Books by Loren D. Estleman

From the master of the hard-boiled detective novel and recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award comes Loren D. Estleman's next enthralling Amos Walker mystery, Smoke on the Water. As the smoke from Canadian wildfires chokes Detroit, PI Amos Walker is tasked with investigating a fatal hit-and-run. The victim is Spencer Bennett, a junior law associate with the Waterford Group, and he supposedly had a file of confidential documents on him when he died. But those documents have now gone missing, and the firm is dead set on Walker finding them. As Walker digs deeper into the events leading to Bennett's death, all signs are pointing towards the crash being anything but accidental. Summer in Detroit was hot enough before the smoke descended, but as the temperature rises and more bodies crop up in connection to the missing file, Walker will have to track down those documents -- and unearth why they were worth killing over -- before it's too late. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Set against the sprawling landscape of the Wild West, this riveting adventure by Spur Award-winning author Loren D. Estleman follows a man on a journey to set his legacy, and the men dedicated to bringing his story to life. From his youth as a revolutionist to his time as a Deputy U.S. Marshal, aging lawman Iron St. John has become a larger-than-life figure—and in the process, the man has disappeared behind the myth. During his brief, unsuccessful political career, St. John published his memoirs—a sanitized version of his adventures to appeal to the masses. A generation later, the clouded truth of this giant of the Old West has been all but lost. Now, Buck Jones, a pioneering film star, is vying for a cinematic story that will launch his career to incredible heights. He approaches Emmet Rawlings, a retired Pinkerton detective, to set the record of St. John’s life straight once and for all. Twenty years ago, Rawlings accompanied St. John on his final manhunt, and in desperate need for the funding a successful book promises, he dives deep into St. John’s past—and his own buried memories—to tell the truth about this part-time hero. As the story of St. John unfolds, the romance of the period is stripped away to reveal a reality long-forgotten in this unvarnished, heart-racing depiction of the American West by acclaimed author Loren D. Estleman. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Renowned film detective Valentino is on a quest to help restore The Comet, an extinct drive-in movie theater, and his trail leads him to Leo Kalishnikov, who requests a favor first—rid him of a blackmailer from his shady past, and he'll gladly hand over the money that The Comet needs. With only an uncashed check for a clue, Valentino embarks on a treacherous path to save not only The Comet but the last remaining print of the 1917 film Cleopatra, which has been lost for over a century. The film is somewhere in Los Angeles, and Valentino is willing to risk it all to find it. He must navigate the shady underbelly of Hollywood once more, in a dangerous adventure that threatens not only his career—but his life. Vamp is a hot new Valentino mystery by Loren D. Estleman, the master of the hard-boiled detective novel and recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award.

City Walls, the next Amos Walker novel from a Grand Master. “Loren D. Estleman is my hero.”—Harlan Coben The search for a fugitive embezzler leads Amos Walker to Cleveland, where he is hired by Emmett Yale, a leading figure in the electric car industry, to investigate the murder of his stepson. Yale believes that his stepson's hitman is connected to Clare Strickling, a former employee, and his attempts to silence whispers that he has bought illegal insider-trading information. Walker shadows Strickling to a private airfield as he attempts to flee the country--only to then witness his murder. The twisted web of lies and deceit surrounding both deaths forces Walker to question the motivations of everyone he encounters, from Major Jack Flagg, an elderly barnstormer, Palm Volker, the attractive aviatrix who runs the airfield, Candido, a surly maintenance worker employed by Palm, and Gabe Parrish, a retired boxer. Naturally, everyone has secrets to keep--but the truths lurking beneath the surface this time may make this Walker's final case. THE AMOS WALKER SERIES: Poison Blonde / Retro / Nicotine Kiss / American Detective / The Left-handed Dollar / Infernal Angels / Burning Midnight / Don't Look for Me / You Know Who Killed Me / The Sundown Speech / The Lioness is the Hunter / Black and White Ball / When Old Midnight Comes Along / Cutthroat Dogs / Monkey in the Middle THE PAGE MURDOCK SERIES: The High Rocks / Stamping Ground / Murdock's Law / City of Widows / White Desert / Port Hazard / The Book of Murdock / Cape Hell / Wild Justice THE PETER MACKLIN SERIES: Something Borrowed, Something Black / Little Black Dress THE VALENTINO MYSTERIES: Frames / Alone / Alive! / Shoot / Brazen / Indigo Other books by Loren D. Estleman: Aces & Eights The Ballad of Black Bart Black Powder, White Smoke The Book of Murdock The Branch and the Scaffold and Billy Gashade The Confessions of Al Capone The Eagle and the Viper Gas City Jitterbug Journey of the Dead and The Undertaker's Wife The Long High Noon and The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion The Master Executioner Paperback Jack Ragtime Cowboys The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association Roy & Lillie: A Love Story Thunder City At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Paperback Jack is a brand new historical thriller from Grand Master Loren D. Estleman: lurid paperback covers promised sex and danger, but what went on behind the scenes was nearly as spicy as the adventures between the covers. 1946. Fresh from the War in Europe, hack writer Jacob Heppleman discovers a changed world back home. The pulp magazines he used to write for are dying, replaced by a revolutionary new publishing racket: paperback novels, offering cheap excitement for the common man and woman. Although scorned by the critics, the tawdry drugstore novels sell like hotcakes – or so Jacob is assured by the enterprising head of Blue Devil Books, a pioneer in paperback publishing, known for its two-fisted heroes and underclad cover girls. As "Jack Holly," Jacob finds success as the author of scandalously bestselling crime novels. He prides himself on the authenticity of his work, however, which means picking the brains of some less than reputable characters, including an Irish gangster who wants a cut of the profits – or else. Meanwhile, as Hollywood comes calling, the entire industry also comes under fire from censorious politicians out to tame the paperback jungle in the name of public morality. Targeted by both Congress and the Mob, Jay may end up the victim of his own success – unless he can write his way to a happier ending. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Monkey in the Middle: A hard-boiled mystery from the master of the genre From Loren D. Estleman, the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award, comes his next enthralling Amos Walker mystery, Monkey in the Middle. Private eye Amos Walker doesn't have the luxury of hearing no evil. When a young, would-be investigative journalist comes to him for protection, Walker finds himself embroiled in a web of secrets and lies. The journalist is suspiciously vague about why he needs help and from whom, and he's not the only one keeping Walker in the dark. A retired bestselling author, a fugitive whistleblower, a headline-hungry defense attorney, and a career assassin with a history with Walker all seem to be hiding something. Not to mention the covert government agencies pursuing their own mysterious agendas. As Walker seeks answers, he discovers a dead body—and enough trouble to put him on ice for good. To unravel the mystery and protect his client, the Detroit PI must navigate a shadowy world where no one is telling the whole truth. Filled with Estleman's signature hard-boiled prose and gritty noir atmosphere, Monkey in the Middle is a gripping tale of murder, secrets, and the search for justice on the streets of the Motor City. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Cut-Throat Dogs is a new Amos Walker novel from a Grand Master. “Loren D. Estleman is my hero.”—Harlan Coben “Someone is dead who shouldn’t be, and the wrong man is in prison.” Nearly twenty years ago, college freshman April Goss was found dead in her bathtub, an apparent suicide, but suspicion soon fell on her boyfriend. Dan Corbeil was convicted of her murder and sent to prison. Case closed. Or is it? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Indigo is a brand new Valentino novel from Harlan Coben's hero, Loren D. Estleman! Film detective Valentino is summoned to the estate of Ignacio Bozel to collect a prized donation to the university’s movie library: Bleak Street, a film from the classic noir period, thought lost for more than sixty years. Bleak Street was never released. Its star, Van Oliver, a gifted and charismatic actor with alleged ties to the mob, disappeared while the project was in post-production, presumably murdered by gangland rivals: another one of Hollywood’s unsolved mysteries. Studio bosses elected to shelve the film rather than risk box-office failure. UCLA’s PR Department is excited about the acquisition, but only if Valentino can find a way to sell it in the mainstream media by way of a sensational discovery to coincide with its release: “We want to know what happened to Oliver.” A simple quest for a few hundred yards of celluloid opens a portal into a place darker than night. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

" For a quarter of a century, Five Star Publishing, an imprint of Gale/Cengage, has offered readers the best in new voices, as well as many beloved authors, in the traditional Western and American frontier fiction genres. Hobnail and Other Frontier Stories, edited by Hazel Rumney, features seventeen brand-new stories that will delight historical fiction fans. These stories capture the spirit of freedom and individualism in the evolving 19th century American frontier. These epic narratives are organized by timeframe to offer readers a panoramic view of pioneers who faced life-changing challenges in settings that are in stark contrast to civilized society. Ranging from high-action traditional Westerns to introspective historical dramas set in the American West, readers will discover previously untold stories about the tenacious individuals who shaped the iconic American West. In this anthology, you'll enjoy stories by New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors such as Loren D. Estleman, Johnny D. Boggs, Rod Miller, Patrick Dearen, John D. Nesbitt, W. Michael Farmer, Richard Prosch, Harper Courtland, James D. Crownover, Vonn McKee, Paul Colt, L. J. Martin, Greg Hunt, Wallace J. Swenson, John Neely Davis, Lonnie Whitaker, Steven Howell Wilson. Hobnail and Other Frontier Stories is a great addition to your Western fiction library. "

"A new Amos Walker mystery from award-winning author Loren D. Estleman! Amos Walker is hired by one Francis X. Lawes, a private-sector mover and shaker in Detroit politics, to prove that his wife, Paula, who disappeared under sinister circumstances shortly more than six years ago, is dead, so he can remarry without having to wait for the seven-year-declaration-of-death rule to kick in. Walker's investigation is complicated by two facts: the police still consider Lawes the prime suspect, and the first-responding officer in that old case was killed in the line of duty shortly afterwards and his notebook has never been found. The question for Walker is, if Lawes is guilty, why would he put himself in jeopardy of arrest and prosecution by giving the forensics team a body to work on? ("--

"Contention and Other Frontier Stories, edited by Hazel Rumney, features seventeen brand-new stories that will delight historical fiction fans. These stories capture the spirit of freedom and individualism in the evolving American frontier through the early 1900s and feature exciting new characters who face life-changing challenges in settings that are in stark contrast to civilized society. Ranging from high-action traditional Westerns to introspective historical dramas set in the American West, readers will discover the amount of courage and tenacity it took to survive the tumultuous frontier. In this anthology, you'll enjoy discovering stories by New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors such as Loren D. Estleman, Johnny D. Boggs, Michael Zimmer, Max McCoy, John D. Nesbitt, Preston Lewis, Rod Miller, W. Michael Farmer, Greg Hunt, Bill Brooks, Tim Champlin, Robert D. McKee, Michael R. Ritt, Kathleen Morris, Vonn McKee, John Neely Davis, and Marcia Gaye"--

Deputy U.S. Marshal Page Murdock reflects on the highs and lows of a career shaped by a veteran judge, whose body he accompanies on a cross-continent railroad journey marked by visits from a wide range of mourners and outlaws.

Loren D. Estleman's most popular characters, PI Amos Walker and hit man Peter Macklin, are together in one story for the first time in Black and White Ball! Detroit hit man Peter Macklin forces private eye Amos Walker to furnish protection for Laurie, Macklin's estranged wife, while Macklin tracks down the party who has threatened to kill her. The man Walker’s client suspects cannot be ignored; as his own grown son, Roger Macklin has inherited all the instincts, and acquired all the training, necessary to carry out his threat. Told partly by Walker in first-person and partly by Macklin in third, Black and White Ball places the detective squarely between two remorseless killers, with death waiting whether he succeeds or fails. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Two westerns from Spur Award-Winning author Loren D. Estleman, now in mass market paperback: The Branch and the Scaffold and Billy Gashade The Branch and the Scaffold When Judge Isaac Parker first arrived in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the town had thirty saloons and one bank. Never flinching from his duty, Parker and his marshals, dubbed “Parker’s Men,” ran up against some of the most colorful and dangerous outlaws the west had to offer, including the notorious Dalton Gang; Belle Starr, the Bandit Queen; the murderous Cherokee Bill; and Ned Christie. Billy Gashade A piano player wanders the Old West, meeting up with famous characters such as Frank and Jesse James, Oscar Wilde, and William "Billy the Kid" Bonney, among others, and finds that they were neither as bad or as good as their reputations suggested. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Depicts the suspenseful Old West rivalry between a legendary Wells Fargo chief of detectives and a notorious stagecoach robber who between heists poses as an upper-class San Francisco gentleman.

Based on the Nero Wolfe series—one of the longest running, critically acclaimed, and bestselling series in the crime fiction world—a collection of Nero Wolfe–inspired crime stories from one of the most prominent crime writers of his era. From 1934 until his death in 1976, Rex Stout entertained the world with the exploits of Nero Wolfe—the eccentric, organ-breeding detective genius—as related by Archie Goodwin, his irreverent legman. Nearly Nero is an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek homage to Stout’s greatest creation. Claudius Lyon is a fanatic admirer of Wolfe. He has retrofitted himself and his townhouse after Wolfe’s and has hired a man named Arnie Woodbine to serve as his Archie Goodwin. However, Lyon’s naiveté and Woodbine’s larcenous nature constantly put them in jeopardy—more than Wolfe and Goodwin ever faced. Somehow the imitator manages to find a solution from every problem. But can he and his assistant keep up this pretense for long?

Investigating the disappearance of an entrepreneur, Amos Walker becomes embroiled in a mystery involving a murder, questionable real estate practices, and a dangerous international fugitive.

The Book of Murdock : Murdock dons a clerical collar to worm his way into the confidences of the wary residents of Owen, Texas. Seems a gang of ruthless bandits is terrorizing the Texas panhandle and all evidence points to the dusty cattle town as their base of operations. Murdock aims to unmask the gang, provided he can pass himself off as a preacher long enough to stay alive.

"A killer is reenacting the deaths of Hollywood's blond bombshells, and Valentino must stop him before it's too late in Loren D. Estleman's Brazen. UCLA film archivist and sometime film detective Valentino doesn't take friend and former actress Beata Limerick very seriously when she tells him that she quit acting because of the curse on blond actresses. Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Thelma Todd, Sharon Tate ... they all had more fun, but none of them made it out of the business alive, and according to Limerick, she wasn't taking any chances. But when Valentino finds Beata's body staged the way Monroe was found, 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' playing on repeat; he knows Limerick's death was no accident. Police detective Ray Padilla doesn't quite suspect Valentino is the killer, but he can't let him off that easy. After all, the film archivist seems to be involved in more than his share of intrigue and death, which makes him a prime suspect. But Valentino is also a walking encyclopedia of Hollywood knowledge. When another washed-up actress is killed, the crime scene a copy of Thelma Todd's last moments, Padilla enlists Valentino's help in catching a serial killer of doomed blondes before he can strike again"--Provided by the publisher.

Two Westerns in the Page Murdock series from Spur Award-Winning Author Loren D. Estleman! White Desert U.S. Marshal Page Murdock is a tough cynic—and the last man you’d want on your tail. Though Montana-based, Murdock pursues a vicious gang into a harsh northern Canadian winter. While trying to outwit and outmaneuver groups of aggressive foes, Murdock pushes his luck as he struggles to get his man—and to survive in the unfamiliar wilderness. Port Hazard Page Murdock doesn’t know why someone wants him dead, but he knows where the hired killers are coming from. Thus begins Murdoch’s descent into a hell more decadent, corrupt, and dangerous than even he has ever seen—San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. With an unwilling backup man, Murdock takes up temporary residence among the whores, gamblers, dope addicts, and cutthroats of the continent’s foulest district. No man here is trustworthy. But perhaps the men who seem respectable are the most insidious of all. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Two Westerns at one low price from Spur Award-Winning author Loren D. Estleman: The Long High Noon and The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion The Long High Noon Locked in a deadly feud, cowboys Randy Locke and Frank Farmer have spent decades attempting to annihilate each other. With the story of their long-term hatred well known, Frank and Randy are approached—separately, of course—with a proposition. Why not publicize their next duel and sell tickets to the event? Winner take all, in more ways than one. The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion Johnny Vermillion's theater troupe brings masterpieces to the Wild West. While his actors bustle on and off the stage, one plays the villain in the town’s bank. A Pinkerton man notices the news reports of stage performances one day and bank robberies the next. He follows the troupe, packing his suspicions. Finally, he sets a clever trap. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A priest's death leads a Detroit gumshoe into a case of church corruption in this mordantly funny hard-boiled crime novel Ralph Poteet is forty pounds overweight, out of gin, and he hasn't seen his gun in weeks. As far as private detectives go, he's not much to look at. But he's the only one in the building, and that's enough for Lyla Dane. A call girl who's far better at her job than Ralph is at his, she calls him in the middle of the night because she has a dead monsignor in her bed. After dealing with Lyla's deceased client, Ralph tries his hand at blackmail, offering to keep mum about the priest's embarrassing demise in exchange for a payoff from the diocese. But when somebody tries to kill Ralph and Lyla, Detroit's most unsavory PI is swept into an unholy swarm of deadly secrets that resonates all the way to Washington, DC, and the Vatican. Three-time Shamus Award–winning author Loren D. Estleman delivers a witty, ribald send-up of the hard-boiled detective genre in this action-packed crime novel.

During the Great Depression, a ruthless killer breaks out of prison to reclaim his status as Public Enemy Number One in this chilling, action-packed novel Before Dillinger, before Bonnie and Clyde, there was Virgil Ballard, the most ruthless killer the United States has ever seen. Ballard gets his start in the early 1920s, hijacking liquor trucks and selling the bootlegged hooch. He has a youthful face and the eyes of a killer, and it isn't long before he baptizes himself in another man's blood. The state gives him a life sentence, but no jail can hold Ballard. When he busts out of prison, he knows he has a date with death—but how many coppers can he take out along the way? Inspired by the author's love of 1930s gangster movies, Loren D. Estleman's debut thriller surges with the narrative energy and crackling dialogue that would become hallmarks of his numerous acclaimed and award-winning hard-boiled crime novels.

In this thrilling new western novel by Spur Award-winning author Loren D. Estleman, U. S. Deputy Page Murdock is ordered by Federal Judge Harlan A. Blackthorne to Cape Hell, Mexico, to verify a report that former Confederate Captain Oscar Childress is raising an army to take over Mexico City--and then intends to turn north to rekindle the Civil War. Childress, it seems, has the weapons, wealth, and moral compass to do it. Unable to talk himself out of the mission, Murdock heads south on a steam train named El Espanto--The Ghost. With only Hector Cansado, an engineer who can't be trusted and Joseph, a Native American fireman with a few secrets of his own, Murdock hurtles through the murderous desert of a foreign land toward a man bent on wholesale massacre . . . unless Murdock can stop him.

Two westerns from Loren D. Estleman, now in one ebook bundle edition! Journey of the Dead When Pat Garrett killed Billy the Kid, he had no idea what a terrible emotional price he would pay. Haunted by memories of Billy, Garrett wanders the New Mexico desert in a fruitless pursuit of peace. Deep in the same desert, an ancient Spanish alchemist searches for the fabled philosopher's stone. The Undertaker's Wife The Wild West claimed many lives; it was Richard Connable's job to bury the dead. As the undertaker's wife, Lucy, tells of the bittersweet adventures that took them from the Barbary Coast to Will Bill Hickok's Kansas to the blizzards of Montana, she reflects on the tragedies that shaped their marriage and reveals the heart of a woman whose love can transcend death. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

As featured in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal "Loren Estleman is my hero." --Harlan Coben Desperate Detroit and Stories of Other Dire Places represents forty years of suspense writing in the short form. Previously published in a host of magazines and anthologies, with a new Preface and introductions to the stories written especially for this collection, these eighteen tales feature gangsters, private eyes, psychotic killers, hitmen, feuding families, prostitutes, prizefighters, bodyguards, corrupt cops, the walking dead, and ordinary people driven by desperation to commit acts of violence.