Carter & Lovecraft

WARNING: This post contains some spoilers, but nothing that gives away the overall plot or the ending.

In Carter & Lovecraft, written by Jonathan L. Howard, ex-detective Dan Carter learns that he has inherited a bookstore in Providence, Rhode Island from Alfred Hill (who was missing for seven years before being declared dead), a man he has never met. Upon Carter's arrival, he meets the woman who has been running the store in Alfred's absence, Emily Lovecraft, a descendant of...You guessed it. H. P. Lovecraft.

Soon after, Carter is drawn into an investigation of a string of bizarre, impossible murders that lead him to a young man named William Colt and a place called Waite's Bill (where the men have a serious preoccupation with swimming, so you just know they have the "Innsmouth look"). With the help of Emily Lovecraft, Carter puts together, piece by piece, the mystery behind "The Twist" and Waite's Bill, something their ancestors worked to hide away from the world.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It referenced so many of my favorite things: pulp fiction (not the movie), Dashiell Hammett, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, film noir and of course, Lovecraft.

I was sort of expecting Hammett meets Lovecraft, in a fun way, like Cabin in the Woods. If that makes sense. What I got was a bit more serious in tone, not that I minded. I absolutely think fans of Lovecraft's work will appreciate this book, but I think anyone who is looking solely for a mystery novel may be left wondering what exactly they just read.

There are a few things about Carter & Lovecraft that I think are worth mentioning.

Each chapter is around ten pages long, give or take a few. I really liked that because it meant they were short enough that I could read "just one more" before bed.

There were some things I could do without that seemed to add almost nothing to the overall plot. Specifically, the attempted rape. I don't know what the author's intentions were or how this figured into the plot in his mind, but as the reader, it seemed unnecessary. Rothwell could have had a complete mental breakdown without forcing himself on his girlfriend. It felt out of place and the story would not have changed significantly if it had been left out.

I mentioned earlier that Carter inherited the bookstore from a man named Alfred Hill. Throughout the book, I kept expecting to find out what happened to Alfred. I thought, maybe, he purposely disappeared, that this was all a setup to bring Carter to Providence. But unless there's been an oversight on my part (and I don't think that's the case, I read everything very carefully, with the intention of making this post), we never learn what Alfred's fate was. He's never mentioned again. For me, that was one of the biggest disappointments.

Carter & Lovecraft has a very bleak ending, perfectly fitting for a novel inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's work. Despite some unneeded plot devices and forgotten characters, it is a book I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of Lovecraft's stories.

Edit: I have been told that Alfred Hill was not forgotten, so maybe we'll learn more about him in the future.