Stiff Arm Steal (Miami Jones) by A.J. Stewart

When a football prize is stolen from a media personality he hires Miami Jones to get it back. It turns out his isn't the only one that gets stolen and Miami Jones follows the tracks to the thief.
The relationship with Miami's deputy girlfriend is written pretty nicely and the book is easy to read. In the middle stuff gets a bit dark which almost seemed out of character for Miami but it sure gave it the hardboiled feel that I like.
What I am mystified about is why Miami also has a partner, Ron. This guy seems to have almost no personality or reason to be in the story.
Easy, beach read, even more so because it takes place in sunny Florida.

The Prison Guard's Son (Finn Harding) by Trace Conger

Unlicensed PI Finn Harding is back in his third novel. He is hired by the father of a kid who was brutally murdered by two other kids years ago. The father wants Harding to track down the two killers who, after a short stay in a juvenile detention facility went into a WITSEC program and as such very hard to find. He promises Harding he will make sure justice will be done when he knows their locations.
What follows is a fascinating journey into databases, PI tricks and some very creative investigating. It's just amazing how Trace describes this, he'd be one hell of a PI himself.
Of course, there's some brutal action as well, this is not a police procedural but a PI novel.
I enjoyed the earlier novels in this series but I liked this one the best because the writing is much tighter. There's just a better rhythm to it, less padding and better pacing. I just couldn't put it down.

Rough Trade (Boo Malone) by Todd Robinson

We had to wait a very long 4 years for the follow-up to Todd Robinson's Hard Bounce (my ) but here it is and it is worth the wait.
Our favorite bouncers Boo and Junior are back, playing white knight for a friend of a friend who is being stalked. When the stalker is killed and Junior is the suspect the trouble really starts. It takes the help of their friends Ollie and psycho sidekick Twitch to survive this adventure.
There's brutal fights, some sex and a lot of bad jokes. All the good stuff dudes like. What there also is, however, and this is what makes this such a wonderful book, is a hard look at how macho males perceive the gay community as Boo finds out his world is way different from what he thought.
As fun as it is moving this is another example how you can write a very different and original modern day PI novel without making it about zombies.