The Hungry Detective

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 ...