ladyconsumer's Full Review: John D. MacDonald - Purple Place for Dying
A Purple Place For Dying is the third book in John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee "color" series. Each book contains a color in the title and features – you guessed it – Travis McGee. Who is Trav? He's a semi-retired detective enjoying his downtime living on a houseboat off the shores of Florida. Occasionally his need for money drives him to take a case, but his heart is always yearning for the calm beaches back home.
In this case, he finds himself in the desert, listening to a sad tale by a blond named Mona Yeoman. (Right away I liked this book, just because of her first name!). Mona tells him all about her manipulative husband, who has bilked her out of most of her inheritance. All she wants Trav to do, is find the proof that her husband stole from her, and get her a nice divorce settlement so she can move on with her life.
Travis doesn't particularly like Mona, nor is he too sure she's telling him the truth. But before he has a chance to decide whether to take the case, a bullet drops Mona dead at his feet. Shaken, (who wouldn't be??), Trav runs for help. The problem? By the time he gets back to the scene of the crime, the body is gone. So is every bit of evidence that Mona was ever there. The police don't believe Trav at all. They think Mona cooked up a scheme to make everyone believe she's dead, so she can run off with her professor boytoy. Maybe, they think, Travis was even in on the plan?
Of course, Travis knows he wasn't part of any scheme. So, he's determined to find the truth, even if it kills him.
Along the way, Travis discovers a whole lot more about Mona's life than he really bargained for. There are twists in this book that I never saw coming. And, there are a few predictable things as well. Basically, this is an "ok" story. I wasn't staying up late nights to figure it out, nor was I tearing pages in my haste to turn them. But I did want to know the full story.
The problem I had with this book was with the characters. Other than Trav, who's a pretty cool dude, and Mona who I like only because she has a cool first name, I didn't like anyone else. Definitely not Mona's good-for-nothing husband Jass. He's the stereotypical "good ol' boy". He likes his women to be on the other end of his smacking hand, and he's not afraid to admit it. He's darned proud of it, in fact. Perhaps it has to do with the era of this book (early 60's) but I'm pretty sure that even back then, it wasn't really cool to backhand your wife in order to "keep her in line". But that's gool ol' Jess. Nice guy, huh?
There are plenty of other characters not to like. Incompetent law enforcers, and folks with a such a small-town mentality they wouldn't recognize the truth if they were stepping on it.
When reading a series, I typically find that the earlier books tend to be a bit less interesting than the books in the middle. Then the ones at the end can sometimes be a drag. In this case, being only the third book, Travis is just starting to really take shape. Later books show a much more developed character. Still, in this one, he is very likable and I was definitely rooting for him.
Overall this is a very average book. Read it if you find it on your shelf, or if you're going through the entire series. But don't rush to the bookstore.
Thanks for reading...
Mona (in case you didn't figure out that's my name!)
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