I like to read every kind of mystery, from hard-boiled noir all the way to cozies involving baking and cats (preferably both!). But what I most love to read is books where people who are outwardly fine citizens of the most upstanding kind who are actually truly horrible people. And as fans of The Hunting Wives know (either the book or the Netflix series, pick your poison), no one does that whole wealthy, pious adults acting like absolute heathens better than May Cobb. The aut

One Foot In Hell reads like a classic fifties psycho-sexual noir that also looks as the dark society of small town America. You wouldn't be surprised if author Wilen Shaw read most of Jim Thompson's output up to that time before banging this out on the Remington. He practically strips his tale down to its genre bones, making it both sleek and engaging with little pretension. Larry Crenshaw lives the American middle class dream in Hadsville, Kentucky as successful accountant

I was excited to read Return of the Maltese Falcon with Max Allan Collins giving private eye Sam Spade another shot at the jewel encrusted bird statue. Not only is Collins a master craftsman of crime fiction, particularly when it comes to the PI yarn, he is also a student of the genre with a deep understanding of the its past. He also has experience in continuing the adventures of famed hard boiled heroes, notably his friend Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. He applies all of t

In The Red Scare Murders, Con Lehane introduces us to Mike Mulligan, a blacklisted animator turned fledgling private detective in the fifties. He gets hired by a union boss in a last ditch effort to get one of his members, a black communist, off death row for killing his boss. Con uses the case to give a vivid portrait of living in that era. Don was kind enough to talk in depth about the book and the period it covers. SCOTT MONTGOMERY: What drew you to the Red Scare? CON LEHA

In The Reckoning, Kelli Stanley deals in secrets on both micro and macro levels. It begins is classic noir fashion, in 1985, with its protagonist Renata Drake, coming into town on a Greyhound bus, miles away from her mysterious past. However this is no normal town. Garberville, California is supported by its cash crop of marijuana. There is an understanding of local law, but outside agencies have it under surveillance to bring their business down. Cannabis isn't the only crim

This year gave us many offbeat novels that broke the crime fiction mold and possibly set molds to come as they examined our crazy world. Here are some of what i thought were the best. 1. SAGAMORE by Jack Sonni - Sadly, this debut novel was a posthumous one as well from musician Jack Sonni. He takes a troubadour approach to this epic crime story triggered by the murder of a corrupt game warden in a nineteen twenties mining town that already has tension between the Italian immi

If there was one word to describe this year in westerns it would be unique. Authors mixed genres, showed what could be done in the short form and mixed different elements not usually put in the same genre. These authors and others showed there are many different trails to ride. TOM'S CROSSING by Mark Z. Danielewski - If you're up for taking on this over twelve hundred page novel about a young cowboy being guided by his ghost pal to get two horse scheduled to slaughter up into

It was difficult for me not to look at Mark Z. Danielewski's Tom's Crossing and not think of it as something created for critic and awards bait, something more targeted for people who write about books than those who read them. It contains many of the hallmarks- elements of the western that are in a twentieth century story, a protagonist coming of age and caught up in brutal violence, magical realism, and a page count over twelve-hundred. In a just few pages my skepticism dro

We are now at the final five crime novels and thrillers of the first quarter of this century. that were my favorites. For recap, the other twenty were- 25. THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME by Gabino Iglesias 24. THE DAMAGE DONE by Hillary Davidson 23, THE LAST DEATH OF Jack Harbin by Terry Shames 22.THE LONG AND FARAWAY GONE by Lou Berney 21. THE NIGHT OF BABA YAGA by Akari Otari 20. HOLLOW MAN by Mark Pryor 19. A FINE DARK LINE by Joe R. Lansdale 18, MYSTIC RIVER by

This was a great year for short stories. Old pros showed us new sides and new voices were out there to be discovered. With my top five of collections and anthologies, you can do both. BORN A RAMBLIN' MAN by Michel Lee Garrett- I had read a couple of Michel Lee Garrett's stories before, but the this collection made me realize how much she is an emerging talent in the genre. She understands the tropes, how to use them, twist them, and most of all have fun with them. THE FINAL S