Review of Dirty Work

[MsTri]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Dirty Work" by Brett Sody.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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"It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it " and "It's a thankless job" are two common refrains that workers use when referring to their jobs. Detective Pete Young, however, basks in his job in Brett Sody's amusing crime parody, Dirty Work, handling thankless jobs with panache. Additionally, at 22-years-young, Detective Young is the youngest detective to have held his position in South Australia, but it doesn't stop him from charging forward to investigate a number of weird occurrences, including a missing persons case, a suspiciously timely miracle, and a seeming suicide.

As a big fan of such television shows as Law & Order, in all its iterations, and Criminal Minds, I really enjoyed reading about all of the shenanigans in Adelaide and the lawman's attempts to put out the fires. While there weren't any truly heart-pounding moments, I was riveted while reading and curious whether Pete would discover some things that the narrator had clued me in on. As it happens, not all of the cases were neatly wrapped by the end of the book, but since there are at least two sequels, I'm hopeful that more questions are answered in them.

I found Detective Young to be an interesting protagonist to follow, as he had a few quirks that made him seem real, including his insistence on wearing one specific outfit for work; it somewhat reminded me of Benjamin Matlock from the television show as well as animated characters, like Charlie Brown and the smurfs, who never change clothes. I also enjoyed meeting the other residents of Adelaide and the citizens of Pete's hometown of Crowton, Victoria. Father Ray Pritchard, in particular, earned my empathy, while church member Maureen Cleary made me grind my teeth in frustration. I also had very little patience for a few other players who showed up.

Sody further solidified my delight in this tale by including secondary storylines that starred nonhumans, such as termites, wasps, and pigeons. Even though they didn't really add anything to the storylines, I was amused while reading scenes from their points of view. The story of the wasps family was especially intriguing, though I can't really say I was rooting for them. In the real world, I would never say this, but I also found myself empathizing with the termites.

Amazon and the author both denote Dirty Work as a parody, but I found that it actually works well as a straight read, though Sody's writing style could perhaps be seen as satirical. There were certainly many guffaw-inspiring moments, and I chuckled more frequently than not. In addition, I loved the author's use of alliteration, rhyming, and the occasional pun, and I looked forward to what his next witty repartee may be. Certain British terms, such as "tucker" for "eat," also made me smile.

Unfortunately, Sody's gift of storytelling did not extend to the technical aspects of writing, as the story had an abundance of typographical issues, including typos, inconsistent spellings, and errors with both hyphens and apostrophes. I also found it frustrating when the author failed to fully spell out certain terms that I didn't recognize since I'm not in England. I did, however, overlook his failure to end characters' speeches with punctuation aside from quotation marks, putting it in the "author's creative choices" column, and seeming issues that I thought may be acceptable in British writing. Lastly, Sody didn't seem to fully research some of his facts: without going into details, I will note that a wasp in the story died from losing his stinger, but that's not really an issue with wasps; it's bees that die from losing their stingers after stinging.

Due to the aforementioned grammatical mistakes, I am rating Dirty Work 3 out of 4 stars. However, I have no problem recommending this tale to fans of police procedurals, readers who enjoy seeing the action through animals' eyes, and people who like creative writing styles. For readers who'd prefer to avoid such things, I will warn that there is a fair amount of profanity as well as some minor implied violence. For my part, I found reading this narrative to be neither tough nor thankless nor dirty work, and I look forward to following Detective Pete's journey in the two books that follow.

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Dirty Work
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[QualityAndQuantity]

I always like a book with some kind of detective work in it. No matter if its a detective, a police officer, or a common man. I think I'll enjoy this book with its suspicious plot. thanks for the review.

[Aisha Yakub]

Aspiring for great heights at a young age is commendable. Detective sounds like a gogetter. Thank you for the review.

[Amiczy Heaven]

I thing Detective Young’s enthusiasm for his work will be motivating for other workers. Nice review

[T T 2]

The story seems unique and interesting. Would love to give it a try. Thank you for the honest and detailed review.

[Amy Luman]

Sounds like a really fun read. I like the shows that you mentioned, also, and it’s nice to see that they could be considered humorous. I love that Detective Young is portrayed realistically.

[Vidhi Adhikari]

Although I wasn't looking for detective novels, the confidence of the character is what has intrigued me. Would surely read this one soon. Good job with the review.

[Asiaa Szn]

This has a great storyline. Definitely adding this to my shelf. Nice review