
Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway
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Narrated by:
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Carol Monda
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By:
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Sara Gran
When Paul Casablancas, Claire DeWitt’s ex-boyfriend and a popular musician in the Bay Area scene, is found dead in his apartment, his cherished guitars missing, the police are convinced it’s a simple robbery. But Claire knows that nothing is ever simple. With the help of her new assistant, Claude, Claire follows the clues, finding hints to Paul’s fate in her other cases - especially a long-ago missing girl in New York’s gritty East Village and a modern-day miniature-horse theft in Marin.
As visions of the past reveal the secrets of the present, Claire begins to understand the words of the enigmatic French detective Jacques Silette: "The detective won't know what he is capable of until he encounters a mystery that pierces his own heart." And love, in all its forms, is the greatest mystery of all - at least to the world’s greatest P.I.
With a heroine hailed as "a charmer" (New York Times Book Review), from an author who "reminds me why I fell in love with the genre" (Laura Lippman), this is an addictive new adventure for an irresistible detective.
©2013 Sara Gran (P)2013 HighBridge CompanyListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
- 10 Best Audiobooks of 2013 (Salon)
"As written by Gran, Claire is as much mystical seeker as investigator, a disciple of a mysterious master detective whose book, "Détection," has a tendency to appear in strange places at key moments. But Claire is also as hardboiled as they come, and no one could deliver her unconventional first person narration better than Monda, who can be tough, melancholy and tender all at the same time." (Laura Miller, Salon)
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Stunning sentences.
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Perfect Match: Author and Reader
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So.Forking.Good.
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Best Series
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Do so many drugs need to be involved!
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Story was ok but performance - meh
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I love these books
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Claire DeWitt was taught by Constance Darling, the "world's greatest detective," who was a student of the famous detective Jacques Silette, the French "father of detective work." Gran has already created her own little mythos here in an onstensibly mundane detective series. In the second book of Claire's adventures, she is back home in San Francisco, when an ex-lover is killed. Claire, naturally, is put on the case. The wife is the most obvious suspect, of course, but solving her ex's murder is really the least interesting thing about this book - when all is revealed, it's the journey we remember.
We learn more about Claire's adolescence, as the book alternates between her current case and one of her first, back when she and one of her teenage friends were aspiring "girl detectives" and set out to find a missing friend in New York City. This turns out to be loosely tied to her current case, but mostly it's a deeper delve into what makes Claire so messed up. Our protagonist unashamedly snorts lines of coke before interviewing people, passes out in bathrooms after one-night stands, has visions which are probably just hallucinations, and considers signs and omens to be clues. Yet she dispenses a sort of gritty worldly wisdom wrapped in New Age trappings, and always reminds us that what she is looking for is not justice, but truth, the thing her clients usually don't actually want.
Definitely one of my series to follow; Claire DeWitt is a strange bird and I hope she has more trips ahead of her.
The performance by Carol Monda is near-perfect, giving Claire a hoarse, earthy personality that fits her, while also carrying off the Brooklyn accents in the flashback chapters.
The world's greatest detective is back
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If you're not already familiar with Claire DeWitt, I would strongly suggest reading or listening to “Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead” first. I revisited it after finishing “Bohemian Highway” and, not only is it a better story, you have the pleasure of being introduced to Jaques Silette, master detective, and his master treatise “Detection” that guides the work of his Silettian disciples. Silette and his teachings feature heavily in this latest book also.
Bohemian Highway jumps back and forth between two stories, one based in San Francisco, the other in Brooklyn, NY. The NY story centers on Claire’s teen years and recounts how her life and that of her friend Tracy was ruining by stumbling across a copy of Detection. The west-coast thread revolves around the murder of one of Claire’s exes, Paul Casablancas, and her attempts to nail the killer even as she struggles to come to terms with the depth of her feelings for her former lover. Transitions between the two storylines are somewhat disruptive but both are solid, even though the book had a much woollier overall feel than City of the Dead.
Dear Claire already had a serious drug habit in the previous book but in this one she’s routinely snorting enough cocaine to fell a bull elephant. The reader ends up feeling somewhat disgusted by her excesses, but that’s rather the point. Regardless, she’s a compelling character that seeks clues in dreams, charms, and Buddhist teachings, and it’s hard to stop listening once you hit the Play button.
Carol Monda is once again excellent as the voice of Claire and I hope we hear more from all three.
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Suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride
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What did you love best about Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway?
I don't know why I like the Claire DeWitt stories. This is a "Mystery" to me.There's unending over-the-top raunchy language, a drug culture foreign to me that nearly kills Claire, yet I'd immediately buy the next book (hopefully there will be a next one). Maybe it's just that I love Claire and her crazy profession and tough life. There must be a part of me drawn to the darkness of this story meaning "there but for fortune go you or I".What did you like best about this story?
I love the names Claire chooses for her case files and how this book has not forgotten the characters from New Orleans, the case of the Green Parrot. I also like the quotes from the book that brought Claire and her two friends into detective work. The case from Claire's past and her present case are woven together skillfully.Have you listened to any of Carol Monda’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I've only heard her read Sara's first book. I don't think anyone else could read Sara Gran's characters. Carol's rather rough and gravelly voice fits my idea of who Claire is, and the profanity sounds so natural. Not everyone could do that. I am amazed at how well Carol changes character voices. I have no problem following and believing in them.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes. I didn't want it to end.Any additional comments?
Please another book. We're left hanging as to Claire's fate.Not for the Weak at Heart
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