IQ: ‘The Holmes of the 21st century' (Daily Mail) (IQ)

by Joe Ide

'Joe Ide is the best new discovery I've come across in a long time. And Isaiah Quintabe is the kind of sleuth not seen on the mystery landscape before.' MICHAEL CONNELLY

THE TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH: 'Full of humour, originality and high-quality writing'

WINNER of the ANTHONY AWARD for Best Debut, the SHAMUS AWARD for BEST FIRST P.I. NOVEL. the MACAVITY AWARD for Best First Novel; SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 EDGAR AWARD and STRAND CRITICS AWARD.

East Long Beach. The LAPD is barely keeping up with the high crime rate. Murders go unsolved, the elderly are being mugged, children go missing. But word has spread: if you've got a case the police can't - or won't - touch, Isaiah Quintabe will help you out.They call him IQ. He's a loner and a high school dropout, his unassuming nature disguising a relentless determination and a fierce intelligence. His clients pay him whatever they can afford, a new set of tyres or some homemade muffins. But now he needs a client who can pay. And the only way to that client is through a jive-talking, low-life drug dealer he thought he'd left behind...

• ISBN10: 1474607187
• ISBN13: 9781474607186
• Publish Date: 10 August 2017 (first published 18 October 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
• Imprint: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[Heather]

Isaiah Quintabe's whole world fell apart when his brother Marcus died leaving teenaged Isaiah on his own.  In order to make his rent he gets a local drug dealer and petty criminal named Dodson as a room mate.  It changes both of their lives.

Now years later Dodson has a case that he thinks Isaiah would be interested in.  It has a huge paycheck attached and Dodson has decided to help out to get his cut - whether Isaiah wants him around or not.

This book reminded me a lot of a Carl Hiaasen novel.  The mystery is convoluted.  The characters are quirky and unexpected.  The book is laugh out loud funny at times.

• IQ is a loner who is brilliant and who has trained himself to be observant and make deductions like Sherlock Holmes


• Dodson is a drug dealer who wants to move on to crimes with a better class of criminals


• Deronda is a woman from IQ and Dodson's past who is looking to be become famous any way possible


• Cal is a depressed rap superstar who has a greedy entourage


• Add in a hit man with an obsession with breeding the perfect attack dogs

The story is told through dual time lines.

Present Day

Cal is too depressed to leave his house and go into the studio to record his contractually obligated next album.  Anything he writes is way too depressing to record anyway.  He is attacked in his house by a gigantic dog.  He only gets away by falling in the pool and making so much noise that the neighbor calls the police.  A man comes out of the woods to get the dog and lets Cal live.  Isaiah takes the case.

In the Past

Dodson has just moved in with a grieving Isaiah.  He realizes that he has a genius as a room mate and that genius is in need of money.  He decides to put Isaiah's brain to use to think up better criminal activities.

It is interesting to see what happens in the past to make Isaiah the detective that he is today.  This is supposed to be the start of a series and I can't wait to see what Isaiah gets up to next.

My only quibble is that at one point they rob a pet store and take feline epilepsy test strips.  I wish they would have gotten me some.  Those would be handy since nothing like that actually exists.  The author probably meant feline diabetes test strips.  Sorry, that's my veterinarian side coming out.



First come first served and if you want to throw in a few dollars for shipping that would be great but not required.

 This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story