★★★★☆ Back to front

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

P Djèlí Clark

Some novels appear to have been written back to front. What I mean by that is that the author began by imagining a really great climactic scene, and then tacked some chapters onto the front to introduce the characters and maneuver them into position for the climax. Now to be clear, I have (with one exception) no evidence that any of the novels that give me this impression were written in that way.

These novels are difficult to review. I don't want to say, "Stick with it. The payoff is worth it." I don't want to say that because I have been too often underwhelmed by novels I was induced to read by reviews like that. So, I am not telling you that you will find the climax of P. Djèlí Clark's The Dead Cat Tail Assassins worth the chapters you have to read to get to it.

But *I* did! Of course I can't really tell you much about that climax without spoiling it. But I will tell you that it is introduced when our hero utters the words “I request an arbitration!” The ensuing binding arbitration is conducted largely in patwa (which I understood because Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series had introduced me to the similar Sierra Leonean Krio). I am not a huge fan of courtroom dramas, but this one was special.

So, enter at your own risk. You may spend 80% of the book wondering where the Hell this story is heading. You can take it from me that it IS heading somewhere.

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