A Smile on the Face of the Tiger

Amos Walker #14

by Loren D. Estleman

In Estleman's latest novel, Amos Walker is back on the streets of Detroit as he investigates the mysterious death of an ageing pulp fiction writer.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective

295 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Loren 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

Reviews

[Joe]

This is the 14th adventure of Amos Walker. Walker, a Detroit private eye, is a throwback and heir apparent to Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, without being a cheap cardboard imitation. This series is “hard-boiled” in the best sense of the word – engaging, witty, poignant, cynical, timely and always entertaining. In a genre in which such series and their protagonists run out steam after a handful of books, Estleman and Amos show no sign of mediocrity or stumbling into the literary sunset.

In this book Walker is hired by a New York publisher, with whom he has a “past”, to find a pulp-fiction author, whose literary history is was much more typical of the genre – see above. Said author’s fifteen minutes of fame were brief and meteoric; now he is among the missing and Walker’s client wants to gain his permission to reprint his books. Sounds simple and straightforward, but this an Amos Walker case and things quickly become much more complicated.

Locating the reclusive author proves a not so onerous task for Amos, but that opens up the proverbial can of worms and Amos finds himself embroiled in a 50+ year old murder case, police corruption, Detroit history and the tentacles of the mafia. The secondary cast of characters is fascinating; the twists and turns in the plot will hold your attention; and Walker’s dialogue and observations will keep you chuckling. A Smile On The Face Of The Tiger is another great mystery in a great series.

[Dennis]

Another fantastic book by Mr. Estleman. Filled with twists and turns. Great crime writer but not if you want the whole plot up front, like a couple of the reviews. I have enjoyed every Amos Walker novel so far and look forward to the next. Oh and if you’re from Detroit or anywhere in Michigan I recommend these books. Kind of the Raymond Chandler of Detroit

[Derk]

I read lots of Estleman's books years ago, so was happy to try this one. Not bad, but not special.

[David Riester]

Detroit, Michigan,

[Hilda]

Complicated

[Dave Wallace]

It has all you want

They don't get any better. The old pot-boiler with better plot, better dialogue, better setting, better characters, you get subtle and the sledgehammer.

[Steven Denenberg]

Excellent as always, always worth reading!

Esselman rights better than almost anybody. Every sentence is tight and original and interesting. The plots are far more complicated than you think they will be at first but he lets you follow them and brings up pieces that you remember from a long time ago.

[Ed]

#14 in the Amos Walker series. Finalist 2001 Shamus Award for Best Novel.

Detroit PI Amos Walker series - When a New York publisher asks Walker to track down author Eugene Booth, who's refusing to allow his classic Paradise Valley to be reissued, Walker's first instinct is to say no. But Booth's novel, about a Detroit race riot in 1943, fascinates Walker, especially after he finds Booth's dictation tapes. Walker discovers that it's not just whiskey and cigarettes that have affected the author. His wife was murdered 50 years ago to prevent Booth from spilling the truth about the events he fictionalized. Walker traces Booth to a rundown motel on the shores of Lake Huron. His presence there is no surprise, given his fondness for solitude and fish. But why is mobster Glad Eddie Cypress, who should be gearing up for a big book tour, holed up at the same motel? When Walker finds Booth swinging from the rafters, he decides to find out. When the number of people who wanted Booth dead starts multiplying, and a 50-year-old race riot and murder move back into the spotlight, Walker is hard-pressed to keep himself from becoming history.

[Frank]

library audiobook. Maybe wouldn't be a 5 if you weren't from Detroit, but Estleman nails landmark after landmark, including a cabin on Black Lake, a seedy motel on West Jefferson, John T King books...Voices were good...References the 1943 race riots, also insights into the pulp mystery publishing. If there was a questionable scene, it was the NYC publishing agent staying in Hazel Park rather than at least Ferndale if not Huntington Woods.

[Todd Stockslager]

An Amos Walker Novel. OK, this might have been it, the one I knew he had in him. No wasted words, no extraneous action, no bogus reaction. Pure noir that rings true on the level of Chandler and Hammett.

Perhaps its not coincidental that the subject is an old pulp fiction writer who is asked to resurrect his career and ends up resurrecting old wounds.

[Paul]

A lesser effort in the "Amos Walker" series, whose earlier titles sketch a gritty, hardboiled Detroit that is within shouting distance of Chandler's Los Angeles. This one isn't.

[Steve]

17 pages in one week - i think i'm not engaged with this author. one more try and ---adios.
it is adios time. sorry

[Carolyn Rose]

Terrific "noir" description of setting and characters.

[Jack]

Great character development - some Detroit history thrown in - once again a very good read from Estleman!

[Marvin]

Makes Mickey Spillane seem like literature.

[David Vanness]

My copy same cover with 5 cassettes.