The below 3.5-star review was posted to Hillbilly Highways on 3/30 and to Amazon and Goodreads on 4/5:

Catalina (better known for its wine mixers than its murders) and The Huntington (a museum and botanical gardens) are hardly my setting of choice. I prefer mine rural and gritty. But The Darkest Game is in conversation with a long tradition of L.A. noir. Chinatown gets name-dropped more than once. Manning the case—first one murder, then more—are an odd-couple pair of Hollywood homicide detectives. Jarsdell is a history PHD-dropout and the son of two professors. Morales is much more the stereotypical cop. Both are sufferable pricks and play well off each other. The central mystery is a tad obvious, but the “why?” question is more interesting and harder for both the characters and reader to unravel, and the mystery around one element of one murder is carefully crafted. If you’re the sort of reader who revels in solving things before the characters, it will give you something to chew on. This is the third book in a series, I gather, but I found it an easy entry point.

Happy Pub Day to @Joseph! This is the third of his series, the detectives investigate the murder of a museum curator, traveling to Catalina Island, to help unravel the mystery. This is a deeply intelligent novel with distinctive characters. Tully Jarsdel isn’t your typical cop. There are a lot of twits and turns and you won’t be able to look away from this book!

A Pacy Ride…
A pacy ride on the heels of a ruthless and cunning killer in this third LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel mystery. With a museum curator shot dead, academic detective Jarsdel is soon bound for the old Hollywood playground of Catalina Island. Jarsdel soon finds that nothing is as it seems. Can he keep further corruption at bay? A fitting addition to this fast paced series with an inimitable detective.

The Darkest Game is the third book in the LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel series by Joseph Schneider. This fast-paced mystery thriller is sure to take readers on a roller coaster of emotions with twists and turns around every corner. The mystery unfolds at a perfect pace, sprinkling clues and local shifts along the way. This could work as a standalone, although reading the prior ones will give a little more background information.

I've read many books of this genre, and seldom have I encountered the clever, witty repartee I found here. I thoroughly enjoyed the banter between Tully and Morales.

That being said, the main plotline of the book seemed to be introduced late in the book. I enjoyed the Cataline Island exposure. Never having been there, the book made me want to go.

This is my first experience with author Joseph Schneider. I would definitely read more by him.

I received a dree copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I always appreciate a 'free read', especially in my favorite genre. However, I didn't get very far with this particular book although I tried for several days. I wouldn't exactly say it was crude but it was definitely much more raw or unrefined than many police procedurals I've read. Kind of like a hot onion versus a sweet one -- just not to my taste. This one was a DNF.

Detective Tully Jarsdel is not the typical LAPD detective. He is part of a special program to recruit more academics. He is methodical and smart. He and his partner, Morales, are complete opposite personalities. They normally solve cold cases but in this story they are on the case of a current murder. It takes many twists and turns before they are able to crack the case.

I haven't read any books in this series or by this author and while this wasn't a bad book, it really wasn't for me. I do like police procedurals but this one had very few women characters and it had a very "bro" energy, with two male LAPD cops and a plot involving some white separatist group.

What I did like: Tully Jarsdel. He's a fascinating character with a rich internal life and I loved reading about his family and their history.

While this one was not really a fit for me, I'm sure others will disagree completely!

This is my first experience of Schneider. And I am thrilled that I have been introduced. A good read. Engrossing, gripping and fun.

Two grizzly murders, pirates and buried treasure… what more could you ask from a modern day police procedural?

The Darkest Game is the third of Joseph Schneider’s LAPD Detective Tully Jarlsdel series. Jarlsdel, a former history professor, has a reputation for dogged persistence and meticulousness and this time finds himself ‘in pursuit of an untouchable killer … embroiled in wide-spread conspiracy and … exhuming long-buried secrets.’

Which sounds a lot darker than the story itself actually is. While Schneider’s writing is compelling and visceral, very soon this brutal murder devolves into a treasure hunt. With pirates. In the meantime, the very intelligent -and pedantic- Jarlsdel struggles with family reconciliation and personal definition.

I enjoyed the story. I’m just not sure it was meant to be as fun as I found it. I received my copy of The Darkest Game as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley, but this fun read is available to you anywhere you purchase books on April 5, 2022.

Detective Tully Jardel investigates a museum curators death.
This leads to a small island where another murder has been committed.There are also pirates and local cops and a treasure. Quick moving, intense and very readable. This novel is a pleasure to read.
Highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an opportunity to read this ARCin exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Tully Jarsdel is not your typical homicide detective, much to the consternation of his more traditional partner. A former academic, he is cerebral and introspective. In this case, the third in the series, the detectives investigate the murder of a museum curator, traveling to Catalina Island to help unravel the mystery.

I have read the first two Jarsdel books and really enjoyed the first one. This series is not for everyone, especially if you want a fast paced, action packed thriller. Character development is interesting and there are many esoteric references such as “Phineas Gage” and “Joseph K”. If these names mean nothing to you, you may not enjoy this book unless you want to spend a lot of time Googling or just skipping over the unknown. If you enjoy well written, character driven works that are different from the typical run of the mill, this is for you. Oh yes, there are also family relationships and cultural and moral issues that are explored as well as modern day pirates! There is some violence as well.

This could work as a standalone, although reading the prior ones will give a little more background information.

There is something about Tully that I like and I will certainly read the next installment.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #PoisonedPenPress for the DRC.

Detective Marcus Tullius Jarsdel isn’t your average cop. Known as the “professor detective” after abandoning work on his PhD in ancient history to enroll in the police academy instead, Jarsdel has the kind of free-floating intellect that helps him piece together disparate clues to solve tricky cases. This serves him in good stead as a member of the revived Hollywood Homicide squad, even if it does give his partner, veteran Detective Oscar Morales, plenty of opportunities to rib him for being a nerd:

QUOTE
He’d begun wearing clip-ons in patrol, where they were required for the officer’s safety. An authentic double Windsor might convey both style and authority, but it wasn’t worth a suspect choking the life out of you. The policy didn’t extend to the Detectives Bureau, however, where clip-ons were considered gauche. But for Jarsdel, practicality outweighed sartorial prestige. He’d calculated that the average detective spent upwards of twenty hours a year tying and untying conventional ties. That seemed an absurd amount of time to spend on a fashion accessory, so he was unique among his colleagues in his persistent fondness for clip-ons.

Jarsdel replaced his glasses and refastened the tie. Morales gave him a disgusted look. “I know you think people can’t tell you’re wearing those, but you look like a sixth-grader.”
END QUOTE

After a court case ends in a ruling that disappoints both officers, Jarsdel throws himself into his work. While he’s glad that homicides are down across the board, this means that all he has to work on are cold case files, at least until he and Morales catch a (relatively) fresh murder. A man named Dean Burken has been shot to death in his Laurel Canyon home, and by the looks of it had been dead for several days before being discovered. His home has also been ransacked, seemingly by amateurs. What the perps were looking for is anyone’s guess.

Quickly dismissing the theory that this was a home invasion gone bad, Jarsdel and Morales begin digging into Burken’s personal and professional lives. Turns out that Burken was a Donor Engagement Director at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, a place Jarsdel knows well from a childhood of constant visits with his two professor dads. Jarsdel quickly discovers that shady dealings are afoot at this institution that holds a special place in his heart, and that at least one of these dealings might have been the reason Burken was killed.

Somewhere along the way, Jarsdel develops a rapport with an elderly Iranian American woman whom he checks in on as a favor to a fellow cop. What she reveals about his own Baba threatens to disrupt the already fragile relationship Jarsdel has with his Iranian parent in the aftermath of his other dad’s cancer diagnosis and both parents’ lingering hostility to his bewildering, to them, decision to turn his back on academia for life as a police officer instead.

Joseph Schneider’s third novel is another terrific police procedural featuring an unconventional detective and some really excellent, cinematic writing:

QUOTE
The first bullet plows through the man’s chest, reducing eons of highly evolved cardiac structures to a smear on the wall. The next two shots take him in the nose and forehead. The fourth and final round would’ve landed only a couple of millimeters to the left, just above the ear, but by then there’s no flesh to meet it. The bullet sails through blood-misted air and buries itself in the brickwork fireplace.
END QUOTE

While this passage comes very early on in the proceedings, I actually yelped aloud when reading the novels’ final, violent turn. By turns brutal and brilliant, this third installment in the LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel mystery series is also surprisingly hilarious. I found myself laughing aloud more often than I expected, usually due to the juxtaposition of Jarsdel’s cerebral preoccupations with Morales’ earthier concerns and commentary. I haven’t had a chance, alas, to read the second book in the series despite thoroughly enjoying the first: I certainly don’t recall the first book being quite as funny as this was though! I do feel that Mr Schneider’s writing has become more assured with time, and I absolutely loved finding out finally why Jarsdel decided to become a cop. I’m going to have to make time to catch up with the one book I missed in this series, and am very much looking forward to reading future installments as well.

Review of Advance Reader’s Copy

Los Angeles Police Detectives Tully Jarsdel and Oscar Morales investigate the homicide of a museum curator who worked at the Huntington Library and Gardens. After killing Dean Burken, the murderer tore the home apart, apparently in search of something, perhaps the reason for Dean’s murder.

The investigation takes the two detectives to Catalina Island where they discover their main suspect in the Burken murder has died. Soon they find themselves embroiled in an investigation that involves pirates and lost treasure.

Will they solve the mystery surrounding Dean Burken’s murder? And what of the pirates?

=========

Third in the Tully Jarsdel police procedural series, “The Darkest Game” works as a standalone for readers new to the series. An absorbing subplot involving Tully and Baba, his Iranian father, is particularly touching. The major plot, the mysterious murder of the museum curator, is complex and intriguing. Some unexpected twists come into play, giving the unfolding narrative a compelling slant that keeps the pages turning.

The characters are interesting and well-defined. Jarsdel, sometimes called the Professor Detective by fellow officers and the press [a result of his leaving his academic career to become a police officer], faces this unwarranted ridicule with characteristic stoicism, but it does seem as if this particular situation is overdue for settlement.

The combination of unique characters and the “academic mystery” behind the murder of the museum curator, creates a thought-provoking story that, while focusing on the facets of a police procedural, also examines cultural issues, making the book both consequential and informative.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley
#TheDarkestGame #NetGalley

The Darkest Game
Joseph Schneider

Joseph Schneider has created an intriguing version of the complicated homicide detective, and he has written a contemporary version of a classic LA crime story, a la Chinatown, LA Confidential, and Devil in a Blue Dress. Detective Marcus Tullius (Tully) Jarsdel is certainly not a typical cop, but his unique background gives him a wide base of esoteric knowledge and a different way of looking at the world. That turns out to be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to solving crimes.

This book was very entertaining. I would recommend it to anybody who likes classic mystery stories, idiosyncratic characters, and a little subtle humor. I definitely look forward to reading more from this series.

Thanks to NetGalley, I received this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

The Darkest Game by Joseph Schneider review


I was expecting the usual police procedural, buddy partner kind of murder mystery. That would have been fine, but this was so much more.

Detective Tully Jarsdel keeps his personal life a mystery. He's largely a solitary man, one whom the LA Times called a "professor detective." Jarsdel seems to know a lot of things about a lot of things. He's a fascinating character and I found him just as interesting as the crimes he's trying to solve.

Early in the story, Jarsdel and his partner, Morales, arrive at a murder scene that, in addition to the brutality, looked as though the murderer was looking for something specific. Based on the little I knew of Jarsdel so far, I was pretty sure he could solve the case, knotty as it might seem. When the police discovered the victim's identity and learned that he worked in a library/art museum, the possibility that the sought-after item related to the victim's work became an avenue worth investigating.

The Darkest Game is well-written and fast-moving. I had to look up a couple of terms the author used, which I don't mind a bit. This book is the third of a series-- one that I would enjoy reading.

This murder mystery combines the world of museum curation with a police procedural and some very quirky characters doing some very bad things. The two cops that are at the center of the plot are very quirky -- one is half Person that is the child of two gay dads, the other part Hispanic. Their world is brought to life -- and death -- very vividly by a series of murders that span the LA metro area, including some choice moments on Catalina Island, which is a little slice of paradise that doesn't deserve the trials and tribulations that are documented here. By the end of the story you will wish the two cops could stick around for yet another adventure. If you are familiar with the LA area you will enjoy this novel even more. Highly recommended.

This was a fascinating book that gripped me from beginning to end! Tully is a detective who travels to Catalina Island in California to help solve a murder, and he gets involved in diverse and unusual cultural differences as they attempt to understand why the killing took place. Because Tully is half Iranian and an academic, he is able to look beneath the surface as he understands how heritage affects one's attitudes. So don't even attempt to figure it out; just sit back and enjoy the ride. Yes, there is violence but truth wins out in the end and it was a terrific ending. I look forward to reading more by Schneider!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

The opening is the same as an old contest for the worst opening paragraph. The preface is words full of nothing but noise. The story has an investigation for a murder, and the pair of Pasadena detectives to figure out the killer. Many of the action is somewhat exciting and interesting. However, the structure of the words and their usage makes the reading quite difference. The characters are unusual and interesting. The two main detectives are a great for them to interactive. If you are able to absorb the writing, the finding the killer to solve the issues. is a good story. I would call a great story and an awful writing.

For the first half of the book I found I was skipping entire pages as I found it to be filler. The second half was much better.