Book picks similar to
The Night Watch by Thomas Walsh
pulp
watched-not-read
crime-mystery
crime-noir
Blood on the Mink
Robert Silverberg - 1962
currency plates for an organized crime gang - and the government wants to put a stop to it. But how can they get close enough to bring down the criminal enterprise from the inside? By snatching a west coast crime boss' right-hand man and sending a federal agent undercover in the man's place. His assignment: pose as a buyer of counterfeit bills and try to get the engraver out. Which works fine - until he crosses paths with someone who knows the man he replaced... A lost masterpiece from science fiction Grandmaster Robert Silverberg, published as a complete novel for the very first time!
Savage Night
Allan Guthrie - 2008
He isn't prepared for the fall-out, though. Before long, his teenage son is in mortal danger, and his daughter and her fiance are knee-deep in corpses. Meanwhile, a masked man known as Mr Smith is blackmailing Tommy Savage - for what, he has no idea. After an attempt to gain the upper hand has near-fatal results, Tommy and his brother find themselves heading to a graveyard with only a couple of swords and a bag of cash for company. A blood-pumping tragi-comedy of love and violence, "Savage Night" unfolds over six frenetic hours in Scotland's capital city.
Nobody's Angel
Jack Clark - 2010
While Chicago cabbie Eddie Miles drives the city streets at midnight, two killers--one targeting prostitutes, the other cab drivers--are out plying their trade.
The Name of the Game Is Death
Dan J. Marlowe - 1962
If one of them can shoot like me... the odds are a damn sight better."In the course of his line of business, the man who calls himself Roy Martin has robbed a bank in Phoenix, killed three men, and caught a bullet in his arm. Safety--and one half of $178,000--awaits him on the other side of the country. All that separates "Martin" from his destination are two thousand treacherous miles and three lethal temptations: to trust the wrong friend, to love the right woman, and to start believing that a man like himself can ever be safe.The Name of the Game is Death combines a narrative as taut as a hangman's rope with chillingly authentic insights into the psychology of casual murder.
The Birdwatcher
William Shaw - 2016
A methodical, diligent, and exceptionally bright detective, South is an avid birdwatcher and trusted figure in his small town on the rugged Kentish coast. He also lives with the deeply buried secret that, as a child in Northern Ireland, he may have killed a man. When a fellow birdwatcher is found murdered in his remote home, South's world flips. The culprit seems to be a drifter from South's childhood; the victim was the only person connecting South to his early crime; and a troubled, vivacious new female sergeant has been relocated from London and assigned to work with South. As our hero investigates, he must work ever-harder to keep his own connections to the victim, and his past, a secret. The Birdwatcher is British crime fiction at its finest; a stirring portrait of flawed, vulnerable investigators; a meticulously constructed mystery; and a primal story of fear, loyalty and vengeance. **Longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year
Fade to Blonde
Max Phillips - 2004
She had nice straight shoulders. There was nothing wrong between them and her open-toed shoes, so I guess the trouble must have been somewhere behind those blue-gray eyes. They'd be trouble, of course. She looked up and called, 'Is your name, Corson?' " From the first paragraph, Max Phillips's pitch-pure ear sets the tone; we have entered a back-alley world where men are tough and women are easy; where dirty secrets clog the citadels of power. With its staccato dialogue and its strip-club fusion of sex and vengeance, Fade to Blonde ironically recalls a more innocent age.
Blackmailer (Hard Case Crime #32)
George Axelrod - 1952
From the Academy Award-Nominated Screenwriter of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE Comes a Breathtaking Story of Murder and Mischief...IT'S THE STORY of a big-game hunter, fisherman, fighter, visitor to Cuba, drunk, and Nobel Prize-winning author, recently deceased of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, whose final unpublished manuscript could fetch a mint...IT'S THE STORY of a short, balding man with a high-pitched voice and a vicious wit, whose cocktail parties are the talk of the town, especially when a beautiful woman dies at one of them...IT'S THE STORY of Hollywood's sexiest starlet, who manages to conceal things even when she's wearing nothing but a towel......and it's the story of Dick Sherman, intrepid New York publisher, on the trail of the literary find of the century-and the killer who will stop at nothing to keep it from being found.
Frank Sinatra in a Blender
Matthew McBride - 2011
He’s a drunken ex-cop who lives in his shabby office, hangs out at strip clubs, and has only one real friend—Frank Sinatra. But he’s one of the best private investigators in St. Louis. So when an inept crew robs a credit union, only Valentine can figure out who made off with the millions.Sometimes solving a crime takes a hard guy who’s not afraid to work outside the law, and Valentine scrambles through the underbelly of St. Louis looking for answers. With every law he breaks, every drink he takes, and every Oxycontin he snorts, Valentine lurches closer to finding the truth. Or floating facedown in the Missouri River.Brutally funny, wild, this no-holds-barred crime novel reads like Elmore Leonard on meth. Crazy and addictive, you’ll want more.
The Janes
B.M. Hardin - 2017
Don't doubt anything about them; especially the Blonde One." Unlike most, Jane had the perfect life. She was happy, content, and the perfect wife. Her marriage was solid, but they were missing one thing; a house and children, which led them to S.J. Lane. But who knew that because of one bad decision, everything, her whole life would change. In a community, were everyone has the same name. Where lies and truth, are one in the same... Who can you trust? What do you believe? What if the giver, is only giving to receive? Jane's life gets turned upside down. And only THE JANES has the power to turn it all around. But little did she know that she was apart of one big game. And the biggest question of all was...which Jane was pulling the strings? Through secrets and pain, Jane learns the hard way, that not all problems, have an easy fix. Sometimes A JANE has to be thrown in the mix!
Ride the Pink Horse
Dorothy B. Hughes - 1946
He is looking for someone, his boss, 'Sen' - a crooked, 'weasel-faced' Senator, who has set up the murder of his wealthy wife and made it look like a bungled robbery. Sailor is the only person who can finger Sen for the crime, and he intends to make the senator pay a hefty sum for his silence. In a hypnotic style that is pure, unsentimental noir, Hughes builds tension relentlessly and the fates of Sailor and Sen are played out against the increasing fervour of the town's festivities.
Drug Gang
Neil Walker - 2017
What would you be prepared to do to have everything you ever wanted? How far would you go and where would you draw the line? These are the questions facing John Kennedy in Drug Gang, as he arrives in Manchester in the summer of 2001 and finds the sinister but exciting world of The Brotherhood. If he is prepared to sell drugs, risk his life and commit vicious acts without limits, a life of luxury and huge sums of money can be his. As events spiral out of control, are the money and the glamorous lifestyle enough to keep him locked in a destructive cycle of cruelty and violence?
The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu
Sax Rohmer - 1913
A time of shadows, secret societies, and dens filled with opium addicts. Into this world comes the most fantastic emissary of evil society has ever known… Dr. Fu-Manchu. Denis Nayland Smith pursues his quarry across continents and through the back alleys of London. As victim after victim disappears at the hands of the Devil Doctor, Smith must unravel his murderous plot before it is too late. Includes a special feature by Leslie S. Kilnger
The Inspector Graham Mysteries: Books 5-7
Alison Golden - 2020
His quiet, thoughtful exterior hides a complex mind, and a fierce determination to see justice done. Like many of us, sometimes he has to look his demons in the eye, to keep fighting the good fight.This digital box set contains the fifth, sixth, and seventh mysteries in this best-selling series:The Case of the Missing Letter: The priceless Satterthwaite Desk has found its way to the island of Jersey and is on display at the local museum. When a dead body turns up on the museum’s grounds, a turbulent family drama becomes an official police inquiry. Detective Inspector Graham, along with his recently lauded investigative team, must untangle the mystery. But the trail of scandal and deceit soon spills out of the museum, and leads into the darkest corners of the island and beyond.The Case of the Pretty Lady: When a devastating hurricane surges toward the quiet island of Jersey, Detective Inspector Graham quickly finds his life turned upside down. In the wake of the storm, the body of a missing scientist washes ashore. A crime this diabolical takes teamwork to solve, and the Inspector enlists the aid of his three loyal and beloved officers. But are four heads really better than one?The Case of the Forsaken Child: Plagued by devastating memories, Detective Inspector David Graham can’t seem to escape the shadow of anger and guilt clouding his heart. When an undercover cop confides in Graham that her cover is blown, he uncharacteristically underreacts. Soon afterward, when she is killed in a hit-and-run, Graham's feelings of guilt bubble to the surface. If only he had done more…Grab a hot cup of tea and dive into this boxed set quintessentially British mystery series today.
No Orchids for Miss Blandish
James Hadley Chase - 1939
Foiled by their own vicious ineptitude and the greed of a superior mob, the kidnappers lose their million dollar prize. Blandish, terrified and broken, is now the captive of Ma' Grisson and her sadistic, sexually deviant son Slim.When Dave Fenner was hired to solve the Blandish kidnapping, he knew the odds of finding the girl were against him - the cops were still looking for her three months after the ransom had been paid. And the kidnappers, Riley and his gang, had disappeared in to thin air. But what none of them knew was that Riley himself had been wiped out by a rival gang - and the heiress was now in the hands of Ma Grisson and her son Slim, a vicious killer who couldn't stay away from women...especially his beautiful new captive. By the time Fenner began to close in on them, some terrible things had happened to Miss Blandish...
Beat to a Pulp: Hardboiled
David CranmerAmy Grech - 2011
This collection includes thirteen lean and mean stories from the fingertips of Garnett Elliott, Glenn Gray, John Hornor Jacobs, Patricia Abbott, Thomas Pluck, Brad Green, Ron Earl Phillips, Kent Gowran, Amy Grech, Benoit Lelievre, Kieran Shea, David Cranmer, and Wayne D. Dundee and a boiled down look at hardboiled fiction in an introduction by Ron Scheer. Edited by David Cranmer and Scott D. Parker.