My husband is a retired addictions professional, with many years in the field. When I started reading Elizabeth Zelvin's debut mystery, Death Will Get You Sober, I felt as if I had already met her characters. Bruce Kohler, the alcoholic amateur detective, is recognizable to anyone familiar with alcoholics. Along with his friends and acquaintances, he provides an accurate picture of the addictions field.
Bruce wakes up in detox on the Bowery on Christmas Eve. After a couple days drifting in and out of consciousness, he finds a well fed, well-groomed man in the bed next to him. Godfrey Brandon Kettleworth the Third calls himself God, and others call him Guff. Bruce and Guff are kindred spirits, since neither could remember what they did to end up in detox. With their long history of drinking, it could have been anything.
Bruce first encounters a death in the detox when he stumbles over a body in the laundry room. However, it was an older man, who was expected to die soon. When he witnesses Guff's violent death, filled with convulsions and heaving, it's a different story. Guff was too young to die of alcoholism, and his death bothers Bruce. It bothers him even more when he discovers he's one of the few people who liked the man. The death was so disturbing that Kohler turns to his best friends for help.
Bruce's best friend, Jimmy, is a recovering alcoholic and a computer genius. Bruce's girlfriend, Barbara, is an addictions counselor, and so codependent that she's willing to help Kohler investigate, hoping the problems will keep him sober. When Barbara takes a few jobs moonlighting, she discovers some secrets in the detox files, and a few other unexpected deaths throughout the area. Is Guff's death an anomaly, or is it related to the other deaths of alcoholics?
Elizabeth Zelvin has managed to capture the reality of alcoholism and detox, with its black humor and tragedy. Her characters are realistic examples of people struggling with their sobriety, and her pictures of AA meetings are very realistic. Death Will Get You Sober will strike home with anyone familiar with alcoholism or the addictions field. The beauty of the debut mystery is that it has the dry humor and original characters that will also strike a chord with readers unfamiliar with the field. Zelvin's first book is a welcome addition to the mystery field, and Bruce Kohler is a fascinating amateur detective.
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