Ghost of a Flea
James Sallis
ISBN: 9781641291538
Published: December 3, 2019
Pricing
Paperback $16.95
James Sallis
Description
The mystery of private investigator Lew Griffin is revealed in the conclusion of this critically acclaimed, groundbreaking series.
In his old house in uptown New Orleans, Lew Griffin stands alone in a dark room, looking out. Behind him on the bed is a body. Instead of speaking, he reflects on his life—his failing rel...
The mystery of private investigator Lew Griffin is revealed in the conclusion of this critically acclaimed, groundbreaking series.
In his old house in uptown New Orleans, Lew Griffin stands alone in a dark room, looking out. Behind him on the bed is a body. Instead of speaking, he reflects on his life—his failing relationship, his missing son, the fact that he hasn’t written in years—and how the two of them ended up there.
In a novel as much about identity as about crime, the answers to Lew’s personal mysteries begin to become clear in the series’ brilliantly constructed climax.
Media
“James Sallis's Lew Griffin series has distinguished itself by the moodiness of its New Orleans atmosphere, the jagged elegance of its narrative style and the expansiveness of its anti-hero's literary citations . . . Dead men don't tell tales, or so the saying goes. But the tale told by this one is extraordinary.”
—The Washington Post
“The poet Sallis betrays himself on every page with an inordinate desire to capture a nuance of light, essence of cat or waver of a farewell. His prose style is witty, elliptical and heady with image and allusion; his bedrock underlying purpose is nothing less than an exploration of meaning and identity . . . Ghost of a Flea bears the marks of a fierce and original writer working at full power.”
—Los Angeles Times
“This is a superb book: beautiful, lyrical, moving . . . Ghost of a Flea sets an impressive yardstick.”
—Barcelona Review
“Allusive and stylish, this stark metaphysical landscape will leave a resounding impression. ”
—The Guardian
“One of the most inventive and affecting sagas in recent crime fiction. Lew Griffin is an African-American private detective in New Orleans (and a poet and teacher) who specializes in finding missing persons. Griffin’s moral intelligence and questioning mind fold a noir perspective into post-existential angst. And of course there’s New Orleans, full of dangerous mirage.”