Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead

By: Sara Gran

Narrated by: Carol Monda

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Claire DeWitt is not your average private investigator. She has brilliant skills of deduction and is an ace at discovering evidence. But Claire also uses her dreams, omens, and mind-expanding herbs to help her solve mysteries, and relies on Détection—the only book published by the great and mysterious French detective Jacques Silette before his death.

The tattooed, pot-smoking Claire has just arrived in post-Katrina New Orleans, the city she’s avoided since her mentor, Silette’s student Constance Darling, was murdered there. Claire is investigating the disappearance of Vic Willing, a prosecutor known for winning convictions in a homicide-plagued city. Has an angry criminal enacted revenge on Vic? Or did he use the storm as means to disappear? Claire follows the clues, finding old friends and making new enemies—foremost among them Andray Fairview, a young gang member who just might hold the key to the mystery.

©2011 Original material by Sara Gran. (P)2011 HighBridge Company

Satisfying

I liked the rawness of it. New Orleans and the "storm" had never been so real to me. My sister and her family live in Cayman. Belief was that New Orleans got more help, being in the States, than they did during
And after "Ivan". Maybe not.

So glad I stuck with Claire!

Any additional comments?

I understand the extreme reactions to this one! Claire isn't for everyone and I really didn't like her for a good while into the book (which usually is a big deal for me...I need to love my protagonist!). But I thought the writing was interesting and atmospheric and I loved the narrator so stuck it out, only to be richly rewarded by a few really lovely moments that moved me, and now I'm all in! I listened to the next one in the series and can't wait for more :)

I enjoy listening to the workings of Sara Gran’s brilliant mind

This was a beautiful visit to New Orleans at a tragic time. As always, we meet a fascinating cast of characters and explore a complex plot. I wish there were more authors like Sara Gran.

DennisDT

Would you try another book from Sara Gran and/or Carol Monda?

No

Has Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead turned you off from other books in this genre?

YES

How could the performance have been better?

70-80% of this book could have been cut without missing anything and improving it a lot.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

If you think drugs are cool you might learn something. Like, mix Formaldehyde, Tobacco, Pot, LSD and roll into a joint. Take a long drag being careful to hold it in as long as you can.
Make sure you say F#$&, S#&@, D@$@ so we all know how good it was for you :(

Any additional comments?

What an utter waist of time. This private investigator just shows a guy's picture to everyone in town asking if they saw him. In between conversations she does every drug she can while drinking like a fish.

I really tried to like it, I really did.

Would you try another book from Sara Gran and/or Carol Monda?

I don't think that I will try another book by Sara Gran but I kept at this one because of the skill and quality of the work of the narrator.

Would you ever listen to anything by Sara Gran again?

I listened and listened for an actual story, something that seemed like a story with a beginning, middle and end but the dreary narrative of encounters with different street people went on and on with no end in sight.

What didn’t you like about Carol Monda’s performance?

She was the reason I listened to the book in the first place. If she had a story worth telling it would probably be worth listening to.

Could you see Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

Wanted to Like This

I really tried to like this one. Don't know if it was the narrator's dry delivery and lack of inflection, or the story itself. I rarely give up on a book, but just couldn't feel interested. I Think the narration had a lot to do with it.

Dreary Tale of a Missing Person Hunt in Post-Katrina NOLA

I think this is a terrible book. Claire DeWitt is an alcoholic druggie hired to figure out what happened to a NOLA prosecutor who went missing during Hurricane Katrina. There is nothing likable about Clair, and the story follows her thru a New Orleans street people, particularly street gangs, milieu. She solves the mystery, but, by time you’ve slogged your way thru the relentlessly downbeat, miserable tale, you’ve forgotten where she found the key clue. Many bizarre dream sequences, and a lot of supernatural claptrap. Well read by Carol Monda, who I pity having to narrate this drecht.

Didn’t finish

Still had 3 hours to go in story, but my husband and I agreed we didn’t care how it ended so we stopped listening. Not sure what the story is supposed to convey. Lots of cussing, drug use, and violence. However, the plot wanders to the degree that you can’t even remember what it is. And, when we did find the thread, we didn’t care.

Sounded Good, But Couldn't Finish

Although I was not familiar with the author or the series, I bought this book on the strength of the reviews. The protagonist, a hard-bitten female investigator who operates in New Orleans. I didn't like the protagonist and I didn't like the narrator either, so gave up without finishing--a rarity for me.

I was really ready to like this book

But I absolutely hated it. Dull beyond words. I returned it. Honestly, I love books, but not this one.