Rag Baby (Bone Mizell) by Mark Ellis.

I'm quite a bit of a comic nerd and have been following Mark Ellis on Facebook, hoping to find out what was going to happen to his cool Justice Machine comic. When I found out he had a PI novella coming out I couldn't wait to get it.
Bone Mizell is a really cool guy, owing a bit to guys like Magnum or the TV-series version of Spenser if you ask me. He wears a stetson and drives a cool car in a Florida setting. A bit pulpish? Perhaps, but Ellis knows how to pull this off, having written several adventure paperbacks.
In this story Mizell, security consultant, is hired by a gangster to deal with a blackmailer. Soon he has to tangle with a few dangerous fellas, including a deranged Iraq veteran.
This is the book to pick up you want to read a fast, action-packed PI tale with a cool lead and not too much navel gazing. I think people who like my Noah Milano stuff will be sure to like this one as well. Bonus points for the cool pulpish cover.

Murder Unscripted (Eddie Collins) by Clive Rosengren

There is a reason I set my Noah Milano series in LA. I still think it is the perfect place for a PI series with all the glitz and glamour overshadowed by the dark and gritty side of Hollywood.
The fact this novel is firmly set in Hollywood and was written by a retired actor, making sure the facts were right, made me eager to read it.
Eddie Collins is a not so succesful author who supplements his income as a PI instead of being a waiter. When his ex-wife is killed on a film set he is hired to investigate her death and ends up uncovering some unsavory going-ons in Tinseltown.
This is very much so a whodunnit and we mainly follow Eddie investigating almost police procedural style the murders in the book. In fact, I thought the cops were a bit too helpful to the investigator.
Eddie is a good enough PI, but I felt his character might have benefited from being just a bit more pronounced. He didn't really stand out too much from a dozen other eyes.
The writing is at its best when it delves into Eddie's emotions and I liked the short chapters that made the plot move along quickly, which is needed when you focus so much on visiting and talking to suspects.
All in all a good book, but not a stand-out. I am sure though, this is one writer who will be getting better with every book so I hope to read a second one in this series.

Punishing Game by Nathan Gottlieb is FREE

Anyone following this blog probably knows I'm a big fan of Nathan Gottlieb's Frank Boff series. It's constantly a lot of fun and Frank Boff is a unique character.
You can have a look what I'm so thrilled about for FREE today and tomorrow by checking out the second Boff novel, The Punishing Game over here.

A Small Sacrifice (Nick Forte) by Dana King

It is not really possible to like PI novels and dislike this one. I can't say it really stands out, but there is just absolutely nothing wrong with it. It is one of the most solid pieces of PI fiction of the last few years, delivering everything I think a PI novel should.
Nick Forte is hired to clear Shirley Mitchell's son of murder. Soon he gets involved with the Chicago mob and has to decide how far he is willing to go in order to protect himself and his loved ones.
I liked Nick, he seemed like a good guy to have a beer with. He's divorced but cares deeply for his daughter and I was touched by the well-written scenes he has with her.
Make no mistake, Nick can be tough when he needs to be as the ending clearly shows. There's a nice assortment of characters to help him out on both sides of the law and some nasty villains.
The writing is tight and clear. Not a word wasted, but still not the clipped style of Robert B. Parker or Leonard.
I know Nick will be popping up in Dana King's novel Grind Joint but I also know there's three other Forte novels he wrote. I hope they will be published as well and I will be sure to snap them up.
Pick it up here if you want to know if you agree.

Beyond the Bridge (Dermot Sparhawk) by Tom MacDonald

This is a prequel to the award-winning The Charlestown Connection, so not a bad way to start reading this series even if it is the second novel to come out. I must admit it got me wondering how that first novel would be able to avoid all the important things happening in this prequel, unless MacDonald had a really good idea what he was going to write in the prequel and managed to slip in what came before in a good way and without spoilers.
Dermot Sparhawk, half-Native American, half-Irish works in a Boston food bank after a botched football career. When one of the visitors of the food bank asks Sparhawk to prove a murdered priest was not  a child molester he quickly discovers he loves playing detective and gets involved in the hunt for a serial killer who targets priests.
Basically I enjoyed the story, but it had a few faults. Sparhawk worked together with the cops just a bit too easily and was just a bit to eager to become an amateur sleuth. Also, I didn't really care for his alcoholism, I think Sparhawk is an interesting enough character without that part of him that is becoming a bit of a cliche among hardboiled characters.
Still, Sparhawk is an interesting unlicensed investigator in a great setting with a good mystery story and the writing is pretty good. I will be looking for the first one in this series and hoping for a third.