A Cold Day in Paradise

Hamilton hit pay dirt by snatching up both the Shamus and Edgar Awards for Best First Novel in 1999. Ironically the book struggles--often unsuccessfully--with age-old clichÄs of the private-eye genre, and with the narrator's vacillation between testosterone and male sensitivity. Nick Sullivan, with his playfully snide voice, attempts to capture the isolation of former Detroit police officer Alex McKnight, now a private detective embroiled in the murders of several bookies in northern Michigan. Sullivan has a high-quality professional voice that is ideal for comedy; but the condescension, annoyance, and cockiness with which he reads it miss the boat to this Paradise. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

August 3, 1998
Hamilton combines clear, crisp writing, wily, colorful characters and an offbeat locale (Michigan's Upper Peninsula) in an impressive debut. Alex McKnight is a retired Detroit cop living in Paradise, Mich., on disability with a bullet next to his heart. He rents cabins to hunters and has recently taken out a private-detective license at the suggestion of Lane Uttley, a local lawyer. The book begins fast, with a lot of background deftly woven into the narrative. At a local bar, the lawyer's former investigator accuses Alex of stealing his business. Later, Edwin Fulton, the scion of a wealthy Detroit family and a compulsive gambler, calls Alex from a nearby motel where he has found the murdered body of his bookie. After Edwin's strong-willed mother hires Alex to protect the family, another local bookie is murdered and Edwin disappears, prompting Alex and the lawyer to start a search of their own. Meanwhile, Alex receives letters and calls that appear to be from the Detroit man who shot him and whom the then-cop had helped send to prison for life without parole 14 years ago. Hamilton cleverly joins the plots, leaving but one disappointment: how long it takes Alex to learn to place his trust in others with care. (Sept.) FYI: This book won the Private Eye Writers of America/St. Martin's Press Award for Best First Private Eye Novel of 1997.