Bloody Martini

A Felonious Monk Mystery #2

by William Kotzwinkle

Award-winning and bestselling author William Kotzwinkle is back with the second in the darkly comedic Felonious Monk series featuring Tommy Martini, a Benedictine monk with an anger management problem. Felonious Monk was praised as “amiably satirical” (Washington Post) and “a whiplash adventure” (Wall Street Journal).

Coalville is on fire—from below. The old mines are burning, and everyone has poison gas in their brain. Maybe that’s why the town is so corrupt. Now that he’s a Benedictine monk, Tommy Martini never wants to see the place again—hell-raisers there hold a grudge till they die, and he’s on their wish list. But a girl he once loved has gone missing, and his best friend from childhood has been murdered. Among the living is a shy girl from Tommy’s past, who wants to help. Together, they learn the secret of the elephant’s graveyard, and it’s not in Africa.

At the heart of Coalville is Parade Square, with plenty of pigeons, drugs, and child prostitution. It’s the new small-town America, where Dionysus is dancing once again. William Kotzwinkle’s insight into this paradigm shift is shot through with the humor he is famous for, and the result is a spicy brew, a bloody martini—just one sip may keep you up all night.

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

315 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 14, 2023

About the author

William Kotzwinkle is a two-time recipient of the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Prix Litteraire des Bouquinistes des Quais de Paris, the PETA Award for Children's Books, and a Book Critics Circle award nominee. His work has been translated into dozens of languages.

Reviews

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second in a series, but the first one I read. I think I expected too much because the writer is well regarded. There is plenty of random and violent action but the story is strung together in a rather haphazard fashion that sometimes stretches credulity. Overall it was entertaining, but I don't think I'll go back and read the first. One and done.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloody Martini is the second in a series, with numerous references to the first book, Felonious Monk (2021), but can stand alone. While living as a Benedictine monk, Tommy Martini gets word that his childhood best friend has been killed and his wife is missing. Tommy's soon headed back to his home town where not everyone's happy to see him. It's hardboiled pulp fiction, more thriller than mystery. There's plenty of wish-fulfillment (at age 80-plus who can blame the author) and gratuitous violence along the lines of Mike Hammer or Jack Reacher. There are also a few scenes of Lethal Weapon-type masochistic torture, which may be intended to justify some of the later violence. Through it all nuance, reflection, and regret accompany the carnage. He's a monk after all. Set in the anthracite coal fields of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Kotzwinkle presents a heavy dose of Rust Belt depression along with attendant drugs, organized crime, civic corruption, and prostitution in a failing town named, aptly enough, Coalville (think Scranton, PA). There's a twist at the end that reminded me of a notable old Twilight Zone episode or a 1991 British film with Christopher Eccleston and Tom Courtenay. Kotzwinkle is an excellent, fluent and fluid professional writer who's come a long from The Fan Man and Fata Morgana. Every book he wrote then was different from the one before. But for me, as good as his books were, he was at times missing just a little bit of heart amongst the perfect technique and craftsmanship. He didn't always reach my emotions. I think that's what he's trying to do here. Also impressive is the research invested, displaying erudition and expertise in a variety of fields: coal mining, muscle cars, torture, dog fighting, dynamite, towing and recovery (my uncle drove wrecker for years), and more. The book includes a recipe for a "bloody martini" (with tomato juice). Propulsive and well written novel for fans of tough guys and femmes fatales. [4★]

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Bloody Martini by the unpredictable and whimsical William Kozwinkle, courtesy of NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing , in exchange for an honest review.

Somewhere between college graduation and retirement I carelessly lost Kozwinkle. Two of his previous novels, Dr. Rat and the enchanting Fata Morgana, were among my favorite books in the 1070s. Then, somehow, I misplaced him, and until Bloody Martini came along, I didn't even know he was still alive and writing. I was delighted to discover that he is alive and well and writing amazing books.

I was completely captivated and thoroughly absorbed with Bloody Martini. It is a great story and skillfully written about Tommy Martini , a small town ex-cop who, seeking peace and forgiveness, becomes a Benedictine Monk in Mexico. Well, a monk with benefits actually, as he comes and goes as he pleases, and hardly behaves like one. His benefits include wanton women, fast cars, alcohol and murder. He lives an interesting life.

Sometimes, too interesting.

A girl he once loved has gone missing. A few people in his home town want him dead. The son of a mafioso, he inherited a fortune and a family reputation he doesn’t want. He boxed professionally, and ended up killing a man in a bar fight. His best friend from childhood left him a phone message askling that he take care of his girlfriend, right before he was murdered. The, to complicate matters, there is a shy girl from his past who would be only too excited to help him.

Returning to Coalville from the Benedictine Monastery in Mexico, Martini discovers that Thomas Wolfe was right, you can’t go home again. Nothing has really changed. Crooked cops, crooked politicians, misplaced loyalties and a overwhelming greediness. By novel;’s end, Martini has confronted or been confronted by it all, returning to the monastery to once again face his own personal demons.

I didn;t know what to expect when i began to read Bloody Martini, except that it sounded interesting. I mean, come on, a monk as a lead character?! The novel caught me by surprise. Kozwinkle is in complete control, keeping the story moving along, leaving us always wanted more, wanting answers, wanting more. I sincerely hope that Bloody Martini finds its fans in an already crowded marketplace. This book soars.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things are bad in Coalville, PA —old coal mines are on fire below the city, fatal mine gas creeps into homes, and drugs and child prostitution have taken over the town’s main square. Benedictine monk and former local mob guy Tommy Martini is called from his monastery in Mexico by a phone call from his best friend as he’s being murdered asking him to take care of his wife. But she’s missing, and by the time Tommy finishes with Coalville there will be a lot more bodies in slag heaps and mine shafts than when he checked into the seediest hotel in town.

Once hosting classic Italian and Irish gangs, Coalville now counts other ethnicities among its criminals. They are not the reason the town is so corrupt—that’s the fault of many of his old friends. Tommy seems to drop everything he’s learned as a Benedictine pretty fast to figure what’s going on in Coalville.

“Bloody Martini” is fast-paced and twisty, with a sharp eye aimed at collapsing towns like Coalville. The body count is high with the shattered landscape presenting particularly nasty opportunities for disposal. The story is grim, and the solutions are as well. If you are looking for a gritty mystery, this book is for you.

[Judy]

I couldn't wait to finish it. The pace was slow, the plot disappeared until the end, and the humor was leaden. It reminded me of an adolescent male's fantasy: the tall, big man who can conquer anyone, with untold riches, powerful gangster friends who can do and find out anything and beautiful women. The author had fun with the names: Knucklehead, Zamboni and Martini to name a few. It seemed like Tommy or the author forgot about the "mission" for a long while, while Tommy went around seeing how much the town had degraded and how people he knew were either ruined or strung out on drugs. Coalville - and that name tells you everything about what a Rust Belt town it is - is not a place anyone would choose to live, even when the miners had a living. And the end is just the old cliche, where the person you least expect it turns out to be the murderer.

It wasn't really a mystery at all. And the final cliche - the evil women who betrays him.

[Isabel Yacura · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an insane male fantasy wish fulfillment. A total trainwreck of a page turner. He's a monk! But he's secretly the heir to a major crime fantasy! And he was in line for the Olympics before he /killed a man with one punch./ And he was the high school quarterback whom all the girls in his small town that he left wanted to bang and when he comes back they still want to bang him? Jesus christ. I literally couldn't stop reading in abject horror-fascination. I think I have a better grasp on the male psyche now. I would respect Tommy Martini (god /damn/ it) if he had like, remained faithful to his orders? It's a lot more interesting to have that character actively trying to be a good monk instead of trying to bang anything that moves and when he doesn't get the girl-- because he's /too dangerous/-- he just goes back to the monastery? Fuck off, man. Have some principles, damnit.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tommy Matini was raised by his Grandfather, a mob boss, in Coalville, PA. Tommy is a mountain of a man, and it's all muscle. In a bar fight, a single blow delivered by Tommy stops Mike Mudoon's heart and kills him. He joins a Benedictine monastery in Mexico to avoid the aftermath of his fight. Surprisingly, parts of the silent monastic live he lives speaks to him.
Then his best friend, Finn Sweeney, is Killed. Finn leaves a dying voicemail with Tommy. Tommy returns to Coalville to find Finn's wife, Tommy's one true love. He's still connected, so he's intantly into fast cars, faster women, and record violence.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sequel to the wonderful Felonious Monk. After the butchery of the first book, Tommy Martini has returned to the monastery in Mexico. He gets a message on his phone from an old friend of his, just as the friend is being shot, and the friend asks him to look after his wife. Martini returns to his home of Coalville to find out what has happened to her.

Like the first book, this is filled with a lot of glorious, deserving deaths, and some surprises about who in the end does not get killed. Kotzwinkle's writing is very absorbing. Highly recommend these two books, and their audible.com incarnations are wonderful read.

[Ami Beyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been a guilty pleasure. It has a sprinkle of so many things it will be hard to find yourself chuckling a little bit!

Monastery in Mexico, the mob, wise guys, family traditions/dynamics, small town vibes, gay hair dresser (who's also a hitman), Russian hookers, pimps, revenge porn, graphic and ridiculous death scenes. Amazing story in the style of old time detective novels without the misogyny and rapey vibes! (short choppy sentences, great one liners, and strong female characters who don't need a man to save them.

[Yasmina · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Bloody Martini" is the story of Tommy Martini who kills a man in a barroom brawl. Tommy’s family who are local gangsters send Tommy to a Benedictine monastery in Mexico, so he will not be charged with murder. Tommy only returns to his hometown after he receives a call from his childhood friend who is murdered shortly after the call. As much as I enjoyed Tommy’s insights into the human condition, I found the mystery aspect of the story lackluster. There really was no surprise when the murderer was revealed.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really not my style. The premise is into fantasy...a monk...raised by a crime family...who is rich due to inheriting riches from same family...who leaves the monastery at will to go right wrongs... The story is mostly violence which our saintly monk tries to avoid. I should have read the bibliography of books written by the author. His best sellers were a children's series entitled "Walter, the Farting Dog"

[Linda Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Well, not as many bodies this time! Love the writing style of these books, reminds me of Parker’s Spencer series, witty and fast repartee and asides. But the state of the world he lives in makes me unhappy. So bleak, but then I don’t hang out with the Mafia ( as far as I know)! I must say the head abbot is a very understanding man to let a monk out every now and then to get up to who knows what! But maybe that is his reality in cartel run Mexico. Can’t wait for the next one!

[Susan Elizabetha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and unique story of tommy Martini. Grandson of a mob member, who has anger management problems. He has left the mob life and become a Benedictine Monk in a Mexican monastery.

Tommy leaves the monastery after a call from his best friend Michael Sweeney. He death declaration asks him to find his murder.

Tommy goes back to his hometown to do that. Where some people are glad to see him. Other people beat him, teaser him or just try to shoot him.

[Margaret Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a male fantasy gangster story with an interesting metaphysical hook: mobster turned Benedictine monk, battling his demons. The prose is glorious, the sentences rhythmic and mesmerizing, the 1st-person hero narrator a quasi modern knight in a battle-ready quest to save a damsel in distress. Except -- violence is not really funny or something to romanticize, and objectfication and idolatry of the female sex is not nice.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. A new spin take in the genre, with the protagonist being a made man in an Italian family that joins a monastery help him manage his anger. Of course, he can't help but be drawn back into the life, and in this story, back to his very troubled hometown to find and protect the widow of one of his recently deceased friends. Very thoughtful and well written, it's much more than what it might seem on the surface. I am eagerly awaiting the next book.

[Konstantinos Georgokitsos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kotzwinkle must have struck gold here. Already the second novel in the Felonious Monk series, it picks off with our favourite bad monk stepping in to solve/revenge a friend's death. He does this with his usual laconic observations, and cannot but wonder about the human condition. Recommended, more so if you like crime novels.

[Lou Chodosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific!!! Those who did not like it just didn’t get it; a fun ride. Looking forward to more!!!

[Maryanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some laugh out loud funny lines in this book, the many is truly a mystery. The plot twists and turns every second. It is goofy, total escape.

[Jackie Dziedziula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hardboiled crime fighter, a made man, who happens to be a Benedictine monk. #2 in the series. Quick, read between library holds coming in.

[Peter Geertsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story. Tommy (monk) is a fun hero. An entertaining story from beginning to end. The reader represents our hero perfectly.

[Roy Kenagy · Rating 4 out of 5]

DMPL.

[Dubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tommy Martini was sent to a monastery in Mexico by his gangster grandfather after he accidentally killed someone in a bar fight. In Felonious Monk, the first entry in this series, Tommy had to leave the monastery to travel to a place a lot like Sedona AZ to deal with family issues. While there, other craziness arose that challenged his violent tendencies and Benedictine spirituality.

In this sequel to Felonious Monk, Tommy once again has to leave the monastery (after once again saving Mexican children from cartel bad guys) because his past has once again come calling -- this time, he goes back to his home town of Coalville PA to find out who killed his best friend and locate his friend's missing wife, who happens to have been his own first love. And once again, other craziness arises that challenges his violent tendencies and Benedictine spirituality.

Much of the narrative becomes a series of encounters with various figures from his past who are in dire need of redemption, as well as some new figures also in need of redemption -- in some cases that redemption being sending them off to find their well earned damnation in hell. And of course all of this revolves around Tommy's own conflicting view of his own potential for redemption or damnation.

In other hands, that might have been a weakness, but for William Kotzwinkle, redemption vs. damnation (or perhaps in Tommy's case being forever trapped in the purgatory between those two states) is exactly the point. The setting may be classic noir, mystery, mafia, or whatever, but the real landscape is spiritual, philosophical, a bit surreal, and of course humorous. But the story line is there if that's all you want.

Tommy's home town resembles Kotzwinkle's -- he grew up around Scranton PA and set Jack in the Box (aka The Book of Love) in the same area. Indeed, descriptions of Coalville conjure up images from Jack in the Box even though it's been close to half a century since I read it. Having a home in NE PA not far from Scranton, Coalville reminds me a lot of depressed and depressing cities and towns that I pass through that make me wonder who lives there, who would even want to live there.

I'm thrilled for a second time to be able to thank Goodreads for giving me an advance reading copy of Kotzwinkle, a favorite of mine in my youth after discovering The Fan Man way back when. I've wondered since reading Felonious Monk a couple of years ago what the author has been doing since his last adult novel fifteen years earlier -- in an interview just published yesterday, he says he has written three novels during that time, one ready for publication and two in need of more work.

Bring them on, Bill! We missed you and are happy to have you back.

[Dr M Holmshaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting if a little cumbersome

Interesting male hero who is a monk who understands the dark.side enough so that he can kindly assist its members. Able to protect himself physically but similarly offers insight and support to others Thatcher no sense of kindness and understanding.

Somewhat unusual read but it often makes one wonder whether another book would be more compelling.. I won't read the other books in the series.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a solid mystery and a very entertaining book. A monk who's involved in things from the past, meeting bizarre people and saving children.
There's humour, suspence and I loved it.
Can't wait to read other stories by this author
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

[Cheryl Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but very similar to first book in series.