V is for.......
Vegas....... Las Vegas, setting of a few novels on the Kindle and probably on the physical shelves though I can't lay my hands on any immediately. Probably a place I'm only interested in visiting via my reading.
Joey's Place was a cracking Vegas novel I enjoyed back in 2013 by author J.W. Nelson.
From my Kindle Vegas selection, I'll pick author P Moss, who I think hails from the city.
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| Vegas Knockout (2013) |
The fight of the century is almost here, and everyone in Sin City feels the buzz. The young journalist on the make. The lovesick con man. The rich man’s daughter with a very dirty secret. The king of Vegas nightlife. A clown who wants waffles. As the frenzy builds and the stakes—financial, emotional, moral—get higher, these and other indelible Vegas characters will put everything on the line. In these linked stories, the one and only P Moss shows you a darker, wilder, more uproarious side of this neon paradise.
V is for.....
Valin.... Jonathan Valin,
Valin wrote an eleven book long series from the early 80s to the mid 90s featuring Harry Stoner. I read the first a few years ago and rated it a 5 STAR read - The Lime Pit. Not sure why I haven't got back to it. Extenuating Circumstances is the ninth in the series.
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| Extenuating Circumstances (1989) |
Fully realized characters, complex plots and excellent writing are the qualities that attract readers to Valin's series about Harry Stoner, private eye. In his eighth appearance, Stoner describes his assignment to find missing Ira Lessing, a businessman from Cincinnati, Ohio, beloved for his generous help to troubled teens. The detective is with Lessing's childlike wife Janey, and his partner, Len Trumaine, when they learn that Lessing's body has been discovered, brutally beaten. A punk teenager, Terry Carnova, not only confesses but boasts of killing Lessing, but Stoner isn't convinced. Terry's pathetic lover Kitty insists the murderer is ''Tommy T,'' a male hustler who caters to masochists. With this information, the detective gropes his way through the fog that shrouds the facts about the victim and several suspects in the case. The story stands as a ''mainstream'' novel as well as a fine mystery. Mystery Book Club alternate. (Publishers Weekly)
V is for....
Voices
Arnaldur Indridason and one from his Inspector Erlendur series.
The Draining Lake was enjoyed back in 2013.
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| Voices (2006) |
The third novel in the award-winning Reykjavik Murder Mysteries.
The Christmas rush is under way in a big Reykjavik hotel when the police are called to the scene of a murder. The hotel doorman (and long-time resident of its basement) has been stabbed to death. With the hotel fully booked, the manager is desperate to keep the murder under wraps and his reputation intact.
Detectives Erlendur and Sigurdur Oli discover that the dead man had had a childhood brush with fame and that two old 45s on which he had sung have become prized collectors' items. Estranged from his family for decades, why had the man continued to pay secret visits to his boyhood home?
As Detective Elinborg investigates a separate case of child abuse, and Erlendur continues to struggle both with his troubled family relationships and the ghosts of his own youth, their parallel stories probe deeper into the riddle of this latest Reykjavik Murder Mystery.
V is for......
more Voices and Seymour Shubin. Shubin is an author I have yet to try.
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| Voices (1985) |
With an alias and a confidential address, Lynn Shephard feels safely removed from the clients of her phone sex service, but a dangerously unstable caller is obsessively seeking her true identity
Next week ........ back with some Ws....... can't wait can you?
Previous Alphabet entries........
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - A IS FOR.... AX, ABBOTT, ABERDEEN
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - B IS FOR ....... BOSTON, BIRD, BONES
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - C IS FOR.........CAPE TOWN, CONFIDENCE MEN, CROSS
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - D IS FOR ....... DETROIT, DISHER, DEAD
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - E IS FOR ....... EDINBURGH, EXCESS, ELLIS
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - F IS FOR ....... FLORIDA, FRANCIS, FLOATERS
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - G IS FOR ....... GALWAY, GUNS, GRAFTON
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - H IS FOR ....... HAMBURG, HAMMETT, HIDDEN RIVER
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - I IS FOR ....... ICE, ICELAND, IZZO
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - J IS FOR ....... JAPAN, JACK CARTER. JELLO SALAD
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - K IS FOR ....... KING, KOREA, KEEPER
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - L IS FOR ........ LE CRIME, LEONARD, LOS ANGELES
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - M IS FOR ........ MIAMI, MACKAY, MUCHO MOJO
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - N IS FOR ........ NORWAY, NISBET, NEMESIS
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - O IS FOR ........ OWEN, ONE NIGHT STANDS AND LOST WEEKENDS, OXFORD
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - P IS FOR ........ PARKER, PHILADELPHIA, PAYDIRT
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - R IS FOR ........ RAYMOND, ROGUE COP, RUSSIA
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - S IS FOR ...... SWEDEN, SMITH, SILENT JOE
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - T IS FOR ...... THOMPSON, TEXAS, TOWER
CRIME FICTION ALPHABET - U IS FOR ...... UHNAK, UTAH, UNDER THE BRIGHT LIGHTS
I've always liked the Inspector Erlendur series, Col. In my opinion, they're best enjoyed in order. but I don't think it's crucial. I hope you'll get the chance to read more of them. And as for Vegas? It really is an effective setting for a noir story, even if it's not a place you'd want to buy a house and settle in...
ReplyDeleteI think with the Erlender series Margot I'm just going to dip in and dip out which I'm looking forward to. The same with Vegas set books, nice to "visit" but that will do for me.
DeleteI read one of the Erlendur books and should try another. I have Voices and a couple more but I don't have #2 in the series yet.
ReplyDeleteI cannot remember if I have read anything set in Vegas, but I think it would be interesting.
Tracy, if I ever pick up on my year behind European Reading Challenge, I'll remember to include an Erlendur in the picks.
DeleteOh, and your never having read a book set in Vegas surprises me.
DeleteJoey's Place goes on the list.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed it when I read it. The author also did some tales of when he was a Limo Driver which I liked, but not found anything else by him subsequently.
Delete