Book picks similar to
Piggyback by Tom Pitts


crime
noir
fiction-07
good-weeds

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.

The Drop


Dennis Lehane - 2014
    As their relationship grows, they cross paths with the Chechen mafia; a man grown dangerous with age and thwarted hopes; two hapless stick-up artists; a very curious cop; and the original owner of the puppy, who wants his dog back. . . .

The Bride Wore Black


Cornell Woolrich - 1940
    All they really knew about her was that she possessed a terrifying beauty-and that each time she appeared, a man died horribly...

Gun Work


David J. Schow - 2011
    That’s what the Mexican kidnapping cartel was demanding for Carl Ledbetter’s wife. So Carl reached out to the one person he knew with a chance in hell of saving her, a deadly man whose own life he’d saved in the sands of Iraq. It was time to call in some favors. Because some situations call for negotiation, but some… call for gun work.

Shadows of Regret


Ross Greenwood - 2019
    Katie committed a terrible crime. Sixteen years was the price she had to pay. Once released from prison, she finds the world has changed. But Katie is a survivor. Isolated and alone, she struggles to make sense of her new life. Starting again isn’t easy, especially after what she’s done. Despite not feeling free or safe, Katie overcomes her fears and confronts the future. Although history won’t remain forgotten. Gradually, memories of the past are revealed. When Katie finally exposes the awful truth and sees there are others who share the blame, she must choose her path. Will she seek redemption, or will she take revenge?

Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter


Darwyn Cooke - 2009
    Betrayed by the woman he loved and double-crossed by his partner in crime, Parker makes his way cross-country with only one thought burning in his mind - to coldly exact his revenge and reclaim what was taken from him! Richard (Donald Westlake) Stark's groundbreaking Parker books are adapted for the first time as a series of graphic novels by Darwyn Cooke. The initial graphic novel brings to life the first Parker book, The Hunter, which introduces readers to the dangerous anti-hero's cold and calculated world of criminals, thugs, and grifters.

Soho Slasher: Jack Is Back: A Harbinger Crossover Novel to International Hunters, Inc.


Carolyn McCray - 2014
    Soho Slasher: Jack Is Back is the new action-packed Harbinger crossover novel to International Hunters, Inc., a new series by the #1 Police Procedural and Hard Boiled Mystery bestselling authors, Carolyn McCray and Ben Hopkin.

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.

Chasing Shadows (Drew Patrick)


Jason Richards - 2018
     When Tina Ross and her friends witness a brutal murder they make a pact to keep what they saw to themselves. The teens think silence equals safety. But the killers have another idea. Concerned mother Bonnie Ross hires private investigator Drew Patrick to find out where her daughter is sneaking off to at night. What appears to be a simple case of a rebellious teen leads to some of Boston's darkest corners. Drew quickly finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation and needing to protect Tina. But when she and her friends go missing, it is a race against the clock to save them from murderous thugs. Chasing Shadows is a prequel novella to the Private Detective Drew Patrick series of suspenseful crime thriller novels. Includes a preview of Shattered, the first novel in the series. Read Chasing Shadows today and begin the pulse-pounding adventure. If you enjoy books by Robert B. Parker, Robert Crais, and James Patterson, then you will enjoy this new detective crime thriller series by Jason Richards.

Itsy Bitsy Spider


Willow Rose - 2013
    She decides to move there with her family, much to her teenage-daughter's regret. One morning a wealthy old woman in her street is found murdered and soon Emma finds herself wrapped in a mystery uncovering the island's dark secrets that not only runs deep within the history of the island but also within her own family. From the author of the International Bestselling books, the Rebekka Franck-series comes a new Scandinavian Mystery destined to keep you up all night. This is the first book in the Emma Frost-series and is followed by Miss Polly had a dolly.

Robbie's Wife (Hard Case Crime #29)


Russell Hill - 2007
    But what he found wasn’t solitude and peace—it was temptation. Because Maggie Barlow, the wife of the man putting him up, had something irresistible about her. Something that could drive a man to kill...

Black Neon


Tony O'Neill
    Little do they know that their road trip will set them on a collision course with a side of American life even darker and weirder than their own.

Cold Granite


Stuart MacBride - 2005
    Winter in Aberdeen: murder, mayhem and terrible weather! It's DS Logan McRae's first day back on the job after a year off on the sick, and it couldn't get much worse. Four-year-old David Reid's body is discovered in a ditch, strangled, mutilated and a long time dead. And he's only the first. There's a serial killer stalking the Granite City and the local media are baying for blood. Soon the dead are piling up in the morgue almost as fast as the snow on the streets, and Logan knows time is running out. More children are going missing. More are going to die. And if Logan isn't careful, he could end up joining them!

A Cue to a Kill


Lilian Watts - 2015
    but can it, when one of the actors has a cue to a kill?Backstage at the last night performance of the murder-mystery play "Bone Chiller," a real life killer is stalking the corridors of the theater.The Goose Meadow Bay Players' Halloween production has been declared an artistic success by enthralled audiences, but onstage and backstage the cast and crew are just a little bit bored.On the last night, one of the actors has a great idea to liven things up and everything seems harmless enough, but then an attempt is made on one actor's life. Not long after that, another goes missing.With the audience's laughter ringing in their ears, the cast are more intent on stardom than finding the potential murderer lurking amongst them. Can Kath keep the show running, the cast safe and make sure the killer sticks to the script?This is a cozy mystery short read in the Stage Door series.

White Heron


J.J. Marsh - 2021
    All she wants is a place to run and hide. Where better than a tiny shack between the Brazilian jungle and the Atlantic Ocean to appreciate the natural world and obliterate her memories?Hermit-style living goes well until a local is murdered in shocking circumstances. Violence has followed her 5,000 miles to a remote fishing village? Against her will, Ann is drawn into a murder investigation, in close proximity to the last thing she needs: a smart cop.Erasing history is a challenge but unlearning experience is impossible. Ann knows trouble when she sees it. Surfers are dealing drugs and the man in snakeskin boots is their supplier. She tells herself it's not her problem. But when drug wars come to the beach, it's everyone's problem.She knows it will end in blood and tears.Must she take flight again?