Review of "When The Thrill Is Gone: A Leonid McGill Mystery" by Walter Mosley

In this 3rd book in the 'Leonid McGill' series, the New York private detective is hired by a beautiful woman who fears for her life. The book works fine as a standalone.

*****

Leonid McGill is an African-American former boxer and criminal who - determined to mend his ways - is now a private investigator in New York City.

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Leonid, whose communist father named him for Russian official Leonid Brezhnev, is 55-years-old and self-conscious about his height of 5' 6" - which contributes to McGill's tendency to engage in fisticuffs at the drop of a hat. Thus Leonid has a reputation as a tough guy, which makes him a target of both thugs and law enforcement.

As the story opens McGill gets a visit from a potential client who introduces herself as Chrystal Chambers-Tyler.



Chrystal is an artist married to Cyril Tyler, a reclusive billionaire whose first two wives died under suspicious circumstances. Chrystal confides that she's concerned about her safety, because chubby Cyril has been losing weight, and she fears he's having an affair and planning to get rid of her. So Chrystal pays Leonid a hefty fee to check Cyril out.

Leonid manages to wrangle a visit with Cyril, who insists he loves his wife. Moreover, Cyril is upset because Chrystal has left home and refuses to communicate with him.



Cyril pays McGill to pass a message to Chrystal, which Cyril hopes will bring his wife home.

Armed with two big fees, McGill gets caught up in a complex investigation that reveals some people are not who they claim to be. Moreover, Leonid's case comes to involve two murders, five children being orphaned, and Leonid's life being put in jeopardy.

The story is much more complicated than this however, and we meet a slew of characters as McGill goes about his business. These include McGill's Scandinavian wife Katrina, who's having an affair with a much younger man;



Leonid's extramarital girlfriend Aura, who insists on a platonic affair while Leonid is married;

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Leonid's children, Shelly, Twill, and Dimitri, all of whom have their own issues: Dimitri runs off with a woman in trouble and Twill is a con-artist following in Leonid's old criminal footsteps;

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Leonid's best friend Gordo, who's staying in Leonid's home while dying of cancer;

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crime boss Harris Vartan, who asks Leonid to find an old associate;



McGill's whipsmart secretary Mardi Bitterman, who was abused as a child;

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and many more. Leonid also recalls pithy observations made by his father Tolstoy, which contribute to Leonid's own philosophical comments.

In truth, there's too of much of this, and the plethora of people and subplots is confusing. Nevertheless, Leonid is a clever character and I enjoyed following his thought processes and peregrinations around New York City as he lives his life and does his work.

You can't go wrong with Walter Mosley's crime novels, which are always good examples of noir drama.

Rating: 3.5 stars