Private eye mystery recommendations, please

[Shellhead]

I recommend Mucho Mojo, by award-winning writer Joe R. Lansdale. It's the second book in a series, but it isn't crucial to read Savage Season first, and Mucho Mojo is a better mystery story. Lansdale has written some comics, as well as several episodes of Batman: the Animated Series, and quite a few novels and short stories.

Mucho Mojo features two very unconventional sleuthes, Hap Collins and his best friend Leonard Pine. Hap is middle-aged good old boy from east Texas with some martial arts skills. Leonard is too, and he is also an african-american, homosexual Vietnam vet. Leonard's favorite uncle has died, and left behind a house, some money and a mystery for Leonard and Hap. The story addresses some serious issues, mixed in with action, grit and wit.

[ElectraAlan]

I read "Eight Million Ways to Die" and enjoyed it. I was a little concerned by the portrayal of the pimp Chance, though. I know being a pimp is a fantasy profession, and we'd all like to believe that most of them are cool guys who don't beat their women and don't spend all their money on blow, and I suppose some of them aren't, but let's not forget, a pimp is still a pimp. It's not unlike certain people down South saying with a straight face that slavery wasn't all that bad, most slaves were treated like members of the family. A pimp keeps his ladies in conditions akin to slavery, taking all their money and deciding what they will purchase and where they will live. I really needed Scudder to express an opinion on this. Scudder doesn't judge, and that's not always satisfying.

[Mr. Holmes]

Yeah I need more recommendations for detective books too (though not necessarily hardboiled/PI). After reading all the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stuff, I want to start writing detective conspiracies, and need more inspiration.

[Libaax]

I read "Eight Million Ways to Die" and enjoyed it. I was a little concerned by the portrayal of the pimp Chance, though. I know being a pimp is a fantasy profession, and we'd all like to believe that most of them are cool guys who don't beat their women and don't spend all their money on blow, and I suppose some of them aren't, but let's not forget, a pimp is still a pimp. It's not unlike certain people down South saying with a straight face that slavery wasn't all that bad, most slaves were treated like members of the family. A pimp keeps his ladies in conditions akin to slavery, taking all their money and deciding what they will purchase and where they will live. I really needed Scudder to express an opinion on this. Scudder doesn't judge, and that's not always satisfying.

Matt Scudder is a depressing alcoholic in the early books of this long great PI series. He does bad things, he doesnt judge because he doesnt see himself being better that pimp. He has problem with himself. Matt growth to becoming a better person is the strength of the series. He lives around criminals and dont judge unless they get in his way.

Keep reading, its alltime great series, highly acclaimed. There is some other books i have read where Scudder is far from a hero and didnt what you expect from him. He is no golden hearted PI.

You will enjoy it more if you dont need him to do certain things. I dont want to spoil you it isnt healthy caring for that guy in the first 8 books or so......

[MegaNaught]

Robert B. Parker's Spencer series is pretty good.
I really enjoyed Dennis Lehane's Kenzie/Gennaro books, worth the reads in my opinion.

[Lee Kaye]

I've just ordered Mucho Mojo, sounds intriguing.

[ElectraAlan]

I would recommend "I'd Kill For You" by Alan Plessinger.


I expected I'd Kill For You to be a detective novel like the others of the genre that I've read: a private investigator is hired to solve a crime or to find a missing person and does, showing his resourcefulness, tenacity, courage, and physical and mental prowess as he does. In Alan Plessinger's novel, however, we have not a lone wolf P.I., but an entire detective agency whose staff consists of the five De Remer brothers: Gabe, Clyde, Riley, Charlie, and Adam.
At first I was impatient with the greater amount of attention given to the interactions among the brothers than to the development of the mystery, which soon becomes two mysteries when the search for a runaway girl's mother is added to the search for a disappeared newly released convict who was found guilty of killing his son and is suspected of having murdered his wife immediately following his release from prison.
But then I began to enjoy the dialogues between the brothers and between Adam and the runaway girl. Plessinger handles them very well, and many of them are funny in a low key way. I found that the family dynamics of the highly individual De Remer brothers were the novel's central interest for me. Next came their dealings with people outside their family. Most of these revolve around the missing persons they search for and the crimes they solve while successfully concluding their searches.
The De Remer brothers are different from each other and are also just plain different. They are unusual, eccentric. As members of the De Remer Brothers Detective Agency, they complement each other with their abilities the way the Bremen Town musicians do. And they, too, are musicians. As the Dreamer Brothers they even produced a CD.
The plot unfolded smoothly and the novel ends with satisfactory neatness.

[Subotai]

There were some terrific PI writers in the 80s and 90s who are no longer around...damned shame.

But also check out SJ Rozan's Bill Smith/Lydia Chin series.

[Lee Kaye]

I've just ordered Mucho Mojo, sounds intriguing.

Just about to finish this. Really enjoyed it. Very dry humour and some really interesting characters. Thanks for the suggestion Shellhead.

[T Hedge Coke]

Ed Lacy's a good writer who nobody seems to read anymore, and even the novels that aren't about a PI have a PI figure into them heavily. Mystery, investigation, threats, intrigue, love and bruises come like bolts of lightning and he has a way of making absurdities seem reasonable that lets the books be big and loud while also feeling personable.

Not sure if this is legit, but a quick googling shows there're digital versions here that may be worth checking out.

[Slam_Bradley]

Not sure if this is legit, but a quick googling shows there're digital versions here that may be worth checking out.

The copyright on a lot of Lacey's work wasn't ever renewed so it went in to public domain.

[BigJeff]

Would you consider Jim Butcher's Dresden series? A PI who is also a wizard. Sounds hokey but it works.

[Shellhead]

Just about to finish this. Really enjoyed it. Very dry humour and some really interesting characters. Thanks for the suggestion Shellhead.

I recently re-read Mucho Mojo, after recommending it to you. It holds up well as an entertaining story, though the mystery part seems more obvious now. I guess there was one surprise near the end.

[Julusnc]

Lansdale is a different kind of writer and it works well.I have enjoyed his Hap and Leonard series.

[DennyK]

You could do a lot worse than reading Dan Simmons Joe Kurtz stories or some Steve Thayer. If you were to include police detective I would start with Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books.