to appear a certain way to others, namely, strong and not vulnerable. The odd bargains that were negotiated and the strange alliances that were formed. I thought it was so courageous to have the Cecil Younger character react to sexual advances in a very nuanced way. Those of us who have never been in prison have the luxury of being so sure what we would or would never do if we were incarcerated. Someone who has been in prison has a very different perspective on what is possible and what isn't. This story, which started with a simple idea, was not a simple story.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting mystery with a well-crafted plot and lovable characters. Unfortunately it was also a lot nastier (and unnecessarily so) than I was expecting, which lessened my opinion of an otherwise excellent story.

Protagonist Cecil Younger is serving time in prison for (possibly) intended murder during a situation in the last installment of the series where his teenage daughter was kidnapped and assaulted. So! Guess what happens in this book? Yep, his teenage daughter is kidnapped and assaulted. Again!

It’s a disturbing sequence of events even without the history of the series, an underage girl beaten badly by a violent sexual predator. It absolutely could have been worse, and there’s some fantastic vigilante justice that follows, but it bugs me that we have a male author repeatedly placing this teenage girl in the same type of grotesque, upsetting, and gratuitous situation multiple times. If this is a schtick, it’s the worst one ever.

Which is a shame, because otherwise the book is a really, really good one. The plot is clever, the characters are wonderful and interesting, and outside of some of the more horrific scenes, it absolutely has some humor.

So, big-time trigger warning for truly terrifying kidnapping and assault of an underage female character, and for some prison violence as well, though this element felt more tastefully handled and didn’t bother me personally.

I’d read another of these, but I would want to know a fair amount about the plot ahead of time to make sure the author isn’t going to lean on this idea that the protagonist’s daughter is getting kidnapped/assaulted/tortured to drive the plot.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another gritty crime noir featuring Cecil Younger. The combination of prison violence, outside-of-prison violence, kinky sex, and BDSM may make some readers a bit uncomfortable, but the story is solid.

Besides Cecil, the familiar characters of Jane-Marie and Todd feature prominently. Todd is one of my favorite characters in the series. There are some interesting new characters as well, notably "Fourth Street", Cecil's not-completely-reliable protector in prison; Harrison Teller, the colorful and extremely expensive lawyer called in at Cecil's insistence; and Mr. Betts, Teller's fixer and right-hand man. I'd like to see Teller again, assuming Straley continues the Younger series.

The story focuses primarily on Younger's daughter Blossom, a wannabe detective who gets in over her head, leaving Cecil to struggle to guide and protect her while he's in prison. Younger's involvement with Fourth Street makes up the other half of the plot, and naturally the two plot threads become intertwined.

Straley has a way of keeping the reader engaged with the action, making the Alaskan setting real, and throwing in just enough humor to somewhat offset the darkness of the plotline. His titles are offbeat and obscure; even with the introductory quote, I can make no sense of this one, not can I relate it to the plot. But that's a minor quibble.

Bottom line, you either appreciate the Cecil Younger series or you don't. If you do, pick up this one; it's better than the lapse of quality in "Baby's First Felony". If you don't, this one won't change your mind.

[Laura Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first John Straley novel, and it turns out to be the 8th in his Alaska based Cecil Younger investigator series. I found it fascinating — now I just have to see how much I like the main character when I start back at book #1!

The story in brief: Cecil’s daughter’s friend George (for Georgina) does a surprise DNA test for herself and her unaware mother. The results are not what she expected, and the book takes off from there — and I mean really takes off. Meanwhile, Cecil is in jail serving time for murder of a man who had done something terrible to his daughter. I don’t know what that was and I’m guessing it took place in one of the previous books I haven’t read yet, but I have to say that his experiences in prison and the way he participated in the story from there were deeply interesting from both an action and a psychological / philosophical perspective.

I loved the characters — from Cecil himself, to his possibly autistic best friend, to his research scientist wife, to the personalities in prison, to the long bearded survivalist defense attorney, to the Tlingit parents, and to the teenagers at the center of it all. I think what I liked best about the characters is that they all have a strong sense of morality and principles and they stick to them. The morality may or may not not be the same as yours or mine — but it exists and is consistent. Loved the Alaska setting and the various relevant discussions of prison life including gender fluidity and the psychology of the relationships between inmates and parole boards, men and women, black and white.

I’ve already gone back and started the first in the series…

[Karen Bullock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecil Younger, former P.I. is serving a seven and half year stretch for destruction of property and “possible/unintentional” murder of a man who had kidnapped and assaulted his teenage daughter, Blossom.
While biding his time for parole, he is encouraged to assist one of the most notorious criminal inside the correctional facility.
“Fourth Street”, aka Mr. Munro is desperate to get out of prison and back into his business and believes Cecil has the power of words that can help him win over the all female parole board.
Cecil’s second issue is his daughter, Blossom and her ability to sleuth her way into trouble while under the guise of helping her friend, George, work through the results of a DNA test.
Can Cecil help Fourth Street sweet talk his way it’s the parole board and come out unscathed if it backfires?
And what happens when Blossom discovers Cecil might know more than he’s let on about George’s DNA results?
A quick fun mystery that flies by with snarky humor and light profanity.
This is actually #8 in a series but is still easy to follow if you haven’t read the others.

[Hannah F · Rating 2 out of 5]

So boring it drags and drags snd SO much users babbles rambled in between . Fkr such a slim book I couldn't believe ut took so long to read .I then ut aside a few times .finally finished; y skim reading .

The lead character is annoying. hes nkt sittyir smart or funny despite the fake reviews on the back cover.

It's more a depressing boring book. Oh and his daughter. Well I'll keep my thoughts but she's not half as smart as he or she thinks

PS there was zero need to throw in details about a sex scene. it does nothing but make the reader distracted .

I know its the last book but it made me have zero interest in trying the first or any other. Just don't like the character .

[Drea · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading this book, I realize how fun it is to read plot-driven books. Fast-paced and written well, this was a book I’d recommend. I know it’s part of a series and although I wish I would have started at the beginning, this worked well as a stand-alone novel. It doesn’t shy away from drama and crisis but fell a bit flat with character development, for me. I’m glad I read it and am so grateful to Soho Press for the opportunity to do so.

[Michael Tedin]

Another great book by John Straley. Following up on his mostly disastrous rescue of his daughter in Baby's First Felony, Cecil Younger is in jail and dealing with the problems of prison, including violence, intimate relations with other prisoners, and isolation from his family and much of the rest of humanity. In the meantime, his daughter is getting into trouble investigating where he can't. The story digs deep into emotions and relationships and travels some dark paths on the way.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay I LOVED some of the discussion in this book. I thought it had deeply engaging characters and I was fascinated by the dynamics within the prison, and I really enjoyed Blossom's character.
That being said, I was more than a little shocked by how nasty it got in the middle? I fully did not expect the bad guy to be that bad. However, this does end with the good guy getting the crap beat out of him and going to prison for a long, long time, so I will be satisfied with that ending.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad to read John Straley's latest, the newest Cecil Younger, written in the time of covid. Younger is as subtle, thoughtful and essential as ever and never forgets his family, his highest and most important priority. Prisons, power, racism, sexism and bigotry, So Far and Good has them all and Younger finds his way, a brightness in the dark.

[Ashleigh Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I read this as a stand alone, at first I didn't realize it was part of a series because it was recommended to me by my librarian.

I enjoyed this book, it was quick, simple but also exciting and made me want to know more about everything going on. I will be adding the rest of the books in this series to my tbr!

[Lauren Haight · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fun to read a book that takes place in my hometown and Straley did an amazing job of describing it (other than an unrealistic amount of sunny days haha). Otherwise, the story just didn’t grab me or seem any kind of realistic. A modern teenage girl who says “jeepers” all the time really bothered me.

[Jeff Macey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Started out slow to me, then it shifted into second and popped the clutch and too off!! Really gripping story about sick in the head men. But more about family and good people who try to protect girls and women! Highly recommend1

[Wayne Basta · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is good, and the moral quandaries it sets up about who deserves defense and whose a good guy started out thought provoking. But it took a darker turn than expected. Ended up not wanting to finish.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cecil Younger always presents interesting moral questions. But this plot was preposterous and was mostly a slog with the occasional bit of the author’s bite.

[Freda Westman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is John Straley’s finest work! I love the characters and the honesty of emotions and I loved the story telling.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

funny and sad and damn weird... loved it

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

The violence, particularly against a child, in the eighth book of the Cecil Younger series was nearly too much. John Straley's other books are recommended.

[Paul Wilner · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Straley is great, and this is one of his best.

[Eldon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy to see Straley writing about Alaska, even if he was in prison for the duration of this book. A good read.

[Lulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

As incredible as his stories are, the characters are family, the scenes and communications a familiar path, almost a comfort.