I went to Charleston’s Restaurant on Wednesday, September 17 with my coworkers and some other people from the conference we were attending in Indianapolis.  One of the people from the company hosting the conference recommended Charleston’s.  I drove all six of us in our rental Dodge Caravan.  It was just down 82nd street fairly close to the hotel where we were staying.

Subsequent research on the web revealed that Charleston’s is a chain restaurant based in Oklahoma with 14 total locations in Arizona (3), Indiana (2), Nebraska (1), Oklahoma (7), and Texas (1).

They sat us at a round table in the corner, an arrangement very conducive to interaction.  One of my coworkers, who works from home in South Carolina, joked that he had to come to Indiana to eat at Charleston’s.  Their menu is fairly standard: starters, salads, sandwiches, specialties, chicken, and steaks; everything priced between $8 and $18.  They also had some specials included a roast beef croissant sandwich.  About half of our party ordered the soup and salad option.  They were surprised at how big the soup bowls were.  One of my coworkers ordered the roast beef croissant sandwich and he was confused when his salad also came with a small croissant.  I ordered the prime rib sandwich because it didn’t come with anything I couldn’t eat.  It was large with the steak served open faced on toasted French bread.  Fries came with it along with a small bowl of au jus for dipping.  One of the people from the conference who had joined us said my sandwich looked good.  It was pretty good, though it was a lot of food.  It was also one of the more expensive items on the menu costing more than the sandwich I had a Loon Lake Lodge the previous evening.

While we were eating, a restaurant employee noticed our nametags from the conference a with the word “visitor” on them.  He made some joke about us not being on the home team.  After finishing we left in time to attend the afternoon session of the conference.

When my wife was researching places to eat in Indianapolis, Joe’s Grille caught her eye because they served the breaded tenderloin sandwich.  She had originally read that this was an Iowa or Hawkeye specialty but later found out it was also an Indiana or Hoosier specialty.  We had originally planned to go to Joe’s for dinner on the second evening in Indy but decided to go back to Loon Lake Lodge instead.

On the second and final day of the conference, my coworkers told me to pick where we would eat lunch.  I chose Joe’s since that was the only choice that I knew something about that I hadn’t tried yet other than Skyline Chili.  I drove us back towards the hotel and turned right into the strip mall that included Joe’s Grille and Skyline Chili.  We entered and it was apparent that Joe’s was a very unfancy bar with loud TVs tuned to sports channels and smoking allowed inside.  It’s divided into two sections each with its own bar.  The darker, more crowded section on the right had louder TVs and mostly just chairs and barstools.  The quieter section on the left had more lighting, video games, and pool tables.  We initially sat in the right section but I soon moved us to the left where there was less cigarette smoke and there were ceiling fans for ventilation.  Joe’s lives up to its title as “A Gathering Place”.

The menu isn’t very large and includes the standard appetizers, burgers, soups/salads/wraps, pizza, sandwiches, and entrees.  The sandwich section includes the breaded tenderloin sandwich and our friendly server confirmed that the breading contains buttermilk.  They also have a variant of it under the appetizers: tenderloin chips.  Most items come with cheese or other things I can’t eat.  I opted for Joe’s burger and paid extra for onion rings in place of the included fries.  Some of my coworkers ordered drinks and found that Joe’s doesn’t have a wide selection of beers, no local microbrews but they do have the popular brands.

Our orders came quickly and my burger was excellent.  It was medium-sized, thick, grilled solid on the outside and juicy and flavorful but still fully cooked inside.  It’s one of the better burgers I’ve had.  The onion rings were also good, lighter than fries would have been, and therefore complementing the heavier burger well.  Just like the day before at Charleston’s, our server noticed our name takes with the word “Visitor” on them.  Rather than joke about it, she asked us where we came from.

In all it turned out to be a good lunch despite the informality of the setting.  One of my coworkers even complimented my choice.  We’ll have to go back there the next time we’re in Indy so my wife can try their breaded pork tenderloin sandwich.

We took a trip to Indianapolis from September 16 to 18 because I had to attend a conference for work.  We took off from Ontario Airport at 6 am, flew on Continental for over 3 hours to Houston and had an hour and 45 minute layover there.  They showed a movie on that flight, Notting Hill, that seemed to us a very old movie to be showing on an airline flight.  From Houston, we flew for around two more hours to Indianapolis International Airport.  There aren’t any direct flights from the Los Angeles area to Indianapolis.  My manager was on the same flight and after deplaning in Indy, we picked up the rental car, a Dodge Caravan.  Our hotel and the site of the conference were in the northern part of Indianapolis.  To get there we drove north on I-465, and then east on I-465.  Their freeways are a bit confusing because they merge and split off from each other sometimes having two numbers at the same time.  Our directions for getting to the hotel threw us off at one point.  They said to take the Allisonville Road Exit 35, take the ramp towards Noblesville, and turn right onto Allisonville Road.   But taking the ramp towards Noblesville caused us to turn left on Allisonville Road and we had to make a U-turn to get back on track.  After driving back in the correct direction we turned left on 82nd Street that seems to be the main drag in that part of the city and eventually made it to the hotel.  There were lots of restaurants, both chain eateries and stand-alones along 82nd Street along with other retail businesses.  Just north of the site of the conference is a large mall, the Castleton Square.  My wife explored the mall later in the week and said it had both indoor and outdoor sections.

My manager allowed me and my wife use of the van that evening.  We needed it because even though the restaurant is very close to the hotel, there aren’t any sidewalks or crosswalks to get there.  We picked Loon Lake Lodge primarily because they served the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich.  My wife first found out about this sandwich from Rachael Ray Magazine that said to try it while in Iowa when there for the Iowa Caucuses.  It’s an Iowa or Hawkeye specialty.  While researching places to eat in Indy, she found that this place nearby called Joe’s Grille served the sandwich.  She did more research and learned that the sandwich is also an Indiana or Hoosier specialty.  She later found that Loon Lake Lodge served the sandwich.  We decided to go there because the sandwich is made with buttermilk that I can’t eat and the restaurant has other tenderloin options that I could eat.

Leaving our hotel, the Hilton North, we turned right onto Shadeland Avenue and left onto 82nd Street.  The restaurant is the first right after driving under the I-69 freeway.  It has a large parking lot and the outside resembles a large mountain lodge.  There’s a pole extended from the roof with a large model float plane mounted on it.  A sign along the street says they have live music on Fridays through Sundays.  They have outdoor seating in a patio called the “Looney Bin”.  There’s also a small totem pole, a sign identifying different types of animal tracks, and a large evergreen that had the shape of a Christmas tree.

We entered the large doors in front and the inside continues the sporting/outdoors theme.  The walls resemble those of a wilderness cabin.  The interior is large and has high ceilings with boats, stuffed game heads (e.g. elk, pronghorn) and other outdoor equipment (sleds, skis) adorning the walls and hanging from the ceiling.  Inside and out the Lodge is a bit reminiscent of the North Woods Inn though it doesn’t have the peanut shells on the floor and signature cheesy bread of that Southern California institution.  The Lodge has its own distinct atmosphere.  A rafter of the central high ceiling resembles a fallen tree with three stuffed and realistic-looking black bears perched on it.  Once in a while, lights would shine on them, their mouths would move and they would emit grunting and roaring sounds.  Fish also appeared to be “jumping up a stream” near one of the cubs.  At the end of the fallen tree perched an owl that would flap its wings and hoot occasionally.  There was a large fishtank containing a live albino catfish and other freshwater fish and they seated us near a large fireplace.  They have some signs on the walls such as a large one saying, “DON’T FEED THE BEARS”.  Another above a door near the kitchen says, “THE COOKHOUSE” and another above a door to a room for private parties says, “THE BACK PORCH”.  There are also poles made to look like trees and bear tracks on the floor.

We looked over our menus that were extensive.  They have sections for sandwiches (including the tenderloin breaded or grilled), salads, steak, seafood (section entitled “Simply Fish”), appetizers, and house specialties.  Under some of these sections are items you probably wouldn’t find at many other places such as rattlesnake bites made with real ground rattlesnake under appetizers, American bison meatloaf under House Specialties, roasted pheasant under Chef Features, and the Elk NY Strip Steak.  At the dinner we had there the following night we learned that they had a wide selection of beers, wines, and other drinks including beer brewed in Indiana.

We placed our orders and our server brought us some warm bread and butter on the side.  It tasted like sourdough bread.  They soon brought us our orders.  I had the rotisserie pork loin filet sandwich with fries as my chosen side.  It consisted of slices of slow-roasted pork loin filet stacked like shingles on a bun and coated in the Lodge’s own sweet and sour sauce.  There were so many slices of pork that I ate some of them separately from the sandwich.  They were over ¼ inch thick and had a smoky flavor like ham.  They were also fully cooked but not chewy, the perfect consistency.  The sweet and sour sauce complemented the pork well.  They put on enough to flavor it but not too much to make it messy.

My sandwich was great but the real showstopper was my wife’s breaded pork tenderloin sandwich.  It looked impressive.  The tenderloin was more flat than thick since they pounded it flat to make it even more tender.  It covered the bottom bun completely and nearly eclipsed the inside of the plate.  It was almost golden in color and not greasy at all.  Seeing it reminded me a little bit of the chicken suprema I had at Malbec restaurant last month.  And the tenderloin tasted as good as it looked.  The breading had spices in it enhancing the flavor.  It was so big my wife divided it into two open-faced sandwiches and there was still more to eat.  She chose as her side the fried corn fritters made with sweet corn.

Even with all this food we still had room for dessert and with their dessert selection how could we not make room?  It has selections such as the Brownie Explosion and Chocolate Fudge Fantasy Cake.  I chose the Lodge Apple Pie.  Rather than sealed in their crust, the golden-green apple slices looked like they exploded out of and mixed with the crust.  When served, the slices were still hot but they weren’t melted into goo.  They had just enough of their integrity and just a slight tart apple taste that mixed well with the sweet crust.  My wife had the homemade vanilla bean custard ice cream.  She enjoyed it very much and felt it had a premium ice cream consistency.

We returned there the next evening with my manager and one of my coworkers.  They enjoyed it too and got a kick out of the animatronic bears and owl.  I was considering having the rattlesnake bites but I chickened out and had the fish sandwich with blackened walleye.  I believe the walleye is native to the Midwest and I remember hearing about it on the Prairie Home Companion radio show.  It was a whitefish, flaky and delicious.  My wife also enjoyed her buffalo burger.

We stopped by the gift shop on the way out.  They had lots of outdoor-themed items such as candles made to look like birch tree trunks.  They also had some T-shirts with rather obscene wording.  Leaving the Lodge was also a little adventure.  The first time we turned right out of the drive and had to make a U-turn further down 82nd street to get back to the hotel.  But the second time, we noticed a sign pointing down a kind of alleyway to go to Bash Road.  It also said we could take Bash Road to reach a light where we could turn left onto 82nd Street.  We followed the alleyway that went behind the Lodge, behind a Red Roof Inn and then we turned left onto Bash Road, a winding side street that connects to 82nd Street at a light.

What began as a quest for a regional food item turned into a full scale dining adventure that encompassed two evenings.  I’m glad our trip allowed us to experience the Loon Lake Lodge, an Indianapolis institution.

 I heard about Jeffrey’s Toobin’s book The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court from the Assistant Director of Alumni Relations from Willamette University with whom I had lunch in July.  He said the book presented an interesting picture not only of the Supreme Court justices during the past 10-20 years but the entire court including the law clerks, the building, procedures, important cases, and the Presidential and Congressional tasks of appointing and confirming the justices.  It roughly covers the time period from the late eighties to present day, though it skips back to explain each justice’s background, interesting anecdotes, and the origins of ideological trends.  In addition to writing books, Jeffrey Toobin is a staff writer for the New Yorker and a legal analyst for CNN.  We just saw him on CNN TV give his opinion of John McCain’s speech at the Republican National Convention.  He thought it was boring and lacked substance on the issues.  However, he did praise vice presidential nominee and current Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s speech from the evening before.

The Nine focuses primary on the Supreme Court from 1994 to 2005, the longest period in history without a change in justices.  Toobin describes the justices, their backgrounds, personalities, judicial philosophies, and how they change over their tenure.  He writes a lot about Sandra Day O’Connor who was arguably the most powerful justice on the court and most powerful woman in America.  Her moderate stance often made her the swing vote between the liberal and conservative justices.  She collaborated with either sides depending on how they aligned with her judicial philosophy and often her opinions reflected those of most of America.
 
Toobin describes both the justices’ rulings and judicial philosophies.  He goes through several of their most important cases dealing with issues such as abortion, gay rights, treatment of terrorism suspects, affirmative action, and the historic case that decided an election:  Bush vs. Gore.  His analyses reveal the complexities of the laws while still being understandable and interesting.  He also writes about the ongoing trend toward more conservative values on the Supreme Court and in American Law.  Toobin describes this trend grudgingly as he subtly betrays some of his liberal leanings in his writing.

Despite being about an important and serious topic, the book contains a lot of humor.  I believe the nearly satirical humor reflects Toobin’s experience writing for the New Yorker.  He makes the justices almost seem like caricatures with their big egos, faults, and idiosyncrasies.  He recounts amusing anecdotes such as when Justice Scalia told his driver he could run red lights even though justices don’t really have the power to do so.  Toobin use some irony in his writing.  He describes the career of Religious Right lawyer Jay Sekulow as a “classic Washington trajectory: he came to the capital to do good (as in make a positive difference) and stayed to do well (as in make a lot of money).”  In a later chapter, Toobin writes, “(Justice Clarence) Thomas, probably the most famous beneficiary of affirmative action, wrote a passionate opinion denouncing the practice.”  He just can’t help inflicting such jabs at the conservatives.  A less vindictive anecdote concerns Justice Souter meeting a couple who believe he is Justice Breyer.  Souter plays along and they ask him, “What’s the best thing about being on the Supreme Court?”  He answers, “Well, I’d have to say, it’s the privilege of serving with Justice David Souter.”  Breyer himself has an amusing quote.  Describing the work of the court he says, “All we do is read and write . . . if you’re really good at homework, you get to do it for the rest of your life.”

As stated, Toobin’s prose is easily understood despite some topics being complex.  He makes clear how former Justice Blackmun originally justified Roe vs. Wade as part of the Right to Privacy but Justice Ginsburg rejects this argument and justifies it with the Equal Protection Clause.  Toobin also uses some obscure forms of words.  “Originalism” is the philosophy of interpreting the Constitution only as the Framers intended it to be read.  He also uses a known word in a less common adverbial form when he writes about Justice Thomas, “There was no one on the Court remotely like him—philosophically, personally, or jurisprudentially.”

 The latter part of the book focuses on the appointment of the two newest justices to the Supreme Court: Chief Justices John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.  It was interesting to learn about George W. Bush’s administration’s methods of selecting and vetting the potential appointees.  Overall, I learned a lot from reading the book and have a greater appreciation for the Judicial Branch of government, a branch we don’t hear about as often as the President and Congress.  It was also enjoyable reading, though a bit biased in parts.  I now understand how the president can have a great effect on the balance of the court.  Up to three justices may retire in the next 4-8 years and their replacements will determine the direction of American law for many years to come.

We went to Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ for dinner on Tuesday, September 2 to celebrate my passing the Math CSET Subtest III and my wife scoring 100% on an entrance exam to a school she wanted to attend.  The Math CSET Subtest III covered calculus and the history of math.  I spent much of late spring and early summer preparing for it.  It turned out to be much more difficult that Math CSET Subtests I and II that I took last year that covered Algebra /number theory and Geometry/Probability and Statistics.  I needed the entire five hours allotted for the exam to finish Subtest III.  Most other testers, who were taking CSETs in other subjects, left hours before I did.

We had first noticed Lucille’s while shopping at Victoria Gardens last year.  It’s located near the northeast corner of the Gardens not too far from the AMC movie theaters.  We first noticed it on a Saturday and there was a long line outside the door of people waiting to get in.  Seeing that, we opted to try something else with a shorter wait time.  Two months ago, my cousin recommended Lucille’s to us.  We mentioned it being so crowded and he suggested going there during the week.

So we went on a Tuesday and it was much less crowded.  We entered and they seated us within minutes at a table near the bar.  The interior is medium-sized with booths and small tables that can be combined for large parties.  There’s a separate area for the bar.  The lighting is dim and the ceilings are high.  Along the rafters are decorative signs for some celebrated menu items such as the Super Feast.  There was a decorative sign recommending King’s Fish House (we actually went there earlier this year) and another sign for Route 66.

As the host led us to our table we passed by this large, shiny, metal smoker with a stack of firewood next to it.  On its side were the words “Original Do-Rite Smoke Machine” in large letters.  There was also a sign saying how long to smoke different meats from chicken (2-4 hours) to pulled pork (10-14 hours) to Brisket (18-24 hours).  There was also a handle for the door to the smoker and near it were the words “Too Hot to Handle”.  On another side were the words “This is it.  Smokestack Lightnin” and in smaller letters, the quote “The most delicious moment of your life is on the menu.  Lucille ’49”.

The menu is very large.  On its cover is the story of Lucille’s “origin” though my wife later determined that the story is just interesting fiction.  Inside the menu are separate sections for Appetizers (with 16 choices), Salads, Soups, Sides, Specialties (11 choices), Bar-B-Que (10 choices), Sandwiches and Burgers (14 choices), and Desserts (6 choices).  The options under Bar-B-Que tended to be more expensive ($16-$26 for individual items and $85-$199 for the “feasts” feeding 4-10).  For the budget-conscious, it’s cheaper to get a sandwich with BBQ meat for $10-$13.  They offer all the BBQ favorites:  ribs, chicken, brisket, tri tip, etc.  Appetizers include many things fried in batter and Specialties include everything from catfish to steak to jambalaya.  One could spend hours perusing the menu.  Luckily, my wife had researched it in advance.

Our waiter came by almost immediately asking if we wanted drinks or appetizers.  We had to slow him down, saying we had to decide which appetizer first.  We soon ordered both our appetizer and our entrées.  They first served us some biscuits with apple butter and the biscuits had sugar sprinkled on top.  They brought us our appetizer: Southern fried okra with spicy ranch and Creole mustard for dipping.  The okra was in bite-sized pieces fried to a golden and crunchy state.  I opted to try it with the three barbeque sauces on our table.  Hot and Spicy came as advertised while Original had more of a sweet flavor.  Memphis had a smoky mustard flavor.  I liked Original the best.

They brought us our entrees.  I had a small bowl of New Orleans Gumbo though it was plenty for a meal.  I could have ordered a large bowl for $6 more but that would have been too much food.  It came with a scoop of steamed rice on top and consisted of a thick, dark, smoke roux combined with shrimp, smoked chicken, and spicy andouille sausage.  Every bite included at least one of those ingredients.  My wife’s entrée was even more impressive: the Hickory Smoked Ham Sandwich.  The ham had been marinated in Coca Cola and molasses and then slow-smoked.  Its many thin slices overflowed out of its potato bun.  My wife chose the honey peanut slaw as the included side and she actually didn’t try it until the following day as a leftover.  She enjoyed the sandwich, though, as the ham was flavorful and plentiful.

For dessert I ordered the fruit cobbler and the fruit in season was peach.  Its numerous peach slices and thick, sweet crust on top mixed together well.  My wife had the appetizer of fried pickles in place of dessert since pickles go well with a sandwich.  After she had her fill she still had plenty left over.

With all that food our bill still came out to be fairly reasonable.  We didn’t order anything over $11 and most things were under $7.  We also didn’t really try any of the more traditional barbeque items other than smoked ham.  Maybe next time we can try the tri tip, ribs, or pulled pork.  The menu is large enough for us to return many times and try something new each time.  But we had enough to know why they have such long lines on weekends.

We went to House of Blues Anaheim Sunday Gospel Brunch on August 17 to celebrate our cousin’s birthday and other cousins’ first wedding anniversary.  House of Blues Anaheim is in Downtown Disney, a collection of shops and restaurants outside Disneyland.  It’s similar to Citywalk that’s outside Universal Studios Hollywood.  We got there by taking the 5 South, exiting at Disneyland Drive, turning left on Magic Way, and then left into the Downtown Disney parking lot.  The lot allowed two hours of free parking and we were able to increase that to five hours with validation from the House of Blue.  Once parked, we entered Downtown Disney, walked past the ESPN Store, turned right near the AMC movie theater, and walked by several shops until we saw House of Blues on the left.

The box office for House of Blues Anaheim is on the ground floor.  However, we had to climb the wide steps in front to get to where they took our tickets.  We then had to go back downstairs to get to the venue.  They seated all of us at two long tables in the back.  We then went to the restaurant/bar within the building but behind the venue.  There they had a long table with the buffet.  There were many items I couldn’t have such as cheeses, waffles with fruit and butter and pasta with cheese.  I was able to have many other things, though.  The eggs, bacon, and sausage were fairly standard breakfast fare and the pickled vegetables, jambalaya, and home fries were very good.  They also had a table where we could order omelets with any choice of ingredients.  I didn’t order one but others in our party did and they enjoyed them.  After getting our food we returned to the main venue.  There a waiter served us our choice of drinks.  The venue had bars on either side, both closed, and the room with the buffet also had a large bar in the back open and selling drinks.

The buffet opened 1 pm and the show started around 2.  The curtain opened to four female African American gospel singers, a drummer, bassist, guitarist, and keyboard player.  Another woman served as announcer/emcee.  The four singers wore outfits of pink, light purple, light green, and yellow.  The singer in yellow had these long fingernails that a baby in the audience enjoyed watching.  They introduced themselves as the Clara Ward singers and they mentioned that they were in both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian.  One singer said she had been with the group for 48 years.  The drummer and keyboard player were her grown grandsons.  They sang many gospel songs I hadn’t heard before such as “Ain’t Nobody do it like Jesus”, the more rhythmic “Blessed Assurance”, “Never Would Have Made it Without You” (written by Clara Ward), and “How I Got Over”.  They did a couple of familiar tunes: “This Little Light of Mine”, and a soulful version of the non-gospel song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as a tribute to Judy Garland.

The emcee and singers encouraged much audience participation.  During the first number they had us wave our napkins like handkerchiefs.  Between songs the emcee asked everyone with a birthday or anniversary to stand up and she talked to them from the stage.  She had fun talking to my cousins who were celebrating their first anniversary.  During another song the singer in green walked around the audience coaxing people to follow her back onto the stage.  Once there she had each of them give their “testimony” usually things for which they were thankful.  Some really got into it, singing along and dancing.  The singers would have the audience clap to the rhythm and sing parts of the songs.  They’d have us call out “Amen”, or “Hallelujah” or the spoken line “There ain’t no party like a Holy Ghost party ‘cause a Holy Ghost party don’t stop.”  For the finale they had everyone celebrating a birthday or anniversary get up on stage and dance their own version of the “House of Blues Shake”.  They gave an enthusiastic performance that would not allow us to be mere spectators.  They packed a lot into just one hour.

On the eve of my brother’s wedding we got take out from a small Mexican eatery just up Lake City Way from the townhouse where we were staying.  Mr. Villa got mixed reviews on the Internet.  While there were some good reviews, one reviewer took issue with the place advertising homemade tortillas on its window.  Apparently, they’re not really homemade.  While pondering what to order I had to call to find out that some dishes came with cheese, rice, and beans even though it didn’t say so in the take out menu.  (By the way, the menu had a copy of a photo of Pancho Villa on the cover.)  However, they got my order correct after I specified no cheese, no beans, and no sour cream.

I didn’t get to see much of the place other than the outside of it when we drove by.  I saw the sign for homemade tortillas.  My brother, who went with my dad to pick up our orders, said it was full of “well-dressed Seattlites.”  Our orders were ready fairly quickly and comprised more food than we expected.  Many came with rice and beans that the menu didn’t mention and they also gave us chips and salsa.  My verde burrito came as expected: chunks of pork in spicy green sauce with slices of grilled green pepper and onion all wrapped in a decent, but obviously not homemade, flour tortilla.  The pork was cooked to the right consistency and doneness and the rice and salad were suitable sides.  My wife enjoyed her huarache that’s similar to a sope only the thick cornmeal bases are oval shaped.  It included cooked ground beef, lettuce, tomato, and cheese, and the unexpected rice and beans on the side.

We talked about how my late great aunt once mentioned that the staple foods at many Mexican restaurants (e.g. rice, beans, tortillas) are mass-produced in factories.  I believe this occurs more often in places like Seattle than in L.A. since the larger Latino clientele here probably expect more authenticity.

But despite its alleged origins, the food from Mr. Villa was still pretty good making an appropriate meal that served as our first and last as a family of six.

I wanted to read a mystery set in present day L.A.  I’ve read several mysteries set in L.A. 10-20 and 40-50 years ago by authors Michael Connelly and Walter Mosely.  My first choice for a present day L.A. mystery, Twisted by Jonathan Kellerman, wasn’t at the Covina Public Library despite the online catalog saying it was.  A book reviewer for the L.A. Times has written that Robert Crais is to Los Angeles what Tony Hillerman is to the New Mexico and Arizona desert.  I’m a fan of Tony Hillerman and I decided to try a Robert Crais book based on that reviewer’s comparison.  The Forgotten Man was published in 2005 and takes place around that time.  It’s not the first in the series, but one of the more recent.

The main character of The Forgotten Man, Elvis Cole, is a private detective who lives in an A-frame house on Laurel Canyon.  Much of the story is told in the first person from Cole’s point of view.  He’s a transplant from Chicago, similar to the author, and has a fairly cooperative relationship with the LAPD.  Cole is called in to help with a case to which he takes a personal interest.  As he delves deeper he finds that nearly everyone involved has deep secrets waiting to be uncovered.  He’s always making offhand wisecracks in his narrative about how he never gets cell phone service, police procedures, and the tendencies of some of the lowlifes he meets.  About Central Community Policy Station he comments, “Like other police stations in Los Angeles, it was known as a Division until someone decided that Division made the police sound like an occupying army.  Now we had community police stations, which sounded more user-friendly.”

The story does seem to take place in present day L.A.  The detectives use computers, the Internet, and other technology.  Everyone has a cell phone.  However, parts of L.A. have changed so much just in the past few years that some passages still seem dated.  One is: “The Big Empty was a moldering area east of the convention center and south of the business district, unclaimed by the homeless, who tended to gather several blocks north at the parks and missions of skid row.”  I believe there are now several adaptive reuse and new ground-up condo and apartment complexes in that so-called “Big Empty.”  I wonder if the story is really outdated or if the author, who lives in Santa Monica, just hadn’t been to downtown very recently.
 
There were a few other references that I know something about.  One mentions people fishing for tilapia and corvina near the Salton Sea.  Just before I read this passage I had seen corvina as a special menu item at Malbec (see earlier review).  The description on the Malbec menu said it was Chilean sea bass.  Who knew Chilean sea bass came from the Salton Sea?  Another passage mentions Abita root beer that’s not widely available in L.A. but in this case, “imported” from the Deep South.  When I was looking for sodas I could drink that did not have high fructose corn syrup, one that I tried was Abita root beer that I found at BevMo.  It was good, but I eventually settled on Virgil’s root beer since it’s more widely available and it has a smoother flavor.

The author uses an interesting technique where he combines Cole’s first person narrative with some third person narratives of other characters.  It made me as the reader feel like I was approaching the mystery from different directions, like I knew more than the characters, but not quite enough to figure it all out.  Having the different perspectives added to the suspense towards the end.