So Far and Good

Cecil Younger Investigation, Book 8

By: John Straley

Narrated by: David Chandler

To his chagrin, Alaskan PI Cecil Younger learns his teenage daughter has launched her own detective agency. But when her first case goes awry, she’s going to need some help from an unlikely source: her father, who’s currently locked up in prison.

The verdict from the three-judge panel is in. Cecil Younger, bumbling criminal defense investigator and totally embarrassing father, has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for his involvement in...well, a number of things, ranging from destruction of private property to killing a guy. But compared to the original 25-year sentence, it’s not so bad. His success with getting his sentence reduced has attracted the attention of his fellow inmates, and one man, “Fourth Street”, reaches out for advice for his upcoming parole hearing in exchange for protection and companionship.

When he isn’t reading Adrienne Rich or James Baldwin with Fourth Street, Cecil spends his time filling up large yellow legal pads. He writes, mostly, about his teenage daughter, Blossom, who is on a Nancy Drew-like quest to help her friend, George, discover the truth about her biological parents, which turns out to be complicated. Shortly after submitting a mail-in genetics test, George learns she is the infamous “Baby Jane Doe” who was kidnapped from her Native mother shortly after she was born. A media and legal circus quickly ensues, and George’s reunion with her birth family isn’t the heartwarming story the journalists hoped it would be. There is an even darker secret about the baby-snatching case, a secret threatens to destroy not just George’s family - but Cecil’s as well.

©2021 John Straley (P)2021 Recorded Books

You can’t lose with this combination…

Written by Peter Straley and read by David Chandler… of course it’s got a clever, unique plot, it’s well written, includes some witty humor, and you just can’t ask for someone better to read you a story.

Kept my attention great narrator

Story Kept my attention, great narrator. Haven’t read all the books in order therefore I am motivated to find the preceding story. Straley is a great story teller with wonderful detailed and poetic descriptions of the landscape inserted into even the most bizarre circumstances. I truly appreciate his artful and brazen approach to his story telling including the unspoken confusions and uncertainties we often feel about ourselves and our relationships. It is a good stand alone story but feel more invested in the plot having known some history of the. characters from previous books. Chandler is one of my favorite narrators for this genre.

This one is much more than just a story

Discontained much more than just a good story. But a lot of food for thought.

One of the best

John Straley is possibly my favorite crime writer. It’s better to read the books in sequence as it’s important to understand how Cecil has grown into his true and still complicated self.

Meanwhile, great and unusual characters, excellent story, and perfect, deceptively clear writing. I hope Cecil gets out of prison soon but he’s managing well.

The reader did a good job conveying Cecil’s passionate but awkward personality.

Too crass and graphic for me

This is the last in the Cecil Younget series. I’ve enjoyed the previous books, but not this one. In my opinion, not the same caliber of story. Love books performed by David Chandler.