The Left-Handed Dollar

Amos Walker #20

by Loren D. Estleman

Joseph Michael Ballista—"Joey Ballistic" to his mob buddies—knows most of the ways to make an illegal buck, or a "left-handed dollar." That's why he's in trouble again. But his crafty lawyer, Lucille Lettermore—"Lefty Lucy" to just about every prosecutor she's ever humiliated in court—is determined to free him by getting all his previous convictions set aside, starting with one for attempted murder. When she hires Detroit private detective Amos Walker to look into the old crime, she immediately has a the intended victim was investigative reporter Barry Stackpole, Walker's only real friend. Walker's not thrilled to help get his buddy's would-be killer off the hook. But money's money. It won't be easy. For starters, though Joey's ex-wives grudgingly talk with Walker, he knows they're not really leveling with him. And two new murders tied to the case aren't likely to make them chattier.Walker, friendless and desperate for answers, follows a string of leads old and new straight into a war of nerves and bullets in Detroit's seedy crime-ridden underbelly. It'll be a dirty job for Walker in The Left-Handed Dollar, Loren D. Estleman's twentieth Amos Walker mystery.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Mystery Thriller

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 2010

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

[James Thane · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the 20th book in Loren D. Estleman's Amos Walker series, the Detroit detective faces a serious dilemma. Lucille Lettermore, a bull dog of a defense attorney known as "Lefty Lucy" because she specializes in defending unsympathetic clients, most often against the government, is attempting to free Joey Ballistic, a mobster known for his penchant for blowing things up. Joey's about to do a long stretch in prison as a repeat offender and Lucy's legal strategy is to get Joey's very first conviction overturned. This will bring down the rest of his convictions like a row of dominos and Lettermore wants to hire Amos to help overturn the first conviction.

The problem is that Joey's first conviction was for setting off a bomb that blew the leg off of Barry Stackpole, a journalist who made his reputation by investigating mobsters. Stackpole also just happens to be Amos Walker's best and, as a practical matter, only friend. Walker hesitates for about thirty seconds before taking the case anyway. Things are slow, as they always seem to be for Amos, and he rationalizes the decision by convincing himself that he's really doing his friend a favor. If Joey wasn't actually responsible for the bomb that seriously injured Stackpole, then perhaps Amos can find The Real Bomber.

Walker's first step is to try to identify the confidential informant who pointed the police in Joey's direction in the first place. But as soon as Amos begins digging into the old case, it quickly becomes apparent that he's stirred up a hornet's nest and that the old case maybe isn't so cold after all. The action picks up quickly and the bodies start piling up all around Walker.

Amos Walker is a classic, hard-boiled detective out of the Old School of crime fiction, and he's been prowling the mean streets of Detroit for a long time now. In these books, Estleman has been especially good at describing the ongoing decay that has been eating away at Detroit since the 1960's, and I've enjoyed reading all of the books in the series. I enjoyed this one as well, but not to the extent I expected because I had great difficulty buying into the premise.

Walker and Barry Stackpole have been close friends for a long time, and Stackpole has often been Amos's go-to guy for info on the mob and other such subjects. The fact that Amos would so easily agree to help an attorney who is attempting to free the man who crippled Stackpole and nearly killed him just didn't sit right with me. It didn't seem like something Amos would do, and I had a hard time buying into the idea that, of all the detectives in Detroit, Lettermore would ask Stackpole's closest friend to assist in this task. On the other hand, though, none of the other detectives in Detroit have someone as capable as Loren D. Estleman chronicling their adventures and so from the readers's standpoint, it's a good thing she did. My reservation about this one issue notwithstanding, this continues to be one of the best detective series out there.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 20th adventure of Detroit PI Amos Walker. This series is current day classic hard-boiled detective fiction – owing much to Chandler/Hammett without being a cheap pale imitation. The series/stories/characters/protagonist standing on their own, much as the Ross MacDonald/Lew Archer books do. Amos is slowly embracing the 21st Century – he has a cell phone – but still wears a fedora, smokes Winstons, drinks rye and drives a Cutlass. The plots, descriptions and particularly the dialogue in the Walker books are crisp and there is a very well defined supporting cast – which includes the city of Detroit.

In The Left-Handed Dollar Amos is hired by a tenacious defense attorney to help exonerate an aging mobster – Joseph Ballista, aka Joey Ballistic. Mr. “B” has a direct “connection” to Barry Stackpole – investigative journalist extraordinaire – and someone that those of us familiar with series know - He may be Amos’ only friend. This is a nice little puzzle of a case with a cast of interesting suspects and a twist at the end. I have yet to be disappointed by a Walker/Estleman book.

It’s not necessary to read this series in order – but if this is your genre – my guess is after reading this book or one of the others in the series, you’ll go back to the beginning.

[Al Stoess · Rating 2 out of 5]

The least interesting of the Amos Walker novels. I was disappointed.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't find the first in the Amos Walker series, Motor City Blue, in bookstores, so I picked up the twentieth and latest as my introduction to an author in the hard-boiled tradition compared to Chandler and Hammett. I get why. Estleman is stylish and creates a very individual voice for his private investigator narrator. This novel featured snappy dialogue, memorable characters (including more than one femme fatale) and evocative details that bring a setting to life--particularly the mean streets of Detroit, but also the affluent suburbs with their McMansions and rural fishing holes beyond.

A "left-handed dollar" is basically dirty money--criminal enterprise and this story involves organized crime. Amos is working for "Lefty Lucy" a lawyer for left-wing causes whose latest client, gangster Joseph Michael Ballista, is facing hard time in prison if he can't get his prior record expunged. Which means Amos has to look into a thirty year old attempted murder--of his close friend, Barry Stackpole, a reporter who covers the mob.

If I found anything off-putting about the novel, it was the love interest--not that she wasn't an appealing character in her own right, but this being the twentieth novel in the series, I thought this meant this was one of those series with a different woman in every book. But another review told me this is the first sign of a love interest in a while. Yet another review I read claimed The Left-Handed Dollar wasn't as strong as earlier books. Well, if so, then those earlier books must be plenty impressive, because this was an enjoyable read.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Private Eye Amos Walker is hired by a boundary-pushing lawyer named Lucille Lettermore to investigate the long-ago conviction of a mobster for setting off a car bomb that injured Walker's friend. The mobster never claimed innocence but the lawyer thinks he was just taking the fall for his mob friends and, if this conviction is overturned, his life incarceration as a three-time offender would be reduced to time-served since he'd only have two offenses to his name. It is a clever piece of legal wrangling that Amos would have nothing to do with until he is convinced she might be right. Then there is a murder of one of the folks who might have been able to help him get to the truth.

"The Left-Handed Dollar" (2010) is my first attempt at an Amos Walker detective story. Estleman uses a lot of dialogue to move the plot along that also has excess levels of personal banter and pop culture name-drops next to plot points so that it has an annoying tension-free chitter-chatter feel to it as it moves along; not really my thing. Like a TV drama that just has people talking to each other and not actually doing anything.

The mystery itself unfolds across a number of interviews and double-checks by Walker to figure out who is lying and who actually has info he can use. The banter-style narrative I spoke to above mostly tapers into the final third when the various players start circling the wagons, pointing fingers at each other, and Walker navigates all these new bits of info and duplicitous comments and the mystery has a smart resolution.

Verdict: An okay modern whodunit mystery with prose- and pacing-related downside I wasn't a big fan of.

Jeff's Rating: 2 / 5 (Okay)
movie rating if made into a movie: R

[Dave Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

It doesn't get better than this, Amos Walker is the Philip Marlowe of post 60's (to present day) America, Loren Estleman is the best in the business. The crisp dialogue alone is priceless, let alone all the rest of this masterpiece.

[Jack Laschenski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too convoluted, but the same seamy Detroit.

He does OK.

[j · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aces.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Library Journal:

Amos Walker, Estleman's (Amos Walker: The Complete Story Collection) iconic Detroit private eye, returns in the 20th installment of this acclaimed regional mystery series. Walker is from the old school of gumshoes; he is unapologetically politically incorrect, drinks too much, and inevitably clashes with the local police. His only true friend, investigative journalist Barry Stackpole, has been one of the few constants in his misanthropic life. Many years ago, Barry was severely injured when the mob blew up his car in a failed assassination attempt. Gangster Joey Ballista was found guilty and incarcerated for the crime. Now recently released from prison, Joey has hired infamous defense attorney "Lefty Lucy" to clear him of all past convictions. Lucy turns to Amos for help on the case, and as one would imagine, Barry is less than pleased with this arrangement. Verdict: Estleman's latest intricate and wholly enjoyable yarn is peppered with mob lore, Detroit history, and the ever-present one-liners. It is sure to please fans of urban mysteries as well as classic detective genre devotees. Strongly recommended.-Amy Nolan, St. Joseph P.L., MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

[Kathryn Lance]

I finally finished reading it! No fault of the book--just not much time to read novels. I have followed Amos Walker through all twenty of his adventures. This is not one of the best, but it's still way better than the best of most other hard-boiled mystery writers. No matter what anybody tells you, believe me that Estleman is the TRUE heir to Raymond Chandler. He's a wonderful writer. Even when the story is hard to follow, which it often is in this series, I have to keep reading for the great dialogue and turns of phrase. A random example from late in the book:

[Walker, in his car, is having a cellphone conversation with someone he doesn't wish to coverse with at this time] "I'm--" I tuned into my favorite all-static station on the radio, held the phone to the speaker, thumped it a couple of times on the dash for good measure, then snapped it shut and turned it off. I could kick myself for all the years I'd wasted resisting wireless technology.

If you're already a fan, get "The Left-Handed Dollar." If you haven't yet had the very great pleasure of reading the Amos Walker books, get something earlier in the series and prepare to become hooked.

[Joe Slavinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loren Estleman's "Amos Walker" novels never get old. Walker is the most world-weary, cynical, hard-to-live with private eye in Detroit. He's also a dinosaur, who distrusts technology, and still smokes, and drinks his way through his meager day-to-day existence. Yet Estleman imbues him with a strong sense of honor, and loyalty, which helps, and hinders his efforts to solve cases, in equal measure. In this book, Walker's hired to help clear a mobster of a specific crime, and he takes the case, despite the fact that the crime was blowing up Walker's only friend's car. The friend, a news reporter, who came out of it with a new leg, two missing fingers, and a plate in his head, is not pleased, of course. The plot twists, and turns, with a red-herring, or two, and a wonderful reading experience ensues. This is Walker's 20th novel, and Estleman has the character honed to a razor-sharp edge. It arguably doesn't get any better than this folks. If you like your detectives hard-boiled, Amos Walker is your man.

[Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amos Walker is an old-school P.I. who has somehow survived into the 21st Century with his cynicism/idealism intact.

In addition to creating/sustaining a great character, Estleman doesn't shy away from commenting on the corrupt state of Detroit, class warfare, suburbia, etc. along the way of his investigations/plots.

The first half was great and moved swiftly from step to step in an investigation. I found the 2nd half/conclusion got bogged down in too much talking (versus doing) and angst among longstanding friends.

Nice to see a potential love interest emerge ( first time in a while in this series if I recall).

Despite the flaws I found in this book I will remain a loyal Amos Walker/Loren Estleman fan.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#20 in the Amos Walker series. I don't know why so many fictional detectives are proud of being technological Luddites, but Detroit's contribution to the breed is Amos Walker.

Amos Walker is placed at odds with his only real friend Barry Stackpole. The car bombing that left Stackpole maimed led to the conviction mobster Joseph Ballista. Ballista's lawyer, Lucille Lettermore (aka "Lefty Lucy") hires Walker to prove that the gangster wasn't responsible for the bomb. Walker focuses on identifying the informant who fingered Ballista for the crime.

[Frank · Rating 1 out of 5]

[library audiobook, plot summary elsewhere]

Homage to Detroit aside, I just couldn't get into this book. I think I've had trouble with some other Estleman books as well. I didn't much like the depiction of the defense attorney "Lefty Lucy" specializing in defending gangsters. The depiction of Detroit didn't raise any memories for me.

I'll have to think twice about downloading another free Estleman. Still, the Detroit setting will likely get me to do it. Maybe an ebook which doesn't take as long.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting mystery with our P.I. trying to solve a decades old bombing, even though a mobster was convicted and sent to jail for the crime. His only friend was the victim and left with one leg and some fingers missing.

Lots of plot twists; crisp dialogue; characters out of Damon Runyon; disturbing images of Detroit; many dead bodies showing up everywhere. I could not guess who was killing off all the people involved in the story.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

#20 in the Amos Walker, Detroit private eye mystery series. Title refers to money gotten illegally. Walker is hired by the lawyer who is defending a mobster. She wants Walker to find evidence to prove that a crime the mobster was convicted of several years before was based upon false evidence. Walker's investigation leads him through several people and new crimes. As usual, Walker has problems with the police along the way and filled with Walker's wise cracking one liners.

[Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. I've read many of the author's previous books (though not for several years) and recall enjoying them. However, from the start of this one I could never get interested. I found the writing disjointed, the events illogical, and would have stopped reading it if I had another alternative handy. But I did finish it right through the ridiculous ending.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Amos Walker - I like the fact that he works in the city I grew up in - I like his outlook on life and the way he handles situations.
AND - he's not always right and he admits it.
I like the way Estleman develops his characters. They have personalities. They are fleshed out.
The was a quick read - a fun read - not as involved as some of the other Amos Walker stories, but enjoyable.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent hard-boiled detective novel

[Mark Levine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story.Many topical references.Staccato dialogue.Hard boiled.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

A continuation of the series. Probably more interesting if you know the Detroit area and history.

[Jim]

a fun book with real noir writing even if over the top a little.
will read more of this series.

[Lynn Kearney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't remember, after only a week. that's never a good sign, even for me.

[Brad Larsen]

Pretty formulaic. Liked the Michigan references, but the book was pretty much meh

[Stephanie Boyle Mays · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get into this.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again I was unable to call up the proper data field for this book even though it's listed under the author's titles.

Another excellent rendition of life in the dying rust belt.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book I just picked up off the New Book Shelf at the library. It just wasn't my kind of book.