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Amos Walker #13
The Hours of the Virgin
Detroit PI Amos Walker searches for a priceless medieval illuminated manuscript—and for evidence that can put his former partner’s killer behind bars
Hired by a curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts to serve as his bodyguard during a transaction involving a stolen illuminated manuscript, Amos Walker enters a darkened skin-flick theater where the exchange is supposed to take place. When the deal goes south, he’s lucky to leave with his life . . . and a new lead to pursue in collaring the man who murdered his partner 20 years ago.
In a case that features a wheelchair-bound pornographer and rare book collector, an ultra-slick art expert, a trophy wife, and a white-collar criminal, Walker faces one of the greatest challenges of his career as a present-day crime draws him back to one of the darkest episodes of his past.
The Hours of the Virgin is the 13th book in the Amos Walker Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Hired by a curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts to serve as his bodyguard during a transaction involving a stolen illuminated manuscript, Amos Walker enters a darkened skin-flick theater where the exchange is supposed to take place. When the deal goes south, he’s lucky to leave with his life . . . and a new lead to pursue in collaring the man who murdered his partner 20 years ago.
In a case that features a wheelchair-bound pornographer and rare book collector, an ultra-slick art expert, a trophy wife, and a white-collar criminal, Walker faces one of the greatest challenges of his career as a present-day crime draws him back to one of the darkest episodes of his past.
The Hours of the Virgin is the 13th book in the Amos Walker Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
22 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Loren D. Estleman
317 books282 followersLoren D. Estleman is an American writer of detective and Western fiction. He writes with a manual typewriter.
Estleman is most famous for his novels about P.I. Amos Walker. Other series characters include Old West marshal Page Murdock and hitman Peter Macklin. He has also written a series of novels about the history of crime in Detroit (also the setting of his Walker books.) His non-series works include Bloody Season, a fictional recreation of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and several novels and stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.
Series:
* Amos Walker Mystery
* Valentino Mystery
* Detroit Crime Mystery
* Peter Macklin Mystery
* Page Murdock Mystery
Estleman is most famous for his novels about P.I. Amos Walker. Other series characters include Old West marshal Page Murdock and hitman Peter Macklin. He has also written a series of novels about the history of crime in Detroit (also the setting of his Walker books.) His non-series works include Bloody Season, a fictional recreation of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and several novels and stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.
Series:
* Amos Walker Mystery
* Valentino Mystery
* Detroit Crime Mystery
* Peter Macklin Mystery
* Page Murdock Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 5, 2024
The Hours of the Virgin is the 13th book in the Detroit-based private detective Amos Walker series. The Hours of the Virgin is also an ancient illuminated manuscript that has been stolen. The curator of a local gallery wants to hire Walker to oversee the payment of a ransom in exchange for the return of the goods.
The handover is supposed to take place in a rundown, dingy movie theatre running adult films on repeat. The curator sits in the front row, Walker a couple of rows behind and all is in readiness. But the meet doesn’t go well, a woman sits down next to Walker, distracting him, shots are fired in the darkness and when he gets himself together, the curator’s gone as is his money and, presumably, so is The Hours of the Virgin.
Notably, it comes to light that the identity of the shooter was none other than Earl North, the man who was responsible for killing Walker’s boss, Dale Leopold. Walker’s high regard for Dale means that he’s going to be extremely motivated to get his hands on the man who went unpunished 20 years earlier.
This particular case is notable for being one of the more serious entries, largely due to the vicarious presence of Dale in Walker’s conscious mind. One of my favourite aspects of the series is the snappy dialogue demonstrated by Amos as he deals with the stubborn, the aggressive and the stupid people he happens upon. This was sadly lacking in this outing and it created a flat atmosphere throughout.
The plot becomes quite convoluted as the trail leads him into the porn industry where money and sex make very dangerous bedfellows. Throw in an extremely disillusioned trophy wife, the whereabouts of the curator and crossing paths with Earl North and suddenly Walker finds himself in a number of firing lines. Then there’s the question over the manuscript itself and its provenance.
Once again, Loren Estleman has produced a classic hardboiled detective thriller featuring one of the most intuitive and hard-nosed investigators in the business. The fact that he’s constantly battling flu symptoms throughout the case proves a little distracting but offers up a salient plot twist at an opportune moment.
Even when he’s not at the top of his game and battling health problems Amos Walker’s still capable of coming up with ingenious solutions for solving improbably difficult mysteries which is good enough for this fan of the genre.
The handover is supposed to take place in a rundown, dingy movie theatre running adult films on repeat. The curator sits in the front row, Walker a couple of rows behind and all is in readiness. But the meet doesn’t go well, a woman sits down next to Walker, distracting him, shots are fired in the darkness and when he gets himself together, the curator’s gone as is his money and, presumably, so is The Hours of the Virgin.
Notably, it comes to light that the identity of the shooter was none other than Earl North, the man who was responsible for killing Walker’s boss, Dale Leopold. Walker’s high regard for Dale means that he’s going to be extremely motivated to get his hands on the man who went unpunished 20 years earlier.
This particular case is notable for being one of the more serious entries, largely due to the vicarious presence of Dale in Walker’s conscious mind. One of my favourite aspects of the series is the snappy dialogue demonstrated by Amos as he deals with the stubborn, the aggressive and the stupid people he happens upon. This was sadly lacking in this outing and it created a flat atmosphere throughout.
The plot becomes quite convoluted as the trail leads him into the porn industry where money and sex make very dangerous bedfellows. Throw in an extremely disillusioned trophy wife, the whereabouts of the curator and crossing paths with Earl North and suddenly Walker finds himself in a number of firing lines. Then there’s the question over the manuscript itself and its provenance.
Once again, Loren Estleman has produced a classic hardboiled detective thriller featuring one of the most intuitive and hard-nosed investigators in the business. The fact that he’s constantly battling flu symptoms throughout the case proves a little distracting but offers up a salient plot twist at an opportune moment.
Even when he’s not at the top of his game and battling health problems Amos Walker’s still capable of coming up with ingenious solutions for solving improbably difficult mysteries which is good enough for this fan of the genre.
August 30, 2022
The hours of the Virgin is an ancient manuscript that has been lost for centuries and it has decided to pop up in Detroit home of the private eye Amos Walker. He shoots of his mouth better than his gun.
This is the story of how Walker finally catches the killer of his partner, meets a dame with two different color eyes, a sympathetic billionaire and his butler. And saves a priceless document for future generations.
On occasion the book is too fast and funny talking for its own benefit but mr Estleman does tell a good story and his private investigator is original enough to fill the shoes of one Philip Marlowe who chose to live in a warmer climate.
Good fun can be obtained from reading this Detroit noir only if you have a sense of humor otherwise this book and series is wasted on you.
This is the story of how Walker finally catches the killer of his partner, meets a dame with two different color eyes, a sympathetic billionaire and his butler. And saves a priceless document for future generations.
On occasion the book is too fast and funny talking for its own benefit but mr Estleman does tell a good story and his private investigator is original enough to fill the shoes of one Philip Marlowe who chose to live in a warmer climate.
Good fun can be obtained from reading this Detroit noir only if you have a sense of humor otherwise this book and series is wasted on you.
November 28, 2022
"When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. And it happens we're in the detective business. Well, when one of your organization gets killed, it's-it's bad business to let the killer get away with it, bad all around, bad for every detective everywhere."
--The Maltese Falcon
Amos Walker, protagonist of dozens of Loren Estleman's Detroit-based mystery novels used to have a partner, a mentor in Dale Leopold. Leopold was gunned down in a routine shadow job for a divorce case, and the man walked free after a weak trial.
Now, the killer surfaces again in a case involving a lost page from a Book of Hours, a skin magazine billionaire, a missing wife, and an antiquities expert. Untangling all this is a matter of time for Amos, but the ride is not just interesting but often hilarious, sad, gripping, and troubling. One of Estleman's best.
--The Maltese Falcon
Amos Walker, protagonist of dozens of Loren Estleman's Detroit-based mystery novels used to have a partner, a mentor in Dale Leopold. Leopold was gunned down in a routine shadow job for a divorce case, and the man walked free after a weak trial.
Now, the killer surfaces again in a case involving a lost page from a Book of Hours, a skin magazine billionaire, a missing wife, and an antiquities expert. Untangling all this is a matter of time for Amos, but the ride is not just interesting but often hilarious, sad, gripping, and troubling. One of Estleman's best.
February 28, 2016
#13 in the Amos Walker series.
Detroit PI Amos Walker series - In the echoing, nearly empty galleries of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Walker agrees to accompany a curator on a private mission to recover a recently stolen medieval illuminated manuscript, the Hours of the title. But in the rundown skin-flick theater where the transaction is to take place, Walker is distracted by a young woman and then shot at. The curator, his package, the woman and shooter disappear. The woman turns out to be the young wife of the theater owner, a notorious and wealthy porn king - and rare book collector - confined to a wheelchair. Also involved in the shooting is Earl North, the man who killed Walker's beloved first boss, Dale Leopold, 20 years before, a crime for which North went free.
Detroit PI Amos Walker series - In the echoing, nearly empty galleries of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Walker agrees to accompany a curator on a private mission to recover a recently stolen medieval illuminated manuscript, the Hours of the title. But in the rundown skin-flick theater where the transaction is to take place, Walker is distracted by a young woman and then shot at. The curator, his package, the woman and shooter disappear. The woman turns out to be the young wife of the theater owner, a notorious and wealthy porn king - and rare book collector - confined to a wheelchair. Also involved in the shooting is Earl North, the man who killed Walker's beloved first boss, Dale Leopold, 20 years before, a crime for which North went free.
June 20, 2012
#13 in the Amos Walker private investigator series set in Detroit. Written in the 1940's hard boiled private investigator style, it is a good mystery and interesting reading. Walker is brought into a mystery involving a highly valuable 15th century illuminated manuscript to provide protective services to an exchange for the manuscript which goes awry. Walker than tries to unravel what happened leading to a couple of murders and Walker back to dealing with the man who got away with murdering Walker's partner 20 years earlier.
October 10, 2025
I've read many of Loren Estleman's Amos Walker novels and always enjoyed them. They are always based on a good, solid mystery, and the author's writing style is just as solid. Usually. Estleman writes in the style of the late, great Raymond Chandler, as if Chandler's Philip Marlowe moved his Private Investigations business over two thousand miles from Los Angeles to Detroit and about fifty years on the calendar, and was renamed Amos Walker. Usually.
"The Hours of the Virgin" is, in fact, a solid mystery. I still rated the novel as Four Stars, but Estleman's stories are usually Five Stars in my book. So, what was different about "Hours" that caused me to drop a star?
Every novel is a balance of prose that moves the story and provides atmosphere. It's a balance of plot vs. background. Using Estleman's writing--and Chandler's, too, for that matter--this balance pairs plot movement with what our protagonist sees, thinks, feels, and provides unique descriptions of settings and characters. Some writers strip their stories to the bare bones, leaning heavily toward plot movement. We can think of their work as the "Dragnet" of stories: "Just the facts, ma'am, nothing but the facts." Other writers overwhelm their readers with detail, so much so that we poor readers start skipping paragraphs and descriptions to move forward. Estleman and Chadler are masters of that balance. Usually.
The "Hours of the Virgin" is a rare misfire of balance. Estleman's solid story is bogged down by descriptions of the color of the kitchen cabinets or the bad guy's jackets. We learn far too much about what was once a thriving building but is now a vacant lot.
I'm still a Loren Estleman fan, and I still love Amos Walker. He's a great character and a worthy successor to Philip Marlowe. His stories are told to us in the first person, just as Marlowe told us about "The Little Sister" or "The High Window." In "Hours," Walker is telling us about being hired for a job that sounded simple on its face. He is hired to provide protection during a payoff, which in some ways is reminiscent of Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely." Just as it did for Marlowe, Walker's simple job goes very badly.
What follows is a mix of our current story as Walker works to stay alive, stay out of jail, learn what happened to his now-missing client, and unravel the still-haunting mystery of who killed his former partner and mentor twenty years earlier. Well, Walker knows who killed his partner. He just couldn't prove it, and for twenty years, this particular bad guy has gotten away with it. Now, the same bad guy has surfaced in Walker's current mystery. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . if he's lucky . . . Walker can kill two birds with one stone, and solve both mysteries.
Maybe. You'll have to read "Hours of the Virgin" to learn the outcome. It's worth your time and effort, even though I had some criticism of the balance in this particular Loren D. Estleman--Amos Walker story.
"The Hours of the Virgin" is, in fact, a solid mystery. I still rated the novel as Four Stars, but Estleman's stories are usually Five Stars in my book. So, what was different about "Hours" that caused me to drop a star?
Every novel is a balance of prose that moves the story and provides atmosphere. It's a balance of plot vs. background. Using Estleman's writing--and Chandler's, too, for that matter--this balance pairs plot movement with what our protagonist sees, thinks, feels, and provides unique descriptions of settings and characters. Some writers strip their stories to the bare bones, leaning heavily toward plot movement. We can think of their work as the "Dragnet" of stories: "Just the facts, ma'am, nothing but the facts." Other writers overwhelm their readers with detail, so much so that we poor readers start skipping paragraphs and descriptions to move forward. Estleman and Chadler are masters of that balance. Usually.
The "Hours of the Virgin" is a rare misfire of balance. Estleman's solid story is bogged down by descriptions of the color of the kitchen cabinets or the bad guy's jackets. We learn far too much about what was once a thriving building but is now a vacant lot.
I'm still a Loren Estleman fan, and I still love Amos Walker. He's a great character and a worthy successor to Philip Marlowe. His stories are told to us in the first person, just as Marlowe told us about "The Little Sister" or "The High Window." In "Hours," Walker is telling us about being hired for a job that sounded simple on its face. He is hired to provide protection during a payoff, which in some ways is reminiscent of Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely." Just as it did for Marlowe, Walker's simple job goes very badly.
What follows is a mix of our current story as Walker works to stay alive, stay out of jail, learn what happened to his now-missing client, and unravel the still-haunting mystery of who killed his former partner and mentor twenty years earlier. Well, Walker knows who killed his partner. He just couldn't prove it, and for twenty years, this particular bad guy has gotten away with it. Now, the same bad guy has surfaced in Walker's current mystery. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . if he's lucky . . . Walker can kill two birds with one stone, and solve both mysteries.
Maybe. You'll have to read "Hours of the Virgin" to learn the outcome. It's worth your time and effort, even though I had some criticism of the balance in this particular Loren D. Estleman--Amos Walker story.
May 26, 2023
Estleman writes fine pulp detective stories :)
December 8, 2014
Another entertaining entry from Mr.Estleman. Witty, complex and filled with well-researched material pertaining to Detroit and it's neighboring environs. Shades of Kaminsky,Crais and Parker; my favorites.
June 9, 2015
An Amos Walker Novel. Little more needs to be said. Estleman hasn't misfired yet. Still looking for that "What a classic!" I know he has out there.
January 20, 2020
One of the best and most entertaining Amos Walker novels. Cool plot. The clues are there if you're paying attention. Plenty of references to old movies, and a nice helping of humor.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews