Zen and the Art of Murder, Elizabeth M. Cosin's 1998 debut novel, is a mystery in the hard-boiled tradition with a '90s twist. Set in the mostly nighttime world of LA this novel introduces Zen Moses a young, self-consciously cool and hip PI who also carries the emotional scars of survivor -- a survivor of a failed profession, failed relationship and cancer.
The story opens with the bad day to end all bad days that ends when a body is found in Father's Office, her favorite watering hole. Zen soon finds herself working on two mysteries: one personal with roots deep in her past and another professional when she is asked to find the missing father of a popular but secretive talk-show host.
Overall, I liked this first novel but found myself wondering if I could ever grow to really like Zen. She is complex and troubled but I never feel like I really cared about her. This isn't always bad -- some series characters have taken more than a few books to really reveal the main character -- sometimes I think this is the true benefit to developing a character throughout a series. Hopefully, with good writing the end product will be a more richly textured character. I'm willing to wait and see.
There is a bit of romantic tension between Zen and her former boyfriend, bartender of Father's Office, and a possible new friend, a local policeman.
If you read mysteries and are on the lookout for a new series then give Zen a read.
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