Reddit mentions: The best hard-boiled mystery books

The Kept Girl is now available from Amazon or direct from Esotouric Ink (signed or in deluxe art deco wraps).

Synopsis: Los Angeles, 1929: a glittering metropolis on the crest of an epic crash. A mysterious prophetess and her alluring daughter have relieved an oil tycoon's nephew of his fortune. But the kid won't talk. To find the money, the old man calls on a trusted executive, Raymond Chandler, who in turn enlists the aid of his devoted secretary/mistress, Muriel Fischer, and their idealistic patrolman friend Tom James.

Soon the nephew is revealed as a high-ranking member of a murderous cult of angel worshippers, and the trio plunges into an investigation that sends them careening across Southern California, from sinister sanitariums to roadside burger stands, decaying Bunker Hill mansions to sparkling cocktail parties, taxi dance halls to the morgue, all in search of the secretive Great Eleven. But when Muriel goes undercover to infiltrate the group's rural lair, she comes face to face with disturbing truths that threaten to spoil everything, not just for the cult's members, but for herself as well.

A work of fiction inspired by actual events and featuring the real-life cop who is a likely model for the mature Chandler's greatest creation, private eye Philip Marlowe, Kim Cooper's The Kept Girl exposes a mystery so horrifying, it could only be true.

What the Critics are Saying:

"Commendable." - Kirkus Reviews... "Holy cats, this woman can write! Kim Cooper's The Kept Girl evokes 1920s Los Angeles in general and especially Raymond Chandler magnificently, without ever stooping to mere ventriloquism. It abounds in grace notes, snappy character sketches and, yes, similes that keep their dignity even in the presence of the master." - David Kipen, editor of The WPA Guide to Los Angeles... "Kim Cooper is the perfect Virgil to 1929 Los Angeles, a city that was both a paradise and an inferno. Her knowledge of the city that was is unparalleled, her imagination unnerving. The real-life characters and crimes that would give birth to the pulp fiction of the 1930s and the film noir of the 1940s can all be found here. Aficionados of noir Los Angeles will read The Kept Girl with fascination and with growing horror as the terrible crime at its core is revealed." - John Buntin, author of L.A. Noir... "Nervy, bold, and shot through with a deep sense of Los Angeles history--the kind that feels practically tactile, as all the best noir narratives do Kim Cooper's The Kept Girl is a delightful addition to this city's literature. The effortlessness with which it borrows against the Chandler tradition while at the same time retaining its unique intelligence and slyly contemporary flavor is just plain stunning. I can't commend it highly enough." - Matthew Specktor, author of American Dream Machine

What Readers are Saying:

4.5 stars with 10 Amazon reviews, including:

"Plot, character, pacing and period detail are all impeccably rendered here, bolstered by the author's deep knowledge of Los Angeles history." (Mike Stax)... "I couldn't put this book down; RIVETING. Well-written, brilliantly researched, totally compelling and fascinating." (Thessaly Lerner)... "The story she weaves is complex and richly detailed. The mix of fact and fiction could have been daunting for a first-time novelist, but Kim Cooper understands this turf like a beat cop." (A. Schaeffer)... "Cooper's writing style is wonderful, warm and inviting, and rich with ambiance... a deeply delicious read." (Unabridged Chick)... "Kim Cooper has always been a terrific historian, but very few terrific historians can write a story this well. Just wonderful work." (sirmarktwang)

Learn more about The Kept Girl and the real-life crimes that inspired the novel here.

If you are still looking for books to read, I have recently started a series known colloquially as "The Alphabet Mysteries" by Sue Grafton. It is a murder mystery series set in California and the main character is a woman PI in her 30s. She's very independent and I love to find longer series - I think she's up to V right now, so it's a pretty good series. Even if you don't normally like the mystery genre, just give it a shot. The first book in the series is 'A is for Alibi' and was really good.

http://www.amazon.com/Is-Alibi-Kinsey-Millhone-Mystery/dp/0553279912


Second, I'd like to recommend author Laurell K. Hamilton. She is famous for two series, both with strong female characters. Her more popular series is "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter" and is a fantastic alternative to the twilight-esque tween romanticized version of vampire novels. It is pretty graphic and has a lot of sex, so be warned in advance. It has some really great thought-provoking themes and I think it's well written. Also there is some pretty graphic sex especially later on in the series but I find it a turn-on. The first book is "Guilty Pleasures." (I also read that they've started making a color "graphic novel" out of the series, which looks really cool if you prefer comics).

http://www.amazon.com/Guilty-Pleasures-Anita-Vampire-Hunter/dp/0425197549/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343582698&sr=1-1&keywords=guilty+pleasures


Her second series is the "Merry Gentry" series which is a fantasy style book with faerie and elves and the modern day world as well. This one is very smutty and chock full of sex and to be honest, even to me the sex started to get overpowering, but I still really enjoyed the series. However a new one hasn't come out in a few years and I have to say I am a little disappointed in that. The first one is "A Kiss of Shadows."

http://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Shadows-Meredith-Gentry-Book/dp/0345423399


Thirdly, my all-time favorite author is Mercedes Lackey. Her series are mixed with female and male characters but one of the most well-known and popular books she wrote early in her career is the "Arrows of the Queen" trilogy introducing the world of Valdemar. The entire Valdemar series is fantastic, and Arrows specifically focuses on a woman.

http://www.amazon.com/Arrows-Queen-Heralds-Valdemar-Book/dp/0886773784/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343582295&sr=1-1&keywords=arrows+of+the+queen


There are other trilogies in the series about women, as well as men. I am also very fond of her "Elemental Masters" series, which typically has one female and one male protagonist. It's a fantastic series. The first book in this series is "The Serpent's Shadow." I love everything she writes, really!!

http://www.amazon.com/Serpents-Shadow-Elemental-Masters-Book/dp/0756400619/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343582580&sr=1-2&keywords=elemental+masters

EDIT: formatting

I plot out the major arcs of both the story and the characters. I make sure to nail down the essentials of what is happening when, as well as developing a good understanding of my character motivations.

For me, a lot of planning involves just taking the time to mull over the themes I want to work with, or explore questions I want to raise. This involves asking a lot of questions to everyone I know, everyone I meet. It makes for great party conversations!

It takes a few months, during which time I'll also explore what's already been written/said about what I'm hoping to do. I look at similar movies and books, anything at all that's already been produced that has themes or topics similar to what I'm developing.

I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books.

As a concrete example, my most recent novel is about what would happen if everyone in the world stopped sleeping.

I spent months asking everyone I knew what the longest was that they stayed awake. I also read pretty much the only comparable thing on the topic, a fictional novel called "Sleepless" by Charlie Huston. I also read articles on sleep and neuroscience, as well as watched TED talks and other related videos.

Then I conducted a sleep-deprivation experiment on myself. I wanted to know what it would be like to not sleep. (I am a wuss and didn't make it that long- I need sleep more than the average bear apparently!)

This novel is in the style of World War Z (early title: World War ZZZ, huehuehue) and so it involved a lot of characters. Too many to keep track of in my brain, unaided.

I had index cards for each one, as well as drafts notes (using Scrivener- hurrah!). I got really comfortable with character creation. I read Stephen King's On Writing and O.S. Card's Characters and Viewpoint.

I was able to craft an overarching narrative by determining which characters would inject the story with which elements, and placing them where they needed to be. They got moved around a bit as I went on, but throughout I was very aware of the overall flow of the work.

Through careful planning, the actual writing (80,000 words) only took about seven weeks. I am a machine when it comes to word output, if I've done my (months and months of) homework. A second draft saw a lot of that cut, and more added in to bring it up to 86,000 words in three weeks of the hardest work of my life.

For me, planning is super important. If I don't plan well enough, I waste days. Days where my story goes off the rails, or my characters do things which don't make sense.

It's wonderful to see some things happen more fluidly, and I've had lovely surprises this way, but I always stop and think about if that is really what I want to be doing before I proceed.

I hope this long winded reply answers your question. I do enjoy sharing this sort of thing, and I hope it helps other writers do what they love to do.

I went ahead and looked a little deeper. I'm going to give you some criticism here, PLEASE take this the right way!

Dude or dudette, get rid of your illustrations. And you need to work on your formatting. You should have a novel like this set with a first-line indent of about 5 spaces (roughly a tab worth of space) to help seperate sections, and no carriage-returns between paragraphs. Set line spacing to 1.5 or so, modify your indent, and it'll look much better. Kill the pics, they are hurting your book. I click on "look inside" and the second I see those tiny pics I think about how silly they look and wouldn't buy this book.

You need to come up with a stronger marketing strategy. Really, remove the whole book from amazon for now. Get rid of ALL illustrations, change the blurb completely to something with more tension/excitement. Change the title!!!!!!! Change the cover!!!!!! (look at the top 100 YA for ideas). Edit formatting a bit to give yourself a cleaner look. ADD A TABLE OF CONTENTS! (if you don't know how to do this, look it up - this is really really important, you should have a table of contents AND a copyright page).

With a bit of work you can sell this thing, but you're not going to do it with the "light YA" approach. What's the "HOOK" of your book? You aren't missing many sales because of content, you are missing sales because people never even bother to LOOK at the content.

You want an example of a good description that IMMEDIATELY draws a reader? Here:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Blade-Itself-ebook/dp/B00D7OM8BA

Listen to this blurb:

>How far would you go to protect everything you love?
>
>Your name is Danny Carter. You’re a happy man: you have a good job, and share a Chicago greystone with the woman you love. Life is better than you ever dared hope. But things weren’t always this way. Seven years ago you stood in a dark room over the bleeding body of a man writhing in agony. You’ve prayed every day that your past would stay buried…because you weren’t alone in that room. Now, the man who stood beside you is back. He’s the most dangerous person you can imagine—and he’s demanding you help him do the unforgivable. Agreeing might cost your career, your relationship, even your freedom. Refusing will cost your life.

Holy flying fuck I want to read that book now. And look at the cover. Evocative, strange, immediately appealing. I'm not saying do something quite like that, I'm saying if the reader isn't HOOKED in the first few words of your description you're seriously missing the boat on a long-form novel like this.

BTW, The Blade Itself is free for a few more days (it's on a KDP select promotion), so feel free to read it now for free since I've wet your whistle on a description :).

And I'm probably not connected to that book in any way shape or form ;).

Here's my suggestions:

• Freakonomics is a fun introduction to economics. It has some caveats (most high-level economists disagree with the book) but I think it's a great way to get excited about economic concepts and see some of the things you can do with them.
  
• There are a bunch of excellent topic-focused lighter-reading economics books such as: Wikinomics, The Wal-Mart Effect, and Predictably Irrational, to name a few.
  
• I know you said "pop-sci" but if you're into mysteries at all then there's a fun series of two books written by a pair of economists called Murder at the Margin and Fatal Equilibrium. The books are murder mysteries in which the main character solves the mystery using economic principles. They are a little silly but an entertaining read.
  
• If you're interested in something a little more hands on there are a number of free (low expectation) online introductory courses. The University of Illinois in particular is offering a completely free course in Principles of Microeconomics. It's fairly unorthodox and should be both fun and informative. I highly recommend it from personal experience.
  
  Hope that helps!

/r/horror, you're the very best. All of my love to you maniacs. Here's some info regarding the book!

For those who love Laird Barron, they'll be glad to know he blurbed for me. Out of the four stories, his favorite was THERE IS ONLY THE HUNT.

>Humble writes with rare passion in the tradition of Robert E. Howard and a young Stephen King." - Laird Barron, author of Black Mountain

Contents:

A WHOLLY SUPERIOR CREATURE - A brutal murder leads a police detective into the parlor of an excommunicated exorcist. Together they must unravel a mystery of occult killings going back decades and find a way to stop a cult's desire to bring an ancient evil back into the world.

THERE IS ONLY THE HUNT - In the future, the world is consumed with fully immersive video game simulations. These 'arcades' serve as minor league training grounds for the most talented prospects in the world. These players strive to become a part of The League, a professional association of gamers who play for exorbitant wealth and fame. This story follows a recruiter for The League and his prize prospect Johnny Mac, who the recruiter believes is a transcendent talent. The only way to make it into the league is to beat the most challenging game on the circuit--MINOTAUR. It's Johnny Mac's turn to play the game and not even his recruiter knows the lengths Johnny will go to see MINOTAUR defeated.

RIG MOVE - Harvey didn't want to go down into the pit that opened like a mouth in the middle of the West Texas desert. But, he did. What he and his companion found in that subterranean abyss landed Harvey in trouble with his employer. The Company Man has come to Texas to interview Harvey, where he asks the roughneck to recount the harrowing story of what Harvey saw. His chilling tale speaks to the disturbing truth--there are some places people were never meant to go.

A FIRST DATE IN BLACK WELLS - Lauren has lived a hard and difficult life as a single mother. Her luck seemingly changes when she is offered a job as a newspaper reporter in Black Wells, Colorado. Recently divorced, Lauren decides to jump back into the dating pool, and her first date proves to be a less than ideal experience.

I dunno if you're into mysteries/detective novels at all, but one of my favorite mystery authors is Kinky Friedman (seriously). He's a country singer who writes mysteries starring himself, but he's got a razor-sharp wit and I really dig his writing style. The novels are legit mysteries, but with an irreverent slant to them. I'd personally recommend God Bless John Wayne or The Love Song of J Edgar Hoover to Kinkster newbies, although any of his books are approachable and really fun reads.

The Parker novels by Richard Stark are awesome totally badass (and short!) novels about a professional heist man. They are a bit more hard boiled than White Collar, but they are just ridiculously awesome. The first one is The Hunter but the best is The Score

And here are a couple of non-fiction heist books that I HAVEN'T read but that I think look interesting: Stealing Rembrants and Sex on the Moon

Considered it, yes.

I actually worked toward a degree in Journalism while I was still active duty. Got out and had to switch majors because the local college near my home didn't have a Journalism program.

Wrote some fiction. Mostly mystery and crime. Mickey Spillane private detective type stuff. Got a nice stack of rejection letters from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

Self published a short story collection and one novel on Amazon. It's still there. I think it's sold somewhere around 30 copies (so I doubt I'll ever get rich off the royalties) not counting the one sitting on my bookshelf.

You can have a look-see if you want, but be warned that it's a work of fiction and has nothing to do with the military. While it has my writing style, it's a PI novel, so dont expect it to be like my reddit posts.

http://www.amazon.com/Creep-Charles-Loar-ebook/dp/B00IK5B42U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453576369&sr=8-1&keywords=charles+loar

I'll write another one someday. Not an if, but a when. Simply havent had the time to create a decent plot. Anyway, that's a whole nother conversation.

Thanks for the compliment

I've always wanted to read this book, but I never had a kindle to read it on. I love murder mystery stories, and a friend recommended this to me. I've been looking for a hardcover copy in stores around me, but to no avail.

This contest is awesome! I've been trying my best to save up and hopefully buy one some day. I'm not even close to the total though.

Thanks for the contest!

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is Higgin's best and an undisputed classic but he did a ton of other great books as well.

I'd also recommend the Spenser books by RBP.

It's a pretty fun movie, but the novel it's based on is fantastic, and the first in a great series of hardboiled detective novels by the criminally underrated Charles Willeford. Go read them all, they're awesome!

Reading the following for at risk youths for a program my local library runs afterschool:

• Binti by Nnedi Okorafor | Highly recommend this one as it is very short and incredibly poignant, particularly for young men/women of color, but still meaningful for anyone.
  
• The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas | You cannot go wrong with a classic like this.
  
• Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older | This one is also meant for young men/women of color, I love it, especially for creatives.
  
• Underground Airlines by Ben Winters | I actually just finished reading this one. I'll let it's blurb speak for it: "It is the present-day, and the world is as we know it: smartphones, social networking and Happy Meals. Save for one thing: the Civil War never occurred."
  
  Currently reading for myself:
  
  
• Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
  
• Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook
  
• The Liminal People by Ayize Jama-Everett
  
  And then I'm reading a bunch of comics/graphic novels, but these are the ones I'm really enjoying at the moment:
  
  
• God Country by Cates Shaw and Wordie Hill
  
• Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory.
  
• The Wicked + The Divine by Gillen McKelvie and Wilson Cowles
  
• Southern Bastards by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour

Hello,

Might I suggest John Courtenay Grimwood's novel 9tail Fox? You might also enjoy his Arabesk triology, although that is in the alternate-history genre of science fiction and not supernatural fantasy.

Charles Stross' Laundry series might be of interest as well, it is more spy than detective versus Cthulhu, but might be of interest if you enjoy either genre.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

• Christopher Rowley's Bazil Broketail series
  
  
• David Gemmell's Drenai series
  
  
• Katherine Kerr's Deverry series
  
  
• Christopher Stasheff's Wizard in Rhyme and Warlock of Gramarye series
  
  
• Joel Shephard's Trial of Blood and Steel series
  
  
• Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow series
  
  
• Michael A. Stackpole's DragonCrown series
  
  
• Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. series
  
  
• Tim Akers' Horns of Ruin book but hopefully a series
  
  Just trying to get some of the lesser known series in there.
  
  EDIT: woops some of these may not be Epic...hmm...I honestly don't know how to distinguish...I think Most of them are Epic, and the only really out of place one in Cook's Garrett series, but to be honest it does get pretty epic, I mean...it builds slowly but...ok, make of the list as you will.

I just finished reading this book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Bounty-Novel-ebook/dp/B0083HAI6I

I'm not a big reader, never really found a book I liked, till this book, I couldn't put it down, so being the first book I've really enjoyed this finding makes it so much more special for me.


After reading this post and then reading through Daune Chapmans Wikipedia page I read the part about Andrew Stuart Luster, I'm not from the US, so I had never heard of this guy.

After reading his Wikipedia page I came to the conclusion that he is 100% the bases for the Novel The Devils Bounty.

I cant find any other information online linking the two, so thought I'd share my findings here.

thank you OP, you made my day.

Jasper FForde's The Big Over Easy is pretty light, but funny. I'd also reccomend The Automatic Detective. Neither of these are particularly deep, but they're fun stories, imho.

I took a detective fiction course last year, covering all the essentials, and Spenser was by far my favorite. Check em out. They're by Robert B. Parker. I started with Mortal Stakes but the first one is called the Godwulf Manuscript. they're super quick reads too, I read like one and a half every day

I knew him when his first novel came out, before all the fame.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/sxsw-watch-the-trailer-for-adaptation-of-anthony-bourdains-bone-in-the-throad-with-ed-westwick-tom-wilkinson-20150313
His favorite comic book series of all time is ''The Spirit''.
http://www.willeisner.com/spirit/index.html
He had the meanest cat ever seen by man, and gigantic oscar fish.
He told me that this was his favorite book:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Friends-Eddie-Coyle-Novel/dp/031242969X
That is all.

If you like detective novels, my first is free on Amazon and gets pretty decent reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/Quinn-Checks-Liam-Mysteries-Book-ebook/dp/B007U7WMI4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1469759334&sr=1-1&keywords=LH+Thomson#navbar

I'll add this thematically similar recommendation: Sleepless, by Charlie Huston.

It takes place in LA instead of New York, but it's about what happens when the city falls apart due to an incurable plague. In the novel, it's insomnia. The story bounces between a detective and an assassin. I love the book for its atmosphere and world-building, as well as for the way it answers the question of what systems and power structures emerge when urban civilization collapses.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

I'm not very far yet but I've heard such great things about 'Sleepless' by Charlie Huston. Everyone has told me it's hard to put down.

A zombie-ish disease is widespread, but nothing like the normal kind. This disease makes it so that people cannot sleep. Without sleep your brain cannot function and you basically turn zombie-ish. There's also some kind of drug element that makes it so you shouldn't sleep, or something. So if you read this book at night you just want to stay up reading, but you're also terrified to fall asleep in case shit goes down.

It gives me some Philip K Dick vibes, too, which is always a good thing.

EDIT: Here's a link to the amazon descriptions, because I'm pretty sure I butchered my own description. Hopefully this interests you more!

You gotta check out the original Boston mob/crime classic, The Friends of Eddie Coyle

Centaur of the Crime is CSI meets Narnia, and every bit as ridiculous as that sounds.

The Palace Job is arguably even more "Ocean's Eleven meets Fantasy" than Gentleman Bastards, and definitely worth a read if you like that kind of thing.

Sweet Silver Blues is film noir in a standard fantasy setting, played almost completely straight- while Death Warmed Over is a somewhat more tongue-in-cheek take on the concept, in an urban fantasy setting.

Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest is a sort of Douglas Adams-style take on an American road trip crossed with high fantasy swords and sorcery.

Chasing the Moon, by the same author, is sort of Lovecraft reimagined as a light-hearted sitcom- about a woman who has to be roommates with a world-consuming elder god, and the hijinks that ensue.

You sound like you know a bit about this stuff. You might like this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Sleepless-Novel-Charlie-Huston/dp/0345501144/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372710495&sr=1-13

Sleepless by Charlie Huston.

If you are willing to give it a shot and you have 16 hours to kill, I'd recommend starting the series A Song of Ice and Fire. Guaranteed to keep you engaged.
If you are looking for a short read about small time crime in Boston and trying to sleep for 14.5 hours I'd recommend The Friends of Eddie Coyle.
Also if you have not read Ender's Game or the companion series Ender's Shadow this would be your other option. A fantastic sci-fi series, just realize that the author is kind of a dick.
*edit added links

https://www.amazon.com/Broken-Nevada-James-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00DBPMDTC This one might be more of what you were looking for. In the first book the character is deeply damaged to the point where it might be a little much, but there hasn't been a penis that can fix everything in the series so far :)