Some time after some shady business involving G-Men and flying saucers, fixer Sammy “Two-Toes” Tiffin, his best gal Stilton DeCheese, and their lot of lovable loses find themselves embroiled in a new caper involving magic, mobsters, and madness. It’s another round of postwar follies in Christopher Moore’s 2022 novel, Razzmatazz.
Razzmatazz picks up a couple of months after the events of Noir, and fixer/barkeep Sammy is now routinely getting the razzmatazz from his new girlfriend, Stilton. But when Stilton starts on a mysterious new building project with some “Rosie the Riveter” types, Sammy finds himself left to his own devices. In this case, the good-hearted bartender is roped into helping his friend Eddie Shu’s mobbed-up uncle recover a mystical Chinese artifact and simultaneously helping fellow local bartenders figure out who’s murdering San Francisco’s drag kings and why the cops are doing precisely nothing about it.
By now, I’ve made no bones about how much I enjoy Christopher Moore’s writing. I’ve always found him clever and funny with surprising depth of character despite the general madcap nature of his stories. This is also true with Razzmatazz. I laughed out loud on multiple occasions, the characters and their relationships—their entire world, really—feels fully fleshed out, even more than in Noir. Moore again chooses to set this story in a more progressive version of 1947 San Francisco that eschews most of the era’s casual racism and sexism. Despite the attitudes of the time being almost totally fictional, it’s also vibrant, well-worn, and doesn’t seem out of place with contemporary sensibilities.
The main problem with Razzmatazz is that its predecessor is required reading. This is different than in Moore’s previous series, like Bloodsucking Fiends or Fool. You could jump in on any part of those trilogies and enjoy the ride without feeling lost. However, the beating heart of Razzmatazz is rooted in your investment in the characters from Noir. Add that to the fact that Moore has gotten increasingly self-referential in his writing (18 best-sellers might do that), and it’s easy to feel lost in Razzmatazz and its lore. There’s an easy fix to that—read Noir—but I can understand why that would turn people off.
Razzmatazz is a fun trip back to postwar San Francisco that’s worth taking. Just make sure you take the trip through Noir first, or you might wonder why you should care about the sights.
Pros: Funny, engrossing plot; great characters; trademark Moore wit.
Cons: Self-referential, requires having read the previous book in the series.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars.