Paul MacDonald Books in Order

The Paul MacDonald books are Julie Smith's sly, bookish San Francisco mysteries about a man who would much rather be writing detective fiction than living inside it. Paul is an ex reporter, a struggling novelist, and the kind of amateur sleuth who does not exactly stride into danger so much as wander into it and then try to talk his way back out. That gives the series a different feel from Smith's other work.

Paul is in over his head a lot.

The first novel, True-Life Adventure, starts with Paul doing odd work for a private investigator while trying to get his writing life moving. Then the job turns into a murder case, and suddenly he has the sort of material he always wanted, just not in a form that is especially safe. In Huckleberry Fiend, the setup is even more delightfully odd. A priceless handwritten Huckleberry Finn manuscript falls into Paul's orbit, and what begins as a literary curiosity turns into a murder puzzle crowded with collectors, obsessives, and people who are willing to do something very stupid for a famous piece of paper.

These are writer-sleuth books in the best sense. Paul notices structure, motive, and voice because he is always half imagining the story he wishes he were writing. That makes the series self-aware without becoming cute about it. Smith gets a lot of mileage out of Paul's insecurity, his ambitions, and his tendency to attract eccentric company. There is comedy here, but it is dry and human rather than broad.

San Francisco matters in these books too, though in a quieter way than in the Rebecca Schwartz series. Paul moves through apartments, offices, literary corners, and odd jobs, meeting burglars, investigators, collectors, and drifters who all seem to know a little more than they first admit. The mysteries feel slightly shaggier, more male in their social circles, and more openly interested in books, journalism, and the gap between real life and the versions writers make from it.

Because there are only two books, the series reads almost like a neat little side road in Smith's career. But it is a worthwhile one. Paul lets her poke fun at mystery conventions while still delivering actual mysteries, and he gives her room to explore the kind of smart, broke, half-lost people who know trouble is a bad idea and walk toward it anyway.

Start with True-Life Adventure and then move to Huckleberry Fiend. That is the whole trip, but it is a memorable one. If you like crime novels with literary jokes, reluctant heroes, and a slightly rumpled view of city life, Paul MacDonald is a good series to keep close at hand.