Righteous by Joe Ide

Mulholland Books, 336 pages, $26

I’m going to imagine that if I were to ask how many of you liked “IQ,” author Joe Ide’s first book about Long Beach, California, eccentric private eye, Isaiah Quintabe, a heck of a lot of hands would be enthusiastically shooting up. If you were lucky enough to discover that first book in the series, you have bragging rights. Now here comes book two and it’s a mighty fine sophomore effort.

Isaiah Quintabe, or “IQ,” as he is known in the hood — the hood being a lower income, mostly non-white neighborhood in east Long Beach, California — has stunted social skills, a brilliant investigative mind, a business that sometimes pays off in vegetables instead of money, and a burning desire for revenge.

Ever since IQ’s brother Marcus was killed by a hit-and-run driver about ten years ago, he has obsessively focussed on whether Marcus had in fact been murdered. In “Righteous,” it becomes clear that Marcus was. Now IQ needs to find out the who and why.

Marcus was a few years older than IQ. He had a girlfriend, Sarita, a woman the nerdy teenaged Isaiah had an enormous crush on. He had no contact with Sarita after Marcus’ death, until she called him with a plea. Her younger half-sister, Janine, is in trouble. Janine is a gambling addict, and she and her boyfriend, Benny, have amassed a debt to a local gang. Because they cannot pay the vig, they are in danger and at various times on the run. Janine’s and Sarita’s father is Ken, a well-off financial investor. Ken will not fund Janine anymore, so she and her boyfriend hatch a scheme to steal Ken’s investment information. What is hammered home is that addicts’ brains do not fire on all cylinders. IQ must unravel their predicament and square things with Ken and the gang. 

And find Marcus’ killer.

That’s all.

It takes the whole book in alternating steps of each goal to resolve these issues. Ide’s storytelling is glorious. Some of his characters — like Deronda, the neighborhood tough-talker with a kind heart and a great fried chicken recipe — should are inspired secondary characters. Dodson, IQ’s childhood friend, was present in the first story and rocks out in this one as well. He is trying to turn over a new leaf, primarily because his girlfriend is pregnant. Dodson would really like to be a normal dude, something that’s hard to do given his criminal past and inclinations. “Helping” IQ doesn’t exactly solve his problems or endear him to the mother of his child, but he is vital to taking on the Las Vegas underworld, nasty gangs, and lots of people with guns.

Ide must delight in twisting his story onto an unexpected path. His writing is artful, manipulative, and surprising. He can wring pathos, draw out comedy, and has an ear for slang and cultural essences.

Want more. Please.