I already have started my list of the best books of 2017. The first entry is THE DARK ROOM by Jonathan Moore. While Moore is one of those authors who does not write much --- in terms of novels, at any rate --- he does so very, very well. Those who have read his work --- last year’s extremely notable THE POISON ARTIST, which I missed when it was initially published, and REDHEADS --- know what I’m talking about. He combines a storytelling style reminiscent of Michael Connelly’s with plotting and characterization that will put you in the mind of Raymond Chandler. That his stories are based in San Francisco --- a city that seems at its very core to have created noir fiction --- is an added bonus. The result is a novel that is remarkable in every possible way.

This is the second in what Moore describes as “the central panel of a triptych,” the subject of which is the city where those books are set. It is not necessary to have read THE POISON ARTIST to enjoy THE DARK ROOM to its fullest extent, though events in the former do leak into the latter in a very subtle way. Enjoy you will, in any event, particularly if you like your dark reading chockful of mystery. In this case, the mystery is relayed from the perspective of Gavin Cain, a San Francisco homicide detective who has earned the respect of his peers and superiors. When we meet Cain, he is standing in a cemetery in Monterey County, just south of his jurisdiction, watching as a coffin is disinterred. The reason for the activity is revealed in due time --- it’s a somewhat unusual and enigmatic tip, delivered in a bizarre yet believable manner --- and it’s worth starting THE DARK ROOM for that reason alone.

"I already have started my list of the best books of 2017. The first entry is THE DARK ROOM by Jonathan Moore.... It is one of those rare books of such quality on every level that one is immediately prompted to catch up on the author’s backlist..."

However, just as Cain and the reader anticipate what might be revealed, the somber detective is suddenly pulled off the scene and summarily brought to San Francisco’s City Hall via helicopter. He has been so summoned at the discretion and pleasure of Harry Castelli, the city’s mayor, a brooding and troubled alcoholic who suddenly finds himself to be the subject of a blackmail scheme. Specifically, Castelli has received a series of potentially incriminating photographs with the promise of more on the way. The blackmailer does not want money or leverage to make the photos go away. Rather, the price of silence is that the mayor kill himself. Castelli denies any part in the involvement of the actions taking place in the pictures. Cain is convinced that Castelli is lying, and to some extent he is, as is virtually everyone he encounters in THE DARK ROOM.

Lying is one thing, but murder is quite another, and as the investigation progresses, Cain finds that mortal danger is pursuing him and those who are personally and professionally associated with him. The reader is exposed to an entirely new level of forensics that enables Cain to access an evidentiary thread that takes the investigation to a surprising and deadly place, which in turn leads to a haunting and enigmatic conclusion.

I did not want THE DARK ROOM to end. Ever. I wanted to keep reading page after page after tragic page, or, better yet, hop in the car and make that long drive to San Francisco for (probably) one last time, to walk up and down the streets and around the blocks where the story plays out. That is how truly good and mesmerizing this novel is. It is one of those rare books of such quality on every level that one is immediately prompted to catch up on the author’s backlist, regardless of whether or not you habitually read mysteries and thrillers.