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John Francis Cuddy #1
Blunt Darts
This “outstanding” novel featuring a Boston detective searching for a judge’s missing son is a Shamus Award finalist and the first in a series ( The New York Times ). John Cuddy’s heart is buried in a cemetery overlooking Boston harbor. His wife, Beth, fought her cancer for nearly a year, and when she died Cuddy gave up his morning runs in favor of nightly benders. Two months after her death, he is forced out of his job as an insurance investigator for refusing to sign his name to a phony claim. Now he is filing for unemployment, cutting back on his drinking, and attempting to become a private eye. His first real case comes in the form of Valerie Jacobs, a junior high teacher who was friends with Beth. Her star pupil, the son of a Massachusetts judge, has vanished, and the local police have no leads. To make his name as a detective, Cuddy searches for a boy who’s too smart to be found, and whose father would prefer his son never return.
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1984
29 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Jeremiah Healy
74 books20 followersaka Terry Devane
Jeremiah Healy was the creator of the John Francis Cuddy private-investigator series and the author of several legal thrillers. A former sheriff's officer and military police captain, Healy was also a graduate of Rutgers College and the Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston before teaching for eighteen years at the New England School of Law. His first novel, BLUNT DARTS, was published in 1984 and introduced Cuddy, the Boston-based private eye who has become Healy¹s best-known character. Moral, honest--and violent, when need-be--Cuddy makes his living solving cases that have fallen through the cracks of the formal judicial system.
Of his thirteen Cuddy novels and two collections of short stories, fifteen have either won or been nominated for the Shamus Award.
www.JeremiahHealy.com
Series:
* John Francis Cuddy
Jeremiah Healy was the creator of the John Francis Cuddy private-investigator series and the author of several legal thrillers. A former sheriff's officer and military police captain, Healy was also a graduate of Rutgers College and the Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston before teaching for eighteen years at the New England School of Law. His first novel, BLUNT DARTS, was published in 1984 and introduced Cuddy, the Boston-based private eye who has become Healy¹s best-known character. Moral, honest--and violent, when need-be--Cuddy makes his living solving cases that have fallen through the cracks of the formal judicial system.
Of his thirteen Cuddy novels and two collections of short stories, fifteen have either won or been nominated for the Shamus Award.
www.JeremiahHealy.com
Series:
* John Francis Cuddy
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
August 28, 2012
Published in 1984, this is the first book in Jeremiah Healy's series featuring Boston P.I. John Francis Cuddy. Cuddy, a Vietnam vet who has recently been widowed, has also just hung out his shingle as a P.I. after being forced to leave his job as an investigator for an insurance company. He's been drinking too hard and is already a bit world-weary for a guy in his mid-thirties. But he's getting his act together again and is hired by a wealthy woman to find her fourteen year-old grandson who has disappeared.
It appears that the boy, who is very smart and who has experience in the woods, has run away rather than being kidnapped. He's had a troubled youth which includes the death of an uncle and the death of his mother. He's spent some time in a mental health facility but seemed to be doing much better before going missing.
Oddly, no one else in the family seems to be particularly concerned about getting the boy back home. His father is an influential judge who seems more concerned about protecting his political standing than about the safety and well-being of his son. The judge has put the clamps on the investigation into the boy's disappearance and has employed a brutal bodyguard/fixer to keep people like Cuddy from sticking their noses in where they don't belong.
As is the rule in this genre, Cuddy will, of course, pursue the investigation no matter where it takes him and no matter the odds against him. People who read a lot of P.I. novels will see a lot of the usual cliches in this one, but that said, it's a cleverly plotted book with a number of genuine surprises. Cuddy's career would ultimately span thirteen books, and Blunt Darts was a very good beginning to the series.
It appears that the boy, who is very smart and who has experience in the woods, has run away rather than being kidnapped. He's had a troubled youth which includes the death of an uncle and the death of his mother. He's spent some time in a mental health facility but seemed to be doing much better before going missing.
Oddly, no one else in the family seems to be particularly concerned about getting the boy back home. His father is an influential judge who seems more concerned about protecting his political standing than about the safety and well-being of his son. The judge has put the clamps on the investigation into the boy's disappearance and has employed a brutal bodyguard/fixer to keep people like Cuddy from sticking their noses in where they don't belong.
As is the rule in this genre, Cuddy will, of course, pursue the investigation no matter where it takes him and no matter the odds against him. People who read a lot of P.I. novels will see a lot of the usual cliches in this one, but that said, it's a cleverly plotted book with a number of genuine surprises. Cuddy's career would ultimately span thirteen books, and Blunt Darts was a very good beginning to the series.
November 21, 2017
Glad I made the decision to go back to the beginning of this series (having read the fourth first) and confirm my belief that John Cuddy is a Boston PI that I will enjoy reading more of. In this intro to the series Cuddy accepts a challenging assignment to find a missing teenage boy, part of a prominent Boston family.
The investigation is interesting, his method of operation is thorough and he puts himself in danger as he discovers the truth about a judge's family.
These books are currently available to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.
After his wife dies and his job with insurance company ends: "...I sat in the Public Garden for two hours, reading my papers thoroughly in a way I'd never seemed able to while I was working. Funny, but with my time mine own and only food, shelter, and car insurance to worry about, I couldn't really look on my present occupation as 'working.'"
While checking out the judge after his mother hires him: "I could feel the exodus clearing when a five-pound ham dropped on my shoulder. A gruff, egg-breathed voice said, 'His Honor wants to see you in his chambers. Now.'"
In the Berkshires where Cuddy found his prey: "The back of his neck looked funny. There were round, raw holes in it, two just above his hairline. It was as if someone had thrown large, blunt darts at him, the dull points first penetrating the skin, then falling away. There was one downward trickle of blood from each hole."
The investigation is interesting, his method of operation is thorough and he puts himself in danger as he discovers the truth about a judge's family.
These books are currently available to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited on Amazon.
After his wife dies and his job with insurance company ends: "...I sat in the Public Garden for two hours, reading my papers thoroughly in a way I'd never seemed able to while I was working. Funny, but with my time mine own and only food, shelter, and car insurance to worry about, I couldn't really look on my present occupation as 'working.'"
While checking out the judge after his mother hires him: "I could feel the exodus clearing when a five-pound ham dropped on my shoulder. A gruff, egg-breathed voice said, 'His Honor wants to see you in his chambers. Now.'"
In the Berkshires where Cuddy found his prey: "The back of his neck looked funny. There were round, raw holes in it, two just above his hairline. It was as if someone had thrown large, blunt darts at him, the dull points first penetrating the skin, then falling away. There was one downward trickle of blood from each hole."
September 23, 2017
Book Description
Detective John Francis Cuddy is hired to find the missing son of a noted Massachusetts judge. The boy had vanished. The lush Boston suburb didn't offer a clue, but 14-year-old Stephen Kinnington's old-money family did.
My Review
This was a fun read of a debut novel which was written in the 80's and set in Boston with PI John Francis Cuddy who is a widowed Vietnam vet. The book has a first person perspective which Jeremiah Healy pulls off excellently with a nice sense of humor. It is a page-turner and held my interest until the very surprising ending. The book is fast-paced with a good plot and interesting believable characters. I look forward to reading the 2nd book in the series and I highly recommend this series to those who like mystery/suspense books with a nice but flawed hero.
Detective John Francis Cuddy is hired to find the missing son of a noted Massachusetts judge. The boy had vanished. The lush Boston suburb didn't offer a clue, but 14-year-old Stephen Kinnington's old-money family did.
My Review
This was a fun read of a debut novel which was written in the 80's and set in Boston with PI John Francis Cuddy who is a widowed Vietnam vet. The book has a first person perspective which Jeremiah Healy pulls off excellently with a nice sense of humor. It is a page-turner and held my interest until the very surprising ending. The book is fast-paced with a good plot and interesting believable characters. I look forward to reading the 2nd book in the series and I highly recommend this series to those who like mystery/suspense books with a nice but flawed hero.
May 31, 2012
Tough guy, tough kid, tough breaks, a good plot, a good writer and a surprising ending combine to make a good story. Well worth investing some time and a few bucks.
January 26, 2008
This is the first book in the John Francis Cuddy series, one of the most consistently well written and topical in private eye fiction.
February 7, 2008
This introduces Healy's private investigator, John Francis Cuddy. I recommend it to all who enjoy mysteries and a Boston setting.
December 14, 2009
The first in the John Francis Cuddy series. A wonderful PI series that started in the '80's & takes place in Boston.
December 15, 2011
This was tense thriller, with a TWIST of and ending!
August 21, 2014
This was a great book. Short, good pace, interesting private eye. Story is set in Boston about mid-70s. Cuddy is hired to find a missing 14 year old.
September 14, 2014
Solid first effort. Twist at the end. Such a shame he passed away last week. The Vietnam - scarred private eye set in Boston school of writing. I on to the third in the series.
June 18, 2024
I read all of the Cuddy books a long time ago, but when I came to the series 25 years ago, I came in mid series and didn't read them all in order.
This is the 1st in the series and was published in the early 80s, so it has that late 70s/80s private eye novel (and tv show) feel to it. The writing was taut, and on re-reading this, I rediscovered Healy's mastering of dialogue, not just with misspellings or slang, but with how he structured a speaker's sentence, all to give a feeling and life to the character.
Plot premise is John Cuddy is hired to find a missing teenage boy. The kicker is that other than the boy's grandmother and a teacher, no one seems to want to find the boy...not the father (who's a local judge) and not the police of the small town.
Being solidly, a 20th century mystery--- you can't flip out your smart phone and google information or maps. No, if you want information you have to go the town library, or if you need other information, maybe talk to one of the old crusty reporters who knows all of the dirt. Maps are folded papers. And phones were actually phone booths. The "high tech" was the answering machine.
In the 70s-90s, a common trope was to have the hero be a Vietnam vet, and Cuddy is that mold, but from there he veers off. Instead of a confirmed bachelor with a slew of women or even a steady girlfriend, Cuddy is a recent widower who is still grappling with the loss of his wife. He clings to her memory and takes flowers to her grave and talks to her.
He might cut corners but he has a moral code and compass he won't violate.
I read this one a long time ago, and other than the premise, I could not recall the story line so it was a nice book to "rediscover" as new. Also, I didn't remember the big plot twist which comes out.
The books were re-released in ebook format (9 of them) by Open Road media. Or if you want, you can snag the physical paperbacks at used retailers. Either way, give John Francis Cuddy, PI a try. I think I may just work my way through the whole series this summer.
This is the 1st in the series and was published in the early 80s, so it has that late 70s/80s private eye novel (and tv show) feel to it. The writing was taut, and on re-reading this, I rediscovered Healy's mastering of dialogue, not just with misspellings or slang, but with how he structured a speaker's sentence, all to give a feeling and life to the character.
Plot premise is John Cuddy is hired to find a missing teenage boy. The kicker is that other than the boy's grandmother and a teacher, no one seems to want to find the boy...not the father (who's a local judge) and not the police of the small town.
Being solidly, a 20th century mystery--- you can't flip out your smart phone and google information or maps. No, if you want information you have to go the town library, or if you need other information, maybe talk to one of the old crusty reporters who knows all of the dirt. Maps are folded papers. And phones were actually phone booths. The "high tech" was the answering machine.
In the 70s-90s, a common trope was to have the hero be a Vietnam vet, and Cuddy is that mold, but from there he veers off. Instead of a confirmed bachelor with a slew of women or even a steady girlfriend, Cuddy is a recent widower who is still grappling with the loss of his wife. He clings to her memory and takes flowers to her grave and talks to her.
He might cut corners but he has a moral code and compass he won't violate.
I read this one a long time ago, and other than the premise, I could not recall the story line so it was a nice book to "rediscover" as new. Also, I didn't remember the big plot twist which comes out.
The books were re-released in ebook format (9 of them) by Open Road media. Or if you want, you can snag the physical paperbacks at used retailers. Either way, give John Francis Cuddy, PI a try. I think I may just work my way through the whole series this summer.
October 24, 2025
A very good PI mystery, the first in a series from the late 80's. Healy writes smooth, easy to read prose that keeps you flipping the pages to find out what happens next. Cuddy is a likeable protagonist, funny, treats the opposite sex with respect and kicks ass when needed. I can honestly say that I felt this was a better first novel (in a PI mystery series) than Robert B Parker's The Godwulf Manuscript. Both are set in and around the Boston area, and the two PI's have similarities, but Healy's Cuddy was more fun for me than Parker's Spencer. Rest assured that I will be reading more from both authors, and I will continue to compare the two as I work my way through them. But this book? Recommended!
October 18, 2021
I enjoyed this first volume of the series. Our main character, Cuddy, is fully human with his own foibles and issues, but he's not a seriously flawed human like so many current protagonists seem to be. The book made me think of Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. Partly this was because of the Boston setting, but much is also because of the similarity in tone, the fact that Cuddy could use his fists, if necessary, but instead would rather not (with sometimes witty comments, much like Spenser), and his private eye status. I think most Spenser fans would also enjoy this one.
January 4, 2023
I've never read anything by this author and I found this to be a pretty good little mystery. I will definitely try the next book in the series if I can find it. I'm sure there were Spenser comparisons when this book came out but Cuddy is a lot less whimsical and there were no long passages about a meal he was preparing.
July 6, 2021
Big Thumbs Up
Boston - this character *lives* in New England. Meaning, the names aren’t just named. There was no way I could put together that solution, the one near the end that Cuddy solved. It’s a damned good mystery, too.
Boston - this character *lives* in New England. Meaning, the names aren’t just named. There was no way I could put together that solution, the one near the end that Cuddy solved. It’s a damned good mystery, too.
October 17, 2017
The series gets better
March 2, 2021
Read it because it's aet in Boston. Seemed a little slow i initially but turned rhen grabbed me.
October 11, 2022
Chilling. Great twist and turn plot. Very well written.
April 1, 2025
Didn't. Disappoint
Parker fan. Time frame dated but still a winner..I am not a book reviewer but I liked it very much
Parker fan. Time frame dated but still a winner..I am not a book reviewer but I liked it very much
December 11, 2014
John Francis Cuddy has started a small private investigation service when he's hired to find the missing son of a powerful Massachusetts judge. Of course he's not hired by the judge, who doesn't seem to be working too hard to find the boy. He's hired by the boy's grandmother.
Cuddy is Viet Nam vet still mourning the loss of his wife and soul mate. He's a good guy willing to do what it takes to get things done.
This book follows in the footsteps of Spenser, which was the book generally credited with creating the new hard-boiled detective for the sensitive 70s. Cuddy's cut from the same cloth. He's an interesting character. There's a great meta moment when Cuddy is reading Spenser.
This book has several interesting characters - particularly the judge's family. The judge and his bailiff were truly menacing. It was very tense in their first meeting.
The story itself was easy to read and moved quickly. The twist at the end was truly surprising. Everyone in my book club said the same.
It was a little rough as many first books are, but I think I might read more.
Cuddy is Viet Nam vet still mourning the loss of his wife and soul mate. He's a good guy willing to do what it takes to get things done.
This book follows in the footsteps of Spenser, which was the book generally credited with creating the new hard-boiled detective for the sensitive 70s. Cuddy's cut from the same cloth. He's an interesting character. There's a great meta moment when Cuddy is reading Spenser.
This book has several interesting characters - particularly the judge's family. The judge and his bailiff were truly menacing. It was very tense in their first meeting.
The story itself was easy to read and moved quickly. The twist at the end was truly surprising. Everyone in my book club said the same.
It was a little rough as many first books are, but I think I might read more.
March 18, 2016
PLOT OR PREMISE:
John Cuddy is asked by a grandmother to investigate the disappearance of her grandson, a prominent judge's son…even though the judge doesn't seem to want people looking for the boy. Cuddy goes looking anyway, even when a corrupt Sheriff tries to direct him away rather forcefully.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
A huge cast of characters, with a couple of the series regulars just beginning to be fleshed out a little.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
A few of the characters were one-dimensional, fifth business to the storyline - only there to pass along a vital clue, and it was usually pretty obvious that the author was trying to slip it by, since Cuddy himself doesn't catch it.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
A great story
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did follow him on social media.
John Cuddy is asked by a grandmother to investigate the disappearance of her grandson, a prominent judge's son…even though the judge doesn't seem to want people looking for the boy. Cuddy goes looking anyway, even when a corrupt Sheriff tries to direct him away rather forcefully.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
A huge cast of characters, with a couple of the series regulars just beginning to be fleshed out a little.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
A few of the characters were one-dimensional, fifth business to the storyline - only there to pass along a vital clue, and it was usually pretty obvious that the author was trying to slip it by, since Cuddy himself doesn't catch it.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
A great story
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did follow him on social media.
January 18, 2013
I had read several later books and a slew of short stories in this series starring John Francis Cuddy and wanted to see how it all started.
This story lacked the fine polish later ones had but that's to be expected in a first effort.
Cuddy, jobless after refusing to sign a bogus claim for the insurance company he worked for and still a little off-kilter from the death of his wife, takes on the search for a missing 14-year-old boy. The only problem is it seems no one wants him found except for his doting grandmother. His father, in fact, uses his position as a powerful judge, some hired muscle, and a 'captive' police force to stop Cuddy.
The final twist is surprising yet believable but I felt the ending could have been a little stronger.
I plan on reading more.
This story lacked the fine polish later ones had but that's to be expected in a first effort.
Cuddy, jobless after refusing to sign a bogus claim for the insurance company he worked for and still a little off-kilter from the death of his wife, takes on the search for a missing 14-year-old boy. The only problem is it seems no one wants him found except for his doting grandmother. His father, in fact, uses his position as a powerful judge, some hired muscle, and a 'captive' police force to stop Cuddy.
The final twist is surprising yet believable but I felt the ending could have been a little stronger.
I plan on reading more.
August 2, 2014
"Blunt Darts" is written from a first-person perspective, which I usually don't care for. But the author did a brilliant job with the book and it really draws you in. Detective Cuddy is a very fascinating character.
The plot line in the story left me guessing until the end, which is awesome! I hate when a mystery is predictable after the first couple of chapters. I also loved the little bit of humor tossed in, like when Cuddy said he was thinking about farting just to lighten the conversation :) It really made me laugh out loud.
So many times while I was reading this book, I was thinking, "This would make an awesome movie!" I look forward to reading another mystery in the Cuddy series.
The plot line in the story left me guessing until the end, which is awesome! I hate when a mystery is predictable after the first couple of chapters. I also loved the little bit of humor tossed in, like when Cuddy said he was thinking about farting just to lighten the conversation :) It really made me laugh out loud.
So many times while I was reading this book, I was thinking, "This would make an awesome movie!" I look forward to reading another mystery in the Cuddy series.
December 3, 2013
My star rating might be a little low on this, as I did enjoy it and, as other commenters here have said, it's a very decent first novel. A good P.I. story, but it doesn't stand out for me from many others. I do expect to read more of the series, though, as the character has many ways in which he could develop.
March 11, 2016
One of the best first novels that I have read. 14-year old boy disappears and PI John Cuddy must find him and determine what is happening. A terrific surprise ending anchors this well written episode. I have not read any other of Healy's books but I plan to do so to see if he continues in this excellent direction. Highly recommended.
March 3, 2010
Pretty good for a first novel.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews