Fast-paced, sharply humorous prose skewers the hardboiled PI genre.
The Vain Curse by Ryan Morgan Miller is an irreverent detective romp that blends mystery, comedy, and the downright bizarre. Private investigator Tracer Spence has been haunted for a year by Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” hearing it everywhere he goes. When he’s hired by a man suffering from the same affliction, Spence stumbles onto an unexpected connection with another of his cases: the disappearance of a client’s sister. His bumbling investigation leads him into encounters with an amply mustachioed officer, an exacting diva, and dangerous thugs. As the bizarre cases tangle together, Spence discovers a hidden organization determined to bury the truth about the song’s real inspiration at any cost. But because he’s a spectacularly bad detective who is prone to impulsive decisions, questionable logic, and comically poor judgment, the most persistent danger may be Spence himself. “Someone’s got to be the worst, so why shouldn’t it be me?” Miller’s fast-paced, sharply humorous prose skewers the hardboiled PI genre while delivering outlandish twists and vivid set-pieces. Equal parts spoof and suspense, The Vain Curse offers a one-of-a-kind caper where the stakes are high, the laughs are plentiful, and nothing, not even a beloved pop song, is safe from conspiratorial intrigue.
With genuine laugh-out-loud moments on nearly every page, Ryan Morgan Miller has crafted a fantastic story that shows off a true flair for humor. This abundance is quite a feat in a witty story that also features substantial plot and character development, offering readers a madcap detective story brimming with absurdisms and a fresh, fearless send-up of the PI genre. There’s a bevy of inventive, unpredictable, and endlessly amusing scenarios for our hero to wade through, and Tracer Spence is easily the world’s worst and most entertaining detective in equal measure. The Mick Jagger doppelganger scene alone is worth the read: a real jewel in the crown of a story that balances clever parody with a genuinely engaging mystery that is hard to predict and satisfying whether you guessed it right or not. The smaller storylines are also supremely well-handled to enhance this feeling of satisfaction, and even though our hero gets totally lost in all the loose threads he’s trying to pull, Miller is great at subtly keeping us moving towards the true conclusion. For an audacious mix of satire, suspense, and surreal comedy, The Vain Curse is a highly recommended must-read and a wild ride that keeps you grinning until the final twist.
