by Spencer Quinn
This is the Chet and Bernie book when things get almost too dark for me.
Farewell to Arfs by Spencer Quinn is the fifteenth book in the series and we’ve seen them through some dark times with Chet’s point of view softening the sometimes awful, often violent events of the plot. Chet cares more about getting his next Slim Jim than about the danger in the scene and that helps soften the edges a bit.
Instead of navel-gazing, we get a point of view that is always 100% sure that his partner can do no wrong. The author, on the other hand, lets us see the flaws despite the point of view character, and that’s hard to do. That divide between what the narrator believes and how we interpret the same events gives this series a surprising depth and a lot of humor.
This story touches on one of my most triggering situations, financial crime. I know a lot of people think there are much worse things to live through, but as someone who once had to live for a month on a bag of sugar and some mixed nuts, let me tell you that financial instability can be devastating. In this case, the victims aren’t some random person seeking help from the Little Detective Agency, either, it’s our beloved neighbors, the Parsons. Iggy’s parents deserve better, and the financial losses are just the tip of the iceberg of pain this book has in store for them.
Add to that the conflict with Weatherly, the revelations about Bernie’s father, and the off-the-page violence that shocked me, and this was a dark book.
Was it too dark? For me? Yes, I think so.
I wanted a happier outcome and was a little surprised that the author went as far as he did. I’m not saying it wasn’t good, but it felt like it had a lot less of the humor and more of a grim drive to get to the end.
The writing was good, but the tone of the entire book was just a little shady. I needed a little more sunlight here or there to give it balance.
3 1/2 Chet-Pulled-it-Through-But-Just-Barely Stars
