So Far And Good

I just finished reading So Far and Good, John Straley's latest Cecil Younger private eye mystery. I have always enjoyed this series, which is set in Sitka, Alaska. In 2001 Straley wrote Cold Water Burning, which one reviewer called one of the best mystery novels ever written. And then he stopped writing the series for SEVENTEEN YEARS. What is the deal with that? Finally, just before I retired from the Tattered Cover Bookstore here in Denver, I picked up an advanced reading copy of Baby's First Felony, continuing the Cecil Younger series, and I'll be damned if he didn't end the book with Cecil going to prison for 7 years. That really made me mad - why why why? I was sure that was the end of the series, but recently Straley came out with So Far And Good, which finds Younger still in prison after 4 years, with 3 to go, dismayed to find out his teenage daughter is getting into the private eye business, with dangerous consequences. I was dubious about this book, but I actually liked it. It is well written, and a real page-turner. I just hope the next book finds Cecil finally getting out of prison, resuming his life as a PI, and that I don't have to wait another 17 years to find out.