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Overview
Simeon Grist is a hip, thirty-something P.I. with a nose for trouble. In The Bone Polisher, Simeon is on the trail of a brutal killer who is preying on Los Angeles's gay community. The murderer is called the Bone Polisher, the ancient Chinese name for those who returned the dead to their homes, because all his victims are killed in the same gruesome way. And all his victims harbor a secret, a secret the Bone Polisher is desperate to reveal - at any cost.In this next entry in Timothy Hallinan's highly praised series, private investigator Simeon Grist trails a serial killer whose methods appear to be based on an ancient Chinese legend.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Hallinan (The Man with No Time) shifts between cute and scary in the latest case he sets for L.A. shamus Simeon Grist, embroiled here in the search for a serial killer who preys on gay men. Simeon, decidely heterosexual, is close to tying the knot with longtime lady friend Eleanor, when he's hired by a dying man who believes his elderly lover, Max, is in mortal danger. The man is right: Max is soon the victim of a homophobic serial killer who slices his victims open and then writes home to their families to reveal the secret of their sexuality. The wit of Hallinan's previous Simeon outings is still in evidence here (he begins with a coyly sinister introduction to the murderer), but some of these issues, e.g., uncertain sexual orientation and self-loathing, are hard matters to successfully crack wise over. Now nearing 40, Simeon seems a bit old for the whining angst that impending nuptials inspire in him. This sixth Simeon Grist tale will appeal most to longtime fans of the series. (Apr.)George Needham
Simeon Grist is a private detective with a problem: he is beginning to fear the bad guys. Trapped in a murdered man's house with a sociopathic killer, overwhelmed by a sense of his impending death, Grist turns and runs. Admittedly, he lives to fight (and triumph) another day, but the fear gnaws at him, exacerbated by the realization that he is aging without making much of a contribution to the world. Hallinan's sixth Simeon Grist novel is putatively about a serial killer who is preying on the gay community of West Hollywood, but it is also a meditation on life, on commitment, on the meaning of age in a youth-obsessed and media-saturated culture. Hallinan captures the littlest human idiosyncrasies, the most mundane familial interactions, and infuses them with a depth of meaning not usually found in the crime genre. He even manages to do so with a sly grin and a loopy sense of humor. Read his latest as a straightforward detective novel, or read it as a slightly off-kilter philosophical tome, but do yourself a favor and read it!Book Details
Published
December 31, 1996
Publisher
Avon Books
Pages
304
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780380713721