The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Like all of Chabon books, this one is written with a snicker and a sneer - as if he wants to both entertain us and mess with us. A murder is committed in the Jewish district of Sitka, Alaska and the life challenged but clever homicide detective Meyer Landsman is driven to solve the crime before the district is dissolved into the state of Alaska even though he has been told "hands off". There are chess moves, multiple versions of Jewish angst, FBI plots and a whole lot of sentences that end with a list of three in this mystery. Is it because Chabon was once taught that the "rule of three" makes for dramatic or effective writing? Or is it that he just has so much clever language in his head that he just can't make up his mind which sentence ending to choose? I didn't expect it to be as much of a mystery as it was and found the writing to be both intelligent and annoying. Those who liked Kavalier and Clay will probably like this one but probably not as much.