Death is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury

Death is a Lonely Business

by Ray Bradbury

One of Ray Bradbury's classic noir novels, available in ebook for the first time.

Toiling away amid the looming palm trees and decaying bungalows, a struggling young writer (who bears a resemblance to the author) spins fantastic stories from his fertile imagination upon his clacking typewriter. Trying not to miss his girlfriend (away studying in Mexico), the nameless writer steadily crafts his literary effort - until strange things begin happening around him.

Starting with a series of peculiar phone calls, the writer then finds clumps of seaweed on his doorstep. But as the incidents escalate, his friends fall victim to a series of mysterious 'accidents' - some of them fatal. Aided by Elmo Crumley, a savvy, street-smart detective, and a reclusive actress of yesteryear with an intense hunger for life, the wordsmith sets out to find the connection between the bizarre events, and in doing so, uncovers the truth about his own creative abilities.

Reviewed by Michael @ Knowledge Lost on

2 of 5 stars

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Sci-Fi master Ray Bradbury’s salute to the hard-boiled genre in a true Bradbury fashion. Hints of strange and fantasy makes this a fast paced tale of an unnamed flamboyant writer (possible the reader or Bradbury) trying his hand as a gumshoe with the help of a real PI Elmo Crumley (an ode to James Crumley). An enjoyable salute, but doesn’t compare to the Hard-Boiled masters.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 18 March, 2011: Finished reading
  • 18 March, 2011: Reviewed