If you like your noir pure and unadulterated

What the critics have said about my man out of prison noir trilogy:

"The plot of Small Crimes ricochets out from this claustrophobic opening, and it's a thing of sordid beauty." Maureen Corrigan on Small Crimes, NPR's top 5 crime and mystery novels of 2008

"Zeltserman's breakthrough third crime novel [Small Crimes] deserves comparison with the best of James Ellroy" Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"spare but ingeniously twisted and imbued with a glossy coating of black humor." Washington Post picking Small Crimes as one of the Best Books of 2008

"Denton is one of the best realised characters I have read in this genre, and the powerfully noir-ish, uncompromising plot, which truly keeps one guessing from page to page, culminates with a genuinely astonishing finale." --David Connett, Sunday Express

"ultra-noir, funny, and shocking by turns" Barnes & Noble

"Small Crimes proves a deft entry in the tradition that goes back to Jim Thompson’s The Killer Inside Me, James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice and Charles Willeford’s High Priest of California — small masterpieces celebrating the psychopath as a grinning archetype, as American as apple pie." Sun-Sentinel

"as nasty and clever as noir can get" NPR

"If there's any other young writer out there who does crime noir better than Zeltserman, I don't even want to know." Washington Post picking Pariah as one of the Best Books of 2009

"Darkly enjoyable... clear, crisp prose; his fearless portrait of amorality; and his smart plotting... what a fine addition to the local literary scene he’s become." Boston Globe

"Pariah is a terrific blast" Metro (UK)

"I just finished reading Dave's new novel Pariah. It is one of the most crazed, hilarious, bitter, brutal novels this side of those composed on violent wards." Ed Gorman

"PARIAH IS ALL I KNOW OF BLISS AND LAMENT. BLISS AT READING A SUPERB NOVEL AND LAMENT AT KNOWING THAT DAVE ZELTSERMAN HAS NOW RAISED THE BAR SO HIGH, WE'RE SCREWED" Ken Bruen

"Spare prose and assured pacing place this [Killer] above most other contemporary noirs." Publisher's Weekly

"With graphic imagery and exciting twists, this novel [Killer] is impossible to put down and has a surprising ending. A brilliant read." Aberdeen Press & Journal

"Dave Zeltserman is at it again writing about ex-con antiheroes with the kind of panache that would make Jim Thompson, king of the psycho killer novels, proud." Boston Globe

"Written in a spare, terse style, and with chapters alternating between past and present, we slowly learn more about March. But even then the closing chapters present a devastating twist and shocking conclusion." Sunday Tribune

"This novel [Killer] is everything hard-boiled fiction should be - compact, direct and disciplined, and concerned with humans rather than stereotypes. It is also, for all its violent subject matter, a quietly told story, which makes its tension all the more intense" Mat Coward, Morning Star

"Dave Zeltserman's Killer is simply one of the best crime novels I've read. Not in a long time, not in ages, not this year, but ever." Juri Nummelin, Pulpetti

What motivates Julius Katz to solve his cases?

Many readers think at first that Julius Katz is simply a pastiche of Nero Wolfe. Well, given Julius's name, as well as the name of his sidekick, and a few of Julius's personality traits, as well as his love of gourmet food and his overall laziness, I'll admit to a tip of a cap to one of favorite detective series and writers, but Katz is a very different animal than Wolfe. While Archie has the heart and soul of a hardboiled PI (even though he's only a tiny computer device), Julius shares more than a little DNA with my con man Pete Mitchel from my first Ellery Queen story, Money Run. Call them second cousins on Julius's father's side. So what motivates Julius to solve his murder cases?

In the Shamus and Derringer award-winning 'Julius Katz', Julius is hired by a woman whose mother has Alzheimer's. She's afraid that her brother, who has power of attorney over their mother, is more concerned with preserving her mother's money for a future inheritance than seeing that the woman is properly taken care of. When Julius's client is murdered, he solves the murderso that he can fulfill his initial obligations and earn his fee.

In the Ellery Queens Reader's Choice Award winner, 'Archie's Been Framed', Julius finds himself inconvenienced when Archie becomes the prime and only suspect for the murder of a woman he'd been dating, and so Julius reluctantly jumps in to clear his assistance's name and the inconvenience that Archie's fugitive status is causing him.

In the novel, 'Julius Katz and Archie', when Julius's client is murdered he feels no need to find the murderer since as far as he's concerned this is a police matter and he has no further obligations to his dead client. When an attempt is later made on Julius's life, nothing is going to keep him from being the one to send the murderer away.

In 'One Angry Julius and Eleven Befuddled Jurors', an increasingly peevish Julius is serving on a sequestered murder trial and is at risk of missing a once-in-a-lifetime gourmet dinner, and so Julius takes over.

In 'Archie Solves the Case',  when Julius's client is accused of murdering a rival chef over a stolen recipe, Julius takes on the case so he doesn't lose his favorite dish. But he has an another motivation that's revealed at the end. Of course, it can be debated which of them--Julius or Archie--really solves the case!

What readers are saying about Julius

"Fun in mysteries is back!"

"Really different and GOOD"

"A delightful book"

"Very cleverly done"

"Clever, funny, and very satisfying"

"Great read! The authors writing style is one that drew me in and kept me wanting to know what happened next."

"A joy to read"

"Very nice surprise"

"A very enjoyable read. Anyone who likes private eye mysteries would enjoy this book immensely."

"Imaginative and fun"

"Delightfully urbane"

Julius Katz mysteries have won Shamus, Derringer, and Ellery Queen's Readers Choice awards. If you haven't discovered Julius and his highly unique sidekick, Archie, isn't it about time that you do?

Monster in the UK

I'm happy to report that Duckworth Publishers have published a trade paperback version of Monster for the UK.

A small taste of ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE

(a small taste of ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE)

 

What I went through with the Widow Quayle was downright pleasant compared to Jason Heckle, an investor Quayle had cheated out of a very large sum of money, at least according to a lawsuit Heckle had filed that was dismissed thanks to some very clever maneuvering on Quayle’s lawyer’s part. When I called him, he asked whether it was so that Julius could prove that he was the one who murdered Quayle.

“Did you?” I asked.

He giggled at that and said, “If I did I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”

“Okay. So you know what Julius wants to talk to you about. Are you willing to come in?”

“I don’t believe that would be very prudent. Why hand the great genius detective the rope to hang me with?”

“You could convince him you’re innocent.”

“That could be difficult,” he said. “And even on the off-chance that I am innocent, I don’t see any reason to make things easier for him.”

He was having fun with this. I could hear the amusement in his voice, and it annoyed me. I felt the annoyance with the way my processing cycles were slowing down, as if flowing through molasses.

“Yes or no, will you meet with him?”

“I’d say no.”

“So you’d rather have Julius dig into every aspect of your life than consent to a one-hour meeting?”

“Oh, I’m sure he’d do that anyway.”

He hung up on me. As I’d mentioned, he annoyed me, and he did so enough that I hacked into the IRS database, as well as his bank and brokerage accounts, and found several interesting discrepancies that could get him in hot water. When I called him back I mentioned these discrepancies. His tone changed then as he asked me how I found out about that.

“Julius and I are both very good at what we do.”

“So you’re blackmailing me now.”

“Call it what you want. Just ask yourself whether you’re more afraid of an IRS audit or Julius pinning a murder rap on you. If you hang up on me now, that will help him even more than if you agreed to come in and meet with him.”

Click to purchase ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE

My two stories that seem to fool everyone

I've written two stories that seem to fool just about everyone--Old Wives' Tales, that's in my recent ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE collection, and A Hostage Situation, in my ONE ANGRY JULIUS & OTHER STORIES collection. Both stories have plenty of clues to their twist endings, but when I read these at book events no one has so far gotten either one, nor readers I trade emails with.

I'm going to make the following offer--if you read either of these stories and figure out the twist before you get 3/4s of the way through, I'll take your word for it and send you a kindle copy of either THE SHANNON NOVELS, FAST LANE, or BLOOD CRIMES, your choice.

ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE is now available for Kindle!

ARCHIE SOLVES THE CASE  features the latest novella in the award-winning Julius Katz mystery series. When the great detective finds himself stumped in proving his client didn't murder a rival chef over a stolen recipe, it's left up to Archie to save the day. Also in this collection are four additional stories including my amusing PINK WIGGLY THINGS and my ultra noir 'TIL DEATH DO YOU PART.

Coming soon -- Archie Solves the Case

The gift of weeds for Mother's Day?

Normally I wouldn't suggest giving a gift of weeds for Mother's Day, especially not killer weeds, but a book full of Aukowies would certainly make a unique and memorable gift.

Ames Library on The Caretaker of Lorne Field

“The Caretaker of Lorne Field” is fast-moving with a “Twilight Zone” atmosphere. Jack is the ninth generation of Durkins to weed Lorne Field. If the field is untended, an Aukowie monster will grow. At one time, the caretaker position was a high honor. But 300 years have passed and most have lost respect for the position, the family, or the ancient contract. As the evidence of a lack of threat and calamities mount, Jack questions his own sanity while struggling to protect the world.

More of Ames Library recommendations can be found here.