The Hungry Detective

The Hungry Detective has read a fair number of 'new' authors as of late. They are 'new' in the sense that they have a few books in their canon, but until now unread by me. Daniel Judson is one of those guys. And he falls into the loose and vague category of tough guy crime writer. Mr. Judson's latest is THE VIOLET HOUR and it is just about the best thing I have read this year. Cal is a somewhat normal guy. Well, normal enough for a Crime Novel anyway. He works as an un-certified mechanic paid under the table by his shyster boss while hiding a pregnant friend from her abusive husband.  Besides this female entanglement, Cal is on his own. His criminal father and drug addicted brother are now dead. Cal is the straight arrow. He has kept his head down and minded his own business. I'll cut to the chase here and point out a moment that I think encapsultes this book perfectly. Near the end of THE VIOLET HOUR Cal is rummaging around his apartment before he leaves ...

Rennie Airth's John Madden series returns with DEAD OF WINTER . The series has taken a leisurely rout toward publication, three books in ten years. The peerless RIVER OF DARKNESS appeared in 1999 with THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE showing up in 2004. In the chronology of these books we have jumped from just after WWI to the waning years of WWII. In those years we have seen John Madden move from a seasoned Police Detective to, of all things, a farmer in this latest work. I don't want to belabor this point, but I really can not think of a finer piece of historical Crime Fiction than RIVER OF DARKNESS. Character, setting, and plotting are exceptional in this book. THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE delivered a completely opposite experience. The book was a baffling affair that failed as equally as RIVER OF DARKNESS succeeded. This disappointment aside my admiration is undiminished for John Madden's first adventure. The dichotomy of the first two books made it hard not immediately think about w...

I spent a couple weeks reading BLOOD'S A ROVER by James Ellroy. I am not likely to read a denser book until Mr. Ellroy's next work. I turned to Mark Arsenault's LOOT THE MOON as a palate cleanser more than anything else. LOOT THE MOON is Mr. Arsenault's fourth book and second in the Billy Povich series after GRAVERWRITTER .  I had no expectations to the extent that the author is unknown to me. LOOT THE MOON turns out to be a pretty breezy read with some nice dark turns here and there. Billy Povich is on the Obit desk. He used to be an investigative journalist, but a gambling addiction put an end to that. His Dad is at the end of his rope with his dialysis treatments, and his son is dealing with the heavy baggage of losing his mother. Billy is asked by his lawyer friend, Martin, to investigate the murder of a Judge. Everyone thinks the murder was the unfortunate consequence of a robbery gone seriously wrong. Martin thinks someone paid somebody to kill the Judge, and ...

My August 31 post of The Hungry Detective ranked all the non-Bosch books. This list returns to take on the larger task of Mr. Heironimous Bosch. 9 Dragons made its appearance right before the Indy B'Con, and try as I might... ok I didn't try that hard... I didn't have time to read it for inclusion in these rankings. As a quick aside I don't want to undersell any of the books at the bottom of the list. Mr. Connelly doesn't know how to write a bad book, but in my case there have been occasions where I have not connected with his work. 13. THE NARROWS - 2004 It is because I love THE POET so much that this book is at the end of the list. When Mr. Connelly is at his best his works has the precision of a watchmaker. THE NARROWS just felt forced and not worthy of the intricacy of THE POET. 12. BLACK ICE - 1993 Second book. Third read. I thought the story was pretty flat. It has been well over a decade since I read this book, but the story of Mexican drug runner...

The Hungry Detective had planned on his Post-B'Con post to appear sooner, but the hand of fate had other plans, namely Pneumonia. However with loads of free time over the last 5 days I have felt, besides sick, not very creative in terms of posting here. I extend my apologies to long time readers of The Hungry Detective and those of you who are just here harvesting email addresses. The Damage - 19 Books THE LANGUAGE OF BEES + O JERUSALEM - Laurie King 9 DRAGONS - Michael Connelly THE COLD DISH - Craig Johnson THE LAST QUARRY + THE FIRST QUARRY + DEADLY BELOVED - Max Allan Collins THE FURY - Jason Pinter A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS + The ANNIVERSARY MAN - R.J. Ellory SO COLD THE NIGHT - Michael Koryta (Free ARC at Connelly interview) RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL - Jamie Freveletti BLOOD DETECTIVE + BLOOD ATONEMENT - Daniel Waddell DOUBLE EXPOSURE - Michael Lister BOULEVARD - Stephen Jay Schwartz (Book Bazaar) A CARRION OF DEATH - Michael Stanley (Book Bazaar) DEAD MEN'S DUST - Matt Hi...

Yeah, I know it is Monday and these awards were given out on Saturday, but I need to complete the circle of the Bouchercon Awards presentations, so here are your 2009 Anthony Award Winners. Congratulation to all. A complete list of nominees and my 'predictions' can be read here . BEST NOVEL The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly - Little, Brown and Company BEST FIRST NOVEL The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - Knopf BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy - Berkley BEST SHORT STORY "A Sleep Not Unlike Death" by Sean Chercover from Hardcore Hardboiled - Kensington BEST CRITICAL NONFICTION WORK Anthony Boucher: A Bibliography by Jeffrey Marks - McFarland BEST CHILDREN'S/YA NOVEL The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein - Random House BEST COVER ART The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo designed by Peter Mendelsund and written by Stieg Larsson - Knopf SPECIAL SERVICE AWARD Jon and Ruth Jordan

I was not in attendance at the Awards Dinner, but I am sure a good time was had by all. Just the winners are noted, but a complete list of nominees and The Hungry Detective predictions can be found here . I'll have comments, maybe, on Monday. Cheers to all the winners! Best Hardcover Empty Ever After - Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books) Best First PI Novel In the Heat - Ian Vasquez (St. Martins Minotaur) Best Paperback Original Snow Blind - Lori Armstrong (Medallion) Best Short Story “Family Values” - Mitch Alderman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, June 2008)