The Long Lavender Look

A Travis McGee Novel, Book 12

By: John D. MacDonald

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

A lovely young girl steps in front of Travis McGee's headlights. McGee misses the girl but lands in 10 feet of swamp water. As he's limping along the deserted road, someone in an old truck takes a few shots at him. And, when he goes to the local sheriff to complain, the intrepid Travis McGee finds himself arrested and charged with murder. And he can't help but ask himself, "is this what they call southern hospitality?"

©1970 John D. MacDonald (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Kept me guessing

The book ended a little quick. I would have liked more. But, a solid, enjoyable read overall.

I thought Miss Agnes was a goner for sure!

This one starts off with a bang, and hardly slows down. Poor Miss Agnes suffers horribly, but not as much as the ladies who come into the life of Travis McGee. A woman sleeping with Travis seems to have the same life expectancy as a guy wearing a red shirt in an opening episode of Star Trek! And dear Meyer is fast becoming more of a partner than a friend. A great book!

This was a good one!

I think that this may be my favorite Travis McGee novel so far. And that might be because it was not traditional in the sense of his typical missions. He and Meyer were thrown into a situation not of their own choosing and the plot twists along the way were well-thought-out and very fun. Without being a spoiler I think this was a very good addition to the McGee lexicon. The narration, as always, spot on. Highly recommended.

And it gets cold in there.

"The delusion of total freedom of will is the worst cage of all. And it gets cold in there."
- John D. MacDonald, The Long Lavender Look

description

It is always nice to return to a solid McGee novel. None are Shakespeare and the worst are like bad James Bond novels, but when MacDonald is on his game, he writes great narrative with interesting sidebars on economics, relationships, and people. This is the 12th of his Travis McGee novels and probably the 16th McGee I've read (I've got about 5 left). I've also read other MacDonald novels that I've liked about equally well. I return to them because they are fast, entertaining, and don't require much. They are desert.

This one centers on a small Florida town with a complicated Sheriff, several sub-optimal deputies, and many many troubled ladies. Probably, the least welcome part of this book is MacDonald's exposition on hookers. It is a bit too cyncial, even for John D. MacDonald fans.

Where is Darren McGavin??

The Long Lavender Look is my favorite book in the Travis McGee series.
I used to own most of the series on cassette.
I was so excited to see this series come to Audible.com.
I was shocked, then disappointed to hear they had changed the narrator.
The books just are not the same without Darren McGavin.
Why fix what isn't broken? McGavin nailed it.