I reviewed this novel awhile ago, but my review disappeared, so I’ll summarize again. Dead of Winter is the third in the August Snow series, exciting tales of crime and survival in the Mexicantown neighborhood of current-day Detroit. A former police officer, Snow landed accidentally in private investigations in the area and quickly became a hero as he defended the rights of the underdog. Those elements continue in Dead of Winter; but the focus shifts to defending the neighborhood against organized crime. So the defense increases in violence, and this installment reads like an action movie. It will likely appeal to readers who enjoy non-stop violent action.

The third book in the August Snow series, published in 2021, like the first two, is set in Detroit. It is a gentrifying Detroit where the houses in Detroit’s Mexicantown are being flipped faster than you can imagine and someone is buying up the business district in a plot to turn them into off-the-grid ghost towns. Snow is an ex-military man, ex-police Officer who has tangled with the movers and shakers of Detroit, but has not yet gotten his feet wet with international conspiracies. He’s a wealthy house flipper who is not above getting tough with the scum of the streets who might be threatening those he cares about. He’s one of those guys who is sort of a private eye or sort of a men’s adventure hero. He’s also half American-American and half Mexican-American and straddles those two communities in Detroit.

Most readers are quite thrilled with this latest entry into the series. Unfortunately, This reader found it to be over-plotted with no focus.

Will redevelopment kill Detroit, August Snow or both?

The first line of “Dead of Winter” says it all. “My house is quietly becoming Frankenstein’s monster.”
August Octavio Snow is a true Detroit native; he loves Motown music and is obsessed with cars, big US made muscle cars. (He strongly objects to making an exit in what? A Prius?) He is a marine, once and always, having been in Afghanistan, a.k.a., “the sand,” and at least for a minute, was a cop. He won a $12 million wrongful dismissal suit against the Detroit Police Department, but struggles with the dark pressures of life.
The story unfolds in Snow’s first-person narrative filled with both philosophy and humor. (He readily answers the doorbell, confident that he will not be mugged, beaten or eaten, since thieves, killers and zombies rarely use the doorbell.) Conversations reflect both the troubling and the hilariously inappropriate things that people say to each other. The vocabulary and cadence of the narrative set the tone of the story more than the events themselves; the strength of the story is in the telling.
Snow and his friends flip houses in the southwest Detroit neighborhood of Mexicantown. Rampant development is threatening local businesses as the neighborhood evolves into a hipster, urban-chic place to be. Mr. Ochoa, the owner of local landmark Authentico Foods, has already had a big cash offer. He wants Snow to buy everything both to keep it out of the hands of a big developer, and to allow him a life somewhere that is not a “frozen wasteland three-quarters of the year.” Of course nothing is simple, and what evolves is a detailed and difficult journey. Snow is accustomed to guns, knives, and revenge, however problematic personal issues must be resolved, and the past is waiting for revenge.
“Remind me again who the good guys are and who the bad guys are?”
Snow is on a long and violent journey, but he shows personal growth, changes his attitude, and makes a commitment to himself and others.
I received a review copy of “Dead of Winter” from Stephen Mack Jones and Soho Crime. “Dead of Winter” is book three in the “August Snow” series, but it is not necessary to have read the previous books. Everything a new reader needs to know is included in this narrative. However, once finished, new readers will certainly want to go back to read the two previous books.

I received an advance copy of, Dead Of Winter, by Stephen Mack Jones. Wow this book is very intense, almost too intense for me.

I’m not sure what it is about Michigan that creates great private eye novelists, but whatever the reason, Stephen Mack Jones has joined the likes of Loren Estleman and Steve Hamilton in creating his Detroit based private eye, August Snow. August is a reluctant millionaire – an ex cop who sued the police department – and he now (mostly) spends his time renovating his neighborhood, Detroit’s Mexicantown, one house at a time. When his godmother, Elena, calls, however, he agrees to meet with a dying man about his Mexicantown business.

The old man wants him to buy his business and keep it viable, preventing richer developers from swooping in and creating high end condos instead of maintaining a core community business. While in no way does August want to buy a clunky old business that even the old man’s daughter doesn’t want, neither does he want fancy real estate speculators moving into his neighborhood and he agrees to look into it.

What follows is an entertaining, sporadically violent, twisted story of connections, contract killers and the more down to earth aspects of August’s life, i.e., his love life. While I’ve mentioned Michigan writers above, Jones more closely resembles Robert B. Parker in his full on embrace of humor, cooking, and necessary violence in the service of the greater good.

Jones is a writer who is insanely quotable. His way with words is original and memorable and sets him well apart from many, many other writers. He’s also great at setting the scene, whether it’s the gym where he goes to box, his home and kitchen, or a meet up at Detroit’s Eastern market. These books are saturated in Detroit.
What’s updated about Jones is his contemporary attitude, which is a welcome breath of fresh air. His willingness to slide in zingers about the politics and attitudes of the present infuses his books with relevance. August himself is a bit of a superman – he’s kind, but he’s also stylish; violent but also vulnerable. The people in his life most likely to support and guide him turn out to be women – his godmother, his girlfriend, and the shade of his mother.

Where Spenser had Hawk at his side, August has a whole community, including one of the men he basically took off the streets and who now helps him to flip houses. While there’s almost a fantasy element in these books, it’s no different that the one Lee Child presents in his Jack Reacher novels. We all need a little superman in our lives, and why can’t it be a Mexican, African American, kindhearted soul from Detroit who loves to cook? I’m all in.

August Snow, former Detroit Police detective and current good guy with a gun, returns in Stephen Mack Jones’s new book Dead of Winter.

This is the third installment of the August Snow series and it just keeps getting better. This time around August gets tangled up in a sketchy real estate deal while trying to protect his beloved Mexicantown Detroit neighborhood. This is a high-octane thriller that features lots of guns and lots of action.

Snow is a great complex character- intelligent, funny, loving, and ready to go to war if he has to. He’s a good guy with some demons and a heart of gold. He’s willing to work outside the law to bring down the bad guys. Perfect for fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series or Ludlum’s Jason Bourne. Dead of Winter is out today!
Thanks to @netgalley and @soho_press for the review copy.

August Snow has become a bit of a hero in his Detroit neighborhood, so when Mr. Ochoa owner of a longtime tortilla business asks to meet him, August does. Ochoa is being pressured to sell his business but the dying man wants August to buy it. Shortly after this meeting Ochoa is murdered and Tomas, Snow's godfather and best friend is shot and nearly killed. August then begins an investigation that again leads to the political leaders and movers of Detroit and beyond. Tatina Stadtmueller arrives form Oslo and readers get a fuller picture of August's long distance lover. There are surprises and a bit more violence than in the first two books, but Stephen Mack Jones is now in my "stay up past my bedtime to finish reading" category with Daniel Silva. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Here I am again, coming in late to a series. This is book 3 – and it’s my first book in the series. It works as a standalone and it absolutely won’t be my last time reading this series!

Dead of Winter is a tense and riveting crime novel. Our main character is Black and Mexican (Blaxican) and he’s dealing with a situation that is dangerously impacting his community – and his loved ones.

I loved our characters and our bits of culture. The author demonstrates a love of both Black and Mexican culture and I was all in.

As for our crime? Edgy, intense, and mixed with edge-of-your-seat action!

Thoroughly loved this book and I can’t wait for the next one!

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

Dead of Winter (August Snow #3) by Stephen Mack Jones is a well written thriller with interesting characters and setting. This is my first August Snow book, but unlikely to be my last. If you enjoy a little noir, some colorful characters, and a twisty plot you will enjoy this.

Thanks to Netgalley and Soho Crime for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

A thrilling novel that stalks along with a blend of power and poetry you might see in a middle-weight boxer. Flowing in a balletic way between, even during, the brutal moments ... Stephen Mack Jones crafts a superb tale that bobs, weaves, and hits hard as August’s sleuthing puts himself and those he loves into grave danger. There’s action aplenty, but also rich characterization, wonderful writing, and a strong sense of place. August’s investigation entwines with the whims and wishes of ruthless billionaire developers, and there’s plenty to chew on for readers when it comes to thought-provoking issues around gentrification, race relations, and inequality to go along with the moreish descriptions of culinary delights. Overall, Dead of Winter is a superb crime novel from an author with a distinctive voice and something to say, in among the crime and carnage.

August Snow has just about reached the limits of his project to rehabilitate his Detroit neighborhood now that investors are competing for properties to flip. On top of that, someone wants to take over the large site of a thriving business in Mexicantown, built up over the decades by a man who needs to settle his affairs. There's something very fishy about the would-be buyers, hid. den behind a shell company. August Snow doesn't want to rescue the business by buying it, but he also doesn't want it to fall into the hands of developers with ideas of gentrification that would change the nature of the vibrant working-class Detroit neighborhood and put a lot of residents out of work. When his best friend and godfather is attacked, he has no choice but to roll up his sleeves and put up his dukes.

Things I love about this series: the voice of the protagonist, both wise and wise-cracking. The setting and its colorful residents. The fact that it's crime fiction told from the perspective of a Black and Mexican man who can analyze the unequal power relationships in a racist society with a light touch, when so much of the genre is some flavor of copaganda. The food! The descriptions of meals always make me ravenous.

What I don't love: the plotting and action scenes that depend on over-the-top masculine violence. That's okay, anyone who enjoys action films, especially ones with superheros, explosions, choreographed fights and women who are as badass as men in a larger-than-life way will probably love the whole package. It's just not my thing, but what happens in between the action scenes is.