Line #12 Literature/HungoverAndHandcuffed


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/h&h_final_7.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"The worst part of being a pessimist is that you’re almost always right."'']]
3	''Hungover and Handcuffed'' by Nick Feldman is the first Mina Davis book, a series of three (or four, if you count the linked online bonus story) short stories introducing Mina, a hardboiled private eye based out of Seattle, WA. Despite opening on a pretty graphic torture scene, it's generally regarded as a progressive, feminist take on traditional crime fiction tropes, and is occasionally taught in collegiate literature classes for that reason.
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5	The [[TitleDropAnthology titular story]], and the first one in the collection, chronicles Mina's run-in with a serial killer named Jack Darwin.
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7	The second story, "Matamoros," follows Mina's attempts to foil an assassination by the title character.
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9	In "Marty," the third story, Mina is summoned by an old friend who fears someone is coming to kill him.
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11	The online bonus story, "Get Tough," details Mina's first adventure through the frame of her being interrogated it after the fact by the local police.
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13	''Hungover and Handcuffed'' is followed by a second book, ''Literature/AssholeYakuzaBoyfriend''. A third book is due out in 2016.
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15	''Hungover and Handcuffed'' is available [[http://www.amazon.com/Hungover-Handcuffed-Mina-Davis-Book-ebook/dp/B00L1PKC2Y%3FSubscriptionId%3D0ENGV10E9K9QDNSJ5C82%26tag%3Dflatwave-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB00L1PKC2Y here]], or you can start with "Get Tough" [[http://www.nicksblogamericain.com/blog/gettough here]].
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18	!!Hungover and Handcuffed provides examples of the following tropes:
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20	* AffablyEvil: Matamoros' whole schtick.
21	* AntiHero: Mina's intensely negative, mean spirited, judgmental, and a borderline alcoholic... and she's the hero of all four stories.
22	* BatmanGrabsAGun: Mina doesn't kill [[spoiler: unless you torture her with a cheese grater for a few hours first.]]
23	* BeleagueredChildhoodFriend: Marty is this to Mina.
24	* BuryYourGays: Kinda. [[spoiler: Lucy is a DeathByOriginStory example, but once the sequel establishes that most of the cast is queer, it's retroactively more a case of AnyoneCanDie.]]
25	* CastFullOfGay: Mixed with EveryoneIsBi, though only Lucy's sexuality is made explicit in the first book, but WordOfGod establishes that Mina, Matamoros, and Callet are bi, while Linda is gay. In the cases of Mina and Linda, this is made explicit in the sequel. Matamoros and Callet have not yet reappeared, though apparently there are plans for them both to return.
26	* ChekhovsSkill: Mina's pre-PI education, poetry, and dance background all come up now and again.
27	* ConceptsAreCheap: Callet, like [[Theatre/{{Othello}} her inspiration]], has no clearly defined motive for what she does.
28	* ColdBloodedTorture: The cheese grater/lemon juice combo Jack uses on his victims.
29	* DeathByOriginStory: [[spoiler: Both Nice Guy and Lucy.]]
30	* DistaffCounterpart: Mina is one for Literature/SamSpade and Literature/PhilipMarlowe.
31	* DeathSeeker: Mina openly wonders if she's one of these herself.
32	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When we first meet Mina, she's handcuffed in a serial killer's basement, snarking on herself and trying to remember a quote from ''Theatre/TheLionInWinter'', and shrugging off the sadistic torture mostly out of spite. Tells you pretty much everything you need to know about her.
33	* FailureKnight: Her inability to prevent the events of "Get Tough" are what turned Mina into Mina, and she hasn't forgotten them.
34	* FauxAffablyEvil: Jack Darwin.
35	* FemmeFatale: Callet. Matamoros is a rare male example.
36	* FilmNoir: Not actually a film, but consciously invoking the genre at every available opportunity.
37	* FourGirlEnsemble: Mina's college friend group was this before everything went to shit.
38	** Jasmine is TheAce and TeamMom.
39	** Callet is TheLancer and the DeadpanSnarker [[spoiler: and TheStarScream.]]
40	** Mina is, at that point in time, the ShrinkingViolet and TheQuietOne.
41	** Lucy is the CoolBigSis and TheFashionista.
42	* GenderFlip: For traditional film noir characters. Mina is the traditionally male HardboiledDetective and Linda is the FriendOnTheForce, while Matamoros fills the role of FemmeFatale, and Marty the [[WoundedGazelleGambit Wounded Gazelle]].
43	** In the bonus story, Nice Guy is the TheLostLenore, Callet is the TheChessmaster, and Lucy is roughly the DeadSidekick.
44	* TheGhost: Many. Nice Guy, Callet, Linda, and Jasmine all only appear in flashback, but the four of them are almost entirely responsible for the woman Mina ultimately became.
45	** Also Reno Bangs, though she appears (via telephone) in the sequel.
46	* HardboiledDetective: Mina, right down to the trench coat and fedora.
47	* IronicEcho: Mina's internal monologue thrice refers to Jack as "a pro." [[spoiler: Jack's last words to Mina? "Wow, you're a pro.]]
48	** Mina's personal credo started as [[spoiler: Nice Guy's last words.]]
49	* KnightInSourArmor: Mina.
50	* MeaningfulName: Tons.
51	** Matamoros = Moore slayer= more slayer. His bodycount is in at least the triple digits.
52	** Callet Desdemona's name is a reference to Theatre/{{Othello}}. WordOfGod confirms she's meant to be a modern Iago.
53	** Linda Lovelorne has an unresolved crush on Mina.
54	** Nice Guy is, well, a nice guy. [[spoiler: In the race for Jasmine's affections, he finishes last.]]
55	** Jack Darwin believes he can make the world a better place through forced natural selection.
56	* MurderByInaction: Mina chooses not to help [[spoiler: Marty]] once she realizes the extent of their guilt.
57	* PoliceAreUseless: Mina feels this way, though she thinks Linda is an exception.
58	* PrivateDetective: Mina.
59	* PrivateEyeMonologue: The entire book, from Mina.
60	* SerialKiller: Jack Darwin.
61	* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler: Mina spends the entirety of "Matamoros" trying to prevent a murder that's more or less inevitable by the time the story starts.]]
62	* SmugSnake: Jack Darwin.
63	* TitleDropAnthology: A collection of three stories, with "Hungover and Handcuffed" as the first.
64	* TortureTechnician: Jack again. His preferred implement is a cheese grater.
65	* WellIntentionedExtremist: What Jack thinks he is.
66	* WickedCultured: Matamoros and Jack Darwin both work very hard to ''seem'' like this. Matamoros comes closer, but neither quite pull it off according to Mina.
67	* WorldOfSnark: Mina's the best at it, but everyone's a wiseass.
68	* XanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Matamoros' entire plan is an elaborate ploy to get Mina to serve as his alibi, which he otherwise wouldn't have. It works.]]

Context Literature / HungoverAndHandcuffed