Book picks similar to
All Kinds of Ugly (Hardman Book 13) by Ralph Dennis
mystery
crime-fiction
ralph-dennis
us-private-eye
Breaking Bones
Robert White - 2018
A ruthless criminal gang. A law unto themselves. Detective Jim Hacker has watched The Dogs grow from thuggish youths to psychotic criminals and seems to be the only cop in town with the determination to see justice done. Meanwhile Jamie Strange, a young Royal Marine, finds himself embroiled in the lives of the gang when his girlfriend, Laurie Holland, cuts off their engagement... to be with the most dangerous of The Dogs: Frankie Verdi. Strange knows right from wrong, but when Verdi begins to target Jamie's family, he makes an enemy of a man, more dangerous than even he could imagine. Crisp, slick and often terrifyingly violent, this 1980's crime thriller will appeal to the readers of Ian Rankin, Martina Cole and Stephen Leather.
The Goodbye Coast
Joe Ide - 2022
Here is a city of scheming Malibu actresses, ruthless gang members, virulent inequality, and washed-out police. Acclaimed and award-winning novelist Joe Ide imagines a Marlowe very much of our time: he’s a quiet, lonely, and remarkably capable and confident private detective, though he lives beneath the shadow of his father, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective, famous throughout the city, who’s given in to drink after the death of Marlowe’s mother. Marlowe, against his better judgement, accepts two missing person cases, the first a daughter of a faded, tyrannical Hollywood starlet, and the second, a British child stolen from his mother by his father. At the center of COAST is Marlowe’s troubled and confounding relationship with his father, a son who despises yet respects his dad, and a dad who’s unable to hide his bitter disappointment with his grown boy. Together, they will realize that one of their clients may be responsible for murder of her own husband, a washed-up director in debt to Albanian and Russian gangsters, and that the client’s trouble-making daughter may not be what she seems. Steeped in the richly detailed ethnic neighborhoods of modern LA, Ide’s COAST is a bold recreation that is viciously funny, ingeniously plotted, and surprisingly tender.
London Large - Bound by Blood (Detective Hawkins #2)
Roy Robson - 2016
Inspector Harry ‘H’ Hawkins, only just back at work after a mental and physical breakdown, investigates the crime in the only way he knows how; he embarks on a full-blooded search for the truth. But the truth can be brutal As the murder investigation gathers pace H discovers his own son has been sucked into the dark world of organised crime. A traumatized young man; and a traumatized father H's hard-boiled instinct is to fight, to protect the things he loves. But when his son becomes his enemy his world view is shattered. How can son be turned against father? H’s gripping mission is no longer a search for a killer; but a quest to save his boy, and exact a terrible vengeance against the man who has corrupted him. And his search is a search for a deeper truth, a truth that will stretch family loyalty - and the love of a father for his son - to its very limits.
Blood Is Thicker than Water…Or Is It?
Cold Flame
Natalie Hames - 2018
Hours later his body is discovered in his hot tub, a single gunshot to his head signifying an execution style killing. DI Grace Dalton is called upon to crack the case and bring the killer to justice but the more she investigates, the more she realises his lifestyle and criminal activities have accumulated a long list of enemies. Ploughing through a sea of suspects, Grace is not only under pressure to find the killer but also adapt to a new partner, DS Ryan Nash. A rogue detective with an ambiguous past and a playboy image, he's everything she despises, yet despite her protesting to DCI Harris is given no other choice other than to be his reluctant mentor. To make matters worse, the murder weapon is traced back to a previous crime at the infamous Ringfield Estate, throwing Grace into a precarious position. Known for its gun crime and ruled by the vicious Ringfield Crew, relations between the estate and the police is taut with controversy. With links between Carl and the head of the gang coming to light, Grace finds herself thrown into a confusing maze of suspects and motives. No sooner have the pieces of the puzzle fitted together, the tables of fate turn and send the pieces into disarray. Grace soon realises that if she is to solve the case she must go back to the start where a shocking revelation will reveal how pure, deep seated rage is found in the most unlikely, and quiet places.
Badge Without Honor
Emily Kendricks - 2017
Making matters worse, his new love interest, Dianne Lawson, becomes the next target, forcing Bocello to go head-to-head with the most diabolical killer of his career, who has been hiding in plain sight. Unable to trust anyone around him, he tracks the killer who seems to always stay one step ahead of the investigation…until everything comes to a heart-pounding climax as Bocello races against time to reach his love before it’s too late.
Death Served Cold
Sourabh Mukherjee - 2021
A teenager poisons her family for the love of her tutor. A woman driven by greed ruthlessly bludgeons eight members of her family.A beautician gangs up with her lover to rob a house, killing innocent women from three generations of a family. A practising lawyer strangles her lawyer husband with the cord of a mobile charger. A friendly and jovial teacher commits at least six murders over fourteen years in a sleepy town down south.DEATH SERVED COLD is a painstakingly researched collection of true, blood-curdling accounts of gruesome murders committed by India’s most dangerous women over the last three decades.These stories explore the dark recesses of the female psyche and challenge popular stereotypes by revealing shocking excesses of sadism and aggression rarely associated with women.
Still River
Harry Hunsicker - 2005
Lee Henry Oswald,a Special Forces veteran of the Gulf War whose work begins where legal options end…He bears a killer's name…Lee H. "Hank" Oswald inherited more from his bull-headed father than just a name. It's not that he looks for trouble; he just can't seem to keep out of its way. Fortunately being named Oswald in Dallas makes a man tough enough to get the job done, no matter what side of the law he's forced to walk… He seeks a missing brotherThings get even rougher for Hank when he agrees to help an old friend find her troubled brother. She swears Charlie's quit the drugs for good, now that he's got a job in real estate. But Hank's barely taken the case when he discovers that the Dallas real estate wars can be as vicious and dirty as anything he'd encountered on the battlefield. He's found three suspects--and a hundred ways to die…Before long, three prime suspects emerge: a ruthless Dallas dealmaker; a rising young real estate developer and community activist; and one of the city's most notorious, and deadly, drug lords. Digging through the muck to find something to tie these three together--and to Charlie--Hank comes to one unmistakable truth: For the right price, a man might do anything.
All Good Things: A Jack Hart Mystery
Rosemary Reeve - 2018
The demands and indignities of associate life have been softened by his interest in his mentor, Harmony Piper, granddaughter of the firm’s founder. When Harmony disappears, Jack learns firm secrets and dangers that he could not have imagined – and may not survive. Set in 1990s Seattle, All Good Things reflects a world before smartphones and constant connectivity, where a responsible and hardworking attorney says a cheerful goodbye to her colleague at midnight – and simply vanishes before morning.
Feelers
Brian M. Wiprud - 2009
Morty Martinez is known in the industry of estate liquidation as a "feeler." If you were to look him up in the Brooklyn yellow pages, he would be listed under "home content removal," but his real job is looking for stashes of cash crammed into tin cans that have been left out of wills, kept out of banks, and hidden away for decades by the frugal elderly suspicious of ATMs and the IRS. When Morty hits upon the biggest score of his life, over $800,000.00, he knows that news travels fast and he must operate quickly and carefully to safeguard his booty, his life and his destiny as patrician of a seaside Mexican village. But what he doesn't know is that there are others after the same buried treasure, including the recently paroled prison assassin Danny Kessel.
Aoife's Chariot: Mirrored Murder
Katherine Pathak - 2013
Her brothers have given her the task of deciding what to do with their parents’ farm, which is slowly falling into disrepair. Imogen will not be rushed into passing judgement on the place. When she starts to carry out some research into the history of Kilduggan Farm, she inadvertently sets off a chain of events that ends in tragedy. Suddenly, Imogen and her psychologist husband, Hugh, find themselves faced with a seemingly insoluble puzzle. How can it be possible that an unexplained death in the present day can match, in every detail, an unsolved case from 40 years ago?As the past begins to catch up with Imogen, she realises that she must strive to discover the truth about her family, even if it means that nothing will ever be the same again…This is an intricately plotted novel, cleverly interwoven with subtle clues and the occasional red-herring. It will keep you guessing and the pages turning, right up until its final, shocking conclusion.Aoife's Chariot is the first novel in the Imogen and Hugh Croft Mysteries Series. It is an absorbing family saga, full of mystery and suspense. Husband and wife sleuths Imogen and Hugh Croft are first introduced to readers in this tense genealogical mystery with deathly consequences.
My Soul To Keep (A Detective Sergeant Alex Brady Thriller)
Sue McNeill - 2013
She is tasked with a mundane missing persons' enquiry. But her first case back on the job is anything but simple. The missing person is the niece of her Assistant Chief Constable Jack Dawlish's - Susannah Reynolds.And when a body is discovered, Alex Brady finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation. When Edith, a gentle, old landlady, turns up at the police station wishing to offer her clairvoyant assistance, Alex isn’t convinced. And with the attractive yet mysterious DCI John Rutland as her new boss, she’s more than a little worried about how he’d react to Edith as a source of information.But when a second disappearance is successfully predicted, this has to be more than just a coincidence? Where is Edith getting her information from? Is she just using psychological tricks? Or is there more to it?Something doesn’t add up. But who is telling the truth?What exactly happened to Susannah that night?And how do these seemingly random women connect to one another? 'My Soul to Keep' is a gripping contemporary crime novel that will keep you guessing until the very end. It is the first in a series featuring Detective Sergeant Alex Brady and the team."A brilliant new detective series that will have crime readers hooked." - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of 'Trade Off'. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
Murderer's Fete
Roger Keevil - 2011
Throw into the mix a celebrated author, a dodgy solicitor, and a sponging relative, and Constable and Copper really have their work cut out!'MURDERER'S FETE' WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2012 UNDER THE TITLE 'FETED TO DIE'
Becoming The Wolf (White Wolf)
R.H. Neil - 2016
A fierce guardian of justice who uses Cincinnati’s forgotten underground—abandoned since the 1920’s—to wreak havoc on the city's most violent criminals.Now the predators have become his prey... As The White Wolf, JD Ward is pulled back into a world every bit as deadly as the one he'd left behind in the military. He finds himself hunted by a homicidal clan, a street gang, and a federal task force, forcing him to step out of the shadows to save Cincinnati from a cunning plan of revenge and total devastation. And the conspiracy turns out to be more treacherous than JD could have imagined, and more savage than he may be able to survive.
Sidekick to Deadline by John Sandford
Dave Eagle - 2014
If you have not yet bought Virgil Flowers Deadline, make sure to purchase it before buying this unofficial Sidekick. Welcome to Trippton, Minnesota, where life moves at a leisurely pace ... until your dog gets stolen, someone decides to start cooking meth next door, or the school board votes on a motion to murder you. Sandford’s beloved sleuth takes on three intertwining mysteries in Deadline, a fun and intriguing addition to the Virgil Flowers series. With this Sidekick, you’ll: • Discover some fascinating hidden gems and trivia about the novel • Spend some more time with the characters you’ve come to know and love • Learn what you might have missed on your first read • Explore possible alternate endings and imagine ideas for sequels • Get a chance to discuss the book with other readers on our Facebook forum Sidekicks are entertaining and insightful reading companions, filled with delightful commentary and thought-provoking questions. Readers have raved that Dave Eagle’s Sidekicks "really put you in touch with the many layers of the novel," "keep you entertained," and are "perfect if you want a vivid understanding of the story." Designed to be read side by side with the novels they complement, they’ll give you even more reasons to love some of today’s best books.
Felonious Monk
William Kotzwinkle - 2021
Since killing somebody with a single punch is not a needed talent in a monastery, he spends his time praying, meditating, and taking his anger management medicine. But his meditations are interrupted by a legacy from his uncle, a crooked priest. Arriving in a New Age Arizona town to claim his inheritance, Brother Tommy meets a charismatic, smoking-hot cult leader who claims that women are being impregnated by alien beings while they sleep. Tommy's own sleep is disturbed--by cartel hitmen, Mafia bill collectors, and women intrigued by his vow of chastity. He loses his anger management medicine in time to deal with the hitmen, but the women present an uphill battle.William Kotzwinkle's quicksilver touch has produced an effervescent piece of entertainment filled with suspense, turns you won't see coming, and the humor for which he is famous.