I would like to say that I enjoyed The Thin Man, but I really didn't. This was the December selection for the Christie Capers Mystery Book Club and I was looking forward to it. When I began reading I found the banter and numerous characters (not to mention the constant imbibing of alcohol) confusing, so I went to YouTube and watched about 10 minutes worth of clips from The Thin Man movies series. I had never seen them before, so it was helpful to get a better idea of the characters and how they function. Truth be told, though, this turned out not to be particularly helpful in the long run.
Nick and Norah Charles are a wealthy, hard-drinking husband and wife. Nick is a former private detective who retired to run his wife's family business. Norah is much younger. They are visiting New York City in 1932 when Nick is asked to investigate a murder.
I retrospect, the story itself is interesting, full of surprising twists and turns and devious characters. I liked this about it. I also like the unexpected twists at the end. However, I didn't meet any characters that I actually liked. All of them, even Nick and Norah, seemed ethically questionable and unappealing. I think they were probably more likable in the movies! For me, there has to be at least one sympathetic character who you root for as the story progresses. I didn't find that here. I know this is a classic, but I just couldn't get into it.
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