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There's a new Bradbury book out.
Oh...I'm sorry. Are you still here? You need to know more than that? Well, I'm not really qualified to say more than that. Or, if I am qualified, let's say I'm not worthy. When I opened the manila envelope and LET'S ALL KILL CONSTANCE fell out, with the word "BRADBURY" across the top in big capital letters --- not "Ray Bradbury," just "BRADBURY" --- it struck me that this giant, this scribe, this national treasure has been writing classic stories for over 60 years now. People have been born, come of age, had children and passed of old age in that time and he is still writing ---and writing well. But you knew that already. Well, if you haven't read LET'S ALL KILL CONSTANCE, you might not be aware of the last point. So let me delay you for just another minute.
LET'S ALL KILL CONSTANCE continues in the tradition of Bradbury's previous mystery novels, DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS and A GRAVEYARD FOR LUNATICS. The setting is once again Venice, California in the early 1950s and the narrator is a young, unnamed screenwriter who is, in fact, Bradbury. Bradbury actually has the chutzpah to begin LET'S ALL KILL CONSTANCE with the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night..." and actually has the talent to successfully bring it off --- in spades. On this particular dark and stormy night the narrator hears a tapping at his door and discovers Constance Rattigan, an aged, once-beautiful film star, bearing two worn telephone books that contain the names of Hollywood personalities, most of whom have passed over to the other side of the curtain. There are a few who are living but are also marked for death --- and one of them is Constance. The screenwriter enlists the aid of private detective Elmo Crumley (and if you don't understand the reference behind that particular character, you need to read THE LAST GOOD KISS by James Crumley) and together they attempt to trace the owners of the names that are marked for death. More often than not, however, they find that they are, rather than too late, too early. Bradbury uses their search as a vehicle for a tour of Los Angeles, not only in the geographical sense, but also in a nostalgic one. While he mourns the glamour of the past, Constance seeks to escape it. Along the way, the reader sees the glitter of the facades as well as the alleys that run behind them. They are, as Bradbury demonstrates, inexorably intertwined.
LET'S ALL KILL CONSTANCE is a mystery, yes, but Bradbury also injects element of satire, celebration and fantasy into the mix. He also, quite cleverly, references one of his best-known novels, though if you blink you'll miss it. Bradbury's ability to intersect mystery and fantasy --- and fantasy with reality --- remains as sharp and as engrossing as ever. LET'S ALL KILL CONSTANCE is not to be missed.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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