When Old Midnight Comes Along is an Amos Walker mystery by Loren D. Estleman. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, you have missed reading one of the best noir detective series written. Estleman captures the beat of a private detective living hand-to-mouth and refusing to move into the technological era. His prose is so beautiful you feel the pulse of Amos Walker along with Detroit and it’s suburbs as they struggle to survive amidst corruption and violence.

This is the 28th book in the Amos Walker series. It is beautifully plotted with both new and familiar characters. The outcome is as honest as Amos Walker. You don’t need to start with the first book in the series, but you will enjoy the journey to 28.

This is a really good private detective story in the "classic" style. It's more about the path our hero follows as he tries to earn his money and solve the case than it is about the actual mystery.

Sure there are some decent plot twists and whatnot but, honestly, that aspect of the story isn't terribly original...

It's not so much about the particular crime as it is the individual trying to solve it: Amos Walker. That's what makes When Old Midnight Comes Along a better than average book.

This is the 28th entry in the Amos Walker series so the old guy has aged a bit, slowed down a step of two, and is less about thumping people around than doing what he does better than anyone - finding missing people. Walker offers only one guarantee, if he can't find the missing person then no one can. His witty comments, more wickedly sardonic than funny, set the tone.

"You know you're over the hill when the crooks and cops start looking like the kids on Sesame Street."

I enjoyed this one a great deal. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good private detective story.

***Thanks to NetGalley, Forge Books, and author Loren D. Estleman for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

Published by Macmillan/Forge Books on December 3, 2019

When Old Midnight Comes Along is the kind of detective novel that should be a model for the genre. Loren D. Estleman’s plot is tight and credible. He conveys the depth of his characters without exploring their backgrounds in unnecessary detail. His prose style is clear and uncluttered while retaining a literary flair. Estelman has distilled, in this 28th Amos Walker mystery, the essence of what a detective novel should be.

Francis Xavier Lawes, a prominent Detroit businessman, hires Amos to find his wife. That could be tricky since Paula Lawes has been missing for more than six years and in less than a year will be presumed dead. Lawes tells Amos he wants to know his wife’s fate because he plans to remarry and would like to get the declaration of death out of the way without delay. Lawes’ intended is Holly Pride, who began working for him as a receptionist before (in my uncharitable interpretation of her intent) she decided to become a gold digger.

Amos starts by charming Deborah Stonesmith at the Detroit Police Department to let him review the file regarding Paula’s disappearance (in other words, she wants Amos to get out of her hair). He learns that Lawes and his wife were overextended on vacation home mortgages and credit card debt. That brings Amos to the police detective who ran the investigation. John Alderdyce has moved on to private security, but he's convinced Lawes murdered Paula and regrets his inability to prove it.

A complicating fact involves Paula’s car, found abandoned near the site where a cop named Marcus Root was killed. A retired police commander, Albert White, tells Amos that Root was shot while he was following Paula’s car. Root’s notebook was missing from his patrol car, suggesting that Root was killed because he had information about Paula that his notebook (or Root) would have revealed.

Other key characters include Oakes Steadman, a former gang member who now works for the police as a gang consultant, George Hoyle, who was having an affair with Paula, and Andrea Dawson, a publicist who was working with Paula when she dropped off the grid. As Amos wears down his shoe leather, the information he gathers about Paula from each character becomes even more confusing. The confusion is compounded when he discovers that a ring — probably but not certainly Paula’s engagement ring — might be connected to a crime.

The various characters provide conflicting clues that Amos and the reader will need to sort out to discover Paula’s fate. The characters have the fullness of unique individuals, unlike the stock characters that so many genre writers recycle. Estleman creates atmosphere without dwelling on needless lessons in Detroit's architecture or political history. The solution to the mystery is clever and not easily guessed (at least not by me). Unlike many modern crime novelists, Estleman finds a plausible way to bring all the characters and clues together and leaves no loose ends dangling. When Old Midnight Comes Along is exactly what an old-school detective novel should be: entertaining, challenging, and satisfying.

RECOMMENDED

This was a great detective read and it was nice to follow Amos Walker through another mystery! I like how the author gives such detail to the writing, as it really puts the scene in the reader's mind.

I have been a little in love with Amos Walker since his first appearance in “Motor City Blues.” The love affair continues in this excellent book. Walker is aging, and has lost a step or two, but he is still nobody’s fool and a tough guy. He is an independent private detective, emphasis on independent.

In this book Walker has been hired to find a dead woman. Her husband, long a suspect in her disappearance and presumed death, wants to marry again and does not want to wait for the statutory seven years to have her declared dead. I don’t like spoilers, so I am not going to say any more about the plot. Walker is himself, but there are always echoes of Philip Marlowe; both of them honest men surrounded by corruption and liars.

Loren Estleman is a master, and “When Old Midnight Comes Along” is further proof of it. If you like mysteries and private detectives you cannot do better than Amos Walker. Estleman writes in other genres, including westerns, and his writing is always good, but Amos Walker is my favorite of his creations, probably you could tell. I am always sorry to finish these books, and I always look forward to the next one. If you are not familiar with Amos Walker I urge you to make his acquaintance. If he is an old friend, you know what pleasures await you.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions are my own.

This is the first book I've read by this author, and what stands out, is the language. It may be not to everyone's liking, but I love it! And there's a very good story with a great plot and characters.

Francis X. Lawes was a suspect in his wife Paula's disappearance 6 years ago but her body was never found and the police couldn't build a case against him. Now he wants to remarry without waiting the additional year required to declare her dead so he hires Amos Walker. Walker starts back through the case, always with the question lingering- why not wait the year? Why open oneself up? The mystery here is well done but it's the walk through Detroit and its issues- the disparities between the rich and powerful and everyone else- that makes this a good read. Walker meets some real characters (in more than the literary sense) along the way. Don't worry if you haven't read others in this long running series- I've dipped in over the years so this was a standalone for me and I was just fine. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read.

Estleman is a national treasure. In my opinion the true modern hero to Chandler. Estleman’s detective, Amos Walker, hero of Estleman’s long running detective series is a world weary Detroit private investigator who is called on to prove that a man’s wife is dead so he can remarry. The plot is beside the point- it’s the telling of the story that counts and the characterizations. Of the supporting players. Read it and you’ll be hooked.

4 stars

I have been reading the Amos Walker mysteries for years. I really like Mr. Estleman's irreverent style of writing humor in his stories.

Walker is a cool breeze from the past; a resurrection of the old style, semi-hard bitten private eye.

He is hired by Francis X. Lawes to find his wife – dead or alive. It has been six years since her car was found abandoned in a not-so-healthy area of Detroit. Lawes wants to marry and doesn't want to wait the additional year it takes to have Paula Lawes declared dead.

This is a well written and plotted who dunnit – or who didn't. Walker doggedly follows the clues, re-interviewing witnesses and finding new ones. I like Mr. Estleman's laid back style of writing. It seems as though his story telling is effortless. Although I imagine it is not as easy as it looks to be. I will continue to be an Amos Walker fan as long as the author wants to write about his adventures.

I want to thank NetGalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge/Forge Books for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

A good hard boiled mystery according to my heart.
I liked the character development, the cast of characters is well thought and interesting, and the descriptions of the background.
The mystery is solid and kept guessing till the end. The well crafted plot is gripping and kept me on the edge.
It's the first novel I read in this series and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Loren D Estleman's long running Amos Walker series is one I have dipped into through the years, always knowing I am going to enjoy the reading experience. It is set in a economically deprived Detroit in Michigan where Walker operates as a PI, older, more physically scarred in body, weary of soul, and the best man to hire when it comes to missing persons. Which is why Francis X. Lawes, an influential political mover and shaker in charge of examining private sector business bids for city contracts, hires Walker. After disappointment from other agencies he has employed, he wants evidence that his wife, Paula, a PR executive, who disappeared 6 years ago, last seen in Allen Park, is either dead or alive. He wants to remarry and doesn't want to wait another year for her to be legally declared dead.

So Walker begins to dig, it soon becomes apparent that Lawes was and still is the prime suspect for Paula's murder by the police, and an old friend and retired ex-cop, John Alderdyce has never forgotten Lawes, convinced of his guilt, but lacking proof, and willing to help Walker if it will nail Lawes. It does not seem to make sense that Lawes would want to stir a hornet's nest that would put him back in the frame as a murder suspect, if he merely waited patiently for only one more year, he would be home free, and marry again with no problems. Walker goes back over the case, taking time to interview those he still can that were key to the original investigation. This has Walker encountering the likes of an audio book producer, George Hoyle, a charismatic Southern belle, a friend of Paula's, ex-gangbangers and Lawes fiancee, Holly Pride, keen that he stops looking for Paula. In a case that includes the past murder of an Allen Park cop, Marcus Root, first at the scene of Paula's abandoned car, with his notebook taken, and a present day murder, Walker works a twisted case where little is as it seems until the truth begins to emerge.

Estleman is a wonderful writer, evoking an atmospheric sense of place and location with his sharp and rich descriptions of a Detroit that Amos Walker operates in. The economic challenges and history of Detroit comes across well, along with the political corruption and deprivation. The author is an old hand when it comes to the creation of a host of diverse characters, from political elites, corporate types, criminals, and including gang members. This is a great and entertaining outing for Walker, perhaps not one of his best, but one that still had me hooked and knowing I will read any further additions in the series without question. Many thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an ARC.

This book kept my attention from the first word. I was intrigued by each character. This is one book that kept me thinking. The plot did not go exactly the way I imagined and that was great! A few grammatical errors were slightly distracting. I would recommend this book to my friends. I look forward to reading more from Loren!

I really like this type of detective stories, although our hero is getting old he still has IT. As usual I have to thank #ForgeBooks and #Netgalley for giving me this pleasure to read one of the last true hard boiled detectives out there. I also must say, I hope that #LorenDEstleman keeps them coming. Great work, I really recommend this series.