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Amos Walker #30
Monkey in the Middle
From the master of the hard-boiled detective novel and recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award comes Loren D. Estleman's next enthralling Amos Walker mystery, Monkey in the Middle
“Loren D. Estleman is my hero.” —Harlan Coben
The monkey in the middle is the one who “hears no evil.”
Private eye Amos Walker doesn’t have that luxury. Hearing the truth, on the other hand, is a lot less common, even from people who need his help.
It’s summer in Detroit and Walker’s just received word that his ex-wife has passed away. He can use a distraction, which arrives in the form of a young, would-be investigative journalist who has gotten in way over his head. He needs Walker’s protection, but is suspiciously vague about why and from whom. And he’s not the only one playing their cards way too close to their chest,
- A bestselling author who claims to be retired, but who knows a good story when he hears one.
- A fugitive whistleblower who skipped out on a $100,000 bond.
- A headline-hungry defense attorney who spends as much time before the TV cameras as in court.
- A career assassin with whom Walker has a long, ugly history.
Not to mention any number of covert government agencies pursuing their own agendas, possibly in opposition to each other.
Walker just wants answers, but what he finds is a dead body—and enough trouble to put him on ice for good, unless he can discover what everyone’s not telling him.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
“Loren D. Estleman is my hero.” —Harlan Coben
The monkey in the middle is the one who “hears no evil.”
Private eye Amos Walker doesn’t have that luxury. Hearing the truth, on the other hand, is a lot less common, even from people who need his help.
It’s summer in Detroit and Walker’s just received word that his ex-wife has passed away. He can use a distraction, which arrives in the form of a young, would-be investigative journalist who has gotten in way over his head. He needs Walker’s protection, but is suspiciously vague about why and from whom. And he’s not the only one playing their cards way too close to their chest,
- A bestselling author who claims to be retired, but who knows a good story when he hears one.
- A fugitive whistleblower who skipped out on a $100,000 bond.
- A headline-hungry defense attorney who spends as much time before the TV cameras as in court.
- A career assassin with whom Walker has a long, ugly history.
Not to mention any number of covert government agencies pursuing their own agendas, possibly in opposition to each other.
Walker just wants answers, but what he finds is a dead body—and enough trouble to put him on ice for good, unless he can discover what everyone’s not telling him.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 21, 2022
22 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Loren D. Estleman
316 books281 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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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
April 16, 2022
Amos Walker is one of the last true private detectives in the classic Hammett, Spillane and Chandler style. Monkey in the Middle is another great detective mystery by Loren D. Estleman. As usual we are in Detroit and Walkers old sled is just as himself from another era. He can on the other hand keep up with modern times, sort of. After 30 books it surprised the hxll out of me that there still was some things to learn about Amos privat life. I am really hooked on this series and can really recommend it to all that like detective stories. I must than #Macmillan and #ForgeBooks and #Edelweiss for letting me read this fantastic book and #LorenDEstleman for making this stuff up.
October 8, 2022
It is indeed a concise enjoyable detective story..
Although after 30 books ..I guess we can't blame Amos too much for his heavy duty sarcasm at virtually everyone and everything.
Although after 30 books ..I guess we can't blame Amos too much for his heavy duty sarcasm at virtually everyone and everything.
February 25, 2023
Not as good as previous books have been. Much shorter than most, in this case that's good I guess.
June 26, 2022
For readers like myself who love hard-boiled detective novels and their particular vernacular, Loren D. Estleman’s gritty Amos Walker series is manna from heaven. MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE, the latest entry, is set in the present day but written in this classic style. This makes for an enjoyable throwback of a reading experience coupled with a nice tribute to the genre.
Private eye Amos Walker leaves his office one hot Detroit summer evening to find a young man waiting for him by his car. Shane Sothern is a would-be investigative journalist who is writing a piece on 9/11, even though he was only three years old on that tragic day. For whatever reason, he feels like he is being followed ever since he began working on the article, and his apartment has been ransacked. Thus he is in need of Walker’s protection.
After Shane leaves the office, Amos decides to follow him home to see for himself what this guy is all about. What surprises Amos isn’t necessarily the neighborhood Shane lives in, but the woman he interacts with outside his apartment. Amos swears he has seen that face before. Being old school, he spends some time in the library periodicals room and goes through a handful of papers until he finds who he’s looking for --- Abelia Hunt, who recently has been released on $100,000 bond for allegedly leaking U.S. government secrets to the press. Amos also knows her defense lawyer, Janet Grasso, who must have pulled some nice strings to get her client off with no bail. The problem for Amos now is that he can’t locate Shane or find a phone number for him, despite his many contacts.
But as luck would have it, Shane pops up again. Amos will now get to grill him on what he didn’t reveal from the outset and inform him that whoever tossed his apartment was probably a member of the Feds, the NSA or both, as either group would have interest in Hunt’s whereabouts. However, things become really complicated when Amos and Shane find the dead body of what appears to be a government agent in the abandoned Atlas Motors building next to Shane’s apartment building. Once again Amos is at a loss as to who might have been responsible. He still feels he is not being told the whole story and has no idea who he can trust.
To make matters even worse, Amos learns that his ex-wife, Catherine, has died. While they may not have had the best relationship, he is still moved by her passing and the invitation he received to her funeral by her most recent partner, Guy Prosper. You can imagine how surprised he is when Guy approaches him at the post-funeral meal to tell him that Catherine was being followed in the weeks prior to her death. Amos agrees to look into this but ultimately will be taken aback when he learns that Catherine’s death and the Shane Sothern/Abelia Hunt case actually cross lines with each other.
MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE is fast-paced, hard-hitting detective writing at its finest with surprises at every turn. The language is electric and so juicy that you will find yourself rereading passages just because the descriptions are such a delight. Estleman’s series is a must-read, and if you are discovering it for the first time, I encourage you to explore all the previous installments and enjoy.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
Private eye Amos Walker leaves his office one hot Detroit summer evening to find a young man waiting for him by his car. Shane Sothern is a would-be investigative journalist who is writing a piece on 9/11, even though he was only three years old on that tragic day. For whatever reason, he feels like he is being followed ever since he began working on the article, and his apartment has been ransacked. Thus he is in need of Walker’s protection.
After Shane leaves the office, Amos decides to follow him home to see for himself what this guy is all about. What surprises Amos isn’t necessarily the neighborhood Shane lives in, but the woman he interacts with outside his apartment. Amos swears he has seen that face before. Being old school, he spends some time in the library periodicals room and goes through a handful of papers until he finds who he’s looking for --- Abelia Hunt, who recently has been released on $100,000 bond for allegedly leaking U.S. government secrets to the press. Amos also knows her defense lawyer, Janet Grasso, who must have pulled some nice strings to get her client off with no bail. The problem for Amos now is that he can’t locate Shane or find a phone number for him, despite his many contacts.
But as luck would have it, Shane pops up again. Amos will now get to grill him on what he didn’t reveal from the outset and inform him that whoever tossed his apartment was probably a member of the Feds, the NSA or both, as either group would have interest in Hunt’s whereabouts. However, things become really complicated when Amos and Shane find the dead body of what appears to be a government agent in the abandoned Atlas Motors building next to Shane’s apartment building. Once again Amos is at a loss as to who might have been responsible. He still feels he is not being told the whole story and has no idea who he can trust.
To make matters even worse, Amos learns that his ex-wife, Catherine, has died. While they may not have had the best relationship, he is still moved by her passing and the invitation he received to her funeral by her most recent partner, Guy Prosper. You can imagine how surprised he is when Guy approaches him at the post-funeral meal to tell him that Catherine was being followed in the weeks prior to her death. Amos agrees to look into this but ultimately will be taken aback when he learns that Catherine’s death and the Shane Sothern/Abelia Hunt case actually cross lines with each other.
MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE is fast-paced, hard-hitting detective writing at its finest with surprises at every turn. The language is electric and so juicy that you will find yourself rereading passages just because the descriptions are such a delight. Estleman’s series is a must-read, and if you are discovering it for the first time, I encourage you to explore all the previous installments and enjoy.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
January 19, 2023
It's hard to believe that this could be the thirtieth entry in the Amos Walker series; that must mean that I started reading these books when I was about eleven.
For those not familiar with the series, Walker is a hard-boiled detective of the Old School and has been working the mean streets of Detroit for a generation now. The series makes some concessions to the modern age, particularly in this entry. Walker even has a cell phone now, but he continues to drive what would be a vintage Detroit ride, if it weren't so beat up, and he's still a guy who is more comfortable doing his research in a library rather than on Google. He cracks wise; he's pretty cynical and sarcastic, and he doesn't take crap from anyone.
In this case, Walker is retained by a young researcher/journalist who has gotten himself into serious trouble, although it takes some effort for Walker to discover what that trouble actually is. It turns out that the young man is shielding a woman who has stolen government secrets and is trying to put them to good use.
As a minor functionary in a Washington, D.C. agency, the woman has discovered that the government is keeping very close tabs on large numbers of Americans, violating their right to privacy and, she believes, other of their constitutional rights as well. She's convinced that the American people have a right to know about this and so has taken the evidence and is attempting to get it into the hands of someone who can tell the world about it.
Naturally, this upsets a lot of people in the nation's capitol, many of whom work in agencies identified by three initials. They want the documents back and they want the young woman severely punished. Walker gets tangled up in all of this at the same moment that his ex-wife dies and so we have complications galore. Al in all, it's a fun read and another very good entry in this series.
For those not familiar with the series, Walker is a hard-boiled detective of the Old School and has been working the mean streets of Detroit for a generation now. The series makes some concessions to the modern age, particularly in this entry. Walker even has a cell phone now, but he continues to drive what would be a vintage Detroit ride, if it weren't so beat up, and he's still a guy who is more comfortable doing his research in a library rather than on Google. He cracks wise; he's pretty cynical and sarcastic, and he doesn't take crap from anyone.
In this case, Walker is retained by a young researcher/journalist who has gotten himself into serious trouble, although it takes some effort for Walker to discover what that trouble actually is. It turns out that the young man is shielding a woman who has stolen government secrets and is trying to put them to good use.
As a minor functionary in a Washington, D.C. agency, the woman has discovered that the government is keeping very close tabs on large numbers of Americans, violating their right to privacy and, she believes, other of their constitutional rights as well. She's convinced that the American people have a right to know about this and so has taken the evidence and is attempting to get it into the hands of someone who can tell the world about it.
Naturally, this upsets a lot of people in the nation's capitol, many of whom work in agencies identified by three initials. They want the documents back and they want the young woman severely punished. Walker gets tangled up in all of this at the same moment that his ex-wife dies and so we have complications galore. Al in all, it's a fun read and another very good entry in this series.
November 29, 2023
I have been a long time fan of Amos Walker but this story was a let down. All the usual elements were there with a new twist thrown in, but the story just felt toothless. The shorter length was probably a good thing.
January 2, 2023
I have hop-scotched around this series, reading the very early entries and the later ones but wide swaths in the middle are still in my TBR. This is an instance where that kind of dinged me a bit. You can still read the book as a stand-alone but there's some character history that was left blank for me when a former baddie shows up to throw the wrench into things.
This time out Amos gets sucked into helping out a green would-be journalist who is in way over his head and a government whistleblower on the run. Per usual the Detroit setting is pitch perfect and there are plenty of twists and turns. What didn't work as well for me was the final whodunit because the motive (what there was of one) didn't make much sense to me. Better than average but not a favorite - so probably a B-.
This time out Amos gets sucked into helping out a green would-be journalist who is in way over his head and a government whistleblower on the run. Per usual the Detroit setting is pitch perfect and there are plenty of twists and turns. What didn't work as well for me was the final whodunit because the motive (what there was of one) didn't make much sense to me. Better than average but not a favorite - so probably a B-.
June 21, 2022
Amos Walker is an old-fashioned private eye; a cigarette-smoking, fiercely independent man with an insatiable curiosity and decades of world-wearying experience. He is not a man who changes easily with the times. Like Philip Marlowe, but grittier and more ruminative, he travels the mean streets, in this case of Detroit, beating his head against innumerable walls.
This is a long-running series, and if I haven't read all of them I have read the vast majority. There has yet to be a dud, and that is rare out of thirty books. The first one was great, but as the series, and life, go on, we are getting the quintessential Walker, and he is terrific. Estleman deserves all of the accolades he has received and then some.
I don't like spoilers, so I am not going to give any. This has an excellent plot and will keep you interested. If this is your first Amos Walker you will have no trouble keeping up, but be prepared to clear your schedule because you will definitely want to read the earlier ones. I envy you your journey into the backlist, and heartily recommend this one.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
This is a long-running series, and if I haven't read all of them I have read the vast majority. There has yet to be a dud, and that is rare out of thirty books. The first one was great, but as the series, and life, go on, we are getting the quintessential Walker, and he is terrific. Estleman deserves all of the accolades he has received and then some.
I don't like spoilers, so I am not going to give any. This has an excellent plot and will keep you interested. If this is your first Amos Walker you will have no trouble keeping up, but be prepared to clear your schedule because you will definitely want to read the earlier ones. I envy you your journey into the backlist, and heartily recommend this one.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
June 25, 2022
For those readers, like myself, who love hard-boiled Private Detective novels and the particular vernacular that goes along with it then the Amos Walker series from author Loren D. Estleman is manna from heaven. The latest installment in this gritty series, MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE, is set in the present day but is written in this classic style which makes for such an enjoyable, throwback of a reading experience coupled with a nice tribute to the hard-boiled genre.
Amos Walker leaves his office one hot Detroit summer evening to find a young man waiting for him by his car. His name was Shane Sothern and he was looking for some help. So back to the office they went and Amos heard Shane’s story about how he was a would-be writer who met a real writer named Gerald Rickey and found out that he was better suited to be a researcher. He loved his work as a researcher so much that he branched off into investigative journalism and began writing a piece on 9/11, even though he was only 3-years-old when that event occurred. For whatever reason, he feels like he is being followed ever since he began writing that piece and even had his apartment toss. This is what, supposedly, has brought him to the office of Amos Walker, Private Investigator.
After Shane leaves the office, Amos decides to follow him home to see for himself what this guy was all about. Being an expert, he is able to tail him without being seen which includes being on the same bus as him. What surprises Amos isn’t necessarily the neighborhood Shane lives in but the female that he interacts with outside his apartment, a face Amos swears he has seen before. Being old school, Amos spends some time in the Library periodicals room and goes through a handful of papers until he finds the face he is looking for --- Abelia Hunt. She had recently been released on 100K bond for allegedly leaking U.S. government secrets to the press. Seems there was a big part of the story Shane wasn’t telling him. Amos also knew her defense lawyer, Janet Grasso, who must have pulled some nice strings to get her client off with no bail. The problem for Amos now is that he can’t locate Shane nor can he find a phone number for him with all of his many contacts.
While Amos is working on putting pieces together on Abelia Hunt and her possible connection to Shane, he pops up at his car again. Now, Amos gets to grill him about what he didn’t tell him at the onset and school him on the fact that whoever tossed his apartment was probably the Feds or the NSA, or both, as either group has interest in Ms. Hunt’s whereabouts. Things get really complicated when the two of them find a dead body of what appears to be a government agent in the abandoned Atlas Motors building next to Shane’s apartment building. Now, there was a murder count to deal and once again Amos was at a loss as to who might have been responsible as he still feels he is not being told the complete story.
Along the way we get to meet some of Amos’ crazy contacts, like Barry who knows all about the many government agencies they may be up against. He also provides them with some valuable advice that it’s all ‘Hear No Evil’ now --- and nobody wants to be the monkey in the middle. Amos, for one, definitely feels like the monkey in the middle of this case as he knows he is not hearing half of what he needs to stay ahead of what is really going on and has no idea who he can trust.
Complicating this summer for Amos Walker is news of the death of his ex-wife Catherine. While they may not have had the best relationship, he is still moved by her passing and the invitation he received to her funeral by her most recent partner, a man named Guy Prosper. You can imagine then how surprised he is when Guy approaches him at the post-funeral meal to tell him that Catherine was being followed in the weeks prior to her death and would Amos mind looking into this. Of course, Amos takes this additional work on for free but will be ultimately surprised when he finds how this case and the Shane Sothern/Abelia Hunt case actually cross lines with each other.
MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE is fast-paced, hard-hitting, detective writing at its’ finest with surprises at every turn. The language is electric and so juicy you will find yourself rereading passages just because the descriptives are such a delight. Loren D. Estleman’ s Amos Walker series is must-read detective fiction and if you are discovering it for the first time I encourage you to explore the back catalogue of novels and enjoy.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
Amos Walker leaves his office one hot Detroit summer evening to find a young man waiting for him by his car. His name was Shane Sothern and he was looking for some help. So back to the office they went and Amos heard Shane’s story about how he was a would-be writer who met a real writer named Gerald Rickey and found out that he was better suited to be a researcher. He loved his work as a researcher so much that he branched off into investigative journalism and began writing a piece on 9/11, even though he was only 3-years-old when that event occurred. For whatever reason, he feels like he is being followed ever since he began writing that piece and even had his apartment toss. This is what, supposedly, has brought him to the office of Amos Walker, Private Investigator.
After Shane leaves the office, Amos decides to follow him home to see for himself what this guy was all about. Being an expert, he is able to tail him without being seen which includes being on the same bus as him. What surprises Amos isn’t necessarily the neighborhood Shane lives in but the female that he interacts with outside his apartment, a face Amos swears he has seen before. Being old school, Amos spends some time in the Library periodicals room and goes through a handful of papers until he finds the face he is looking for --- Abelia Hunt. She had recently been released on 100K bond for allegedly leaking U.S. government secrets to the press. Seems there was a big part of the story Shane wasn’t telling him. Amos also knew her defense lawyer, Janet Grasso, who must have pulled some nice strings to get her client off with no bail. The problem for Amos now is that he can’t locate Shane nor can he find a phone number for him with all of his many contacts.
While Amos is working on putting pieces together on Abelia Hunt and her possible connection to Shane, he pops up at his car again. Now, Amos gets to grill him about what he didn’t tell him at the onset and school him on the fact that whoever tossed his apartment was probably the Feds or the NSA, or both, as either group has interest in Ms. Hunt’s whereabouts. Things get really complicated when the two of them find a dead body of what appears to be a government agent in the abandoned Atlas Motors building next to Shane’s apartment building. Now, there was a murder count to deal and once again Amos was at a loss as to who might have been responsible as he still feels he is not being told the complete story.
Along the way we get to meet some of Amos’ crazy contacts, like Barry who knows all about the many government agencies they may be up against. He also provides them with some valuable advice that it’s all ‘Hear No Evil’ now --- and nobody wants to be the monkey in the middle. Amos, for one, definitely feels like the monkey in the middle of this case as he knows he is not hearing half of what he needs to stay ahead of what is really going on and has no idea who he can trust.
Complicating this summer for Amos Walker is news of the death of his ex-wife Catherine. While they may not have had the best relationship, he is still moved by her passing and the invitation he received to her funeral by her most recent partner, a man named Guy Prosper. You can imagine then how surprised he is when Guy approaches him at the post-funeral meal to tell him that Catherine was being followed in the weeks prior to her death and would Amos mind looking into this. Of course, Amos takes this additional work on for free but will be ultimately surprised when he finds how this case and the Shane Sothern/Abelia Hunt case actually cross lines with each other.
MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE is fast-paced, hard-hitting, detective writing at its’ finest with surprises at every turn. The language is electric and so juicy you will find yourself rereading passages just because the descriptives are such a delight. Loren D. Estleman’ s Amos Walker series is must-read detective fiction and if you are discovering it for the first time I encourage you to explore the back catalogue of novels and enjoy.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
June 26, 2022
For readers like myself who love hard-boiled detective novels and their particular vernacular, Loren D. Estleman’s gritty Amos Walker series is manna from heaven. MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE, the latest entry, is set in the present day but written in this classic style. This makes for an enjoyable throwback of a reading experience coupled with a nice tribute to the genre.
Private eye Amos Walker leaves his office one hot Detroit summer evening to find a young man waiting for him by his car. Shane Sothern is a would-be investigative journalist who is writing a piece on 9/11, even though he was only three years old on that tragic day. For whatever reason, he feels like he is being followed ever since he began working on the article, and his apartment has been ransacked. Thus he is in need of Walker’s protection.
After Shane leaves the office, Amos decides to follow him home to see for himself what this guy is all about. What surprises Amos isn’t necessarily the neighborhood Shane lives in, but the woman he interacts with outside his apartment. Amos swears he has seen that face before. Being old school, he spends some time in the library periodicals room and goes through a handful of papers until he finds who he’s looking for --- Abelia Hunt, who recently has been released on $100,000 bond for allegedly leaking U.S. government secrets to the press. Amos also knows her defense lawyer, Janet Grasso, who must have pulled some nice strings to get her client off with no bail. The problem for Amos now is that he can’t locate Shane or find a phone number for him, despite his many contacts.
But as luck would have it, Shane pops up again. Amos will now get to grill him on what he didn’t reveal from the outset and inform him that whoever tossed his apartment was probably a member of the Feds, the NSA or both, as either group would have interest in Hunt’s whereabouts. However, things become really complicated when Amos and Shane find the dead body of what appears to be a government agent in the abandoned Atlas Motors building next to Shane’s apartment building. Once again Amos is at a loss as to who might have been responsible. He still feels he is not being told the whole story and has no idea who he can trust.
To make matters even worse, Amos learns that his ex-wife, Catherine, has died. While they may not have had the best relationship, he is still moved by her passing and the invitation he received to her funeral by her most recent partner, Guy Prosper. You can imagine how surprised he is when Guy approaches him at the post-funeral meal to tell him that Catherine was being followed in the weeks prior to her death. Amos agrees to look into this but ultimately will be taken aback when he learns that Catherine’s death and the Shane Sothern/Abelia Hunt case actually cross lines with each other.
MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE is fast-paced, hard-hitting detective writing at its finest with surprises at every turn. The language is electric and so juicy that you will find yourself rereading passages just because the descriptions are such a delight. Estleman’s series is a must-read, and if you are discovering it for the first time, I encourage you to explore all the previous installments and enjoy.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
Private eye Amos Walker leaves his office one hot Detroit summer evening to find a young man waiting for him by his car. Shane Sothern is a would-be investigative journalist who is writing a piece on 9/11, even though he was only three years old on that tragic day. For whatever reason, he feels like he is being followed ever since he began working on the article, and his apartment has been ransacked. Thus he is in need of Walker’s protection.
After Shane leaves the office, Amos decides to follow him home to see for himself what this guy is all about. What surprises Amos isn’t necessarily the neighborhood Shane lives in, but the woman he interacts with outside his apartment. Amos swears he has seen that face before. Being old school, he spends some time in the library periodicals room and goes through a handful of papers until he finds who he’s looking for --- Abelia Hunt, who recently has been released on $100,000 bond for allegedly leaking U.S. government secrets to the press. Amos also knows her defense lawyer, Janet Grasso, who must have pulled some nice strings to get her client off with no bail. The problem for Amos now is that he can’t locate Shane or find a phone number for him, despite his many contacts.
But as luck would have it, Shane pops up again. Amos will now get to grill him on what he didn’t reveal from the outset and inform him that whoever tossed his apartment was probably a member of the Feds, the NSA or both, as either group would have interest in Hunt’s whereabouts. However, things become really complicated when Amos and Shane find the dead body of what appears to be a government agent in the abandoned Atlas Motors building next to Shane’s apartment building. Once again Amos is at a loss as to who might have been responsible. He still feels he is not being told the whole story and has no idea who he can trust.
To make matters even worse, Amos learns that his ex-wife, Catherine, has died. While they may not have had the best relationship, he is still moved by her passing and the invitation he received to her funeral by her most recent partner, Guy Prosper. You can imagine how surprised he is when Guy approaches him at the post-funeral meal to tell him that Catherine was being followed in the weeks prior to her death. Amos agrees to look into this but ultimately will be taken aback when he learns that Catherine’s death and the Shane Sothern/Abelia Hunt case actually cross lines with each other.
MONKEY IN THE MIDDLE is fast-paced, hard-hitting detective writing at its finest with surprises at every turn. The language is electric and so juicy that you will find yourself rereading passages just because the descriptions are such a delight. Estleman’s series is a must-read, and if you are discovering it for the first time, I encourage you to explore all the previous installments and enjoy.
Reviewed by Ray Palen
June 25, 2022
3.5 stars
Amos Walker has been around for a long time. He's seen it all, and he is a walking old-school, hard-bitten gumshoe living in a modern world. Estleman is a prolific writer in several genres, and he can turn a phrase with the best.
A young man shows up at Amos' office and wants to hire Walker to find out if he is being followed. Amos at first declines, being in a sentimentally surly mood after finding out his ex-wife has died, but eventually takes the kid's money and dives in. It turns out that the client has become involved in a national security whistle blower situation and the young female file clerk in question is on the run and in hiding from various national security agencies.
The chase is on. Walker, against his better judgment, can never resist tilting at windmills and joins the troupe, mostly to keep them out of worse trouble than they already have. A dead fed ups the ante. As always, this is full of unique and crusty characters harking back to another era in detective fiction. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Amos Walker has been around for a long time. He's seen it all, and he is a walking old-school, hard-bitten gumshoe living in a modern world. Estleman is a prolific writer in several genres, and he can turn a phrase with the best.
A young man shows up at Amos' office and wants to hire Walker to find out if he is being followed. Amos at first declines, being in a sentimentally surly mood after finding out his ex-wife has died, but eventually takes the kid's money and dives in. It turns out that the client has become involved in a national security whistle blower situation and the young female file clerk in question is on the run and in hiding from various national security agencies.
The chase is on. Walker, against his better judgment, can never resist tilting at windmills and joins the troupe, mostly to keep them out of worse trouble than they already have. A dead fed ups the ante. As always, this is full of unique and crusty characters harking back to another era in detective fiction. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
October 22, 2022
Amos Walker is a tough guy. His ex-wife dies of cancer and her current husband asks Amos to find out who was following her in her last day. Another client hires him to find and protect a young woman who has uncovered a raft of top secret communications regarding a widespread, and probably illegal, domestic spying operation by the National Security Agency (NSA). With the NSA following and threatening him, Walker finds the girl, loses the clients, and finds out that the "leaker" investigation is improbably tied to his ex-wife. In what is a short book, Estleman paces the story well, with an appropriate number of characters. The plot moves linearly, and the reader sees what Walker sees. Walker is well drawn protagonist, and Estleman does a decent job of giving each character a unique voice. For me, the first half of the book, as the story unfolds, is overwritten, with too many metaphors and cute cultural references. The second half, where the action picks up, has a more traditional narration and is easier to read. Overall, the book didn't captivate me.
October 26, 2022
This is a very dark Amos Walker novel, lightened somewhat by Estleman's gift for the apt phrase and the perfect metaphor. Set against the background of a funeral--that of Walker's ex-wife, so it's a relationship that has ended twice--it involves multiple deaths and many failed relationships: a friendship grounded in a lie, a father who never admits his parentage, a mother willing to murder her own child out of spite, a government worker who betrays and is betrayed in return, and a lawyer willing to sacrifice her client to further her own career. The only idealist, other than Walker, in this sad mix, is portrayed as naive and hopelessly out of touch. The outcome of a possible romantic relationship is left to the readers' imagination, but we are left with the impression that it never ripened into romance--and that that might be a good thing.
May 16, 2023
I can't tell you just why I did not like the book. I kept thinking of not finishing it, but since it was about half the pages or less of most books, I decided to plow on with it. The main character is Amos Walker. He is a private detective. He is approached by Shane Sothern, a hoped-to-be journalist and asked to watch over him because he feels he is being threatened. It turns out that he is involved with a young lady who is a whistle-blower and was arrested for it and given a $100.000 bail which she skips out on. Amos ends up trying to protect her also.
November 27, 2022
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...
The quality of the writing is still first rate - the wise guy cracks, the sharply observant descriptions, the local color, the crusty cynic with the heart of something that is not quite gold, but equally valuable. Estleman is consistently good in creating plot, characters and settings, and if you ever want to know what it is like to deal with a large, angry snapping turtle, he's your man.
The quality of the writing is still first rate - the wise guy cracks, the sharply observant descriptions, the local color, the crusty cynic with the heart of something that is not quite gold, but equally valuable. Estleman is consistently good in creating plot, characters and settings, and if you ever want to know what it is like to deal with a large, angry snapping turtle, he's your man.
February 16, 2023
As always, an Amos Walker novel that's intricate but not too, that's thick with people clues instead of csi ones. Estleman's plots are great but not the highlight-the writing takes that prize. One example- '"You're that tough?" "I'm that old. What are they going to scare me with that a nursing home can't beat?"' For more, paraphrasing OMC, read the book.
July 15, 2022
Doesn't seem possible this could be number 30 but an adventure with Amos Walker is always worth the read. If you grew up in the Detroit area, like I did, it's more fun because you'll recognise so many locations. A great cast of characters, lots of action. Enjoy
October 15, 2022
A solid hard boiled private eye mystery. This is my first Amos Walker mystery even though it is number 30 in the series. I figure Amos Walker is a complicated man and has seen too much to get riled and has friends in low places.
October 25, 2022
I discovered a copy of Estleman in the East Lansing library - and was surprised that I've not heard more about this author. Also surprising - the book is #30 in the series and still fresh and suspenseful. Estleman writes classic detective fiction, every sentence packing a quippy punch.
February 2, 2023
My only disappointment with this book, is that it was too short. More of a novella, at less than two hundred pages, it was still packed with all the hard-boiled, good-hearted Amos Walker we've come to love over the years.
March 5, 2024
Estleman must be one of the best practitioners of the hardboiled genre working today. I enjoyed the book, especially the second half, but it opened slowly (for me!), and I felt like the surprises at the end weren’t fully earned. But to be clear this is a pretty good detective novel!
June 21, 2022
An excellent series but this one is a little flat. There’s also a giant hole in the narrative.
June 22, 2022
Form overcoming function
A classic Amos Walker caper, but missing some of the old tropes while weighted down with excessive similes and metaphors.
A classic Amos Walker caper, but missing some of the old tropes while weighted down with excessive similes and metaphors.
June 22, 2022
Recommended.
Review posted at Tzer Island book blog:
https://tzerisle.squarespace.com/book...
Review posted at Tzer Island book blog:
https://tzerisle.squarespace.com/book...
July 13, 2022
This has the style of 1940s Humphrey Bogart detective in present day . It is filled with witty intelligent dialogue. The problem is very little action until the end
July 27, 2022
always a good read
Love the dialogue. Anyone who likes throwback loner PI’s will like the Amos Walker series. There are plenty of them.
Love the dialogue. Anyone who likes throwback loner PI’s will like the Amos Walker series. There are plenty of them.
January 29, 2026
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Monkey in the Middle is the 30th (!!!) Amos Walker mystery by Loren D. Estleman. Released 21st June 2021 by Macmillan on their Tor/Forge imprint, it's 192 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Estleman has (rightly) been called a grandmaster of hardboiled detective fiction. He's phenomenally prolific as well and his representation in western and detective fiction is impressive and immense. Set in the present day, but written with a classic retro PI vibe, it's a satisfying treat for fans.
The plot revolves around several apparently disparate threads which entwine throughout the story into a satisfying climax, denouement, and resolution. Most of the books in the series can be read in any order, and this one is no exception. They're self contained, action driven, with characters who have a long and rich back-story and at this point feel like living and breathing people.
Fans of Hammett, Spillane, Chandler, and the other boys in the band will surely have Estleman on their radar already. For fans of PI and noir who are unfamiliar with him, this book and the series will be a delightful treat.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Monkey in the Middle is the 30th (!!!) Amos Walker mystery by Loren D. Estleman. Released 21st June 2021 by Macmillan on their Tor/Forge imprint, it's 192 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Estleman has (rightly) been called a grandmaster of hardboiled detective fiction. He's phenomenally prolific as well and his representation in western and detective fiction is impressive and immense. Set in the present day, but written with a classic retro PI vibe, it's a satisfying treat for fans.
The plot revolves around several apparently disparate threads which entwine throughout the story into a satisfying climax, denouement, and resolution. Most of the books in the series can be read in any order, and this one is no exception. They're self contained, action driven, with characters who have a long and rich back-story and at this point feel like living and breathing people.
Fans of Hammett, Spillane, Chandler, and the other boys in the band will surely have Estleman on their radar already. For fans of PI and noir who are unfamiliar with him, this book and the series will be a delightful treat.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
July 27, 2022
A cantankerous private eye takes on a client who fears for is life and leads to secret documents leaks. The style is pulp fiction, but with a unique simile or metaphor on almost every page (e.g. “A thin sheet of dew rose from the ground, billowing slightly, like mosquito netting riding a zephyr” and “Pelican Close [street sign] came with the likeness of a seagull with a goiter".)
Fast, easy read.
Fast, easy read.
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