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16th out of 213 books
—
41 voters
Misery Bay (Alex McKnight #8)
by
Steve Hamilton (Goodreads Author)
The New York Times Bestseller
One of The Boston Globe's Best Mysteries of 2011
ALEX MCKNIGHT IS BACKin the long-awaited return of one of crime fiction's most critically acclaimed series.
On a frozen January night, a young man loops one end of a long rope over the branch of a tree.The other end he ties around his neck.A snowmobiler will find him thirty-six hours later, his lif...more
One of The Boston Globe's Best Mysteries of 2011
ALEX MCKNIGHT IS BACKin the long-awaited return of one of crime fiction's most critically acclaimed series.
On a frozen January night, a young man loops one end of a long rope over the branch of a tree.The other end he ties around his neck.A snowmobiler will find him thirty-six hours later, his lif...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
June 7th 2011
by Minotaur Books
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Glad to catch up again with Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight series. Alex is a reluctant investigator, once a cop and now a private detective holed up here in Paradise, Michigan. A young boy is found dead, an apparent suicide hanging dead at Misery Bay on Lake Superior. And there starts a complex and seemingly impossible quest, to satisfy the grief of a father on the loss of his son. Alex's solid investigation - persistent, detailed and open minded - and his teamwork with Paradise police chief Mav...more
After enduring a sweltering summer here in the armpit of the nation, it was refreshing to read about snow and winter. Alex McKnight, a sometime private investigator in Upper Michigan is sought out one snowbound evening at his favorite bar by his erstwhile nemesis, the town's chief of police. The chief swallows his pride and asks for McKnight's help on a baffling case - the son of a friend and fellow officer has has committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. The chief wants McKnight to do...more
Jul 17, 2011
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2011-audio-books,
2011-mysteries
Misery Bay, by Steve Hamilton, a-minus, Narrated by Dan John Miller, produced by Brilliance Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
On a frozen January night, a young man loops one end of a long rope over the branch of a tree. The other end he ties around his neck. A snowmobiler will
find him 36 hours later, his lifeless eyes staring out at the endless coldwater of Lake Superior. It happens in a lonely corner of the Upper Peninsula,
in a place they call Misery Bay, a good 250 miles west of Paradise. Al...more
On a frozen January night, a young man loops one end of a long rope over the branch of a tree. The other end he ties around his neck. A snowmobiler will
find him 36 hours later, his lifeless eyes staring out at the endless coldwater of Lake Superior. It happens in a lonely corner of the Upper Peninsula,
in a place they call Misery Bay, a good 250 miles west of Paradise. Al...more
There’s a reason Steve Hamilton draws fine comments from the likes of Lee Child, George Pelecanos and many others at the rule at the top of the American mystery heap.
He’s very, very good. Nothing flashy, no gimmicks. Just good.
Hamilton is such a confident, powerful writer. He doesn’t rush or force anything. Despite the body pile-up in “Misery Bay,” the events don’t feel forced or contrived. There’s lots of plot and good detective work by Alex McKnight, but the whole book is so character-driven...more
He’s very, very good. Nothing flashy, no gimmicks. Just good.
Hamilton is such a confident, powerful writer. He doesn’t rush or force anything. Despite the body pile-up in “Misery Bay,” the events don’t feel forced or contrived. There’s lots of plot and good detective work by Alex McKnight, but the whole book is so character-driven...more
It's been a long time since Hamilton published an Alex McKnight mystery, but this book was worth the wait.
Alex is still drinking Canadian beer at the Glasgow Inn under the grumpy eye of barkeep Jackie, still working on rebuilding his cabins with Vinnie, still wondering why on earth he lives in a place where winter never seems to end. Everything in his life is reassuringly normal---and then he receives a plea for help from his arch nemesis, local police Chief Roy Maven. As strange as it seems to...more
Alex is still drinking Canadian beer at the Glasgow Inn under the grumpy eye of barkeep Jackie, still working on rebuilding his cabins with Vinnie, still wondering why on earth he lives in a place where winter never seems to end. Everything in his life is reassuringly normal---and then he receives a plea for help from his arch nemesis, local police Chief Roy Maven. As strange as it seems to...more
May 17, 2011
Ronald Roseborough
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
mystery-adventure-thriller,
alex-mcknight
This one has more twists than a hangman's noose. Alex McNight is a part time private investigator and a full time retired Detroit police officer with a bullet lodged near his heart. He is reluctantly drawn from his rustic cabin in Paradise, Michigan, into the investigation of an apparent suicide of a young college student. The father, a U. S. Marshal, just wants to know why. Why would his son hang himself? Before Alex can report back from Misery Bay, the scene of the suicide, he finds the body o...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Steve Hamilton may be one of the best crime/mystery writers in the literary world today. After his spectacular book The Lock Artist, Hamilton returns to the town of Paradise in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and his series of books featuring baseball player-turned-cop-turned-sometime-private investigator Alex McKnight. And it's truly like the return of an old friend, as Hamilton hooked me within the first few pages and kept me racing breathlessly until the book's conclusion.
One cold night, a colle...more
One cold night, a colle...more
I recently discovered Steve Hamilton and read his work entitled The Lock Artist, a book I thoroughly enjoyed. So when the opportunity arose to procure an advance copy of his latest, a thriller called Misery Bay, I jumped at the chance.
Misery Bay stars a character called Alex McKnight. McKnight has, apparently, appeared before in previous Hamilton works, but my unfamiliarity with McKnight proved inconsequential. Hamilton eased me into McKnight's world by utilizing an organic, smooth narrative sty...more
Misery Bay stars a character called Alex McKnight. McKnight has, apparently, appeared before in previous Hamilton works, but my unfamiliarity with McKnight proved inconsequential. Hamilton eased me into McKnight's world by utilizing an organic, smooth narrative sty...more
On nights when I know I'm not going to be able to sleep, I like to have a book that makes me want to stay up and read. This is one such book.
Alex McKnight reluctantly goes back to work as a private investigator to help a father discover the reasons for his son's suicide. Beginning with his visit to Misery Bay, the site of the young man's death by hanging, Alex feels that something is wrong with the official investigation. I don't want to reveal details of the plot. There is a murder, there are...more
Alex McKnight reluctantly goes back to work as a private investigator to help a father discover the reasons for his son's suicide. Beginning with his visit to Misery Bay, the site of the young man's death by hanging, Alex feels that something is wrong with the official investigation. I don't want to reveal details of the plot. There is a murder, there are...more
Having waited (almost) patiently for four years for the next instalment of the Alex McKnight series I tucked myself up for an evening in front of the fire and immersed myself in this tale of wintry despair, suicide and murder.
What never fails to disappoint with Hamilton's writing is his depiction of place and atmosphere. As a reader you are transported to the snowy bleakness of the shores of Lake Superior or the warm confines of McKnight's watering hole the Glasgow Inn and you feel that you are...more
What never fails to disappoint with Hamilton's writing is his depiction of place and atmosphere. As a reader you are transported to the snowy bleakness of the shores of Lake Superior or the warm confines of McKnight's watering hole the Glasgow Inn and you feel that you are...more
It's been a while since the last Alex McKnight novel, and it was worth the wait. Author Steve Hamilton (recent Edgar Award winner) does a good job of slipping back into the familiar characters and settings of the series, while still keeping it fresh. He feeds you just enough information from past books to refresh your memory, while also helping out first-time readers of the series. (So, you don't need to have read earlier novels to enjoy this one.) Some of the usual, secondary characters of past...more
I wanted to end the week with a bang and I chose this novel to start it off.
Let’s get rolling on” Misery Bay”! Here is the synopsis:
“On a frozen January night, a young man loops one end of a long rope over the branch of a tree. The other end he ties around his neck. A snowmobiler will find him 36 hours later, his lifeless eyes staring out at the endless cold water of Lake Superior. It happens in a lonely corner of the Upper Peninsula, in a place they call Misery Bay, a good 250 miles west of Pa...more
Let’s get rolling on” Misery Bay”! Here is the synopsis:
“On a frozen January night, a young man loops one end of a long rope over the branch of a tree. The other end he ties around his neck. A snowmobiler will find him 36 hours later, his lifeless eyes staring out at the endless cold water of Lake Superior. It happens in a lonely corner of the Upper Peninsula, in a place they call Misery Bay, a good 250 miles west of Pa...more
#8 in the Alex McKnight series. Author Hamilton returns to the series for the first time since A Stolen Season (2006). This series entry contains a surprise when normal antagonist Roy Maven appeals for help from McNight. I also enjoyed a tour of Michigan's Upper Pensinsula (revisited in Joseph Heyward's Woods Cop series).
Alex McKnight looks into the murders of three young people, all made to look like suicides. McKnight receives an unexpected visit from Sault Ste. Marie police chief Roy Maven, h...more
Alex McKnight looks into the murders of three young people, all made to look like suicides. McKnight receives an unexpected visit from Sault Ste. Marie police chief Roy Maven, h...more
A good read. A nice mystery, well plotted and well written. Some great dialogue, and many nice descriptions of life and the towns in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I liked the story, and the many twists throughout.
It's nice to see Hamilton is writing again about Alex McKnight, the depressed former Detroit cop now living in Paradise, Mich. In this book, McKnight gets drawn in by an old nemesis, Sault Ste. Marie Police Chief Roy Maven, to help investigate a string of questionable suicides and ou...more
It's nice to see Hamilton is writing again about Alex McKnight, the depressed former Detroit cop now living in Paradise, Mich. In this book, McKnight gets drawn in by an old nemesis, Sault Ste. Marie Police Chief Roy Maven, to help investigate a string of questionable suicides and ou...more
This book was great. It held my attention and allowed me to be moved into the story. It also lead me to make my own conclusions to see if I was right. I ended up being wrong but that made it more interesting. Adding the final character in the final part was very good.
This book is a murder mystery. It goes through figuring out where all of the main characters knew each other or had worked together. It was well done and only came together at the very end of the book. The deaths and the way the kil...more
This book is a murder mystery. It goes through figuring out where all of the main characters knew each other or had worked together. It was well done and only came together at the very end of the book. The deaths and the way the kil...more
Misery Bay by Steve Hamilton
~~~About the author~~~
Steve Hamilton is a prolific American crime/thriller writer. He has written many books, some of which are stand alone books. This book however is the eigth in the 'Alex McKnight series'. Alex McKnight is the main character in these books, he is, in Misery Bay, a retired police officer turned private investigator. I have not read the other books so I cannot comment on how his character develops through the series. The series includes (in order of...more
~~~About the author~~~
Steve Hamilton is a prolific American crime/thriller writer. He has written many books, some of which are stand alone books. This book however is the eigth in the 'Alex McKnight series'. Alex McKnight is the main character in these books, he is, in Misery Bay, a retired police officer turned private investigator. I have not read the other books so I cannot comment on how his character develops through the series. The series includes (in order of...more
Incredible writer and even better geographer. Hamilton's descriptions of Michigan's UP are so amazing that I think I could navigate between St. Ignace and the Soo using the Alex McKnight mysteries alone. Once in a great while I find a writer who so completely immerses me in his fictional world that I'm actually shocked when I look up and realize that I'm at home. Hamilton does that (and so does Tony Hillerman). Ironically, Alex McKnight's Paradise, Michigan is no place you'd want to be. Even Ale...more
The first page of the newest book by Steve Hamilton, which brings the welcome return of Alex McKnight, describes a scene wherein the body of a young man is found hanging from a tree branch at the edge of a bay in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. For those new to the series, McKnight is a former Detroit cop and current holder of a p.i. license, although he protests that he ‘doesn’t do that anymore’: He owns and rents out cabins to ‘the snowmobile people’ in season.
Three months after that first-page ev...more
Three months after that first-page ev...more
Jun 29, 2011
Sue
added it
Very dark! The Police Chief of Sault Ste. Marie, MI, who has an antagonistic relationship with Alex McKnight - a retired police officer, asks McKnight to help a friend of his. The friend's son committed suicide by hanging early in the New Year at a place called Misery Bay, MI (in the far northwestern part of Upper Peninsula). McKnight meets with the man, who has come to the Soo to talk to his friend & ask for McKnight's help in trying to determine why his son committed suicide - no note was...more
Not as good as "The Lock Artist" (which was great!), but another entertaining Alex McKnight novel with great discriptions of northern Michigan, now added to my 'places to avoid' list - at least during their 10+ months of winter!
First book I have read with this particular character, Alex Knight. He is a retired policeman who has taken several bullets in the line of duty. He has retired to a group of cabins he is renovating. On a cold wintery night, his old boss, Chief Maven comes to find him asking for help. An old partner of his wants answers for why his son committed suicide. Maven and Alex never got along when he was working so he is surprised by this request. As he starts to look into the incident, he finds there is...more
I have to give this book four stars because there were several days when I couldn't put it down. Plus, it takes place in my beloved UP. My husband is devouring this series in a way I've never seen him move through books before. I enjoyed reading a story that covered so much familiar ground and I also enjoyed trying to figure out the mystery. However, this book exaggerates characteristics of the UP climate and people, and sometimes Hamilton gets his facts just plain wrong (characters looking out...more
Alex McKnight returns to action in this exciting story that brings Chief Maven, McKnight's local law enforcement nemesis, together to help Maven's friend find out why his college age son has committed suicide. The story moves from one part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula to another as McKnight and Maven uncover other supposed suicides of young men and women, later followed by their parents' murder, and try to connect why these seemingly isolated cases have a common thread. The action has McNight b...more
In an interview at the back of the book, Steve Hamilton admits that character is more important then plot. He manages to portray the middle-aged macho detective very well in McKnight (decent) and his unlikely colleague Malvern(crotchety and troubbled). The plot twists cleverly and the ending is unexpected.
It is set in the icy world of the Lakes, Canada, namely Michigan. You have a sense of driving along them such is the detail of the small townships on the way. Sault Ste. Marie is a distant memo...more
It is set in the icy world of the Lakes, Canada, namely Michigan. You have a sense of driving along them such is the detail of the small townships on the way. Sault Ste. Marie is a distant memo...more
I won this book here on goodreads, and just picked it up yesterday to read. I stayed up half the night reading, and then got up early to finish it. It was kind of a suspense, murder mystery, thriller type of book, and I had to keep reading to find out who did it and why.
I have to say here, I had never heard of this author or series, and I was starting the series at #8. I felt like the author did a good job reintroducing his characters and I didn't have a hard time jumping in. There were a few re...more
I have to say here, I had never heard of this author or series, and I was starting the series at #8. I felt like the author did a good job reintroducing his characters and I didn't have a hard time jumping in. There were a few re...more
Misery Bay was a great read. I had a hard time putting it down. Spent a couple late nights this weekend finishing it. Great protagonist. Alex Mcknight agrees to investigate a suicide for the victim's father, a highway patrolman who worked alongside Chief Roy Maven. Maven and McKnight have a history that didn't include favors until now. Along the way a couple of FBI agents get involved when the father is murdered and they determine there may be more similar situations involving Michigan police. T...more
So far I am enjoying this book, except for the geographic error referencing Lake Huron instead of Lake Michigan on page 82!
I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, mysteries with no romance are not my favorite. I enjoyed the character, Alex McKnight, and would like to read the earlier books to understand the character's development. He may take the place of Lee Child's Jack Reacher.
Of course, I really enjoyed the fact that the book is set in the UP and I know all of the place names menti...more
I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, mysteries with no romance are not my favorite. I enjoyed the character, Alex McKnight, and would like to read the earlier books to understand the character's development. He may take the place of Lee Child's Jack Reacher.
Of course, I really enjoyed the fact that the book is set in the UP and I know all of the place names menti...more
Not that I am into guns, but how can a P.I. With no gun, not particular charming, notmuch defense skills (at least with this book, and so far the only one I have read of this series), could carry on with just a series of "than a thought came to me....". I don't find the main character very convincing. Just so it happens that I came across with almost a similar story when I watched one of my favorite programs "American Justice" so again I didn't think this plot line was ingenuitive. With myster/t...more
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