Smokey Dalton Books
Herodotus Award winner for Best Historical Mystery “Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author.” —Salon Who is Smokey Dalton? Private Investigator Smokey Dalton works for Memphis, Tennessee’s black community. He has almost no interaction with the white hierarchy, even though they exist only blocks away. So he’s surprised the day a white woman walks into his Beale Street office. Laura Hathaway has sought him out because he’s a beneficiary in her mother’s will, and Laura wants to know why. So does Smokey. He’s never heard of the Hathaways, but his search will take him on a journey that will change everything he’s ever known. Set against the backdrop of the strike and protests that will end with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, A Dangerous Road combines the politics of race, betrayal, unexpected love, and the terrible cost of trust. It’s a story so memorable the Mystery Writers of America chose it as one of the top five novels of the year and the Historical Mystery Appreciation Society honored it as the winner of the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery. What the critics say: “Powerful stuff, with a role for every major black actor in Hollywood.”— Kirkus Reviews “More than just offering a puzzle, this novel encourages self-examination about identity, responsibility and the consequences of choices. Smokey proves himself a man of conscience able to make tough choices.” — Publishers Weekly “Nelscott’s series setting, in the turbulent late ’60s, gives her books layers of issues of racism, class, and war, all of which still seem to remain sadly timely today.” — Oregonian “It’s not hard to draw parallels between Nelscott’s PI Smokey Dalton and Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins, another secretive, canny black man trying to solve mysteries while circumspectly navigating the white world. But Dalton’s no knock-off. (Would you label the hundreds of hard-boiled detectives who’ve appeared in Raymond Chandler’s wake mere Marlow Xeroxes because they’re white?)” — Entertainment Weekly The Smokey Dalton books are “a high-class crime series.” — Booklist Read the whole series of gripping novels: A Dangerous Road Smoke-Filled Rooms Thin Walls Stone Cribs War at Home Days of Rage Street Justice Awards for the series: The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road , won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms , was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls , was one of the Chicago Tribune’s best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for the Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year. Street Justice was nominated for a Shamus award for the Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel. Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
"I hear you help people find things." So begins the latest case for Smokey Dalton, Kris Nelscott's enigmatic African-American p.i. But when Mrs. Alice Foster comes to the door of his small apartment, she's not missing a pet, or even a loved one: She wants Smokey to find her husband's killer. Three weeks ago, Louis Foster was found propped up against a tree in a city park, stabbed once through the heart. The cops have given up, and Smokey isn't surprised: It's 1968, and the Chicago PD cops who responded to the scene have clearly written off the death of this black man as a mugging gone wrong, or something equally unimportant. Case closed. Not for Smokey. He starts at the beginning, enlisting the reluctant help of a photojournalist who took pictures at the scene. Then, going back through newspaper archives, looking for patterns, clues, wild theories-anything that will help him figure out why a middle-class black man would be found dead in a public park miles from home-Smokey learns something startling. Louis Foster doesn't look to be the first. Amid trying to protect his adopted ten-year-old son, who's being hassled at school by some older gang members, Smokey, the photojournalist, and two renegade cops who risk their careers to help him, set off on the hunt for a killer. Nelscott's Edgar Award-nominated A Dangerous Road , which introduced Smokey Dalton and told the story of the days leading up to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in Memphis, launched an atmospheric crime series set during one of the most turbulent times of our recent past. Now, in this third installment, she delivers a gripping thriller about one man struggling to build a life in this divided city the only way he knows how, and the men who would kill to stop him.
It's Christmastime, 1969, in Chicago. After a night out, Smokey Dalton, Kris Nelscott's enigmatic African-American P.I., and his girlfriend find a young woman bleeding to death in his neighbor's apartment. Upon arriving with her at the hospital, they discover that her injuries are due to a botched illegal abortion. This act of charity blooms into a more complicated situation when Smokey learns that the woman became pregnant after being raped. The woman survives, but the fallout is deadly: Her ex-husband vows revenge at any cost. And in a city torn apart by racial strife, gang wars, and a burgeoning drug problem, Smokey believes that cost could be too high. Kris Nelscott, one of the most nuanced, intelligent writers of crime fiction working today, has authored another heart-stopping, complicated novel of a country ripped apart at the seams and a lone man doing all he can to put things right.
It's summertime in 1969 when African-American P.I. Smokey Dalton heads east to look for a missing college student. Daniel Kirkland never showed up for his spring semester at Yale and seems to have disappeared without a trace. The search for Daniel takes Smokey from the hallowed halls of the nation's wealthiest university to the poorest slums on the outskirts of New Haven. The harder he searches, the more he learns about the dark side of the antiwar movement, in which the idealistic young Daniel may have become involved. And he keeps hearing rumors about bombs. When the trail finally leads Smokey to New York City, he discovers that someone might be trying to kill Daniel. Rumors become more concrete, and Smokey knows it's only a matter of time before a bomb goes off. Because Smokey, a Korean War veteran, recognizes the pattern: he has stumbled into a war. A war at home. In this blistering new book, award-winner Kris Nelscott continues her hard-hitting look at the turbulence of the late sixties and early seventies, all in the guise of the modern crime novel.
It's 1969 and the city of Chicago is in turmoil. The celebrity trial of the Chicago Eight---charged with inciting a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention---has begun. Protests abound over the trial and the conflict has caught the attention of everyone from the Black Panthers to city gangs to local trade unions. Meanwhile, African-American P.I. Smokey Dalton and his adopted son, Jimmy, are keeping a low profile. They've been on the run from their native Memphis since Jimmy witnessed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., but have slowly settled into a steady life in Chicago. Smokey continues to accept cases and to inspect property for Sturdy Investments, the real-estate company owned by Laura Hathaway, his on-again, off-again girlfriend. But the delicate balance in Smokey's daily life is threatened when he makes a horrible discovery in a house he's inspecting. Does what they've found have any connection to Laura's business, and her father, who used to run it? Is it evidence of a long-ago killer, and if so, how has it remained buried for so long? Or is it something that could threaten Smokey---and Jimmy, and Laura---today? Smokey must answer all these questions before the truth about what he's found is discovered by someone willing to kill to keep it secret, while the violent chaos surrounding "the trial of the century" whirls around them.
Smokey Dalton gets a call from an old friend to help transport a battered woman and her young daughter from Madison, Wisconsin, to a shelter in Chicago. When Smokey and Marvella Walker show up at the drop site, they learn that the woman is both white and a racist. She refuses to leave with them. And that’s only the beginning of their problems. Chosen as one of the best mystery short stories of 2009, “Family Affair” shows why Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books “a high-class crime series.” “You don’t need to be a fan of private-eye novels to admire Smokey: You just need a conscience.” —Kirkus Reviews starred review of Smoke-Filled Rooms “Nelscott’s hard-boiled style gives an added blast of energy to the captivating story, and because her characters are so nuanced and naturally complex, we don’t know whom to trust.” —The Boston Globe on Stone Cribs Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road, won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms, was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls, was one of the Chicago Tribune’s best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for The Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year. Entertainment Weekly says her equals are Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler. Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books “a high-class crime series” and Salon says “Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author.” For more information about Kris Nelscott, or author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s other works, please go to KrisNelscott.com or KristineKathrynRusch.com.
Private detective Smokey Dalton does his best to protect his adopted family, from his 11-year-old son Jimmy to his friends, the Grimshaws. But Smokey can’t see everything. Jimmy notices that Lacey Grimshaw—“thirteen going on trouble,” Smokey says—skips school to hang out with an adult man. Jimmy doesn’t want to tattle, but he’s worried about Lacey. So he pretends he’s Smokey, and follows her, learning secrets that will change him—and Lacey—forever. “Excellent…Kris Nelscott’s first short case for Smokey Dalton requires him to be as sensitive and brave as her novels (do).” —Kirkus “(A) crime writer deliberately taking chances.” —Chicago Tribune “Kris Nelscott has created an intriguing character in Smokey Dalton, a tough-guy black private eye based in Chicago.” —Seattle Post-Intelligencer Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road, won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms, was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls, was one of the Chicago Tribune’s best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for The Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year. Entertainment Weekly says her equals are Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler. Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books “a high-class crime series” and Salon says “Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author.” For more information about Kris Nelscott, or author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s other works, please go to KrisNelscott.com or KristineKathrynRusch.com.
“Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author.” Salon In the first week of the new decade, an emergency phone call shatters Chicago Private Detective Smokey Dalton’s hopes for a good 1970. His adopted son Jimmy and Jimmy’s best friend and cousin Keith Grimshaw need help. Smokey arrives at a South Side hotel across from the boys’ school in time to clean up a horrible mess, one the boys mostly solve on their own. But the boys’ heroic actions echo across all of Chicago. Smokey finds himself standing alone against street gangs, the mob, and the Democratic Machine. If he fights this battle and fails, he stands to lose not only Jimmy and their future together, but also his life. A finalist for the 2015 Shamus Award for Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel by the Private Eye Writers of America. “Easy comparisons can be made to Dave Robicheaux, Spenser, and Easy Rawlins, but Smokey is his own man. Women want to be near him and cook his dinner as he settles his nerves with three fingers of Scotch. A great read for fans of detectives guarding an inner city’s grimy streets.”— Library Journal “Dalton’s hard won small victory vividly illustrates a turbulent period of our recent cultural history.”— Publishers Weekly “... a gripping read that drags us deeper into [Smokey] Dalton’s uneasy world.”— Entertainment Weekly on War at Home Read the whole gripping series: A Dangerous Road, Book 1 Smoke-Filled Rooms, Book 2 Thin Walls, Book 3 Stone Cribs, Book 4 War at Home, Book 5 Days of Rage, Book 6 Street Justice, Book 7 Acclaim for the Smokey Dalton Series • Edgar Award nomination • Shamus nomination for Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel • Winner of two Spotted Owl Awards for Best Mystery by a Northwest Writer • Oregon Book Award Nomination Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road , won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms , was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls , was one of the Chicago Tribune’s best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for The Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year. Entertainment Weekly says her equals are Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler. Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books “a high-class crime series” and Salon says “Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author.” For more information about Kris Nelscott, or author Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s other works, please go to KrisNelscott.com or KristineKathrynRusch.com.
Madison, Wisconsin, 1972—When Detective Hank Kaplan calls Valentina Wilson to a crime scene, she wonders why. She soon finds more questions than answers in a secret room belonging to a wealthy female philanthropist, whose brutal murder the police hastily cover up. Val’s search for the truth will take her from the rape hotline she runs to the shocking realization that the woman’s murder anchors a long line of horrific events stretching back decades. Chosen as one of the best mystery short stories of 2013 by the readers of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, “Sob Sisters” continues the powerful story of Valentina Wilson, a character who first appeared in Nelscott’s award-winning Smokey Dalton series. “[A] good piece of short literature.” —Eerie Worlds “Nelscott recalls the era with vivid accuracy.” —St. Petersburg Times Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road, won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms, was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls, was one of the Chicago Tribune’s best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for The Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year. Entertainment Weekly says her equals are Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler. Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books “a high-class crime series” and Salon says “Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author”.