bookdiscussion on Mystery Manot

Book Discussion at Mystery Manor - Elmore Leonard’s The Hot Kid

6:00pm SL in the Gazebo at Mystery Manor

Elmore Leonard’s The Hot Kid will be the subject of discussion at this Wednesday’s Waiting for the Other Gumshoe to Drop.It is set in Oklahoma in the 1930s and the laconic hero, Deputy U.S. Marshal Carl Webster, is a western archetype more than a hardboiled detective.Still, it is an excellent example of Leonard’s skill as a writer demonstrating his pacing, ability to create the most impact with the fewest words, and write vivid, colorful characters.In fact, several critics agree that, with Leonard, what happens isn’t as important as the interaction of the characters.

The story itself follows the career of Webster beginning at age 15 when he killed his first man. Webster is the hot kid of the title - the hot shot, new guy whose exploits have attracted the attention of a True Detective reporter.

The core of the story has Webster on the trail of Jack Belmont, the ne’er-do-well son of an oil baron who would like to be more famous than Pretty Boy Floyd and started his life of crime trying to blackmail his father.