The Hungry Detective

 A time honored tradition at The Hungry Detective HQ is to perform the twice annual, and largely ceremonial, 'Dennis Lehane New book 20XX" Google search. Nothing comes up on his long abandoned Website, except notification of the script work for his television and film projects.  Grousing aside, 2022 was a big year for Mr. Lehane. BLACK BIRD, a show he created, played on Apple+ to solid acclaim. The show's star, Paul Walter Hauser, won a Golden Globe. But despite that I have yet to watch it. Not for any other reason than I am a movie person more than a TV person. The TV I do watch is watched in an arcane order that is difficult to decipher and even more baffling to explain. Short story, I need to watch ANDOR [Editor's Note: Slow going on ANDOR despite everyone telling me it is amazing.] And then BLACK BIRD, or maybe SLOW HORSES. I'll get there...  Anyway at the dead end of 2022, I did the search. Found out he wrote a book. SMALL MERCIES . I was excited to hear it. I...

 Any day there is a new Michael Connelly book...let alone 5... is a great day. I have developed a real fondness for the Lincoln Lawyer Books and to have them pop up every 4-5 years is a real treat. …RESURRECTION WALK. Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller enlists the help of his half-brother, Harry Bosch, to prove the innocence of a woman convicted of killing her husband. pic.twitter.com/u7awu3d2bk — Michael Connelly (@Connellybooks) January 25, 2023

https://twitter.com/ucrosspop25/status/1616258498362494978?s=20&t=EHEeeFIp7-f6zw1oVENOUw https://twitter.com/ucrosspop25/status/1616258498362494978?s=20&t=EHEeeFIp7-f6zw1oVENOU https://twitter.com/ucrosspop25/status/1616258498362494978?s=20&t=EHEeeFIp7-f6zw1o Perfect timing! I just put HELL AND BACK to bed last weekend, so this announcement for Craig Johnson's latest is welcome news. On the list of things I need to do in 2023 is I need to collect/buy the missing Craig Johnson's in my collection. Book releases just after Bouchercon on September 5th. *Coming September 5th, 2023...* The Longmire Defense: Involved in a search & rescue in the Bighorn Mountains, Walt Longmire finds himself on a rock outcropping where he remembers his father telling him about the first time he saw a man die. pic.twitter.com/0y6L9FnzE2 — Craig Johnson (@ucrosspop25) January 20, 2023

 Over the Thanksgiving holiday I read...well finished... three books. TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY by John le Carré, THE MAID by Nita Prose and STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel. There was a moment when I thought I could catch my reading goal of 40 books. That was.....foolish. [ Editor's Note: I can recommend all 3 books, immensely enjoyable in their own ways. ]  However, December reading died on the vine and alas I only made 28. The last official read of 2022 was Mark Billingham's THE MURDER BOOK. I was remined yet again that the Thorne books are pound for pound the best series running. I started EVERY CLOAK ROLLED IN BLOOD by James Lee Burke but did not finish it until after the 1st. Silver lining....it will pad the 2023 reading numbers. How was the book you might ask? JLB has ascended criticism in my mind so....  After that I moved on to THE ISLAND by Adrian McKinty. I was less enamored with this book than his last. It was some tough sledding through the fir...

The ever reliable Michael Connelly is back with his latest entry to the Bosch & Ballard saga, DESERT STAR. Releases November 8, 2022. The title of Michael's 2022 novel is… DESERT STAR, coming out on November 8. ⁰⁰Detective Renée Ballard and Harry Bosch work together to hunt the killer who is Bosch’s “white whale”—a man responsible for the murder of an entire family. Read more here: https://t.co/k4bsHa1OLd pic.twitter.com/WabzJjR6fk — Michael Connelly (@Connellybooks) April 6, 2022

A few weekends ago I went to the Rare Books LA show in Pasadena, California. I have attended that show or a version of that show more often than not in the last 7-8 years. In the earlier years I tended to walk out of there with something. I grabbed Michael Connelly's THE BLACK ECHO with blue rebate band. On a couple of occasions I was able to mine some moderately priced Edward Gorey books. But the last few shows, as my interests have narrowed, have been slim pickings. On the Edward Gorey side, there always manages to be a bookseller or two. Gorey was a prolific producer. But as a prolific producer many of those books are small run, virtually hand produced copies. Some stray into the hundreds of dollars for that reason. I am not opposed to buying the occasional expensive book, but when there are 30 or 40 with that price tag...  and as much as I like Edward Gorey... I am not quite there. [ Editor's Note: He means 'yet'. He's not there yet. ] I have, also, never really...

 Announced Monday was the new Craig Johnson. Always happy to see a new Walt Longmire and even better HELL AND BACK releases September 6th which is just a few days after my birthday. This will be a nice late present to myself. Coming September 6, 2022 - HELL AND BACK! What if you woke up lying in the middle of the street in the infamous town of Fort Pratt, Montana, where thirty-one, young Native boys perished in a tragic boarding school fire in 1896? pic.twitter.com/LolrhT8sGC — Craig Johnson (@ucrosspop25) February 28, 2022

At some point in the last year Barnes and Noble got interested in selling Crime Fiction. The last four Barnes & Noble in four different cities and in two different states I browsed now have large displays that feature Crime Fiction. For years Crime Fiction was shoe horned between Sci-Fi and the General Fiction section. Usually buried in the back half of the store taking up only 2 or 3 shelves with only meager hardcover availability. Now in 3 of the 4 stores I visited there was a large U-Shaped section encompassing 16-20 shelves. In all cases there were dozens of hardcover offerings. It looked great to see that much variety and it certainly spurred the purchase of the three books below. So after not buying from Barnes and Noble for the last handful of years...save for the most desperate circumstances...I think I might have to reconsider. Anyway these are my recent purchases. THE MAID - Nita Prose I went from definitely getting this, to not getting this, to putting a hold at the Libr...

 Always a good day around the The Hungry Detective Office when Robert Crais announces the latest entry into the Cole/Pike series. November can not get here fast enough. Elvis Cole is back pic.twitter.com/LuIXKPnZRJ — robertcrais (@robertcrais) February 7, 2022

The Edgar nominees were released a couple weeks ago. I have thoughts as you would expect from someone who now seems to update this blog only 2-3 times a year. But before that let me again wonder aloud why this was not broadcasted. The MWA put the Awards on YouTube in 2021. I had hoped this would push the membership to announce the awards with something more dynamic than a press release. Put a couple people on a YouTube screen, little bit of a back and forth, and announce some nominations. They have a YouTube channel that has been dormant for 8 months... the irony is not lost on me... but alas.... As for the nominations, I always squint my eyes at the list and think... 'Not only have I not read these books, but I have also never heard of these books.' Please do not get me wrong. I love Crime Fiction. I have read it for 30 years. The vastness of the field ensures the possibility that with every new book you read you can discover a new favorite author or sub-genre that will se...

Dear Kind Reader of The Hungry Detective, I wrote this post, which I am now publishing, in September of last year. It brought me more or less up to date on my reading habits during the Summer of 2021. LONDON RULES, JOE COUNTRY, SLOUGH HOUSE - Mick Herron I should have read these books at a more leisurely pace, instead of straining to finish one only to strain to finish the next in effort to read all seven books in a condensed timeline. Generally felt the diminishing returns as the series progressed. Character traits once amusing now slightly grate. I definitely favor the early books. My own taste runs more to the serious Spy Thriller whilst both feet of the Slow Horses series are grounded in comedy if not the outright absurd... which given the current reality is probably closer to the truth. I'll happily read the latest, BAD ACTORS, later this Summer. THE UNKINDNESS OF STRANGERS - M.E. Hilliard Like any self respecting Crime Fiction reader I picked this up because of the striking d...

There is no ethics in a Blogger post. I am back dating this post to closer to its announcement on Twitter back in October of 2021. Today is April 7, 2022. The latest James Lee Burke is always an event. CLOAK is the continuation of Holland Family saga. The Holland books have not always been my cup of tea, but I liked ANOTHER KIND OF EDEN a great deal. Burke has always dealt in otherworldly specters. Over time those specters have become less metaphorical and more literal deceptions. It is not something I would have though I would be interest in, but the end of ANOTHER KIND OF EDEN was a show stopper. Book drops on May 24th, 2022.   Coming May 17, 2022. More info at https://t.co/vC7MHd0s3C [EM] pic.twitter.com/gabFcX2jIX — James Lee Burke (@JamesLeeBurke) October 26, 2021

[Editor's Note: Started this missive, never came back to it. Still relevant, I suppose.] I am reading MURDER IN OLD BOMBAY by Nev Marsh. This was... technically still is... on my to buy pile. In the before time... the overwhelming to be read pile time... I would have bought this and thrown it on the shelf to read in the near or more likely distant future. I hope I like it enough to buy the second in the series. Buying a book is fun, buying a book that is good is better. [Editor's Note: Abandoned this book, unfinished.] BLACKTOP WASTELAND - S.A. COSBY So glad I didn't buy this last summer. Good decision to put off buying and reading what would have certainly been one of the best books of the year. New goal for the remaining 2021 calendar. Don't be dumb. Buy Mr. Cosby's follow up and read day one! [Editor's Note: I did buy a signed copy of RAZORBLADE  TEARS, meanwhile B.W. won every award, except the Edgar where it wasn't even nominated!? Also Signed firsts of...

Nearing the end of the first quarter of 2021 somehow. I have taken an advantage of a mostly clear shelf to read 'other things' to start the year. Most of which I have found to be very enjoyable. I love the authors I read on a regular bases, but it is always nice to discover new...or new to me... authors to fill up my brain. I'll be sliding back to the shelf after the current read. The S.A. Cosby is next (Yay!) and I'll follow that with the latest Koryta and Mosely. CASE HISTORIES - Kate Atkinson Nobody needs me to write that CASE HISTORIES is extraordinary.  Melancholy books about the soul crashing weight of our past history are 100% my jam. On to ONE GOOD TURN soon. Mick Herron Slough House #1-4 I found these books to be a fair amount peppier than I anticipated. My expectation was that these would be stories of morose failed spies looking for redemption. And I guess the Slough House books are that, just less morose and a bit funnier than anticipated. Power ranking of ...

Somethings I'm working on... George Smiley John le Carré, David Cornwell, passed away on December 12, 2019. At that point I had only read one of his books, his last, AGENT RUNNING IN THE FIELD. I have watched the Alec Guinness version of TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER SPY a number of times, and in real terms that series haunts me. It is unceasingly melancholy. There is a something special about a piece entertainment weather a book, a movie, or television show that can reach that deep sense of sadness and still be thrilling and wonderful.  I started the year with CALL OF THE DEAD (1961), his first, and his first George Smiley. I look forward to the rest. Billy Boyle I take great enjoyment in the Progressive - Don't Be Your Parents series of commercials. One of the early ones was Dr. Rick gently asking a young man who is reading a book about submarines about who else reads books about submarines. In a resigned sigh the young man says "My dad..." Now funny enough, but that exch...

I read 47 books in 2020 which is 17 more than my 2019 mark. If there is a silver lining to being home, there is more time to read since the start of my professional career. The books broke pretty evenly between being published in 2020, 2019 and in the immediate years before 2019.  It was a proud accomplishment to read down the backlog. There are just one offs sitting on the shelf now. Books that I recently explained to a friend that I could not remember why I bought them much less a desire to ever read them. 2021 hopes be a year where I read a few things I have always wanted too, plus a few classics of literature that I missed when I graduated High School 31 years ago. The Inaugural "I Regret Not Reading This Book" Award BLACKTOP WASTELAND - S.A. Crosby   Every year there is a BLACKTOP WASTELAND. Which is to say a highly regraded book that checks all of the boxes of my interest that I never quite get around to buying,. I read about this book back in July/August and I no dou...

It was nearing the end of October and what seemed like the 10th or 11th day in a row of receiving packages in the mail is when Mrs. Hungry Detective called a timeout on buying things in the form of a delivery of a box or padded envelope.  She was quite right to do so even if I had a couple of November releases to purchase.  Neither was desperate, both come from best selling authors. Finding those books in December was not a challenge. [ Editor's Note: Well, not until they shipped the wrong book... ] More distressing was a 20% off sale from a seller for the month of November. I was anticipate making at least one purchase to fill a hole in my Craig Johnson books. The same seller also has a complete run of James Benn novels. I own Mr. Benn's first and was thinking about buying the next 3-4 books. With the sale, I figured I could get a nice start without having to scour ABE for each book separately. Alas, they will have to wait. [ Editor's Note: Sale has been continued through ...

Curious occurrence that both books are written as flashbacks. I could not reconcile why this was the right time tell these stories this way. Still, both have The Hungry Detective's strongest recommendations.   CRY BABY - Mark Billingham Mr. Billingham is a closer. Which is to say that he knows how to bring to bare the weight of all that has come before in a book's closing moments. In the case of CRY BABY the closing moments certainly calmed some general qualms about why a flashback story now, especially as a milestone book, Mr. Billingham's 20th. There must be something there, right? There is no acknowledgement in previous books, no cryptic references to the events in previous books about this story. Regardless of this semi-frustrating structure, CRY BABY is great, and Mr. Billingham has not missed in quite some time.   A PRIVATE CATHEDRAL - James Lee Burke "I'm talking about the acknowledgment of mortality, and not the kind that slips up on you in hospice or on th...

It has been a long while since I read a first novel. [ Editor's Note: Long time since you enjoyed one too. ] But as the pile shrinks I have dipped my toe back into the waters of the first timer. FIREWATCHING by Russ Thomas falls into that category. While RIVIERA GOLD falls into the opposite as I have been reading Ms. King for over 20 years at this point. Additional, it is nice to read exclusively 2020 releases. And because of this, 2020 will be the first year I would feel comfortable to post a 'Best of' list in December. Even the act of starting that post with a list of potential books has been fun. FIREWATCHING - Russ Thomas Late last year and into the early part of 2020 I listened to a podcast that, impart, dealt with the production of television show. One of the podcasters is a producer/show-runner of a television show and he gamely detailed the ups and downs of that adventure. One of the things he talked about, in detailing the shows writing process, was that you leave ...

In between RESIDUE and THE LAST TOURIST, I read DEVOLUTION: A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THE RAINIER SASQUATCH MASSACRE. Low key, I think Max Brooks's WORLD WAR Z is a straight up masterpiece. DEVOLUTION was not as finely detailed and I found the opening chapters a little rough, but otherwise this is FANTASTIC. A grounded and compulsively well told story. Exceptional stuff. RESIDUE - Michael McGarrity There has always been a bit of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct in the Kevin Kerney series. Lots of characters moving in and out, occasionally taking over for a chapter or two, but the story is always ably lead by now retired Sheriff Kevin Kerney. RESIDUE certainly gets off on the right foot with the discovery of a long missing girl's body with a connection to Kerney. That connection turns Kerney into a murder suspect, and we are off and running with this compelling first act. The promising start is squandered, however, as the story veers from the girl and Kerney. Indeed, Kerney is...