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Author Ernest Hemingway is dealing with writer’s block and alcoholism when he finds out one of his friends died violently. He goes about trying to solve the case and uncovers a mystery bigger than his own career.

Hemingway Deadlights: A Mystery by Michael Atkinson is set in 1956 when Papa Hemingway is at the point in his career where he has stalled a bit in his writing. Not only has his career taken a dip, but he is drinking even more heavily than usual. Hemingway is living in Key West Florida when the book begins and spends his days drinking. Soon he finds out a friend of his, a local fisherman named Peter Cuthbert, was harpooned to death and the police department isn’t exactly on the case. Since his writing isn’t going anywhere, Hemingway decides to take a crack at solving the crime himself. He travels to Cuba and meets with a mobster, Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara. Guevara informs him that Cuthbert was more than just a simple fisherman. He soon gets up caught in a situation between the FBI, CIA and Batista’s corrupt government in Cuba.

The book shows us the beginning of Ernest’s paranoid and the downfall of his career due to writer’s block, mental illness, and booze. The book even opens with Hemingway falling off his roof drunk and ending up with his leg in a cast. We also see his paranoia and drinking binges taking affect. This is an entertaining take on the writer’s life having him solve crime while being chased by mobsters, spies, the CIA, etc. The author, Atkinson, stays true to Hemingway’s personality and traits. He doesn’t just pepper the book with facts and tidbits about Hemingway to show you he knows his stuff, but instead makes you feel as if you’re really reading about Hemingway solving a mystery. Details from what he eats for breakfast, drinks, and feels seem as realistic as if Hemingway were writing it in his journal. Even his descriptions seem right on as he (as Hemingway) writes about the worst hangover he ever had after a night of drinking with actress Marlene Dietrich. He shares that it was so bad that he burst a blood vessel in his eye from all the “heaving,” while Marlene only needed to go to the spa to recover.

Hemingway Deadlights is thoroughly entertaining and fans of Hemingway will enjoy it if they are realistic in their views on the writer. A wide-eyed fan might not appreciate seeing the downside of the author. We see him at his worst, at the end of his career, paranoid and going a bit nuts with his fourth wife who the author paints as a not so easy to get along with personality. He’s stubborn, drunk, and paranoid, but he is also loyal and shrewd and out to help a friend (or fellow drunk) in need. We see his troubled past and thoughts and past deeds that haunt him. We see the author as not just a genius writer, but as a troubled man and tortured soul.

Hemingway Deadlights is an engaging read for fans of Hemingway and anyone who enjoys a quirky and well-written mystery that is not run of the mill. Atkinson did an excellent job with this book capturing the character.

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