Downshift: A Sid Rafferty Mystery: 1 (Sid Rafferty Mysteries)

I love Matt's Archonate fantasy novels and had to give this one a try. This was a really fun story, and I enjoyed the BC politics and history too. Definitely recommended for fans of crime, history and western Canada.

It took me two months to finish first half then two nights to complete, after midnight. The novel grabbed me more once Maureen was introduced. She was not the standard female you read in crime novels and sci fi, but their dialogues seemed truer to life. Suddenly I cared whether Rafferty succeeded.. not in getting rich or saving his life, but in saving this relationship. The author, Matt Hughes, has done a terrific job showing how men make really bad choices, especially in regard to women. But bad choices can be made by good person.The end was not at all what I predicted.I really like the idea that a hero's superpower is that he's an amazing writer. This skill or attribute gets him jobs of dubious ethics, since he can sell scams by describing them well. He can get people elected. So he has struggles of where and when to apply his power. (This idea must be something Hughes takes seriously, having been a political speech writer himself. How much of the book is autobiographical?) This power is activated when Rafferty sets his conscious editor aside and lets the words flow from some inner muse. It never fails and saves his life. Will it save his relationship?My favorite part was a dream Rafferty had, wandering through a house he had lived in, that now had extra passages and spaces he never knew before.Great first mystery novel from Matt Hughes, I will buy the 2nd.

this is the first non-archonite novel of Hughes' I've read, and I found it just as enjoyable.the story apparently pulls lots of details from Hughes' life as a professional writer and sets a plausible stage for the trouble that follows.I found the plot twists surprising-yet-believable, the main character likable and the others drawn well-enough. the setting was semi-nostalgic, which I'm not sure a younger author could have pulled off (at least not so another middle aged person would relate).its not a book I'll probalynread again, but it is one I'm glad I read!