Those With Badges and Those Without Badges Five Characters You Should Know More About…   Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of heroes in crime fiction: those with badges and those without. The inhabitants of the first category—cops, spies, prosecutors–have power, resources and information bestowed on them by the government. The state authorizes them to […]

The World of Small-Town Policing I’m a rabid fan of crime fiction, especially hard-boiled procedurals. Back in the ’70s, I cut my literary teeth on Joe Wambaugh and Elmore Leonard.  These days my favorites include Mike Connelly, Don Winslow, Tami Hoag, and T. Jefferson Parker. Each of them is known for procedural detail and characters […]

Don’t Let The Palm Trees Fool You Ten of the best Hollywood Crime Novels GET SHORTY by Elmore Leonard Take a Miami wise guy and drop him into Hollywood development hell. Not only does Chili Palmer raise hell, but he finds traction wheeling and dealing with Hollywood players. It is all not much different from […]