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...

Valentino has a perfect job for a film buff: He is a film detective who locates lost movies so that they can be preserved for future generations. And often he has to become an amateur sleuth as well. To locate a fragment of a film long considered to have vanished, Valentino has to jet to remote locations or to find ancient Hollywood producers and bit players. But there can be danger as well: people sometimes are willing to kill to insure that a film stays lost. Cover painting by Carol Heyer. Cover design by Deborah Miller.

His eyes had seen the glory—of the wild, wild, West... The life of Buffalo Bill Cody was as epic and exciting as the story of the West itself. Cowboy, Pony Express rider, Indian fighter, Union soldier, scout for General George Custer, slayer of Tall Bull and Yellow Hand—he saved Wild Bill Hickok's life, and beat the paths that made way for the railroad and the nation in America's rugged frontier. But now, in his final hours, old Bill Cody faces the last great challenge of his life, as the legendary glory flares—the fades in a new era...Review"Estleman has no rival - not even Louis L'Amour - in evoking the American Southwest." -- Kirkus Reviews (Kirkus Review )

In Loren D. Estelman's Murdock's Law, Special U.S. Deputy Page Murdock rides into Breen, Montana, on the trail of a menacing and elusive outlaw. But before he can scout the saloons for his man, he is made town marshal in a territory heating up for the ugliest range war this side of hell. The big ranchers want a gunslinger marshal, and the small ranchers have their own hired gun. But the badge on Murdock's chest means law, and he'll enforce it the best way he knows...with a gun.

Enter Valentino, a mild-mannered UCLA film archivist. In the surreal world of Hollywood filmdom, truth is often stranger than celluloid fiction. When Valentino buys a decrepit movie palace and uncovers a skeleton in the secret Prohibition basement, he's not really surprised. But he's staggered by a second discovery: long-lost, priceless reels of film: Erich von Stroheim’s infamous Greed.The LAPD wants to take the reels as evidence, jeopardizing the precious old film. If Valentino wants to save his find, he has only one choice: solve the murder within 72 hours with the help of his mentor, the noted film scholar Broadhead, and Fanta, a feisty if slightly flaky young law student.Between a budding romance with a beautiful forensics investigator and visions of Von Stroheim’s ghost, Valentino’s madcap race to save the flick is as fast and frenetic as a classic screwball comedy.  A quirky cast of characters, smart dialogue and a touch of romance make this Estleman's most engaging and accessible novel to date.From Publishers WeeklyHaving appeared in 10 short stories in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, self-described film detective Valentino, who works as a film archivist at U.C.L.A., makes his novel-length debut in the engaging first of a new series from Shamus-winner Estleman. Valentino stumbles on the find of a lifetime when he inspects the Oracle, a decaying 1920s movie theater he's considering purchasing. An abandoned storage room contains reels of film that may be the only surviving prints of Erich von Stroheim's legendary epic, Greed. The further discovery of a skeleton of unknown vintage in the old building complicates matters. Aided by academic colleagues, Valentino tries to eat his cake and have it, too, by cooperating with the police inquiry into what might be a case of foul play without revealing the existence of the film reels, which he fears might be damaged if seized as evidence. While the lighthearted tone is far removed from the gritty realism of the author's Amos Walker series (American Detective, etc.), the versatile Estleman has crafted yet another intelligent page-turner. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review Genre veteran Estleman debuts a new and wonderfully entertaining series starring a UCLA film archivist. Departing dramatically from the classic hard-boiled style of his Amos Walker novels, Estleman has concocted a jaunty, thoroughly endearing screwball comedy-mystery in which the aptly named archivist Valentino teams with a venerable film historian and a hip, slightly loopy grad student to solve a murder, rehab a movie palace, and restore a long-lost, uncut print of the Erich von Stroheim classic Greed. It all starts when Valentino buys the crumbling theater and finds the abandoned reels of von Stroheim’s film in a walled-off storage room. Unfortunately, there is also a skeleton in the closet, the remains of a long-ago murder, and the police demand that Valentino surrender the film canisters within 72 hours or face prosecution. That leaves him three days to solve the crime or risk having the police mishandle and potentially ruin the fragile film. As Valentino and his buddies careen about Los Angeles, visiting a home for retired movie workers and researching the provenance of the movie palace, Estleman smoothly seeds the text with all manner of fascinating details relating to the history of silent films and the techniques of modern film restoration. There’s even time for a nifty romance between Valentino and an LAPD forensics investigator. Great cast, great subject, flawless delivery from a real pro. --Bill Ott

Detroit PI Amos Walker attempts to clear the name of a woman accused of murdering her husband Constance Thayer probably isn’t a nice woman. If she was, she wouldn’t have shot her husband to death. But just because she has a taste for nightlife—drinking, clubbing, and the finest hard drugs—doesn’t mean her husband didn’t deserve it. An automobile magnate in a city where internal combustion still reigns supreme, Doyle Thayer Jr. was a wife-beater with a collection of assault weapons that could furnish an army.At least that’s the story spun by Amos Walker’s new client, a large investigatory outfit hired by Mrs. Thayer to clear her name. Walker’s job is to get the dirt on her late husband, to learn enough about him that her shooting looks like an act of heroism. And please, his new bossbegs, don’t make any waves—a sure sign that the man doesn’t know Amos Walker.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Loren D. Estleman including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

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.

In prohibition-era Southern California, real life detectives Charles D. Siringo and Dashiell Hammett must solve a mystery involving a ruthless politician—Joseph P. Kennedy. With sharp dialogue and rich historical background, Ragtime Cowboys is an exciting, suspenseful tale in which the Old West and Hollywood collide. Los Angeles, 1921: Ex-Pinkerton Charlie Siringo is living in quiet retirement when Wyatt Earp knocks on his door and asks him to track down his missing horse. What begins as horse thievery turns into a deeper mystery as Siringo and another ex-Pinkerton, the young Dashiell Hammett, follow clues that take them from the streets of Los Angeles to Jack London's farm, until they discover a conspiracy masterminded by the notorious and powerful Joseph P. Kennedy. From the first page to the closing chapter, these ragtime cowboys chase the truth in Loren D. Estleman's compelling tale of the Old West and early Hollywood. At the...

For Minor, who had a colorful, thriving career as a newspaper man twenty years earlier, a last chance to make it big - or take a big fall - has come from Henry Ford II and his new brainchild, the Edsel. Shrouded in secrecy, the E-car is to compete with Cadillac and make Ford Motor Company the number one shop in town...and the world. Minor's job? Sell it to America. Although Minor has his doubts about this car (especially that strange grille), he knows how to make an advertising pitch. But before he can start, he's hit with a hardball proposition from union leader Walter Reuther and a zealous politician looking for pinkos in Detroit's bizarre pro wrestling circuit. Bouncing back and forth between two women - one half his age and the other twice as smart - Connie does what he does best and dives into the Detroit underworld of mobsters, molls, wrestlers, and ex-cops. And finds someone with deadly plans for Henry II's grand dream.From Publishers WeeklyThree decades of Detroit history provide settings for Estleman's acclaimed Amos Walker mysteries, including Whiskey River. Again conjuring up the Motor City of the 1950s, the author chronicles the second career of ex-journalist Connie Minor, who is signed up by Ford Motor Company to promote Henry Ford II's still secret dreamcar, named after Ford's much loved (by him) and much hurt (by the autocratic Henry I) father, Edsel. Connie isn't sure that he likes either the car's name or its design, particularly the grille. He's also confused about his lovelife, held by his acerbic, longtime affection for Agnes but also drawn to spunky, younger Janet, a Ford secretary who is the kind of girl to help a man forget advancing years and a diabetic condition. Hired to sell "eleven million E-cars," Estleman's likable hero must also find out who set up the hit on a union boss and to figure out how Ford's designs become public knowledge so quickly. The narrative may linger too long on the size of a lapel or the color of a car interior or living room (both usually bilious), but Estleman's affection for the time and place are impossible to resist. This tale may not be as much fun as a Walker caper, but its quieter pleasures are as rewarding. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalHas-been Detroit journalist Connie Minor is hand-picked by Henry Ford II to create the promotional campaign for his top-secret brainchild-the Edsel. On the strength of his reputation for clever turns of phrase and keeping confidences, Minor is catapulted from a nothing job in a small ad house to a window office on mahogany row near the legendary Henry. He's scarcely settled in when he gets caught between Walter Reuther and a Communist-hunting local politician who blackmails him into tapping his old underworld contacts for leads on a plot to kill Reuther. Bouncing from the mob to the union to the boardroom, Minor not only uncovers the murder plan but a stealthy scheme to sabotage the Edsel as well. Would the car have bombed even if it hadn't looked so weird? Estleman, who is equally as masterful with thrillers (Motown, LJ 6/15/91) as with Westerns (City of Widows, LJ 3/15/94), has crafted a swiftly entertaining story of Detroit in the 1950s with all the panache of a Raymond Chandler and a keen eye for historical detail. Highly recommended for all public libraries.Susan Clifford, Hughes Aircraft Co. Lib., Los AngelesCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Trying to go straight, former contract killer Peter Macklin carries out a hit in the Lone Star state, in this page-turning hard-boiled thriller Johns Davis has just left the Alamo when he feels the garrote wrap around his neck. The bookie slams his foot on the gas, sending the car into oncoming traffic. It bounces off a van, hops the curb, and crashes into a hotel, knocking Davis unconscious and breaking the neck of his would-be assassin. Davis can breathe again, but just for a moment. When the mob wants you dead, they'll always send another killer. The only man for the job is Peter Macklin, a veteran killer who's trying to put his old life behind him. He's just married Laurie, a beautiful, innocent young woman who believes her husband is a salesman. They're on their honeymoon in Los Angeles when he gets the call, and it's a gig he can't refuse. Macklin is going to Texas for a battle so tough it will make the Alamo look like a fair fight....

From the three-time Golden Spur Award winner--the classic novel about Tombstone, Arizona... * The gunfight at O.K. Corral is the ultimate Western adventure--and Estleman's novel is the definitive account "Pistol-hot...rawhide tough."--Kirkus Reviews "Gritty and unwashed realism...a brutal showdown."--Elmer Kelton "High drama...so real you can smell the horses."--Elmore Leonard "Raw, realistic, myth exploding."--Booklist "High Drama... Estleman's account of events following the O.K. Corral gunfight is the best one I've ever read, by far."--Elmore Leonard

Page Murdock has been many things in his day: a cowhand, a saloonkeeper, a Comanche slave, and, lately, a deputy U.S. marshal. But the one thing the mean-faced, middle-aged gunman never expected to be was a man of the cloth.Funny how things work out sometimes.Posing as Brother Bernard Sebastian of the Church of Evangelical Truth, Murdock dons a clerical collar to worm his way into the good graces and 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.Imitating a minister troubles his conscience, almost driving him to the Good Book for comfort, and his prickly assignment grows even more complicated when he crosses paths with a shady lady from his past. With one hand on the Bible and the other on his...

Short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authorsWhen a bibliophile is murdered, it takes a bookseller to solve the crimeGood Advice, New Mexico, is a sunny town with a gloomy bookshop. The store's eerie corridors are the province of Avery Sharecross, an ex-cop who has made the transition from chasing killers to tracking rare books. One afternoon, the local sheriff interrupts his book club meeting, and Sharecross's old career collides with his new one. The area's premier book collector has been found bludgeoned to death on the floor of his family library. A fifth-generation resident of Good Advice, Lloyd Fister devoted his life to books, accumulating a collection of local history that date backs to the sixteenth century. In his library, a single volume is missing: a Spanish book with a sinister past. Is the missing volume a clue, a motive, or a murder weapon? It will take a collector's eye to decide.

In Loren D. Estleman's The High Rocks, U.S. Deputy Marshal Page Murdock attempts to bring in the legendary seven-foot trapper Bear Anderson, who has been conducting a one-man massacre of the Flatheads in an effort to avenge the murder of his family.

In You Know Who Killed Me, by multiple award-winning author Loren D. Estleman, Amos Walker is at low ebb. Just released from a rehab clinic, the Detroit private detective has to marshal his energies to help solve a murder in Iroquois Heights, his least favorite town.The area is flooded with billboards rented by the widow of Donald Gates, an ordinary suburbanite found shot to death in his basement on New Year's Eve: "YOU KNOW WHO KILLED ME!" they read, above the number of the sheriff's tip line. Complicating matters is a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer, offered by an anonymous donor through the dead man's place of worship.Initially hired by the sheriff's department to run down anonymous tips, Walker investigates further. The trail leads to former fellow employee Yuri Yako, a Ukrainian mobster, relocated to the area through the U.S. Marshals' Witness Protection Program. Shadowed by government operatives, at...