The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

 The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett-217 pages

⭐⭐⭐✰✰

Sam Spade is a private detective in San Francisco. One day, a woman calling herself "Miss Wonderly" walks into his office and says she wants someone tailed. His name is Floyd Thursby and she says her sister ran off with him and Miss Wonderly is distraught and their parents are out of the country but will be back soon. So starts a twisting, winding story about deception, murder, and a statue of a black bird supposedly worth a lot of money. I didn't find any of the characters especially likable, including Sam Spade. It's a pretty good mystery, though, so it's a decent read overall. 

The Setup Man by T.T. Monday

The Setup Man by T.T. Monday - 262 pages

Johnny Adcock is an aging relief pitcher with a side job as a private detective for his fellow major league baseball players with sensitive problems.  This premise sounds bizarre but it works and the noir tone elevates the story to a higher level.  The world is fully fleshed out and the characters have depth from the moment you meet them.  As a baseball fan, I truly enjoyed this diversion from the traditional detective format with its look behind the scenes into that elite world.  Just a note - there is heavy violence in this book so it is by no means a "cozy" mystery.

Batman: Hush, vol 1, by Jeph Loeb, 121 pages

Batman: Hush, vol 1, by Jeph Loeb, 121 pages

This has promise for being a good Batman arc.  Catwoman and Killer Croc both participated in a ransom- but are they the ones behind it?  Can Batman trust Catwoman- even work with her?  Can romance bloom between the two?  This is definitely just the beginning- someone is running a scheme in the background and neither Batman nor the reader yet know who it is.  There are good, strong female characters in this one, which is always nice to see in comics.

Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville

Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville - 354 pages

This is the second mystery featuring Detective Jack Lennon of the Northern Ireland Police Service.  Fans of dark Irish noir such as the works of Ken Bruen will enjoy Neville's work.  The story follows Galya Petrova who travels to Ireland on a promise that she will work for a nice Russian family, teaching their children English. Instead, she is dragged into the world of modern slavery, sold to a Belfast brothel, and held there against her will.  She escapes but with a terrible cost and encounters even more human depravity on her quest to simply return home.  Detective Lennon faces his own demons while trying to solve four murders tied to Petrova's actions and subsequent escape.  The book has a lot of violence and is not for the squeamish.  There is a slight paranormal element at work with Lennon's daughter Ellen that hearkens to the work of John Connolly and Stephen King's The Shining. 

Collusion by Stuart Neville

Collusion by Stuart Neville, 354 pages

The sequel to Neville's debut novel, The Ghosts of Belfast, does not disappoint.  An assassin is stalking Belfast and Detective Inspector Jack Lennon has to unravel a conspiracy that lead both into the police department and into his own troubled past.  Neville writes the Irish noir police procedural at its best.  This isn't a cozy mystery that will warm your heart.  It's one that keeps you turning the pages in hope that there is some redemption for Lennon somewhere.  If you like Ken Bruen, this book is for you.

The Last Days of American Crime, by Rick Remender

The Last Days of American Crime, by Rick Remender, 168 pages

In the (not so distant) future, the American government has decided not only to phase out cash money in lieu of plastic cards, thus making all transactions traceable, but they are also going to broadcast radio waves that will render Americans incapable of committing acts that they know are illegal.  This means that our 'hero,' Graham, only has 2 weeks to commit the perfect- and last- crime.

Once again, this is a very good example of 'just because there are pictures does not mean this book is for children.'  At all.  I enjoyed this- it was dark, gritty, and definitely in the vein of noir crime novels.  I consider the main character to be an homage to Sin City's Marv, but I could be wrong.  Expect the same level of violence, etc.