Short Story Wednesday: stories from Damn Near Dead 2, edited by Bill Crider

A few months ago, I purchased a copy of Damn Near Dead 2, edited by Bill Crider and published by Busted Flush Press in 2010. The book had come to my attention when I was looking for a copy of "Chin Yong-Yun Takes a Case" by S.J. Rozan, and I decided to buy it when I saw a list of the authors with stories in the book. So this week I read a few stories from the beginning  of the book. 

The first story is “Sleep, Creep, Leap” by Patricia Abbott. I had read this story earlier in a collection of Abbott's stories, Monkey Justice. Bob Mason is an older man, in his early seventies (my age). His next door neighbor, Lillian, dies and her house sits empty for over a year. The neighborhood is going downhill, no one wants to buy in the area. Then, a younger woman, newly divorced, moves in. She is not the ideal neighbor, with a barking dog and a nasty boyfriend. When Bob thinks that she is being abused and tries to help out, things don't go well. This is an excellent story, dark and sad, with a lot of character development for its length.

I loved the title, which is referring to the way some perennial plants grow, the “sleep, creep, leap” effect. The first year they sleep, the next year they creep (grow more), and in the third year they leap, or reach their full potential. This is discussed as he plants hydrangeas between the two houses, noting in the second year that they will be getting bigger and bloom more. Not having much experience with perennials until the last couple of years, this phrase was new to me.

The second story is "The Last Long Ride of El Canejo" by Ace Atkins, which was also very good. Patricia Abbott discussed this story at her blog,  Pattinase, so you should check out her review there. 

The third story was “Stiffs” by Neal Barrett, Jr. That one is a science fiction story, set on the Moon, about a group of assassins who are very, very old  and are competing to be the oldest living assassin. It was confusing, but I liked it anyway, confusion and all.

“The End of Jim and Ezra” by C. J. Box is a Western story set in the 1800's in Wyoming. Two old trappers are snowed in up in the mountains and run out of food. Everything that Ezra does is driving Jim crazy. I did not love the ending but overall the story was good and it provided a good picture of that time and the brutal weather.

I read a total of eight stories from the book, and the last one I read was “Flying Solo” by Ed Gorman. Two cancer patients, who are getting chemo treatments at the same time, become friends and decide to take the law into their own hands to help out some of the nurses. Very well done and somewhat more upbeat than the others. Based on another book I read that talked about chemotherapy treatments, that part of it was accurately described.

The theme here is "geezer noir" and the overall result is dark stories, and often very sad ones. I haven't read all the stories yet, and I know that the story by S.J. Rozan is neither noir nor sad, so maybe I will find a few others that are not so dark. Not that I mind reading dark stories.

Save the Last Dance for Me: Ed Gorman

Years ago, in 2006, I read the first three books in this series and now I have returned to it with book #4, Save the Last Dance for Me.

My favorite part of these books is the historical setting in the 1950s and 1960s. The first book, The Day the Music Died, is set in 1958, and starts the day before Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash. This book is set in the summer of 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon are running for President.

Sam McCain is a young and not very successful lawyer in Black River Falls, Iowa. In need of money, he often works as an investigator for District Judge Esme Anne Whitney, who is rich and influential in their community. As the book begins, McCain is attending a religious service with the local newspaper reporter, Kiley  Burke.

Here is a sample of the narration that sets up the story...

I guess I should do a little scene-setting here.

The date is August 19, 1960. The town is Black River Falls, Iowa, pop. 20,300. The pretty, red-haired young woman I'm with is Kylie Burke, ace reporter for The Black River Falls Clarion. Only reporter, actually. She isn't writing the story—her boss is doing that—but she thought it’d look good on her resume (in case the New York Times calls someday) to say she did background on a group of Ozark folks who moved here after getting kicked out of every state contiguous to ours. Seems these folk incorporate rattlesnakes in their services and that is a violation of the law. And after all the rain we had this past spring, there are plenty of timber rattlers to be had in the woods.

Kylie’s a bit uneasy about visiting these folks, as am I, so we’re here together.

My name is Sam McCain. I’m the youngest and poorest attorney in town. I’m also an investigator for Judge Esme Anne Whitney, the handsome, middle-aged woman who presides over district court. At the age of twenty-four, I earn more from Judge Whitney than I do from my law practice. I’m here tonight because I was summoned by Reverend John Muldaur, the hill-country man who procures the rattlers and oversees the services.

Very shortly there is a death. Judge Whitney is concerned about the crime being solved quickly because Richard Milhous Nixon is going to visit the town and she will be hosting an event in his honor. She doesn't want him thinking that the town is full of "a bunch of rubes."

I love the first person narration by Sam McCain. He has his problems, he is far from perfect, but he has integrity and cares about people. Sam is unlucky in love, and there is a good bit of focus on this. I also like the portrayal of Judge Whitney, who is domineering and determined to get her way in everything. There are many other outstanding characters throughout the book.

Also see:

Matt Paust's review at Crime Time

Tom Nolan's review at January Magazine


 -----------------------------

Publisher:  Worldwide, 2003 (orig. pub. 2002).
Length:    252 pages
Format:    Paperback
Series:     Sam McCain #4
Setting:    Iowa
Genre:     Mystery
Source:   I bought my copy.

Reading Summary for April 2019

In April, all my reading was related to the crime fiction genre. One non-fiction book about Scandinavian crime fiction. Of the fiction books, four were published between 1985 and 2002, so nothing very recent. One book published before 1900, and two books published in the 1930's.

Mystery reference

Death in a Cold Climate: A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction (2012)
by Barry Forshaw

The book covers the authors thoughts about crime fiction authors whose books have been translated to English from these countries: Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland. Sweden gets the most coverage and I suppose that reflects that more Swedish authors have been translated. Most of the coverage is for current authors, although earlier translated works by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö are discussed. No way to give a good overview of this in one paragraph. I will read any book on mystery reference, and I learned a lot from this one.

Crime Fiction

The Shortest Way to Hades (1985) by Sarah Caudwell

The Hilary Tamar series centers around a group of young barristers who often seek Hilary's help when they run into trouble. This is book 2 in the series. See my review here.

Tarnished Icons (1997) by Stuart Kaminsky

This is the eleventh novel in Stuart Kaminsky's Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov series, set in Russia in the late 1990's. The prolific Kaminsky is one of my favorite authors. See my review here.

Save the Last Dance for Me (2002) by Ed Gorman

This entertaining and nostalgic book takes us back to the summer of 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were running for President. It is the fourth of ten books starring Sam McCain, a young and not very successful lawyer in Black River Falls, Iowa. In need of money, he often works as an investigator for District Judge Esme Anne Whitney, who is rich and influential in their community. As the book begins, McCain is attending a religious service with the local newspaper reporter, Kiley Burke. Unforturnately, the Reverend John Muldaur is poisoned and dies during the service. Judge Whitney wants the crime solved quickly because Nixon will be visiting the town and she will be hosting an event in his honor. 

Free Reign (1997) by Rosemary Aubert

Set in Canada. The unusual protagonist of this story is a homeless man who was once a judge, high in Toronto society. At the point that the book begins, Ellis Portal is about 50 years old and has been homeless for five years, living in a homemade shelter in a ravine in Toronto. See my review here.

The Woman in White (1859) by Wilkie Collins

I had resisted reading this book for years. Even though it a well-known crime fiction classic, I did not think I would enjoy the old-fashioned story (how wrong I was!). Even then I might have tried it if it had not been so long (600-700 pages).  Finally I overcame my prejudice when Judith at Reading in the Wilderness blogged about how much she enjoyed it.

This book is one of the first sensation novels.  It tells the story of a young woman who marries unwisely and the man who loves her and tries to rescue her from the clutches of an evil. It has multiple narrators, which I really like. William Hartright, a young drawing teacher, starts out the story and is one of the major players, but at times he is only on the fringes of the story.

Death Sends a Cable (1938) by Margaret Tayler Yates

Anne Davenport McLean, better known as "Davvie", is a Navy officer's wife who is living in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Her husband is a doctor; she is an ex-Navy nurse. Recently a young officer on the base has committed suicide; both his wife and Davvie insist that the death was not suicide. Eventually his death is investigated and that leads to other crimes and discoveries. This was the second book by Margaret Taylor Yates in a four book series featuring Davvie as the sleuth. John Norris introduced me to this book at his blog, Pretty Sinister Books, and kindly offered to send me his copy to read. I enjoyed the book, both the mystery and the picture of life in the Navy in this time period. A post with more of my thoughts on the book will follow soon.

Cards on the Table (1936) by Agatha Christie

This is another Christie novel with a different approach. A strange and somewhat disconcerting man, Mr. Shaitana, has invited Hercule Poirot to dinner. When he arrives, he learns that three other sleuths have been invited: Colonel Race, Superintendent Battle and Ariadne Oliver. (Mrs. Oliver is actually a mystery writer, but in this case she tries her hand at detecting.)  After dinner, two foursomes play bridge. At one table are the sleuths, the remaining four guests play at the other table. During the bridge game, some one dies. This was the first appearance of Mrs. Oliver and I enjoyed meeting her. I always love it when Colonel Race shows up. So this was a fun read for me.

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries

Two years ago I purchased a copy of The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, edited and with an introduction by Otto Penzler. It is one of those huge books– around 650 pages with two columns per page, and 60 stories. I don't really like reading large books like that, too awkward, but every year now I pull it out and read a few of the stories.

A quote from Penzler's introduction:

Mystery fiction set during the Christmas season has been with us for a long time, and it is astonishing how many authors have turned their pens and wicked thoughts to this time of year. Perhaps this is because violence seems so out of character, so inappropriate, for this time of year that it takes on extra weight. Think of how often terrible events have been recounted with the sad or angry exclamation, "and at Christmas time!"

These are the stories I read and enjoyed this year.

“Dead on Christmas Street” by John D. MacDonald

A police detective investigates a murder with his girlfriend, who just happens to be the DA's secretary, in the days leading up to Christmas. A clever and entertaining story. Not Christmassy but with descriptions of decorations on the streets, which I enjoyed.

A woman who worked in an office 17 stories up has just fallen to the pavement, into the rush of Christmas shoppers...

Some of the spectators, laden with tinsel- and evergreen-decorated packages, turned away, suppressing a nameless guilt. 

But the curious stayed on. Across the street, in the window of a department store, a vast mechanical Santa rocked back and forth, slapping a mechanical hand against a padded thigh, roaring forever, “Whawhaw ho ho ho. Whawhaw ho ho ho.” The slapping hand had worn the red plush from the padded thigh. 

The ambulance arrived... Wet snow fell into the city. And there was nothing else to see. The corner Santa, a leathery man with a pinched, blue nose, began to ring his hand bell again.

“Dead on Christmas Street” was first published in the December 20, 1952, issue of Collier's. The story is featured at The Trap of Solid Gold, Steve Scott's blog devoted to celebrating the works of John D MacDonald. The post has an illustration from the story as published in Collier's.

"A Reversible Santa Claus" by Meredith Nicholson

This was a new discovery for me, a story from 1917. The story begins...

Mr. William B. Aikins, alias "Softy" Hubbard, alias Billy The Hopper, paused for breath behind a hedge that bordered a quiet lane and peered out into the highway at a roadster whose tail light advertised its presence to his felonious gaze. It was Christmas Eve, and after a day of unseasonable warmth a slow, drizzling rain was whimsically changing to snow. 

The Hopper was blowing from two hours' hard travel over rough country. He had stumbled through woodlands, flattened himself in fence corners to avoid the eyes of curious motorists speeding homeward or flying about distributing Christmas gifts, and he was now bent upon committing himself to an inter-urban trolley line that would afford comfortable transportation for the remainder of his journey. Twenty miles, he estimated, still lay between him and his domicile.

This is a long short story, really novelette length. Billy the Hopper is a retired thief who has settled down on a chicken farm with his wife (a retired shoplifter) and another retired criminal who has expertise in the care and feeding of poultry. One night he succumbs to an ill-advised impulse, and takes a roadster parked in front of a cottage. He soon discovers that the unattended car contained a small child, a 2 year old boy. Now Billy has to figure out how to return the child to his family without going back to prison. This is a fun, old-fashioned story.

Per the preface to the story:

ALONG WITH BOOTH TARKINGTON , George Ade, and the poet James Whitcomb Riley, Meredith Nicholson was part of what was regarded as the Golden Age of literature in Indiana in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Although not an author whose works have stood the test of time well, he was a bestseller in his day whose fiction was governed by the invariable triumph of love and by insistence on the virtues of wholesome, bourgeois life, always told with good-natured humor. “A Reversible Santa Claus” was first published as a slim, illustrated book of that title (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1917).

“Death on Christmas Eve” by Stanley Ellin

This story was not my favorite but it certainly is atmospheric. It is the formidable and harsh story of a brother whose wife has died and the sister he lives with. It was first published in the January 1950 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Moira at Clothes in Books has also covered this story.

This year I read two stories that featured cats.

In "The Trinity Cat" by Ellis Peters, a lop-eared church cat helps a detective in his investigations.

Using the name Ellis Peters, Edith Pargeter wrote two series of mysteries, the Cadfael Mysteries set in the twelfth century and the George Felse series. This story was first published in Winter's Crimes #8 (London, Macmillan, 1976).

"The Christmas Kitten" by Ed Gorman is another long story with chapter divisions featuring characters from Gorman's series about lawyer Sam McCain and Judge Eleanor Whitney, and set in the 1950's. Each title in the series is the title of a song from that time.

The kitten is incidental to the story and does not solve the crime, but is a very nice touch. I enjoyed revisiting these characters, if only briefly, and must get back to reading the series. “The Christmas Kitten” was first published in the January 1997 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Last year I noted several Christmas stories I read in this book in this post.

Favorite Reads of 2016

Goodreads says that I have read 83 books in 2016, which means I will probably end with a total of 85 books read. I tried to cut my list of favorite books for 2016 down to less than ten, but that did not work, and for the third year I ended up with 11 books on the list.

Four of the books fall in the spy fiction sub-genre. Five of the books were published between 1939 and 1986. Six of the books were published between 2001 and 2016 and three of those were published in 2016.

The links go to my reviews / overviews.

Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout (1939)
As usual, the Nero Wolfe mysteries I read this year were among my top reads (and all were rereads). I chose just one book to represent this author.

Nero Wolfe is well known for his extreme distaste for leaving his home. Some Buried Caesar is one of two novels that I can remember where Wolfe and Archie are away from the brownstone from the beginning to the end of the book. Archie drives Wolfe to an exposition where he will display some of his prize orchids, so the story places Archie and Nero into an environment that they know little about. But my favorite thing about this book is that it introduces Lily Rowan.



She Shall Have Murder by Delano Ames (1948)
A Golden Age mystery, set in post-war London, with rationing, feeding the gasmeters, etc. At the beginning of this book, Jane Hamish is writing a mystery story and Dagobert, her lover, is giving her ideas for the plot. Dagobert is unemployed; Jane works in a lawyer's office. Although at first I found Dagobert very annoying, he grew on me as the book moved along and Jane Hamish and Dagobert Brown quickly became my favorite detecting couple in Golden Age fiction.

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming (1957)

This is the fifth novel in the James Bond series, the fourth that I read this year, and it is by far my favorite so far. I have always loved the movie, and luckily in this case the movie and the book are very close.

The three previous Bond books I read were more like adventure stories. From Russia with Love sticks closer to the conventional type of spy story I prefer. Early chapters focus on SMERSH agents setting up a plot to assassinate James Bond and our hero doesn't show up until later in the story. The plot is complicated, there is a train trip on the Orient Express with a beautiful enemy agent, and plenty of exotic settings.

The Labyrinth Makers by Anthony Price (1970)
David Audley works for England's Ministry of Defence, but as a researcher, doing behind the scenes work. For his latest assignment he goes out in the field and he is not thrilled with this change. A WWII-era British cargo plane has been discovered at the bottom of a drained lake, complete with the dead pilot and not much else. His job is to figure out why the Soviets are so interested in the empty plane. The beginning of a spy series with eighteen more books, this is just the type of spy fiction I like: a quiet book, a lot of talking and thinking and not a lot of action.

A Perfect Spy by John le Carré (1986)
This is one of seven books I read this year by John le Carré and they were all excellent books. I picked just one of them to represent this author.

Magnus Pym, a British spy assigned to an important post in Vienna, has disappeared. After he gets a call that his father has died, he leaves for the funeral in London, but he doesn't return when expected. British intelligence agents mount a search for him. Being the gifted spy that he is, Pym easily eludes them for the majority of the book. A Perfect Spy revolves around Magnus Pym's relationship with his father, Rick, a con man who uses everyone in his life to achieve his own goals. The story is mostly autobiographical.

Pashazade by John Courtenay Grimwood (2001)
The first book in the Arabesk Trilogy. The story starts with the investigation of a murder, but the chapters skip back and forth in time, sometimes a few days, sometimes going back years in flashbacks. The setting in the present time is El Iskandryia, a North African metropolis in a world where "the United States brokered a deal that ended World War I and the Ottoman Empire never collapsed," as described on the back of the book. So this is an alternate history, sci-fi, coming of age thriller, and just my cup of tea. Pashazade has elements of a police procedural; the crime is investigated by Chief of Detectives Felix Abrinsky, formerly a policeman in Los Angeles, California, and high tech forensics are used .

Sleeping Dogs by Ed Gorman (2008)
The first in a series of five novels about Dev Conrad, a political consultant. In this novel he is working for an Illinois Senator who is running for reelection. The attitude towards politics in this novel is very cynical. Conrad truly wants his candidate to win because he believes he is the better choice of those available, but he does not see one side as bad and the other as good. No political party or ideology is demonized.

Dev Conrad is a great character. Human, not perfect, he cares about people and about his work. The people working on the campaign appear to be a close-knit group but not everyone is what they seem. The story's ending worked very well. It was logical and made sense but was a surprise to me.

An American Spy by Olen Steinhauer (2012)
Steinhauer is close to the top of my list of favorite spy fiction authors. An American Spy was the third book in his Tourist trilogy,  featuring Milo Weaver, CIA agent in the Department of Tourism. "Tourists" are undercover agents with no identity and no home. Milo is not the James Bond type, although there are plenty of thrilling escapades and violence. But we see the other side of this spy's life, the family he wishes he could spend more time with. I enjoyed picking up on Milo Weaver's adventures again. I like the depth of the characters and the exploration of the conflicts in their lives within this framework. The first book in the trilogy is The Tourist, the second is The Nearest Exit.

A Deadly Thaw by Sarah Ward (2016)
This is Sarah Ward's second novel featuring Detective Inspector Francis Sadler and his team. It is a good police procedural, focusing as much on some of the people related to the crime as on the investigative team.

The dead body of a man is found in an abandoned mortuary, located in an overgrown area outside of Bampton, Derbyshire. The deceased was supposedly murdered twelve years before. His wife, Lena, confessed to the crime and served a ten year prison sentence. Thus begins an unusual case which combines an investigation into who was killed years ago with an inquiry into whether the proper procedures were followed at that time. The plot is very complex but not at the expense of the reader's enjoyment.

See Also Deception by Larry D. Sweazy (2016)
This is the second book in a series featuring Marjorie Trumaine, set on a farm in rural North Dakota in 1964. Marjorie is an indexer, creating indexes for non-fiction books. She does this work freelance to make money that she and her husband, Hank, badly need. The area is affected by a drought, with a severe impact on the crops and livestock on the farm. Hank is an invalid due to an accident on the farm and Marjorie shoulders the responsibility for running the farm.

In this book, Marjorie's best friend in the area, a librarian, commits suicide. She begins to suspect that the suicide was faked but the police will not discuss the case with her. In addition to providing an intriguing mystery, the story gives us a vivid picture of what it was like to be a woman at this time, and how difficult it was to be heard in a man's world.

Shot in Detroit by Patricia Abbott (2016)
A novel of psychological suspense, set in 2007 Detroit. It does not paint a pretty picture of that area or the struggle to survive financially in that environment. The story centers on a female photographer who is working on a project to photograph black men who have died much too young. The subject matter is sometimes unsettling and the story is dark.

Violet Hart is the center of this story. She has family issues; her father deserted her family and her sister died when she was young. She has trouble making ends meet and wants very much to succeed in artistic photography. She is not a very likable person, willing to use people to get what she wants, always pushing her agenda first.

Reading in October 2016

I cannot believe I read 10 books in October. That many books in one month is almost unheard of for me and I wasn't even trying.  And in addition to that I read two graphic novels, although one was a reread.

One of the graphic novels was The Secret Service: Kingsman by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. I had read it early in the year, then watched the movie. I keep hoping to review it so gave it another read. It is pretty short and a fast read. Entertaining but lightweight.

The second graphic novel was Superman for All Seasons by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Longer and not at all lightweight. I have been reading Superman comics now and then since I was a kid, so it was very nostalgic.

The problem is that of the ten books I read I have done a post on only one. I will blog about all of them eventually but for now I will give brief notes or descriptions. I was trying for one sentence summaries but apparently I am not capable of that.



The books I read in October:

The Coffin Dancer by Jeffery Deaver
(This is the second book in the Lincoln Rhyme series about a quadriplegic who is skilled at forensic investigations, usually working as a consultant to the police department. A thriller about finding an assassin who is targeting witnesses to a killing. Plot twists abound.)

Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers
(A reread. This is the sixth book in the Peter Wimsey series and the one that introduces Harriet Vane. I wasn't sure how it would hold up on this reread, but I enjoyed this very much. It has much to offer: a budding romance, Miss Climpson investigating...)

All the Lonely People by Martin Edwards
(Martin Edward's debut crime novel, published in 1991. Harry Devlin is a lawyer whose estranged wife returns to his apartment for a short stay. Soon she is dead and he is the obvious suspect. All the titles in the series are taken from hit songs in the 1960s.)

Boobytrap by Bill Pronzini
(The 25th book in the Nameless Detective series about a private detective. The series began in 1971; over the years the character has aged, matured, and changed his lifestyle. In this book, Nameless is on a solo fishing trip, using a cabin on a river loaned to him by a friend. He just happens to be there at the same time a bomber is seeking vengeance on the people who sent him to jail.)

B-Very Flat by Margot Kinberg
(An academic mystery set at Tilton University in Pennsylvania. Serena Brinkman, a talented violin major in the music department, dies unexpectedly a few hours after winning a major competition. Joel Williams, a former policeman on the faculty, gets involved with the case.)

Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben
(Book 1 in the Myron Bolitar series. Sports agent Myron Bolitar is about to get a big break when his client Christian Steele, a rookie quarterback, is offered a very big deal. Unfortunately at the same time a tragedy in Christian's past comes back to haunt both of them.)

The Labyrinth Makers by Anthony Price
(The first book in a series of spy novels featuring Dr. David Audley, a British Intelligence analyst. Published in 1970. A Dakota aircraft assumed lost at sea after World War II ended has recently been discovered in a lake bed. The Russians are also very interested in this aircraft, and Audley must discover why.)

The Penguin Pool Murder by Stuart Palmer
(This is the first book in the Hildegarde Withers series, published in 1931. Miss Withers is a schoolteacher who helps Detective Oscar Piper with his investigations. I was VERY surprised at the ending of this one.)

Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman
(Kala Stonechild, a First Nations police officer with a troubled background, arrives in Ottawa for a new job just a few days before Christmas. She has no time to find a place to live in a new city before she is working on an important and puzzling case. And as an aboriginal woman she encounters racism on many levels. First of four books in a series.)

Sleeping Dogs by Ed Gorman
(The first in a series of five novels about Dev Conrad, a political consultant. In this novel, the reelection campaign of an Illinois Senator  runs into major problems with dirty tricks, blackmail and murder. Reviewed HERE.)

Every one of these books was a great read and I will be reading more books by these authors. The only one I am not eager to read more of immediately is the series by Jeffery Deaver. I think I need to take those books at a slow pace, due to the subject matter and the thriller aspects. But still a good, fast, and mesmerizing read.

Until I put this all together I had not realized that six of the ten books I read were first books in a series. This was good for discovering new series but bad since I don't need more books to read. And, without even realizing it, I added one more mystery onto my USA Fiction Challenge. Sleeping Dogs by Ed Gorman is set in Illinois.

Note that Margot Kinberg, of the Confessions of a Mystery Novelist... blog, has written a third book featuring Joel Williams, Past Tense, which was just recently released and is available in print or e-book version. I will be reading that one soon.


From Margot's web site:

Past and present meet on the quiet campus of Tilton University when construction workers unearth a set of unidentified bones.

For former police detective-turned-professor Joel Williams, it’s a typical Final Exams week – until a set of bones is discovered on a construction site…

Sleeping Dogs: Ed Gorman

Ed Gorman (November 2, 1941 – October 14, 2016) was an American writer and short fiction anthologist. I know him primarily for his work in the mystery field, but he has also published Westerns and horror stories.

I have been a fan of this author for a long time, since I first started subscribing to Mystery Scene magazine. Gorman was the founder of Mystery Scene along with Robert J. Randisi, but by the time I subscribed the magazine had been acquired by the current editor, Kate L. Stine, and Brian Skupin. I have back copies that were published while Gorman was the editor, and he continued writing columns for the magazine. He was well known for being supportive of other authors and he alerted readers to the blogs (ten years ago) that were getting out the word on mysteries of all types.

Ed Gorman also put together mystery reference books, such as Speaking of Murder and Speaking of Murder, Volume II. He edited many short story anthologies. The one I have is The Deadly Bride and 21 of the Year's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories, which he edited with Martin H. Greenberg. He started out writing short stories and his first novel was Rough Cuts, published in 1986.

Moving on to Sleeping Dogs, I want to start off saying that I loved this book. I had read a few novels by Ed Gorman and I expected to like the book, but I wasn't thrilled about reading a novel about politics right now. I should have known better.

Sleeping Dogs is the first in a series of five novels about Dev Conrad, a political consultant. In this novel he is working for an Illinois Senator who is running for reelection. The previous political consultant had a major difference of opinion with the candidate and left the campaign. Six months later, he commits suicide. At about the same time, the campaign runs into major problems with dirty tricks and blackmail.

The attitude towards politics in this novel is very cynical. That goes right along with my attitude towards politicians and elections so it worked for me. There are no demons here. The main character, Dev Conrad, truly wants his candidate to win because he believes he is the better choice of those available, but he does not see one side as bad and the other as good.

As Ed Gorman says in this piece at Patti Abbott's blog, Pattinase:

In Stranglehold, as with the other two Dev Conrad books, I attempt to show that there are very few heroes on either side of the aisle. What we tend to forget is the primary rule followed by virtually every person ever elected to congress--get yourself re-elected. Every other consideration is secondary. And again, this applies to both sides. As Bob Dylan once wrote, "Money doesn't talk, it swears." And money is just about all that matters in politics

Dev Conrad is a great character. Human, not perfect, but he cares about people and about his work. The people working on the campaign appear to be a close-knit, fun-loving group but not everyone is what they seem. The story's ending worked very well. It was logical and made sense but was a surprise to me.

I will look for other novels in this series. I have also read the first three novels in the Sam McCain series and plan to read more of them. Read about the Sam McCain series at The Thrilling Detective.

Other Resources...

An interview from 2014 at Gravetapping
An interview from 2013 at The Rap Sheet

Tributes at 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?' and at Gravetapping

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   Minotaur Books, 2008
Length:       238 pages
Format:      Hardcover
Series:       Dev Conrad, #1
Setting:      Chicago, Illinois
Genre:       Mystery
Source:     I purchased this book.