Detective Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Last Train (Detective Hiroshi Series Book 1) by Michael Pronko

The Last Train (Detective Hiroshi series Book 1) by Michael Pronko

Hiroshi Shimizu could be mistaken for one of any number of the faceless salarymen in Tokyo. With a stable desk job and a wage that gives all the small luxuries one can expect to enjoy from it, he can swallow his past regrets and the warm hazy memories of not so long ago. But Hiroshi isn’t just any old desk jockey; he’s a detective, specializing in white-collar crime – a serious problem with the inhumanly-efficient paperwork fever dream of modern Tokyo. And things are about to get a lot more complicated.

When Hiroshi’s mentor calls in a favor in investigating […]

Review: Winchester’s Bargain (Bart Northcote #4) by Murray Lee Eiland Jr.

Taking on the world’s financial elite – and threatening the one thing they hold dearest in the world – is no small task, but Bart Northcote never backs down from a challenge. In Winchester’s Bargain, the fourth installment in this PI series by Murray Lee Eiland Jr., the stakes for Northcote and his investigative team have never been higher, and the writing itself has never been better.

A mysterious man named Winchester Lee approaches Bart Northcote with some disturbing news: the New York Stock Exchange is being controlled by a shadowy Chinese cabal with trillions of dollars at their […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T08:40:16+02:00May 16th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Detective Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Tipper Lake: A Tyler Monroe Mystery by Walter Thomas Geer

There is a strange allure to the Deep South that has captivated authors and readers alike; life moves slower, but mysteries seem to run deeper. In that beloved tradition, author Walter Thomas Geer presents a new halfhearted hero, Detective Tyler Monroe, in Tipper Lake. This novel unrolls like a slow Southern drawl, but the scenes and characters are edged with danger, betraying something more menacing just below the surface.

After a judge is murdered in what appears to be an open-and-shut case, Tyler Monroe moves down to a temporary post in Georgia, where his New York background is far […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T09:11:04+02:00May 10th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: The Ishtar Cup (The Bart Northcote Series #1) by Murray Lee Eiland Jr.

★★★★★ The Ishtar Cup (Bart Northcote #1)

As far as private investigator novels go, there are certain expectations and traditional themes that seem to always pop up. There is usually a mysterious femme fatale, a gruff PI who marches to the beat of his own drum, and enough twists to keep a reader tearing through the pages.

In The Ishtar Cup, Book 1 of the Bart Northcote Series by Murray Lee Eiland Jr., some of these commonalities seem to appear almost instantly, but with a flavor all its own. While there is comfort in convention, this book also offers a different tone and a more […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-12-23T05:49:06+02:00April 4th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Noir Book Reviews|

Closure: An Eli Quinn Mystery by Robert Roy Britt

Murder rocks the sleepy town of Pleasant, Arizona, and ex-reporter Eli Quinn is on the case. Fresh off his uncertain vacation from his job with the Arizona Republic to track down his wife’s killer, he returns with the perp behind bars, yet he can’t bring himself to slip back into his old life behind a desk. With the encouragement of his close companions, he moves into the seedy world of private investigation, and a shocking murder hits home at the right time for Eli to test his mettle.

The first book of the Eli Quinn series is a gritty, hard-boiled […]

James Grimsby2019-01-24T19:43:10+02:00October 26th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: First Kill: An Eli Quinn Mystery by Robert Roy Britt

★★★★★

Most private eye mysteries have a tendency to fall into common tropes and expected stylization, and there is rarely a reboot within the genre. Robert Roy Britt, the author of First Kill, works against that common grain and has created a believable and likable private eye in Eli Quinn that doesn’t seem like a cliché stepping out of a film noir classic. With two books about Quinn firmly under his belt, the author has settled into a comfortable writing style, seemingly effortless, which drives this book’s unpredictable plot forward at a perfect pace.

When a woman named Madison […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-24T19:43:01+02:00October 3rd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

Drone: An Eli Quinn Detective Novella by Robert Roy Britt

Man will always twist technology to devious intent; that much is obvious. When drone technology is involved in the assassination attempt of an Arizona politician, few are so qualified to deal with the crime as one Eli Quinn.

In his second published adventure of the series, private investigator Eli Quinn is once again on the case, roped in after friend and lawman Jack Beachum passes on suspicions about the investigating sheriff. A man familiar with the technology involved, Quinn must piece together the scattered shards of truth left in the wake of this tragedy with scant few clues and fewer […]

James Grimsby2019-01-24T19:43:16+02:00August 29th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: The Ring of Gallows by Gary Whorley

★★★★ The Ring of Gallows by Gary Whorley

Jake Achilles is an old-school cop: when sh*t hits the fan, he’ll shoot first and ask questions later, and he’ll break the law to protect it. When Jake and his partner, Kruger Odysseus, follow the cooling trail of a beguiling murder, they might just be digging too deep. As gangs form dangerous new alliances, mysterious happenings crop up all over the city, is the New York city of Elysium really all it seems to be, or is there something yet darker below the surface? What will happen when a jealous curse is foolishly let loose? The mystery of The […]