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Duffy #1
Duffy
Things aren't going so well for Brian McKechnie. His wife was attacked in their home, his cat was brutally killed and now a man with a suspiciously erratic accent is blackmailing him. When the police fail spectacularly at finding out who's after him, McKechnie engages the services of London's most unusual private eye.
Duffy is a detective like no other. A bisexual ex-policeman with a phobia of ticking watches and a penchant for Tupperware. But what he lacks in orthodoxy he makes up for in street-smart savvy and no-nonsense dealings. Intrigued by McKechnie's dilemma and the apparent incompetency of his ex-colleagues, Duffy heads to his old patch, the seedy underbelly of Soho, to begin inquiries of his own.
Helped by some shady characters from his past, Duffy discover that while things have changed in the years since he was working the area, the streets are still mean and the crooks walk arm in arm with the blues.
Full to bursting with sex, violence and dodgy dealings, DUFFY is a gripping and entertaining crime novel with a distinctly different and entirely lovable anti-hero.
Duffy is a detective like no other. A bisexual ex-policeman with a phobia of ticking watches and a penchant for Tupperware. But what he lacks in orthodoxy he makes up for in street-smart savvy and no-nonsense dealings. Intrigued by McKechnie's dilemma and the apparent incompetency of his ex-colleagues, Duffy heads to his old patch, the seedy underbelly of Soho, to begin inquiries of his own.
Helped by some shady characters from his past, Duffy discover that while things have changed in the years since he was working the area, the streets are still mean and the crooks walk arm in arm with the blues.
Full to bursting with sex, violence and dodgy dealings, DUFFY is a gripping and entertaining crime novel with a distinctly different and entirely lovable anti-hero.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published July 3, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
December 13, 2017
a concedersi un po’ di psicologia da settimana enigmistica, verrebbe da pensare che negli anni ‘80 il dottor julian barnes jekyll facesse scrivere al signor dan kavanagh hyde i romanzi che più davano spazio al suo lato oscuro. pieni di sesso promiscuo, e decisamente trucidi anche quando non ci scappava il morto (se si eccettua qui il gatto del primo capitolo, che finisce arrostito allo spiedo qualche anno prima che adrian lyne mettesse a bollire in pentola un altro animale domestico, rendendo celeberrima una scena di attrazione fatale e facendo forse precipitare il consumo mondiale di stufato di coniglio).
non sempre però il lato oscuro è quello della forza. e in questa storia, di potenza narrativa ce n’è proprio poca: il romanzo è complessivamente banale e noiosetto, tolto giusto il fatto che il detective protagonista non è un duro sciupafemmine che nasconde un cuore tenero, ma un bisessuale professo che sguazza nel mondo del porno. peccato che la variazione sul tema non basti a reggere l’insieme. (e soprattutto, il prossimo che chiama in causa per un motivo o per l’altro philip marlowe verrà preso per le orecchie e alzato come una coppa uefa. anzi arzato, visto che si parlava di trucidità).
non sempre però il lato oscuro è quello della forza. e in questa storia, di potenza narrativa ce n’è proprio poca: il romanzo è complessivamente banale e noiosetto, tolto giusto il fatto che il detective protagonista non è un duro sciupafemmine che nasconde un cuore tenero, ma un bisessuale professo che sguazza nel mondo del porno. peccato che la variazione sul tema non basti a reggere l’insieme. (e soprattutto, il prossimo che chiama in causa per un motivo o per l’altro philip marlowe verrà preso per le orecchie e alzato come una coppa uefa. anzi arzato, visto che si parlava di trucidità).
March 2, 2018
We are all very lucky that Julian Barnes decided not to stick with writing thrillers (this one is quite good, though!).
Here’s a little interview in case you’re interested.
Julian Barnes on writing thrillers as Dan Kavanagh: "I wrote my first thriller in ten days"
Here’s a little interview in case you’re interested.
Julian Barnes on writing thrillers as Dan Kavanagh: "I wrote my first thriller in ten days"
August 5, 2017
Brutal și inteligent. Un prim roman cu detectivul Duffy foarte bine scris și de care aflu din nefericire sau fericire abia acum. Dan Cavanagh e pseudonimul scriitorului Julian Barnes și acesta e primul dintre cele 4 romane polițiste scrise de britanic.
Bun, foarte bun și cum le-am găsit pe okazii pe toate patru le voi devora destul de repede. Recomand tuturor.
Bun, foarte bun și cum le-am găsit pe okazii pe toate patru le voi devora destul de repede. Recomand tuturor.
June 24, 2015
This was a good story and my first by this author, but it wasn't the kind of intriguing hard-to-solve mystery that I normally like.
Everyone in the story was kind of seedy to a greater or lesser degree and not in a lovable rogue kind of way either. None of the characters were particularly appealing - no heroes here, just a group of shady cops and shady criminals trying to outwit each other and yet working alongside each other.
This book was written in 1980 and so it is unsurprising that it has a Sweeny feel to it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swe...
It is British (yay) and manages to capture the kind of bad image that British policing had in the UK in the eighties especially in the cities.
Duffy is an ex-cop. He was pushed out of his job for crossing the line. Not the ethical lines the police should have but the unethical lines of loyalty and not making waves for his superiors. Four years later finds him running his own security company and allowing things to tick on. His life is flat. He has no expectations or hope, he does what ever comes along to do, his relationship (if you can call it that) with Carol is at an impasse. And then he gets a client who is being pressured by some shady character and the client (who is by no means an upright person) wants the pressure to stop. Having gone to the police and not getting much help the client turns to Duffy and employs him to find out who is behind the threats.
And Duffy does find out in a rather low key 'I'd rather be elsewhere' kind of way. But Duffy also discovers other things some of which show him who was behind the stitch up that cost him his career in the police.
It was an excellent narration with all the menace of dirty policing and the seedier side of London coming to life. It also evoked the early eighties especially when Duffy agree to work for twenty pounds a day. Back then that must have been a good wage. Today you would get a latte, lunch and two trips on the tube for that.
All in all it was a good story but I felt it was too easily solved and I wanted more of a mystery with much more convoluted twists and turns. Still a good read though or good listen as the the case may be.
Everyone in the story was kind of seedy to a greater or lesser degree and not in a lovable rogue kind of way either. None of the characters were particularly appealing - no heroes here, just a group of shady cops and shady criminals trying to outwit each other and yet working alongside each other.
This book was written in 1980 and so it is unsurprising that it has a Sweeny feel to it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swe...
It is British (yay) and manages to capture the kind of bad image that British policing had in the UK in the eighties especially in the cities.
Duffy is an ex-cop. He was pushed out of his job for crossing the line. Not the ethical lines the police should have but the unethical lines of loyalty and not making waves for his superiors. Four years later finds him running his own security company and allowing things to tick on. His life is flat. He has no expectations or hope, he does what ever comes along to do, his relationship (if you can call it that) with Carol is at an impasse. And then he gets a client who is being pressured by some shady character and the client (who is by no means an upright person) wants the pressure to stop. Having gone to the police and not getting much help the client turns to Duffy and employs him to find out who is behind the threats.
And Duffy does find out in a rather low key 'I'd rather be elsewhere' kind of way. But Duffy also discovers other things some of which show him who was behind the stitch up that cost him his career in the police.
It was an excellent narration with all the menace of dirty policing and the seedier side of London coming to life. It also evoked the early eighties especially when Duffy agree to work for twenty pounds a day. Back then that must have been a good wage. Today you would get a latte, lunch and two trips on the tube for that.
All in all it was a good story but I felt it was too easily solved and I wanted more of a mystery with much more convoluted twists and turns. Still a good read though or good listen as the the case may be.
September 8, 2021
I recently learned that Julian Barnes, winner of the Booker Prize, wrote four crime novels in the early 1980's under a pen name--Dan Kavanagh. They are hard to find in papery form, but you can buy the Kindle versions for a nominal amount. Fairly daring for their time, they have a bisexual former policeman as private eye. The story here is a bit too nastily violent and sexually lubricious for me; but it is also occasionally quite funny, has believable characters, and is genuinely suspenseful. It makes London (especially Soho) so unpleasant that if I hadn't already visited several times I probably would think twice or three times before ever going.
May 11, 2011
I loved this. If Dan Kavanagh were a band he would be my new favourite band and this, his debut album, is an unmitigated triumph.
February 7, 2017
Boring and, in places, downright disgusting.
May 22, 2018
He, he he, ce avem noi aici (cu intonaţia lui Dem Rădulescu din BD, vă rog!)?
O super carte de vacanţă, pe care o recomand la toţi iubitorii de cărţi poliţiste tandru ironice, încă înainte de a mă zvîrli cu entuziasm în vîltoarea volumului al doilea.
O, Barnes, îmi placi rău şi cînd eşti Kavanagh, şi bag mîna-n foc că te-ai distrat nespus cu Duffy al tău!
O super carte de vacanţă, pe care o recomand la toţi iubitorii de cărţi poliţiste tandru ironice, încă înainte de a mă zvîrli cu entuziasm în vîltoarea volumului al doilea.
O, Barnes, îmi placi rău şi cînd eşti Kavanagh, şi bag mîna-n foc că te-ai distrat nespus cu Duffy al tău!
March 4, 2020
Enjoyable stuff. I picked it because the author is a pseudonym of Julian Barnes, whose Sense of an Ending I loved so much recently. This is quite a tame affair, which I ought to have expected from a "literary" author, but was a tad disappointing for a crime novel. Some great characters, though, and an interesting plot, though the ending felt rather rushed.
Read
October 31, 2019I read this book.
March 8, 2014
Duffy, the first novel in a British PI series from author Dan Kavanagh caught my attention mainly because Kavanagh is the pen name for none other than Julian Barnes, and when you consider how serious his recent novel is, you realise that an author’s writing life consists of very specific phases. I’ve been a fan of Barnes for many years–loved Flaubert’s Parrot and Staring at the Sun, so Julian Barnes writing a crime series?… I’m in. The series was published back in the 80s, and that probably explains why the tone reminded me so much of Before She Met Me, a Barnes novel published back in 1982.
Duffy begins very strongly with a bizarre home invasion. Mrs McKechnie, a middle-class woman who would seem to have no enemies whatsoever is tied up and cut by two men. It’s a very professional job (except for what happens to the cat), and the incident seems to be a message for Brian McKechnie, a London businessman who sells party items at his drab little London office. Under the threat of additional violence, McKechnie is then systematically squeezed for cash; it seems to be a case of blackmail as the perps know that McKechnie’s “mistress [who] doubled as his secretary,” but if it’s simple blackmail then why the home invasion and the violence towards McKechnie’s innocent–albeit dull–wife? The local Guildford police are mystified by the case and consider the incident the “work of a maniac, pair of maniacs,” while the London police obviously don’t give a toss. Enter PI Duffy, a bisexual ex-copper set up on vice charges and drummed out of the force in disgrace.
Life for Duffy has been going downhill since he left the force. He’s hobbled together a PI firm that mostly dabbles in petty jobs, and while he manages to pay the rent, his relationship with his girlfriend, Carol, never recovered. When he’s contacted by McKechnie to investigate the identity of the man behind the pressure, Duffy steps back to Soho on to his old turf– hookers, peep shows, porno films, and porn mag shops, and once Duffy starts digging he realizes that his unresolved past is connected to the McKechnie case.
In spite of its subject matter, Duffy has a light, ironic and amusing tone. This is partly Kavanagh’s style but it’s also the colorful characters who step across Duffy’s path. Everyone in the sex biz is a professional here, and that includes an aging workhorse hooker, and a motley bunch of peep show girls, and there’s even a gang boss whose taste for decorating could be amusing if he weren’t so vicious. Duffy once worked vice, but now he’s just another customer cruising through the tacky sex shops of Soho where sex isn’t glamorous or even exciting–it’s just damn hard work. If you’re the type who’s offended by the Blue World, then this is not a book for you–if however, you have no problem with Duffy attending, and sharing details of peep shows and moronic porn films, then you may enjoy this off-beat PI tale.
At one point, Duffy sits in on a porn film, and his description of the thin, ridiculous plot is really very funny, but best of all, for this reader is Duffy’s explanations for just how a copper becomes corrupt:
Still, every year around the Golden Mile brought different temptations. He knew how it happened: you didn’t take the free booze even if everyone else did; you didn’t take the first girl you got offered; you turned down the smokes and the snort; and then something quite trivial happened, like you asked for a couple of days to pay at the bookie’s. Quite suddenly, the place had got you. It wasn’t necessarily that there was a particular gang always on the look-out to bend coppers (though sometimes there was); it was somehow the place that got you. It was one square mile of pressure, and everyone had a weak point.
Duffy, a man with a fetish for neatness, makes an interesting series character. He knows how to BS the punters who want all the bells and whistles of PI work, but nevertheless he takes his job very seriously. The novel argues that working vice, stepping in a world in which every imaginable desire is for sale, is a corrupting environment which will stain any copper who lingers there long enough.
Duffy begins very strongly with a bizarre home invasion. Mrs McKechnie, a middle-class woman who would seem to have no enemies whatsoever is tied up and cut by two men. It’s a very professional job (except for what happens to the cat), and the incident seems to be a message for Brian McKechnie, a London businessman who sells party items at his drab little London office. Under the threat of additional violence, McKechnie is then systematically squeezed for cash; it seems to be a case of blackmail as the perps know that McKechnie’s “mistress [who] doubled as his secretary,” but if it’s simple blackmail then why the home invasion and the violence towards McKechnie’s innocent–albeit dull–wife? The local Guildford police are mystified by the case and consider the incident the “work of a maniac, pair of maniacs,” while the London police obviously don’t give a toss. Enter PI Duffy, a bisexual ex-copper set up on vice charges and drummed out of the force in disgrace.
Life for Duffy has been going downhill since he left the force. He’s hobbled together a PI firm that mostly dabbles in petty jobs, and while he manages to pay the rent, his relationship with his girlfriend, Carol, never recovered. When he’s contacted by McKechnie to investigate the identity of the man behind the pressure, Duffy steps back to Soho on to his old turf– hookers, peep shows, porno films, and porn mag shops, and once Duffy starts digging he realizes that his unresolved past is connected to the McKechnie case.
In spite of its subject matter, Duffy has a light, ironic and amusing tone. This is partly Kavanagh’s style but it’s also the colorful characters who step across Duffy’s path. Everyone in the sex biz is a professional here, and that includes an aging workhorse hooker, and a motley bunch of peep show girls, and there’s even a gang boss whose taste for decorating could be amusing if he weren’t so vicious. Duffy once worked vice, but now he’s just another customer cruising through the tacky sex shops of Soho where sex isn’t glamorous or even exciting–it’s just damn hard work. If you’re the type who’s offended by the Blue World, then this is not a book for you–if however, you have no problem with Duffy attending, and sharing details of peep shows and moronic porn films, then you may enjoy this off-beat PI tale.
At one point, Duffy sits in on a porn film, and his description of the thin, ridiculous plot is really very funny, but best of all, for this reader is Duffy’s explanations for just how a copper becomes corrupt:
Still, every year around the Golden Mile brought different temptations. He knew how it happened: you didn’t take the free booze even if everyone else did; you didn’t take the first girl you got offered; you turned down the smokes and the snort; and then something quite trivial happened, like you asked for a couple of days to pay at the bookie’s. Quite suddenly, the place had got you. It wasn’t necessarily that there was a particular gang always on the look-out to bend coppers (though sometimes there was); it was somehow the place that got you. It was one square mile of pressure, and everyone had a weak point.
Duffy, a man with a fetish for neatness, makes an interesting series character. He knows how to BS the punters who want all the bells and whistles of PI work, but nevertheless he takes his job very seriously. The novel argues that working vice, stepping in a world in which every imaginable desire is for sale, is a corrupting environment which will stain any copper who lingers there long enough.
September 14, 2015
I enjoyed this book, was hovering between three and four stars.
It's not really a mystery, more of a detective story. There's no revelations, just events and it ends abruptly.
On the positive side this is I believe the first book I have read with a bisexual narrator. Bisexuals seem a bit like unicorns in that they supposedly exist but no one knows one, so I was glad to read this and the book has merit for that alone.
The other thing I liked was the location and time period. The book is set in very late 1970's London and specifically in the sex trade. Duffy includes visits to blue movie clubs, massage parlours, and booths where you stick a coin in and get to see a naked lady for a few moments. I would imagine much of this has been upgraded or lost and the book is a great time period of the illicit side of London life.
Not rushing to read the next in the series but probably will.
It's not really a mystery, more of a detective story. There's no revelations, just events and it ends abruptly.
On the positive side this is I believe the first book I have read with a bisexual narrator. Bisexuals seem a bit like unicorns in that they supposedly exist but no one knows one, so I was glad to read this and the book has merit for that alone.
The other thing I liked was the location and time period. The book is set in very late 1970's London and specifically in the sex trade. Duffy includes visits to blue movie clubs, massage parlours, and booths where you stick a coin in and get to see a naked lady for a few moments. I would imagine much of this has been upgraded or lost and the book is a great time period of the illicit side of London life.
Not rushing to read the next in the series but probably will.
July 6, 2016
I read this because Kavanagh is a pseudonym of Julian Barnes, whose writing I admire. This however is not especially great. It is a 1980 detective story involving a seedy private detective called Duffy, the area around Soho in London, and a fairly lightweight tale of protection money, prostitution, rather gratuitous use of fluid sexuality and crime in Croydon. It spawned a short series based on the character of Duffy. None of the characters are in any way sympathetic and it feels somewhat contrived. No real tension or anticipation of the ending which rather fizzled out. Shan't bother with any more in the series.
August 13, 2016
Despite some occasional instances of violence, "Duffy" seemed like a cosy mystery to me. Laid-back in many ways, the characters are charmingly inept. Nick Duffy is a "former cop left under a cloud" turned private security entrepreneur, running on a shoestring, laconic. Even the police seem laid-back, or even obtuse on occasion. Yet I raced through the story, unable to set it aside.
April 19, 2015
A bit of Sunday afternoon fun, this book has a very 80's English vibe. No computers or mobile phones, just London crooks and a very fun main character: "a bisexual former policeman with a phobia of ticking watches and a penchant for Tupperware." (Blurb) And top things off, Dan Kavanagh is Julian Barnes's pseudonym!
November 22, 2014
Really interesting start but went downhill fast and didn't bother to finish it - glad it was a freebie !!
December 13, 2014
Sorry I found this book awful!
February 14, 2019
I had a hard time finishing this book, even though is relatively short and the plot is not that complex.
I actually thought this one would be one of my favourite reads of last year, but it definitely wasn't. Probably because it passes as something that really isn't, a crime novel. Is more the story of the protagonist who happens to be a detective, putting an strange emphasis in the sexual side of his life.
I liked that he was bisexual in the London of the 80s, especially taking into account that the book was first published around that time. It was an innovative and daring idea, and the way the author introduces this aspect of his persona felt smooth and effortless. I'm not bisexual, nor a man, but the description of his sexuality felt accurate, and most importantly the plot didn't focus only in this fact as if this was a way of selling more books. It was part of the nature of the character the same way that being a detective was (sorry if this is not written correctly, and if it's difficult to understand, I didn't know another way to put it and English is obviously not my first language).
Anyway, there were good parts, interesting parts. The description of the sexual life of London's population in the 80s and how the porn industry worked at the time was particularly entertaining. But I didn't start reading this book looking for that, I was expecting a detective story with a crime to be solved and maybe some villain who would make his great appearance at the end when every piece of the puzzle finally came together.
I don't know if it was my fault for interpreting in the wrong way the sinopsis at the back or for not taking more time to read reviews, but in the end this wasn't the book that I was hoping for. It didn't make me feel engaged and it focused too much in scenes that didn't serve the plot. A shame, really.
I will try to give Duffy a second chance by reading the second book of the series, but I'm not hopeful in actually finishing it.
I actually thought this one would be one of my favourite reads of last year, but it definitely wasn't. Probably because it passes as something that really isn't, a crime novel. Is more the story of the protagonist who happens to be a detective, putting an strange emphasis in the sexual side of his life.
I liked that he was bisexual in the London of the 80s, especially taking into account that the book was first published around that time. It was an innovative and daring idea, and the way the author introduces this aspect of his persona felt smooth and effortless. I'm not bisexual, nor a man, but the description of his sexuality felt accurate, and most importantly the plot didn't focus only in this fact as if this was a way of selling more books. It was part of the nature of the character the same way that being a detective was (sorry if this is not written correctly, and if it's difficult to understand, I didn't know another way to put it and English is obviously not my first language).
Anyway, there were good parts, interesting parts. The description of the sexual life of London's population in the 80s and how the porn industry worked at the time was particularly entertaining. But I didn't start reading this book looking for that, I was expecting a detective story with a crime to be solved and maybe some villain who would make his great appearance at the end when every piece of the puzzle finally came together.
I don't know if it was my fault for interpreting in the wrong way the sinopsis at the back or for not taking more time to read reviews, but in the end this wasn't the book that I was hoping for. It didn't make me feel engaged and it focused too much in scenes that didn't serve the plot. A shame, really.
I will try to give Duffy a second chance by reading the second book of the series, but I'm not hopeful in actually finishing it.
April 20, 2021
În ziua când au crestat-o pe doamna McKechnie, în West Byfleet nu se întâmplase mare lucru. Nici în Pyrford şi nici în întregul orăşel Guildford. Trebuia să munceşti pe brânci o săptămână ca să umpli pagina din Guildford Advertiser dedicată infracţiunilor, dar chiar şi atunci apăreau doar câteva chestii în care erau implicaţi oameni educaţi, din clasa de mijloc: fraude comerciale, furturi din magazine, comise de femei lovite de menopauză, evaziuni de la plata taxei pentru deţinerea de câini; uneori, se mai înregistra şi câte-o încăierare la o discotecă, dar mai toţi puştii erau speriaţi că-şi vor pierde calitatea de membri ai clubului tineretului pentru o asemenea treabă, aşa că se mai abţineau. Prin urmare, când i-au făcut-o doamnei McKechnie, ar fi fost de aşteptat ca pagina a şaptea din Advertiser să aibă în frunte exact această întâmplare, dar n-a fost să fie. Începea cu altceva ce făptuiseră oamenii aceia, un soi de răzbunare, o treabă urâtă, dezgustătoare, pe care nici măcar Marele Eddy, înzestrat cu simţul umorului, nu a înghiţit-o prea uşor. Asta arată ce specie aparte sunt jurnaliştii.
Când Rosie McKechnie a deschis uşa principală a casei în acea după-amiază din miez de august, a crezut că venise cititorul contorului de gaze. Oricine şi-ar fi închipuit acelaşi lucru. Când te apropii de uşă şi prin vitraliu zăreşti silueta neclară a unui bărbat scund, scoţi lanţul de siguranţă şi imediat după aceea auzi cuvântul „Gazele”, eşti convins bineînţeles că e omul de la gaze. Nici nu-ţi mai aduci aminte când ţi s-a citit contorul ultima oară.
Când Rosie McKechnie a deschis uşa principală a casei în acea după-amiază din miez de august, a crezut că venise cititorul contorului de gaze. Oricine şi-ar fi închipuit acelaşi lucru. Când te apropii de uşă şi prin vitraliu zăreşti silueta neclară a unui bărbat scund, scoţi lanţul de siguranţă şi imediat după aceea auzi cuvântul „Gazele”, eşti convins bineînţeles că e omul de la gaze. Nici nu-ţi mai aduci aminte când ţi s-a citit contorul ultima oară.
May 14, 2020
Invictus
Duffy is not the slick detective that most often stars in TV series and books. The soldiers for whom everything just somehow falls his way with little effort and who always has a clever line and a lightbulb moment. Duffy is the antithesis of those characters. Villains see him as an average "copper" who blundered into their criminal underworld. He's a nuisance, a victim easily handled. However, Duffy has a quirk. Well, several quirks but the important one is that he's a dogged investigator and that makes him dangerous to his enemies
The author has created an area of London so well that one walks the gritty streets with Duffy. I enjoy that kind of immersive experience in a story. The denizens of this world are bent i.e.. dishonest, corrupt, cynical, and morally depraved. This book isn't for everyone. There is, for me, one scene towards the end of the story that I'm trying to forget! Nevertheless, I'm intrigued.DUFFY is Book 1 of a series and despite the scum that I'll have to deal with, I think that I'm hooked!
And for readers who want to know about the sex, there is some but it's not prolonged over page after page. The sex is not the focus of this story and could be eliminated if not for some aspect of it (trying not to spoil) being necessary for characterization and plot.
Duffy is not the slick detective that most often stars in TV series and books. The soldiers for whom everything just somehow falls his way with little effort and who always has a clever line and a lightbulb moment. Duffy is the antithesis of those characters. Villains see him as an average "copper" who blundered into their criminal underworld. He's a nuisance, a victim easily handled. However, Duffy has a quirk. Well, several quirks but the important one is that he's a dogged investigator and that makes him dangerous to his enemies
The author has created an area of London so well that one walks the gritty streets with Duffy. I enjoy that kind of immersive experience in a story. The denizens of this world are bent i.e.. dishonest, corrupt, cynical, and morally depraved. This book isn't for everyone. There is, for me, one scene towards the end of the story that I'm trying to forget! Nevertheless, I'm intrigued.DUFFY is Book 1 of a series and despite the scum that I'll have to deal with, I think that I'm hooked!
And for readers who want to know about the sex, there is some but it's not prolonged over page after page. The sex is not the focus of this story and could be eliminated if not for some aspect of it (trying not to spoil) being necessary for characterization and plot.
May 1, 2023
A strange novel, which reads like it was dashed off in a few weeks and never edited. Plot threads are left untied all over the place, and the protagonist doesn't even appear until several chapters in.
I read it because of the bi main character, and the way in which he's completely comfortable with his gay leanings, but struggling with his heterosexuality and relationship with his girlfriend, are unparalleled in British contemporary fiction as far as I know. But Duffy's expressions of his sexuality are less of a focus here than the way in which criminals can weaponise them against him.
What is great about this novel is the pacing, the tension, and the amazingly detailed and specific writing about Soho as it was around 1980, just as VHS began to kill the sex industries centred there. The climax is very original, and although I saw many of the twists coming, the (very rushed) ending hits a note I definitely wasn't expecting.
I read it because of the bi main character, and the way in which he's completely comfortable with his gay leanings, but struggling with his heterosexuality and relationship with his girlfriend, are unparalleled in British contemporary fiction as far as I know. But Duffy's expressions of his sexuality are less of a focus here than the way in which criminals can weaponise them against him.
What is great about this novel is the pacing, the tension, and the amazingly detailed and specific writing about Soho as it was around 1980, just as VHS began to kill the sex industries centred there. The climax is very original, and although I saw many of the twists coming, the (very rushed) ending hits a note I definitely wasn't expecting.
July 8, 2024
If I could give this book 0 stars I would. If you want a male gaze book, this is it. The women are either sex workers and/or defined by their sexual relationships with male characters and that's it. The men, including the main character, are super into the sex trade and have all the sex.
This book also has virtually no detective work. The main character figures the bad guy is in the sex industry so asks a sex worker to identify the main boss in the sex trade. She identifies the boss (who is the bad guy) and when Duffy confronts the bad guy (accidentally because he got caught since he's an idiot), the bad guy is like, "lol, yeah it's me, but you'll never catch me so I'll monologue a confession hahaha."
This book also has virtually no detective work. The main character figures the bad guy is in the sex industry so asks a sex worker to identify the main boss in the sex trade. She identifies the boss (who is the bad guy) and when Duffy confronts the bad guy (accidentally because he got caught since he's an idiot), the bad guy is like, "lol, yeah it's me, but you'll never catch me so I'll monologue a confession hahaha."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2022
Dan Kavanagh is Julian Barnes, as you may already know. His talent shines from the start and makes the series an amazing read, both compelling and pleasant. You will finish them before you know it and regret it at the same time. Kavanagh (Barnes) created a strong character, so alive, so complex, you can almost touch and smell. Duffy is one of the great figures in crime literature, reminiscing Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. Efficient, irreverent, smart, sometimes cynical. An equally talented screenwriter (Vince Gilligan, why not?) would make a great tv series starting from these books. A highly recommended read, you'll love it.
June 9, 2017
În Duffy sau cum se taie caşcavalul, cititorul iese din limbajul frumos obişnuit, din poveştile eroice cu poliţişti, făcând cunoştinţă cu dedesubturile, cu păsuirea micilor infractori pentru iluzia prinderii capilor mafiei. Dan Kavanagh creionează lumea dură, de dincolo de lege, unde mafia drogurilor şi a prostituţiei merge mână-n mână cu poliţia şi unde cinstea şi dorinţa de a face dreptate îţi pot distruge întreaga existenţă.
https://goodread.ro/recenzie-duffy-sa...
https://goodread.ro/recenzie-duffy-sa...
June 8, 2018
When I heard Julian Barnes wrote crime novels under a pen name, I knew I had to read them. But make no mistake, this is not a John Banville/Benjamin Black situation. These novels were written in the 80's. And much of what may have been cutting edge then, is more mainstream now. Although I did enjoy it and plan on reading all four of the books his writing has certainly improved.
July 6, 2018
Excellent little crime thriller, well written, darkly comic and quite grotty at times. Lead character is a bisexual detective, working in the seedy London suburb of Soho. Written and set in the early 1980s. Kavanagh is an alias for Julian Barnes. I had no idea he had written these novels til someone put me on to them recently. Glad they did!
September 3, 2019
I am sad that I only remember reading this because I logged it in my journal from 1985. A mystery novel featuring an unorthodox bisexual sleuth sounds right up my alley. Maybe I'll have to track down a copy for a re-read.
February 2, 2021
I was looking forward to this once I found out that this is Julian Barnes, I was however disappointed, for a short novel some of the dialogue is long winded . I may give the series one more go in the hope that this great writer can warm into this genre.
March 22, 2018
A fun cosy read with some child porn and enjoyable philosophical musings about prostitution of the time period. Yeah. xD
June 5, 2018
The cover states " refreshingly nasty" and that is a fair description.
Quite interesting to read, knowing it is written by Julian Barnes.
Quite interesting to read, knowing it is written by Julian Barnes.
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