Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery
I am so glad I discovered this series! I usually read strong female lead characters, frequently by female authors (unless it’s a book for the book group!) This isn’t a conscious decision to exclude male characters or writers. I think I just tend to resonate with the female writers more. However, I really like Sam Acquillo. Despite his faults, or maybe because of them, he is very
relatable. Because of this, we can empathize with him and we root for him throughout the story.
Chris Knopf’s Hamptons series caught me from the first page of the first book.
I’ve got two under my belt now. I’ve finished The Last Refuge and Two Time, both published in 2005. Parts are slightly dated, mostly from the way technology is described. But, as I’ve gotten to know Sam better, I guess he probably will be the same in 2019. He’s not a technophobe, just a bit old school and if he has a cell phone in future novels I’m willing to bet it’s with a lot of grumbling.
In many ways, Sam is quintessentially old school–he fights, he drinks, he lives alone (but for his dog, Eddie Van Halen), and likes it that way.
Acquillo is reminiscent of private detectives in a Noir setting. He is an ex boxer and ex-husband, and a father with a strained relationship with his daughter. However, Sam is also a more modern incarnation than his hard boiled cousins; he’s an ex-corporate executive- an design engineer-who gave up the big city and big money. He turned his back on the career, and has gone to ground in his home town, living alone in his parents’ house he inherited on his mother’s death. He drinks a lot of vodka, has an awesome dog, and can be a tough guy when needed. Sam is a complex character with self destructive tenancies interspersed with moments of grace, and room to grow.
There are interesting side characters.
His lawyer friends Jackie and Burton in particular, and his growing friendship with Sullivan, a local police officer are recurring characters. There is a love interest that I have to admit I haven’t liked since she was first introduced and am hoping for more conflict than reconciliation down the road. Although I’d rate the writing of dialogue as excellent for the most part, Amanda (the love interest) speaks in bizarre fragments and I just can’t get a sense of her. Other than that she annoys me (!)
The writing is smart, with subtle humor that you might miss if you don’t pay attention.
Like the following throw-away line I love from Two Time, “Like most serious joggers, I brought a pack of cigarettes along with me to assist in the focusing process.”
Fair Play
Both novels I’ve read, The Last Refuge and Two Time, are “fair play” mysteries in which the clues are all out there for the reader to put together. Two Time, especially, had a clever ending I never saw coming but should have. I also like that Sam’s engineering background makes him uniquely suited to solve all kinds of problems; murder is no different.
Setting
The series is set in a location I am very unfamiliar with. Set in the Hamptons, we get a strong sense of the haves and have-nots and how their lives are both intertwined and vastly separate. The presence of the ocean is throughout, and well described. Sam is as attune to the moods of the sky and ocean as he is to his inner world, even if one or both are dark and murky.
Will I Read More?
With 6 more series entries, and another to be published this year, I will continue to enjoy Sam Acquillo for quite a while!
