I thoroughly enjoyed Bag Men, by Mark Costello. I finished this novel a few weeks ago, after picking it up this summer from a family bookshelf. I’m not sure whom I have to thank for putting it on that shelf, but I’m grateful.
At its core, the story is framed by a murder investigation, but mid-1960s Boston pops with Costello’s mix of religion, class, and (then) current events, like the criminalization of LSD. The writing is darker than, say, Dick Francis, but the vocabulary is similarly terse. Spare, even.
I’ll have to pick up Big If, his more well-known novel. Apparently Bag Men was published originallyunder a pseudonym, in 1997. His success with Big If brought Bag Men back in paperback under his own name.