Estleman, Loren D. 1952-

PERSONAL:

Born September 15, 1952, in Ann Arbor, MI; son of Leauvett Charles (a truck driver) and Louise (a postal clerk) Estleman; married Carole Ann Ashley (a marketing and public relations specialist; marriage ended), September 5, 1987; married Deborah Morgan (a writer). Education: Eastern Michigan University, B.A., 1974.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Whitmore Lake, MI. Agent—Morgan and Associates, P.O. Box 2976, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

CAREER:

Writer. Michigan Fed, Ann Arbor, MI, cartoonist, 1967-70; Ypsilanti Press, Ypsilanti, MI, reporter, 1973; Community Foto-News, Pinckney, MI, editor in chief, 1975-76; Ann Arbor News, Ann Arbor, special writer, 1976-77; Dexter Leader, Dexter, MI, staff writer, 1977-80. Has been an instructor for Friends of the Dexter Library, and a guest lecturer at colleges.

MEMBER:

Mystery Writers of America, Author's Guild, Western Writers of America (vice president and president-elect, 1998), Private Eye Writers of America, Napoleonic Association of America.

AWARDS, HONORS:

American Book Award nomination, 1980, for The High Rocks; New York Times Book Review notable book citations, 1980, for Motor City Blue, and 1982, for The Midnight Man; Golden Spur Award for best Western historical novel, Western Writers of America, 1982, for Aces & Eights; Shamus Award nomination for best private eye novel, Private Eye Writers of America, 1984, for The Glass Highway; Pulitzer Prize in letters nomination, 1984, for This Old Bill; Shamus Award, 1985, for novel Sugartown, and for short story "Eight Mile and Dequindre"; Golden Spur Award for best Western short story, 1986, for "The Bandit"; Michigan Arts Foundation Award for Literature, 1986; Michigan Library Association Author of the Year Award, 1997; honorary doctorate in letters, Eastern Michigan University, 2002; Shamus Award for best short story, 2004, for "Lady on Ice"; Spur Award, 2006, for the Undertaker's Wife; Michigan Author's Award, Michigan Library Association, 2007; American Mystery Awards (two), Mystery Scene Magazine, for best private eye novel: Downriver, and best crime novel: Whiskey River; Outstanding Mystery Writer of the Year awards (two), Popular Fiction Monthly; Stirrup Awards (two), for outstanding articles in the Western Writers of America magazine; the Roundup award; Western Heritage Awards (three), National Cowboy Hall of Fame, for Journey of the Dead, The Master Executioner, and the short story "Iron Dollar."

WRITINGS:

The Oklahoma Punk (crime novel), Major Books (Canoga Park, CA), 1976.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula; or, The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count (mystery-horror novel), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1978.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes (mystery-horror novel), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1979.

The Wister Trace: Classic Novels of the American Frontier (criticism), Jameson Books, 1987.

Red Highway (novel), PaperJacks, 1988.

Peeper (mystery novel), Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

The Best Western Stories of Loren D. Estleman, edited by Bill Pronzini and Martin H. Greenberg, Ohio University Press (Athens, OH), 1989.

Sweet Women Lie, Thorndike Press, 1990.

Sudden Country, Bantam (New York, NY), 1992.

Crooked Way, Eclipse (New York, NY), 1993.

City of Widows, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1994.

The Judge, Forge (New York, NY), 1994.

The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Association, Forge (New York, NY), 1999.

The Hours of the Virgin, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1999.

White Desert, Forge (New York, NY), 2000.

A Smile on the Face of the Tiger, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Writing the Popular Novel: A Comprehensive Guide to Crafting Fiction That Sells, Writer's Digest Books (Cincinnati, OH), 2004.

The Undertaker's Wife, Forge (New York, NY), 2005.

The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion, Forge (New York, NY), 2006.

Gas City, Forge (New York, NY), 2008.

"VALENTINO" SERIES

Frames, Forge (New York, NY), 2008.

"AMOS WALKER" MYSTERY SERIES

Motor City Blue, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1980.

Angel Eyes, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1981.

The Midnight Man, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1982.

The Glass Highway, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1983.

Sugartown, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1984.

Every Brilliant Eye, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1986.

Lady Yesterday, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1987.

Downriver, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1988.

General Murders (short story collection), Houghton (Boston, MA), 1988.

Silent Thunder, Houghton (Boston, MA), 1989.

Never Street, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1997.

The Witchfinder, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1998.

A Smile on the Face of the Tiger, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Sinister Heights, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Poison Blonde, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Retro, Forge (New York, NY), 2004.

Nicotine Kiss, Forge (New York, NY), 2006.

American Detective, Forge (New York, NY), 2007.

"PETER MACKLIN" MYSTERY SERIES

Kill Zone, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1984.

Roses Are Dead, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1985.

Any Man's Death, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1986.

Something Borrowed, Something Black, Forge (New York, NY), 2002.

Little Black Dress, Forge (New York, NY), 2005.

WESTERN NOVELS

The Hider, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1978.

Aces & Eights (first book in historical Western trilogy), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1981.

The Wolfer, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Mister St. John, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1983.

This Old Bill (second book in historical Western trilogy), Doubleday (New York, NY), 1984.

Gun Man, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1985.

Bloody Season, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

Western Story, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1989.

Billy Gashade, Forge (New York, NY), 1997.

Journey of the Dead, Forge (New York, NY), 1998.

The Master Executioner, Tom Doherty Associates (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor) American West: Twenty New Stories, Forge (New York, NY), 2001.

Black Powder, White Smoke, Tom Doherty Associates (New York, NY), 2002.

"PAGE MURDOCK" WESTERN SERIES

The High Rocks, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1979.

Stamping Ground, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1980.

Murdock's Law, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1982.

The Stranglers, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1984.

Port Hazard, Forge (New York, NY), 2004.

"DETROIT" SERIES

Whiskey River, Bantam (New York, NY), 1990.

Motown, Bantam (New York, NY), 1992.

King of the Corner, Bantam (New York, NY), 1993.

Edsel, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1995.

Stress, Mysterious Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Jitterbug, Forge (New York, NY), 1998.

Thunder City, Forge (New York, NY), 1999.

OTHER

(Editor, with Martin H. Greenberg) P.I. Files, Ivy Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Amos Walker's Detroit (nonfiction), photographs by Monte Nagler, Painted Turtle/Wayne State University Press (Detroit, MI), 2007.

Contributor to books, including The Eyes Have It: The First Private Eye Writers of America Anthology, edited by Robert J. Randisi, Mysterious Press, 1984; and The Year's Best Mystery and Suspense Stories, 1986, edited by Edward D. Hoch, Walker & Co, 1986. Contributor to periodicals, including Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Baker Street Journal, Fiction Writers Magazine, A Matter of Crime, Mystery, New Black Mask, Pulpsmith, Roundup, Saint Magazine, TV Guide, Writer, and Writer's Digest.

ADAPTATIONS:

The "Amos Walker" mysteries Motor City Blue, Angel Eyes, The Midnight Man, Sugartown, The Glass Highway, and Every Brilliant Eye were adapted as audiobooks, read by David Regal, for Brilliance Corp. (Grand Haven, MI), 1988. Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula was broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation. One of Estleman's Western novels has been optioned by a California film company.

SIDELIGHTS:

Loren D. Estleman, the prolific author of what James Kindall described in Detroit as "hard-bitten mysteries, a herd of reality-edged westerns and an occasional fantasy or two," is perhaps best known for his series of hard-boiled mysteries that unravel in an authentically evoked Detroit. "A country boy who has always lived outside of Detroit, he writes with convincing realism about inner city environments," stated Kindall, adding that "probably no other area pensmith can lay as convincing a claim to the title of Detroit's private eye writer as Estleman."

Estleman has crafted an increasingly popular series of mysteries around the character of Amos Walker, a witty and rugged Detroit private investigator who recalls Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade. Kathleen Maio in Wilson Library Bulletin wrote that she considered the series "one of the best the hard-boiled field has to offer." "Walker is the very model of a Hammett-Chandler descendant," observed New York Times Book Review contributor Newgate Callendar. "He is a big man, very macho, who talks tough and is tough. He hates hypocrisy, phonies and crooks. He pretends to cynicism but is a teddy bear underneath it all. He is lonely, though women swarm all over him." Estleman once refused a six-figure offer from a major film company for exclusive rights to Walker, explaining to Kindall: "Twenty years from now, the money would be spent and I'd be watching the umpteenth movie with Chevy Chase or Kurt Russell playing Amos with the setting in Vegas or L.A. and blow my brains out."

Walker made his debut searching the pornographic underworld of Detroit for the female ward of an aging ex-gangster in Motor City Blue, a novel Kristiana Gregory appraised in the Los Angeles Times Book Review as "a dark gem of a mystery." In Angel Eyes, a dancer who anticipates her own disappearance hires Walker to search for her. Walker encounters a contemporary bounty hunter in his pursuit of three cop killers in The Midnight Man. In The Glass Highway Walker is hired to locate the missing son of a television anchor and must contend with a rampaging professional killer.

Walker disappeared for most of the 1990s as Estleman worked on other projects, then made a comeback in Never Street after an eight-year hiatus. Never Street spins an intriguing and self-reflexive tale by setting up a mystery based on one character's obsession with the classic film noir Pitfall. Estleman refers to plot devices and conventions of the film noir genre as well as scenes from the actual movie as the mystery unwinds. New York Times Book Review contributor Marilyn Stasio applauded Walker's return, saying that he has come back "just in time to slap some sense into a genre that's getting dumber and dumber by the minute."

A Smile on the Face of the Tiger, published in 2000, features Walker as he searches for writer Eugene Booth, a noir novelist from the fifties who vanished for a number of years, reappearing briefly to sue a publisher who had reprinted one of his works in defiance of his copyright. However, Booth disappeared again soon after settling the dispute and contracting for a new book, and now his latest publisher Louise Start—a former girlfriend of Walker's—wants Amos to locate him. Walker finds himself drawn to the case because of his own real-life connection to noir, and so he sets out to track Booth. Once he finally finds him, holed up in a fishing town in Michigan, Walker discovers that, rather than returning to fiction, Booth is writing about the race riots that took place in the 1940s in Detroit. When the writer turns up dead soon after, and his murder is staged to look like a suicide, Walker immediately suspects that Booth's new project had hit a nerve for someone. Wes Lukowsky, in a review for Booklist, found the book to be "a very entertaining thriller that offers a fitting tribute both to the genre and to the tough, passionate men who created it." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked: "A good, involving mystery featuring strong characters and prose as smooth as the brim of a fedora, this novel makes smart points about writing, publishing and the cult of mysteries."

In Sinister Heights, Walker finds himself called into a wealthy neighborhood of Detroit, an area called Iroquois Heights. Rayellen Stutch, a young and beautiful widow with a large inheritance, sets Walker on the trail of the daughter and granddaughter of the woman with whom her husband once had an affair, in order to determine whether they are going to attempt to claim any portion of the estate. Ostensibly, Rayellen wants to settle the entire thing out of court, but once Walker finds the women in question, the case becomes far more complicated. Caught up with helping the granddaughter and her son, Walker finds himself trapped in a far more dangerous case than he was prepared for as a mysterious truck hits his car, causing enough damage and mayhem to result in the kidnapping of the boy. A contributor for Kirkus Reviews remarked that "the plot's as hard to like as an Edsel, and Walker's recovery time is even slower than his retorts, but nobody does Detroit better than Estleman." Wes Lukowsky, writing for Booklist, declared that "the Walker series remains classic hard-boiled fare for those who like their private eyes to be Old School all the way."

General Murders contains a collection of ten previously published short stories and novelettes featuring Walker.

In another series of mysteries, Estleman slants the perspective to that of a criminal, Peter Macklin, who also freelances out of Detroit. "Macklin is the result of my wanting to do an in-depth study of a professional killer," Estleman told Bob McKelvey in the Detroit Free Press. "It presents a challenge to keep a character sympathetic who never has anything we would call morals." Kindall suggested that, "although a killer, he always seems to end up facing opponents even lower on the evolutionary scale, which shades him into the quasi-hero side." However, in a review of Kill Zone, the first novel in the "Macklin" series, Callendar felt that "not even Mr. Estleman's considerable skill can hide the falsity of his thesis" that even hired killers can be admirable characters. The plot of the novel concerns the seizure of a Detroit river boat by terrorists who hold hundreds of passengers hostage, attracting other professional killers from organized crime and a governmental agency as well. Peter L. Robertson detected an implausibility of plot in the second of the "Macklin" series' novels, Roses Are Dead, in which Macklin tries to determine who and why someone has contracted to kill him.

In summarizing Any Man's Death, in which Macklin is hired to guard the life of a television evangelist and is caught in the struggle between rival mob families for control of a proposed casino gambling industry in Detroit, a Time contributor remarked: "For urban edge and macho color … nobody tops Loren D. Estleman."

The Hider, a novel about the last buffalo hunt in America, was Estleman's first Western novel and was purchased immediately—a rarity in the genre. He has since written several other successful Western novels plus a critical analysis of Western fiction itself, The Wister Trace: Classic Novels of the American Frontier; and several of his books about the American West have earned critical distinction. The High Rocks, for instance, which is set in the mountains of Montana and relates the story of a man's battle with the Indians who murdered his parents, was nominated for an American Book Award. The first two books of his proposed historical Western trilogy have also earned honors: Aces & Eights, about the murder of Wild Bill Hickok, was awarded the Golden Spur, and This Old Bill, a fable based on the life of William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Estleman's Bloody Season is an extensively researched historical novel about the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. In Twentieth-Century Western Writers, Bill Crider observed: "All of Estleman's books appear solidly researched, and each ends in a way which ties all the story threads together in an effective pseudo-historical manner, giving each an air of reality and credibility."

Estleman again displays his ability to balance parody and tribute in the 1997 Western Billy Gashade, the story of a young man from a wealthy family who flees his New York home after the 1863 draft riots and lights out for the territories, encountering on his journey such figures as Jesse James, Calamity Jane, Billy the Kid, and Crazy Horse. The narrative, told from the vantage point of the eighty-eight-year-old protagonist living in Depression-era Hollywood, tells of Billy's wanderings as an itinerant piano player.

Estleman followed the upbeat Billy Gashade with a Western of a much darker tone. Journey of the Dead picks up the thread of another figure whose life has been touched by the legendary Billy the Kid: his killer, Sheriff Pat Garrett. Garrett's life was irreparably shaken by his intervention in history. The novel tells not only of the violent events themselves, but also of Garrett's lingering nightmares, taking place on a bleak strip of landscape called La Journada del Muerto, from which the novel takes its title.

The city of Detroit is the central character of Estleman's crime series originally projected to be a trilogy but now encompassing additional volumes. The first installment, Whiskey River, covers the wars between rival gangs during the Prohibition years and is narrated by newspaper columnist Connie Minor. "Occasionally the details fail," remarked Walter Walker in the New York Times Book Review. "But [Estleman] does a marvelous job of setting clues, bringing seemingly loose ends together and surprising his readers, leaving them nearly incapable of stopping at the end of any given chapter."

Motown is set in the turbulent year of 1966, when big cars, mobs, labor unions, racial tension, and power politicians dominated Detroit. Intertwining real and fictional events, Estleman weaves plots concerning race wars between the black and Italian mobs, racketeering, and the safety records of the cars produced by the Big Three automakers. Connie Minor appears again, this time as an investigative reporter who finds an incriminating photograph of a labor leader.

The series' third novel, King of the Corner, continues the themes of racial tension, dirty politics, and organized crime. The central character is "Doc" Miller, an overweight ex-Tigers baseball pitcher just out of prison for the death of a girl in his hotel room. Though he intends to do honest work, Miller soon finds himself involved with Detroit's black drug dealers and political corruption.

The additional novels in the series focus on other decades in the Motor City. In Edsel, Connie Minor has become a copywriter for the Ford Motor Company touting its new dream car of the 1950s, the Edsel. Because of his questioning of guys on the line, Minor comes under suspicion of spying on the rank-and-file and gets caught up in intrigue by the unions. Noted Marilyn Stasio in the New York Times Book Review: "Estleman is a pithy, punchy writer who can also deliver the action by spitting images out of the side of his mouth." Stress takes place in the 1970s as Detroit is recovering from the sixties race riots, and focuses on Charlie Battle, a young black cop confronting a racist department and violent black militant groups. A Publishers Weekly reviewer stated: "It's difficult to believe that Detroit will ever find a more eloquent poet than Estleman, who here … celebrates the gristle and sinew of the city as well as its aching heart."

Poison Blond, Estelman's fiftieth published book, is another installment in the "Amos Walker" series. The plot focuses on Walker's latest client, a Latino singer who performs under a borrowed name to hide from death squads from her home country.

In Port Hazard, U.S. Marshal Page Murdock takes on a conspiracy plot to renew the Civil War by murdering prominent lawmen and public officials. Murdock dives into the corruption of San Francisco's Barbary Coast, mixing it up with gamblers, vigilantes, whores, Chinese gangs, and crooked politicians.

The author has continued to write about Amos Walker and his cases in several books, including Retro, Nicotine Kiss, and American Detective. The first novel features Walker as the suspect in the murder of a friend's son, a man who was hiding underground for thirty years after a bomb plot during the Vietnam War era. In a review of Nicotine Kiss in Publishers Weekly, a contributor wrote that the character of Amos leaves "the reader eager for more." In Nicotine Kiss, Amos is tracking down a smuggler, Jeff Starzek, who once saved his life. His hunt takes him across Michigan as he has a deadly duel on the road. Writing in Booklist, Stephanie Zvirin commented: "The riveting chase scenes are tailor-made for the screen." Commenting on Nicotine Kiss, a Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that "few among the Private Eye Writers of America can do it better." American Detective features Amos investigating the death of the daughter of a legendary Detroit Tigers pitcher. "Estleman's prose is as gritty and compelling as ever," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor.

The author has also continued his contributions to the "Peter Macklin" series with books such as Something Borrowed, Something Black and Little Black Dress, which features Peter looking to retire with his girl, Laurie, and teaming up with mob "case man" Ben Grinnell to get out of the mob's clutches. "Pete and Laurie make an entertaining pair, more vinegary than Nick and Nora but no less appealing," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor in a review of Little Black Dress. Wes Lukowsky, writing in Booklist, called the author "a consummate craftsman," adding that he "has done the near impossible … [making] an assassin a fascinating, dynamic series character."

The Undertaker's Wife features Lucy Connable recalling her life and adventures with undertaker Richard Connable, including an encounter with Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok. Unfortunately, Lucy has long succumbed to ennui, and eventually tragedy strikes the Connables' life. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that the novel contains "tons of absorbing scenes of embalming and cosmetic restoration." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that The Undertaker's Wife "offers a superlative love story and a fascinating look at a misunderstood vocation."

In his 2006 novel, The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion, Estleman writes about an actor traveling the west putting on plays in small towns. In reality, however, Johnny and his fellow thespians are bank robbers who soon end up on the run from the Pinkertons. David Pitt, writing in Booklist, commented that "this is, hands down, one of Estleman's best novels." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that Estleman provides "a final showdown filled with laughs and gun-smoke."

Gas City tells the story of a corrupt city that functions like clockwork but only at the mercy of the local Mafia. Police Chief Francis X. Russell has been accused of being in bed with the mob, and no matter how well the city runs or how livable it is for those who call it home, there are plenty of critics who fault him for his decisions. Russell has agreed to steer clear of the territory the Mafia runs, and in return the remainder of the city is safe and clean. Everything runs as it should and everyone is happy until Russell's wife dies, and he suddenly finds himself at loose ends. With his mourning comes a sort of revelation, and Russell sets out to reform his city. He begins moving in on the Mafia's businesses, prompting raids, followed by retaliation, and the Gas City is suddenly a far less quiet place to live. A contributor for Kirkus Reviews remarked that "Estleman … serves up what just might be the best novel about urban political corruption since Dashiel Hammett's The Glass Key." A writer for Publishers Weekly declared that "admirers of unsparing crime fiction will hope that Estleman plans to visit Gas City again." Wes Lukowsky, again writing for Booklist, noted that "each of the half-dozen plotlines is executed flawlessly," and concluded that the book is "a magnificent crime novel."

Estleman kicks off a new series with Frames, featuring Valentino, a "film detective" who has previously appeared in a number of Estelman's short stories. Valentino works at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he is a film archivist, but somehow he has a knack for getting himself into trouble. He thinks he has found a fabulous deal in an old 1920s theater that is nearly crumbled to the ground, one that proves even sweeter when he finds a collection of old film prints that might be priceless. But the next find proves less advantageous—a skeleton of unknown origin and age. Valentino attempts to hedge his bets by helping the police and neglecting to mention the film he discovered. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked on the vast difference in tone between this book and Esteleman's other series, particularly the darker "Amos Walker" books, but nevertheless concluded that "the versatile Estleman has crafted yet another intelligent page-turner." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews declared the book "a bonbon that can't be expected to grip like Estleman's edgier stuff…. Still, it's an entertaining journey, especially for movie buffs."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 48, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1988, pp. 102-107.

Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers, 2nd edition, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1985.

Twentieth-Century Western Writers, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1982.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2000, Wes Lukowsky, review of A Smile on the Face of the Tiger, p. 1621; February 1, 2002, Wes Lukowsky, review of Sinister Heights, p. 926; May 1, 2004, Wes Lukowsky, review of Retro, p. 1506; April 1, 2005, Wes Lukowsky, review of Little Black Dress, p. 1348; February 1, 2006, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Nicotine Kiss, p. 32; April 15, 2006, David Pitt, review of The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion, p. 38; January 1, 2008, Wes Lukowsky, review of Gas City, p. 47.

Detroit Free Press, September 26, 1984, Bob McKelvey, author interview.

Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2001, review of Sinister Heights, p. 1724; May 1, 2004, review of Retro, p. 424; March 1, 2005, review of Little Black Dress, p. 261; May 1, 2005, review of The Undertaker's Wife, p. 494; February 1, 2006, review of Nicotine Kiss, p. 112; November 15, 2007, review of Gas City; March 1, 2008, review of Frames.

New York Times Book Review, April 20, 1986, Newgate Callendar, review of Every Brilliant Eye, p. 32; October 14, 1990, review of Whiskey River, p. 50; March 19, 1995, Marilyn Stasio, review of Edsel, p. 29; April 27, 1997, Marilyn Stasio, review of Never Street.

PR Newswire, March 18, 2006, "2006 Spur Awards Honor Best Westerns."

Publishers Weekly, July 17, 2000, review of A Smile on the Face of a Tiger, p. 178; May 24, 2004, review of Retro, p. 48; March 28, 2005, review of Little Black Dress, p. 61; June 13, 2005, review of The Undertaker's Wife, p. 29; February 13, 2006, review of Nicotine Kiss, p. 66, and Leonard Picker, "Not Enough to Be a Good Man: PW Talks with Loren D. Estleman," p. 65; April 17, 2006, review of The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion, p. 164; February 19, 2007, review of American Detective, p. 151; November 5, 2007, review of Gas City, p. 44; February 11, 2008, review of Frames, p. 53.

Wilson Library Bulletin, March, 1985, Kathleen Maio, review of "Amos Walker" series, p. 487.