Books: Suburban Dicks By Fabian Nicieza (2021)

“Andie Stern thought she’d solved her final homicide. Once a budding FBI profiler, she gave up her career to raise her four (soon to be five) children in West Windsor, New Jersey. But one day, between soccer games and trips to the local pool, Andie pulls into a gas station – and stumbles across a murder scene. An attendant has been killed, and the bumbling local cops are in way over their heads. Suddenly, Andie is obsessed with the case, and back on the trail of a killer, this time with kids in tow. She soon crosses paths with disgraced local journalist Kenny Lee, who also has everything to prove in solving the case. A string of unusual occurrences – and, eventually, body parts – surfaces around town, and Andie and Kenny uncover simmering racial tensions and a decades-old conspiracy.”

Suburban Dicks is a very entertaining book, most of the time. Legendary comic book writer and co-creator of DEADPOOL, Fabian Nicieza’s debut novel is a send-up of small town racism, murder, and the effects it carries decades later. The idea is nothing new, as we’ve seen these tales of what people will do to protect their lives, their family name, and the town they grew up in for generations from the “new” people moving in. It is a very progressive tale, filled a multicultural characters, some wry humor, and desire to sweep away the darkness that sometimes exists in these conclaves of America where white people fear they’re being replaced.

I did embrace the progressive ideology here, that diversity and multiculturalism are America’s strengths, even if the book can be a bit shallow here and there. But for those who feel that the word “progressive” and “liberal” are dirty words, then they may find this book a bit less interesting, especially as one character points out:

“Except that there are 50 years of institutional racial bias straining all aspects of this case. But be very aware and make it plainly clear that it was a young African-American man killed in 1965 and a young Indian man killed now. You have a Chinese mayor who has completely supported the investigation. You have Hispanic FBI agent leading the investigation in Newark and you have a stubborn New York Jew talking to you all about it now.” 

But that leads to another uncomfortable question: “What is the likelihood that a white police chief, a white former police chief, or a white farmer will be convicted of anything?”

It is here, I suppose, were most people who hate the whole idea of America becoming so mixed, will throw their hands up.

The book has some great characters, but the relationship between journalist Kenny and profiler Andrea stretches some credibility. The idea is that they have a love/hate relationship, but, at times, this seemed because the story required it more than something done organically. It’s hard to do in a book, but it seemed these two characters had zero chemistry. Andrea’s husband Jeff also gets a short-shift here. We’re told that something happened in his life, that he did something bad, which forced them to move and put them in the current financial state they’re in (which made me wonder why they were having a fifth child). But the reveal comes late in the book and seemed like Nicieza editor reminded him of this sub-plot and how it should be resolved before he reveals the murder of the kid.

Finally, the book takes a good, reliable premise that races the pages away, only to lose itself in the weeds about three-quarters in, before a satisfy and pretty funny ending. I’m not sure Nicieza can expand this into a franchise, even though he’s at work getting the book adapted for streaming, but as a one-and-done mystery, it’s a fine addition to the genre of the darkness that exists in small towns.