Created by Dick Lochte
Call it tongue-in-cheek noir, I guess.
SoCa gumshoe LEO BLOODWORTH talks tough and drinks hard, and the last thing in the world he thinks he wants is some smartass, roller-blading 14-year old girl for a partner. But when SERENDIPITY DAHLQUIST hires Leo to find her missing pitbull Groucho, that’s exactly what he gets. Whether he wants it or not.
And it turns out Leo may not be quite as jaded as he thinks he is.
The first book in this amusing series, Sleeeping Dog (1985), which features Leo’s and Serendipity’s tag-team narration of the same events was for a stack of honors and awards, nominated for an Edgar and actually won the Nero Wolfe Award. It was also named one of the “100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century” by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, a New York Times Book of the Year, a Shamus Award finalist and an Anthony Award finalist .
It was followed by two more novels, Laughing Dog (1988 and Rappin’ Dog (2014), as well as a half dozen short stories.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lochte knows his stuff. The author of several popular crime novels, including Blue Bayou (1992) and The Neon Smile (1995), which feature New Orleans private eye Terry Manion, who first appeared in Laughing Dog (1988), the sequel to Sleeping Dog, and Blues in the Night (2012), featuring Dave “Mace” Mason. His Lucky Dog and Other Tales of Murder (2000), published by Five Star, included stories featuring Leo and Serendipity, Manion and D.A. investigator J.J. Legendre (New Orleans in the Sixties). It also includes a reprint of “Sad-Eyed Blonde,” his excellent entry in the Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe collection from a few years back.
A past president of the Private Eye Writers of America, Lochte has co-written several mysteries with celebrities such as the Today Show‘s Al Roker and attorney Christopher Darden, written screenplays for such actors as Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen and Roger Moore and knows more about crime and detective movies than just about anyone on the planet. His crime fiction column ran for nearly a decade in the Los Angeles Times and earned him the 2003 Ellen Nehr Award for Excellence in Mystery Reviewing, and he later reviewed audiobooks for Mystery Scene. He lives in Southern California.
UNDER OATH
- “Los Angeles Times columnist Lochte deserves raves for his debut. This thriller outclasses, in many ways, the tales of Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald and other renowned California mystery writers… Lochte astonishingly builds a host of disparate elements into a corker entertainment, uncontrived and satisfying.”
— Publisher’s Weekly on Sleeping Dog - “Dancingly macabre, packed with perils, pungent with humor.”
— The Sunday Times (London) on Laughing Dog
NOVELS
- Sleeping Dog (1985) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Laughing Dog (1988) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Rappin’ Dog (2014) | Kindle it!
SHORT STORIES
- “Lucky Dog” (Winter 1992, The Armchair Detective)
- “Mad Dog” (1993, Santa Clues; Bloodworth solo)
- “A Tough Case to Figure” (March 1997, EQMM; with Terry Manson)
- “Rappin’ Dog” (1999, Murder on Route 66) | Kindle it!
- “Diamond Dog” (2005, Creature Cozies) | Kindle it!
- “Devil Dog” (2007, Hollywood and Crime) | Buy this book
COLLECTIONS
- Lucky Dog and Other Tales of Murder (2000) | Buy this book
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Going to the Dogs
The Great Mutts of Detective Fiction - Dick Lochte’s Top 20 Private Eye Novels
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to Jan Long for the heads up!
