Tell us about your books: Noir, private eye, hardboiled mystery/crime fiction > Likes and Comments

I've put together noir, private eye and hardboiled categories for you to discuss your work in this thread. Tell the group members what your book is about with a brief description or any other information you'd like to share.

NOTE: any advertising you'd like to do should be done in the appropriate thread under "In the Press, Blogs and Sites" here.

My latest novel is a hard-boiled detective novel/mystery called Fracktured. Get it in print and ebook format here! http://bryanwalaspa.com/books/fracktu...

Hello and thanks for this opportunity to introduce myself.

I'm Joyce Yarrow, the author of the Jo Epstein mystery series. I enjoy traveling and had a great time in Moscow and the Golden Ring, researching settings and characters for RUSSIAN RECKONING the second book in the series, published by Five Star Mysteries.

Russian Reckoning Ask the Dead

Jo Epstein is a private investigator who moonlights as a performance poet. She is street savvy and tough, with a sensitive side and a weakness for helping family and friends in trouble.

"Intricately layered like a Russian nested doll, this tale of vengeance and hatred flavored with a Russian cultural backdrop will appeal to readers who enjoy unusual mysteries with an international setting." Library Journal

I sincerely apologize for not having commented sooner -- I am so tickled that you want to share your work here, and I thank you.

Both of you have such intriguing-sounding books and I would love to give them a try when my life calms a wee bit. Thanks so much!

Nancy wrote: "I sincerely apologize for not having commented sooner -- I am so tickled that you want to share your work here, and I thank you.

Both of you have such intriguing-sounding books and I would love t..."

Thanks, Nancy!

My latest book is MURDER BEYOND THE MILKY WAY. It's available as a kindle download on Amazon. For anyone interested in reading a sample, I've posted a sample chapter on my goodread's dashboard.

I used a scifi background for my mystery because it gave me a chance to play with the some extra themes that are not usually associated with the mystery genre. (Think along the lines of the French movie ALPAHVILLE.)

Part of the fun of writing a story such as this was coming up with the universe that my people inhabit. There are no aliens (Dawkins' THE BLIND WATCHMAKER) Nor are there robots. (The lack of AIs is explained in the sequel DO ROBOTS WEEP MAGNETIC TEARS currently a work in progress.)

One reviewer said, "I’m more of a straight mystery reader than a sci-fi buff, but I really enjoyed how the author blended elements of both genres in a way that would please even the pickiest reader. Despite all the futuristic technology that you’d expect to find in an outer space mining colony, protagonist Harry Salem still manages to follow leads with all the soul of an old-school, hard-boiled PI."

I hope everyone who reads this book feels this way.

Dear People - for those of you who like both crime/PI and literary fiction, The Release should push your buttons. Bennie, an outsider by nature, turns his life upside-down when he accepts a private investigation job and gets caught up in another man's quest for revenge. Out now on Kindle.

Psychological Thriller!!! Scales of Justice www.amazon.com/dp/B00TRHWH5S
A serial killer is stalking people in Shreveport Louisiana.

Detective Turner, the former golden boy on the force, is frustrated he has no leads and looks to make his own.

Judge Joseph Harris is being blackmailed by the killer and is trying to get his life back.

The best hope Shreveport has in the hands of Detective Paul Landry, but he's a drunk that is haunted by the loss of his former lover.

All in all, Shreveport isn't looking good right now.
5.0 out of 5 stars Hot March 17, 2015
By kimmy
Format:Kindle Edition
This fast paced thriller had me on the edge of my seat! I couldn't wait to see what the next twist was . It was a successful look into both the predator's and the victim's mind during the gruesome killing spree of a twisted serial killer . The characters are three dimensional and you find yourself wanting to jump inside the story to interact with them . You won't regret reading this book .

This past week I published Targeted, the third book in my Ray Schiller mystery/police procedural series. It follows Dear Crossing and Shadow Tag. This third book is Ray's most harrowing case to date. The mystery ramps up into nail biting suspense as the case progresses. I'd love to have you follow Ray Schiller's investigations.
Thanks everybody!

I've written several mystery books, the latest is PEOPLE BEHAVING BADLY: A COLLECTION OF SHORT MYSTERY STORIES. Thirteen bite-size mystery stories where people behaving badly is considered normal.

You can find out more about this and all of my books/e-books at https://jdonovels.wordpress.com/

a thread of marketing blurbs?

my goodness--but the more I look at it, the more it strikes me as some kind of artwork

Well, my debut novel is called THE OPENER and its about the underworld of international boiler rooms and the shadowy people who run them and work in them. When I was doing research for this book it seems that nobody has touched on the subject so I decided to be the first one to write about it.

http://www.amazon.com/Opener-John-Tri...

Three crime thriller mysteries in my Cortlandt Scott series: The Murder Prospect; The Talus Slope; More Than 100% Dead. All feature Denver petroleum geologist turned private investigator, Cort Scott, who does a 180 career change from finding oil to navigating the rough and tumble world of the Denver oil business. The third in the series, MORE THAN 100% DEAD, was a finalist in the Colorado Authors' League 2015 book awards for genre fiction.

All are available on amazon.com as paperbacks or Kindle. Other ebook devices can utilize Smashwords.com Lee Mossel

Charlie Cameron is a Glasgow PI you can meet him in my debut novel Games People Play, then follow his progress in Old Friends and New Enemies. spent too many years trying to go down the traditional route, eventually I made the right choice and here I am. Hi to everyone. now that I fully understand how difficult it is to be seen or heard I have more respect than ever for authors. Owen

This thread seems appropriate to introduce Mortal Showdown .

It's a gritty, hard-boiled, international thriller, involving big money, major troubles and a huge set of balls.

I'm the author of the Mike Gage thrillers, 3 noir-ish crime/conspiracy novels set in Palm Beach County, Florida, where wealth and power meets conspiracy and death. Those who dare can check them out here: http://www.mikegagenovels.com/424475836

Hi, all - I'm a Melbourne-born, Tokyo-based writer and artist, and I have a new crime/noir novel out on June 30 titled Black Sails, Disco Inferno.

Basically? It's a revisionist take on the medieval yarn of Tristan and Iseult, set in the 1970s.

Hi,

I'm new to this Goodreads thing and don't know how to get into the mix so I thought I would just jump in. I'm a new author with my first book out, a thriller, Quiescence Terminate, a lot of 5 stars in the review cycle. Take a peak at novelsbyallan.com.

Allan

Fool Whiskey Hero


Hello all,

My name is JT Blundell, and my crime novel, Fool Whisky Hero has just been published by New Pulp Press. Like with any good time with Whiskey, you'll have to prepare yourself to get a little messy.

Here is a synopsis:

Nyah’s father was a cop. He was gunned down and his murder was left unsolved. Three years later, Nyah watches helplessly as three people are slaughtered and barely escapes with her own life.
Now the witnesses are being erased and sixteen-year-old Nyah is being hunted by corrupt cops, drug dealers and a ruthless sociopathic killer. Everything Nyah has ever loved has been taken from her. All she wants is someone to pay.
Grady Fisk is an alcoholic whose marriage is steamrolling towards divorce and who owes $50, 000 to a drug dealer to keep his brother Reece alive. While dragging Reece out of yet another fine mess, three people are murdered, and Grady and Reece are the prime suspects.
If saving his own ass wasn’t tough enough, Grady now has to protect Nyah from every murderer and psychopath in the city. Is it any wonder Grady drinks?
Nyah wants vengeance.
Nyah needs a hero.
What she gets is Grady Fisk.

I invite you all to check out my book. If you're up for taking a chance on a new author and a new anti-hero, I think you'll find the risk enjoyable.

Hi, I'm new to this group and though I've been a published author for almost ten years, this is my first mystery novel.

The series is about a female private detective in Osaka, Japan. The first book, FALLEN IDOL, is going to be released in January.

However, I am actively looking for reviewers interested in getting a free digital copy in exchange for a review. If the premise below intrigues you, please get in touch with me:

SOMETIMES SUICIDE IS JUST A FACADE

When a disgraced former pop star plummets to her death from her Osaka apartment, all signs paint a picture of a troubled young woman who took her own life. But once her parents hire Kyoko Nakamura to learn the truth, the private detective discovers not everything is as it seems.

Kyoko’s investigation will lead her into a world of drugs and prostitution, face to face with dangerous criminals, and through the seedy underbelly of Japan’s music industry. With all odds against her, can Kyoko redeem herself for a past failure by finding justice for a fallen idol?

Hi, I too am new to this group. I'm a new author. I have a Kindle Scout campaign running for my noir thriller, 'Stealing Tesla'.

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/Y4KR...

Here is my blurb:

1941-America is on the brink of world war. Yet here at home, a mysterious thief stalks Manhattan. The newspapers call him, The Smoke—vaporous, elusive. But this thief is about to open the wrong safe. He mistakenly has found his way into Nikola Tesla’s hotel suite, where plans for a weapon of mass destruction--coveted by both, Nazi and Soviet agents—are locked away. The Smoke’s mistake will throw him headlong into the world of espionage and murder.

Hello everyone!

Here's the blurb to my debut novel, Vice City!

Description:
After twenty years as an enforcer for the Vice family mob, Nicholas Pierce shouldn’t bat an eye at seeing a guy get worked over and tossed in the river. But there’s something about the suspected police mole, Miles, which has Pierce second guessing himself. The kid is just trying to look out for his brother anyway he knows how, and the altruistic motive sparks an uncharacteristic act of mercy that involves Pierce taking Miles under his wing.

When Miles wants to repay Pierce for saving his life, Pierce shouldn’t see him as anything but a convenient hookup…. And he sure as hell shouldn’t get involved in Miles’s doomed quest to get his brother out of a rival street gang, the Cobras. He shouldn’t do a lot of things, but life on the streets isn’t about following the rules. Besides, he’s sick of being abused by the Vice family, especially Mr. Vice and his power-hungry goon of a son that treats his underlings like playthings.

So Pierce does the absolute last thing he should do if he wants to keep breathing—he decides to leave the Vice family in the middle of a turf war.

Read the first chapter here!
https://www.dsppublications.com/books...

Noir is great. It's an awesome genre that doesn't get as much love as it should!

Shares The Darkness is the seventh in my Sticks Hetrick series.
Daniel 'Sticks' Hetrick is the former police chief and now a county detective in Swatara Creek, a fictional town near Harrisburg PA.
The novels have involved a variety of crimes--including theft of rare books, race horse insurance fraud, thefts from the Amish, identity theft, arson--and, of course, murder. Sticks is the principal character but is always assisted by other officers he's mentored, including Aaron Brubaker, the current chief; Flora Vastine, and her love, Cpl. Harry Minnich. Here's the blurb for Shares The Darkness, which is available in electronic format:
Jan Kepler and Swatara Creek Police Officer Flora Vastine were neighbors and schoolmates, but never close.

When Jan, a school teacher, avid birder and niece of a fellow officer, goes missing and is found dead in a nearby tract of woods Flora finds herself thrust into the middle of an examination of the other woman's life, as she searches for clues.

As usual, the police have more than one crime to deal with. There’s illegal timbering and a series of vehicle thefts taking up their time. And there are other issues to deal with. Flora is concerned there’s some shakiness in her relationship with Cpl. Harry Minnich who seems to be making a lot of secretive phone calls.

Still Flora maintains focus on the murder. Despite evidence implicating other suspects, the odd behavior of another former classmate rouses Flora’s suspicion. Flora’s probing opens personal wounds as she observes the cost of obsessive love and tracks down the killer.
Jan Kepler and Swatara Creek Police Officer Flora Vastine were neighbors and schoolmates, but never close.

When Jan, a school teacher, avid birder and niece of a fellow officer, goes missing and is found dead in a nearby tract of woods Flora finds herself thrust into the middle of an examination of the other woman's life, as she searches for clues.

As usual, the police have more than one crime to deal with. There’s illegal timbering and a series of vehicle thefts taking up their time. And there are other issues to deal with. Flora is concerned there’s some shakiness in her relationship with Cpl. Harry Minnich who seems to be making a lot of secretive phone calls.

Still Flora maintains focus on the murder. Despite evidence implicating other suspects, the odd behavior of another former classmate rouses Flora’s suspicion. Flora’s probing opens personal wounds as she observes the cost of obsessive love and tracks down the killer.
https://www.amazon.com/Shares-Darknes...

S.A. wrote: "Hello everyone!

Here's the blurb to my debut novel, Vice City!

Description:
After twenty years as an enforcer for the Vice family mob, Nicholas Pierce shouldn’t bat an eye at seeing a guy get wor..."

Looks interesting. Congratulations!

The Nicoles:soon to be released.

As a young girl, Mecca witnesses the rape and murder of her institutionalized mother. Her young mind, not able to cope, buried the memory so deep she can’t remember what happened. Then Mecca and her twin sister, Bella, lose their father to his terrible grief and depression. The two girls find themselves living in a group home. Mecca is soon diagnosed with the same multi-personality disease as her mother. Admitted to a mental institution, Mecca finds herself treated by Dr. Marz … the same psychiatrist who treated her mother.

When Bella is adopted by a loving family, Mecca finds herself dealing with her pain alone. As time goes on her blackouts worsen. She shifts from personality to personality. Horrible flashes of her mother’s rape and murder begin to coalesce in her mind. Mecca seeks the help of her sister Bella and Dr. Marz. But then, are they who they appear to be? In Mecca’s world, it is hard to know.

Are Mecca’s many personalities all in her mind? Or are they a means to hide her psychological scars. Is Bella real or another of her many personalities? What happened the day her mother died?

J.S. Bell's psychological thriller

Hello
I’m Liz Kuchel, a new group member and a new author from South Australia. My first mystery novel, Nightmare of Dreams, has recently been published on Amazon as an eBook and a paperback. As applies to most authors, especially Indie authors like myself, I am desperate for reviews.
BLURB
A missing children’s case, draws sexy, good looking, Aussie detective Rory Steele, into an investigation of a perverted and depraved pedophile ring, concealed by the glitterati of Florida society.
As the bodies pile up and the enquiry becomes more complex and sinister, Rory’s personal life is affected in a frightening and twisted way.
With few clues to work with, Rory and his American colleague, Chase Baldwin, plan to infiltrate a party attended by the cream of society. Unfortunately the situation soon spins out of control, the house of cards collapses, and the wicked underbelly is revealed.
https://amzn.to/2WpAmqX
Please give my book a try. Thank you.

Hi, I' m Alan.
I’m No P.I. brings a 21st century point of view to the humorous side of noir detective fiction. After all, where else but noir fiction can a 56 year old unemployed alcoholic, who still lives with his mother, solve a crime the authorities are convinced has already been solved?

It is Christmas time and Tom Mayor has just played a joke on his eight-six year old mother, Lill, Tom, who still lives at home and hasn’t worked in years, announces he is going into the private detective business.

To prove his new found skill, Tom discloses the killer in advance of the end of the Thin Man, impressing his elderly mother. Tom thought all of this was funny, especially since his mother cannot remember the end of the movie she has seen countless times. Yet, in typical fashion for Tom, the whole scheme backfires on him.

The next morning, ever the good mother, Lill finds Tom his first client , Claire Peterson, the dying elderly woman next door. Claire wants to know the truth about her great-granddaughter’s murder and Tom is just the man for the case.

Failure, frustration, and near death do not deter Tom as he solves the case, in Thin Man style.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

There are now eight books (working on the 9th) in my Daniel 'Sticks' Hetrick crime series, which is set in a small (fictional) town near Harrisburg PA.
It isn't necessary to read them in order, but Something In Common, the first, explains how the retired lawman got back in the murder business.
After a murder, Hetrick discovers a link to a major theft of rare ornithological books and a trail leading from Philadelphia to his hometown.
The books are available in both print and electronic formats.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

What if you became a cop so that you could spend more time surfing? And you end up beating a child molester within an inch of his life? And you had to take a security job in a rich, coastal neighborhood because you were suspended for beating up that child molester? And you needed the money because your ex-wife took you for everything you had? And then you found the body of a rich cougar housewife you may have been spending time with? And you know it wasn’t suicide? And so you investigate and find out that these rich and powerful people are up to some interesting sexual shenanigans? And one of them probably murdered her? And you’re a raging alcoholic? And an idiot? Meet Nick Marino.

I am Matt Orlando and this is for my mystery novel Westgate: A Nick Marino Mystery.

Hi,
The Thirteenth Hour is the hour after midnight on All Hallows Eve, when Satan and his minions are most powerful—and dangerous!
Thirteen teenage vampires kidnap a thirteen-year-old-girl, Emily, and are planning to sacrifice her to Satan during The Thirteenth Hour. A successful sacrifice would increase their powers thirteen-fold.
Emily’s friend, Amanda, finds out their gruesome plan, but she knows she can’t fight the vampires alone. With the help of Hurts, a worn-out, old, private detective, they must find Emily before The Thirteenth Hour.
Will they find her? Can they save her?

Hi everyone!

This thread's been pretty quiet. I'm new to this group, so I hope I'm doing this right.

I've got a new book out. Blog Me Deadly: Zack Virtue Stories. Whether it’s foiling nuclear terrorists and bank robbers, or finding missing persons and beating the crap out of Russian mobsters, Virtue is on the case. As a private investigator, he’s a great painter. As an artist, he’s a magnet for bullets.

It's a novel-length collection of offbeat crime stories. The book is meant to flesh out the world of my MC in advance of the upcoming novel series. Give people a taste of the genre, the world, and the character.

My private eye novel A HARD DARKNESS was inspired by the stories and panache of the genre’s great practitioners, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and especially Robert B. Parker. It was recently named a FINALIST in the 2025 Next Generation Indie Book Awards contest (First Novel category). Readers call it “first-rate modern noir” with a captivating story, great writing, and a protagonist who “exhibits a rare humanity toward the people he encounters.” This 5-star novel follows PI Nash Tobin as he investigates the bizarre death of a troubled teen. A hardboiled mystery with heart, A Hard Darkness by Ray Turner is available at Amazon and is free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.