Valentino Pier (Gulliver Dowd) by Reed Farrel Coleman

Great things can come in small packages, and this series is proof of that. Not only does it feature a little person as a  PI but it is also a pretty short novel. It's also a fantastic piece of PI fiction.
Gulliver Dowd, a little person and PI offers to help a street kid find his missing (and aptly-named) dog Ugly. When the kid gets beaten up Dowd is determined to find out who was behind that. Meanwhile he falls in love with the assistant of a veterinarian which results in some interesing conversations about how ''normal'' anyone really is.
Dowd is such a wonderful character. He is 100% old-fashioned PI on one hand, on the other hand the fact he's a little person gives him some unique perspective that gives the story just that bit extra to make it stand out.
This is a novel in the Rapid Reads imprint, which means it is easy to read. Short sentences, not too many difficult words. This by no means makes the story any less interesting, just a faster read. I really think a lot of writers can learn a lot about writing a fast-paced, readable book by studying Coleman's prose in this one and it was an inspiration for my own writing. So DON'T hesitate to pick this up because it's a Rapid Reads, instead DO pick it up for that reason.

Dirty Work (Gulliver Dowd) by Reed Farrel Coleman

I read this one in one sitting, and not just because it is a book in the Rapid Reads series, designed for fast and easy reading. I just loved the characters, the story and the writing style too much to put it down.
Main character Gulliver Dowd is a New York PI and a little person (ironic first name, right?). All good private eyes are outsiders, and Gulliver's size makes him just that. If you think he won't be able to take of himself because of the fact you're wrong, however. He shows himself to be just as tough as Spenser and tougher than Moe Prager!
Asked to track down the daughter of an old flame who seems to be his own daughter as well Gulliver clashes with a mobster that gives him the chance to strut his hardboiled stuff. It's all written in a nice crisp style which comes over a bit more pulpy than Reed's normal work.
I just loved Gulliver. Don't think his size is just a gimmick. It's integral in the way he does his work and I loved the fact his size was used to illustrate what a good manhunter he is, with his nose close to the ground.
Excellent stuff! We need more books like these. Fast-paced work, great for reluctant readers and just the stuff we need to get more PI fans! Looking forward to the second Dowd novel and hoping there will be many more!

Background Check on DIrty Work & Onion Street with Reed Farrel Coleman

The popular multiple Shamus Award winner Reed Farrel Coleman has two books coming out soon. Of course I had to ask him all about these...

Tell us what to expect from your two new books, DIRTY WORK and ONION STREET.
DIRTY WORK  is a very interesting project. It’s the first of two novellas featuring a little person (dwarf) PI named Gulliver Dowd. Gulliver is a bitter man whose cop sister has been murdered. Her murder has never been solved and Gulliver becomes a PI in order to find her killer. This hunt for his sister’s killer is the subtext to the story. The main case features a woman from Gulliver’s past who reveals a secret that can turn Gulliver’s world upside down. ONION STREET is the next to last Moe Prager Mystery and is a prequel set in 1967. It tells the story of how Moe became a policeman in the first place. It begins with his girlfriend being viciously beaten and left to die in the snow on a Brooklyn Street. Moe needs to find out why and who did it. And Moe learns for the first time that very little in life is as it seems.

 How long did it take you to write them?
As DIRTY WORK is a novella, it took me about four or five weeks. ONION STREET took me about four months to write. But in all fairness, when you get to the eighth book in a series, even if it is a prequel, the canvas is already partially painted.  

Tell us about how you were inspired to write them.
DIRTY WORK was sort of a creation between my agent, Bob Tyrrell at Raven Books—Rapid Reads, and myself. They’re a Canadian publisher whose market is the emerging or late to literacy reader. Those readers like hard-boiled and noir to. So they approached my agent who approached me about doing some books for them and I agreed. They loved Gulliver as a character and so do I. I think readers will love him too.
ONION STREET filled in a big gap in Moe Prager’s history that the fans have been curious about. It essentially tells the story of how the Moe readers know became Moe. I think readers, myself included, love to see the roots of how a character they identify with developed into that character. I have dropped hints throughout the course of the series, but I thought the time for hinting was over and to explore the origins of Moe more deeply.  

Will we see Gulliver Dowd return after DIRTY WORK?
For at least one more adventure. I’ve written a second Gulliver Dowd entitled VALENTINO PIER. I hope readers respond as I hope they will to Gulliver because I really do enjoy writing him.
ONION STREET is the penultimate Prager novel. Will you be coming out with a new PI series to follow that up or would that be Gulliver?
Gulliver is a fun character, but I’m not sure I consider him a successor to Moe. I think I’d like to do some other type of writing for a while. I am halfway through with a Sci Fi YA novel and have an idea to write a more standard literary novel. But I love the PI form and I will probably always have a toe in the private detective genre.

Did writing the books take a lot of research?

In all honesty, I have always hated research. Google has made life much easier for someone like me. I try not to weight myself down with research. For me the thrill of fiction writing is making stuff up.

What scenes did you enjoy writing the most?

Let me answer that in reverse. The scenes I hate most, the ones I know most of my friends hate most, are bridge or transition scenes. Getting the reader from here to there can be awfully burdensome. I love writing scenes where the physical setting is a reflection or a foreshadowing of the action that will take place later in the novel. For instance, read any of my scenes that take place in Coney Island and you will know I loved writing those. I also can do dialogue in my sleep.

Who is your favorite among the characters in the books?

If I had to choose one character, I would choose Israel Roth. He’s the moral compass by which Moe steers his life. But Mr. Roth is terribly flawed and scarred. I just love him.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the books?

Buy them! I’ve got a son in college and a daughter in graduate school.