The Man in the McIntosh Suit is a heartfelt history disguised as a mystery.  With the lure of a puzzle at its core and the hook of solving it to pull the readers along, a rich portrait of first generation Filipino-American life in late 1920s California emerges as the story progresses, gradually taking shape in its freely rendered and lushly toned pages.  Details there are aplenty:  long days of low paid farm work with the rare night out on the town; achingly longing memories of the home country and then, eventually discovering its evocation in the splendors of the “Manilatown” neighborhood of San Francisco.  Along the way there are snippets of colloquial Filipino language and sayings, along with a look at familial – and other – bonds, personal habits, traditional foods and cooking, varieties of clothing and the importance of a good suit!  And, sprinkled throughout, there is the “soundtrack” of classic tin-pan alley, jazz, broadway and torch songs like "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows",  "Blue Skies", "It Had To Be You", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and more. 

And, as for the mystery plot itself:  it is filled with plenty of twists and turns, blind alleys and dead ends (none of which you’ll learn about here) before leading finally to the revelations at the book's conclusion; but – not all is revealed as mysteries remain… to perhaps be tackled in a sequel?

 

To get a feel for what’s in store in these pages, check out this generous preview from D&Q.