Contemporary Police Procedural Mystery Writers

Contemporary Police Procedural Mystery Writers - by Michael E. Grost

A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection Home Page

Martin Limón

George Sueño and Ernie Bascom tales

Pusan Nights (1991)
Dragon's Teeth (2005)
The Opposite of O (2008)

Gonzo Gonzales tales

Death of an Aztec Princess (2005)

Michael Jahn

Murder in Central Park (2000) (Chapters 1 - 5)

Murder on the Waterfront (2001) (Chapters 1 - 6)

Bill Donovan stories

The Gold Band (2003)

O'Neil De Noux

New Orleans Confidential (collected 2006)

St. Expedite (2000)
Christmas Weather (2006)
Friscoville (1999)
Kissable Cleavage (2006)
Bluegums (2003)
Hard Rain (1999)

John Raven Beau tales

Murder Most Sweet (1999)
A Gathering at Lake St. Catherine (2003)
The Body in Crooked Bayou (2003)
Pinning the Rap (2005)
21 Steps (2006)
When the Levees Break (2006)
Down on the Pontchartrain (2007)
The Bonnie and Clyde Caper (2008)

Jason Bartlett tales

General Order No. 28 (2004)

Jacques Dugas tales

A Killer's Killer (2005)

Rex Burns

Leonard Smith tales

Shadow People (2006)
In a Civilized Manner (2006)
Homestead (2007)

Elizabeth Gunn

Jake Hines tales

Too Many Santas (2002)

Judith Lea Koretsky

Stillman tales

A Delicate Balance (1994)

Yokoyama Hideo

Kaise Masayuki stories

Motive (2000)

Steven F. Havill

Bill Gastner stories

Red or Green? (2003)

Steven Torres

Luis Gonzalo tales

UFO (2005)
The Valley of Angustias (2006)

James H. Cobb

Kevin Pulaski tales

The Sound of Justice (2005)
Framed (2006)
Over the Edge (2007)
Body and Fender (2008)

William Hallstead

Kat Curtci tales

Pledge Night (2004)

John H. Dirckx

Cyrus Auburn tales

Midnight on Cemetery Bog (2001)
A Thing of the Past (2003)
Ah, Rash Deceiver! (2003)
In a Pool of His Own Blood (2004)
The Dog in the Daytime (2006)
Not Your Everyday Poison (2007)
Numskullduggery (2008)
First Cousin, Twice Removed (2008)

Susan Fry

Mitra Mohanraj tales

Peat (2003)

John Lantigua

Willie Cuesta tales

The Jungle (2001)

Roberto Rivas tales

The Rafter (2003)

Bruce Graham

Lori Prewitt tales

The Charge Not Filed (2004)

Sharon Lucelli tales

Either Way (2007)

David Knadler

John Ennis tales

Karaoke Night (2006)

Eric Wright

A Killing Climate

Twins (1990)
One of a Kind (1998)
Caves of Ice (2002)
The Lady of Shalott (2003)

Margaret Maron

Sigrid Harald tales

Lieutenant Harald and the Impossible Gun (1991)
El Tramegra (2006)

Martin Limón

Martin Limón is best known as a mystery writer for a series of novels and short stories about George Sueño and Ernie Bascom, two American Military Policemen stationed in 1970's South Korea. The stories are notable for the complexity of their sociological setting, involving all aspects of the lives of the large peacetime contingent of US soldiers in Korea, and also their interactions with Korean soldiers, policemen and civilians.

Martin Limón is a Hispanic-American, like his sleuth George Sueño. Recently Limón has started a new series about Los Angeles private investigator Gonzo Gonzales. "Death of an Aztec Princess" (2005) offers some pointed commentary about sociological and ideological trends in the United States Hispanic community that Limón views with alarm. It also brings out nearly as many lines of division within US society as his Sueño and Bascom stories: between rich and poor, Anglo and Hispanic, liberal and conservative, fundamentalists and non-fundamentalists in religion. Many of these are linked by Limón to class issues, which he tries to highlight, rather than cover up, unlike many writers on US society.

Martin Limón's short stories appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: "Death of an Aztec Princess" (June 2005), "Dragon's Teeth" (October 2005). "The Opposite of O" (July/August 2008). "Pusan Nights" was reprinted in the anthology Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine Presents Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense, edited by Linda Landrigan.

Michael Jahn

Michael Jahn is best known for a series of mystery novels, each of which focuses on a different New York City institution. The background writing about these NYC locales is rich and well researched. The fact that Jahn's books are police procedurals with detailed Backgrounds of city life links them to the Freeman Wills Crofts tradition.

Michael Jahn's Murder on the Waterfront (2001) is best in its first third (Chapters 1 - 6). This section includes the events leading up to the crime itself, and the initial investigation of the crime scene by the police. Jahn is good at describing the two ships in the New York City harbor that are the setting of the crime. These sections are loaded with vivid detail. They also show some solid detection on the hero's part, as he picks up on clues embedded in the crime scene.

Jahn includes much humorous, zingy dialogue. The exchanges between his police detective Donovan and Donovan's Sgt. Moskowitz are especially good. Moskowitz and Donovan have a deep male bonding. Moskowitz is a roughneck on the surface, but with plenty of brains underneath, a neat combination.

Please click here for Michael Jahn's website.

O'Neil De Noux

O'Neil De Noux is a New Orleans writer, author of five novels and over 150 short stories, largely set in New Orleans and the surrounding countryside. He is a born storyteller whose best tales sweep the reader up in a fascinating situation.

Noux's most prolific series of pure mystery short stories stars John Raven Beau, a good-looking young policeman in modern-day New Orleans. "Murder Most Sweet" (1999) is perhaps Noux's best tale. It has both a well-constructed mystery puzzle plot, and a rich Cajun atmosphere. The story has affinities with the Scientific Detection tradition.

Almost all of Noux's police short tales are constructed as mysteries, with a mysterious crime that needs to be solved. However, some have fair play puzzle plots, like "Murder Most Sweet", while others have no clues to the solution or choice of killer. One simply can read them, and watch the plot unfold.

Noux's John Raven Beau stories appear in both Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine: "Murder Most Sweet" (1999), "A Gathering at Lake St. Catherine" (March 2003), "When the Levees Break" (November 2006), "The Bonnie and Clyde Caper" (August 2008); and in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: "The Body in Crooked Bayou" (October 2003), "Pinning the Rap" (July/August 2005), "21 Steps" (January/February 2006), "Down on the Pontchartrain" (July/August 2007).

"General Order No. 28" (2004) is a historical mystery set in a unique era: New Orleans under Northern military occupation during the US Civil War. Noux packs a remarkably detailed view of those times into his short tale. The story appears in the May 2004 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Another series, the stories about policeman Jacques Dugas, show New Orleans in the later 19th Century. Noux's numerous police protagonists allow him to write about New Orleans in any era. The Dugas story "A Killer's Killer" appears in the October 2005 issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

New Orleans Confidential (1997 - 2006) is an unusual combination of mystery and mainstream fiction. The stories all star Lucien Caye, a private eye in late 1940's New Orleans. In each tale Caye gets involved in a mysterious situation, which he tries to investigate - but the mysteries only occasionally turn out to involve crime. More often Caye gets involved in the colorful personal lives of various denizens of the Big Easy. Some of the best stories in the collection show Caye trying to help children who have come to him for assistance: "St. Expedite" (2000), "Christmas Weather" (2006), "Friscoville" (1999). There are also real detective stories in the collection, including the powerful "Hard Rain" (1999). "Kissable Cleavage" (2006) is a light-hearted mystery, in the same story-telling vein as "Hard Rain". In other stories, Caye gets involved with beautiful women clients, in the time-honored tradition of private eyes. Some of these stories become quite erotically explicit, but they tend to focus on the warm feelings Caye and the women have for each other, rather than anything mechanical. The stories as a whole are quite lyrical, and have a rich New Orleans atmosphere.

Please click here for O'Neil De Noux's website.

Rex Burns

Rex Burns started a series in 2006 about Aboriginal Liaison Constable Leonard Smith of Australia. "In a Civilized Manner" (2006) offers an in-depth look at Aboriginal life and political issues, while "Shadow People" (2006) has a rich look at Smith's enormous police district in Western Australia as a whole.

"Shadow People" is also notable for mentioning Global Warming - something which is still rarely discussed in mystery fiction, presumably because it is censored by far right wing corporate publishers.

Rex Burns' short stories about Leonard Smith appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: "Shadow People" (June 2006), "In a Civilized Manner" (November 2006), "Homestead" (November 2007).

Elizabeth Gunn

Elizabeth Gunn has written a series of police procedural novels, set in a medium size city in Minnesota. They all star her series sleuth Jake Hines, and the police team with which Hines works.

Gunn's novella "Too Many Santas" (2002) is found in How Still We See Thee Lie, a collection of four Christmas-themed mystery novellas by various authors. It contains much welcome comedy, as well as a bizarre and puzzling mystery.

Judith Lea Koretsky

Judith Lea Koretsky wrote an interesting short story about Inspector Stillman in "A Delicate Balance" (1994). This is one of several mystery works about Native American life that sprang up in the wake of Tony Hillerman's popular tales. The story appears in the July 1994 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Steven F. Havill

Steven F. Havill writes procedurals about Bill Gastner, who works as a sheriff in small town New Mexico. The setting involves a detailed picture of rural life, in a part of the United States unfamiliar to most people.

"Red or Green?" (2003) is a novella in the anthology Deadly Morsels. It integrates its setting well with the mystery plot, offering an unusual motive for murder that is not common in urban areas.

Steven Torres

Steven Torres writes about sleuth Sheriff Luis Gonzalo, the main lawman in a remote rural area in Puerto Rico. This setting is largely unfamiliar in mystery fiction. The stories build up a rich sense of the community, with many local types and typical farms and businesses all playing roles in the tales.

Luis Gonzalo appears in a series of novels. The first, Precinct Puerto Rico (2002), is an action thriller, featuring violent and gory battles between cops and crooks, and not much mystery. Action thrillers are a kind of book I don't usually read, and am not qualified to judge. It has a good discussion about moral issues, hunger and refugees (Chapter 7).

By contrast, such Gonzalo short stories as "UFO" (2005) and "The Valley of Angustias" (2006) are real mystery tales, with the police trying to figure out a baffling series of events. These short mystery tales are well done. Action in the tales is often triggered when dishonest outsiders move into the community, and start operating some hidden crooked scheme. Luis Gonzalo has to figure out what is going on - the scheme is hidden from view, and Gonzalo can only deduce its presence from its impact on the surface actions of the community.

Steven Torres' short stories about Luis Gonzalo appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: "UFO" (November 2005) and "The Valley of Angustias" (October 2006).

Please click here for Steven Torres' website.

James H. Cobb

James H. Cobb has a series of short stories about Kevin Pulaski, who starts outs as a teenager in the Midwest, and who eventually becomes a police officer in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. All the stories center on the car culture of the 1950's, and offer a nostalgic look back at the young hot rodders of the era. Most of the stories are mystery tales, with both the detection and the story background revolving around cars. The technical material about cars relates the stories to the tradition of Scientific Detection.

"Over the Edge" (2007) is an impossible crime story. Its solution is easily guessed, but the impossible crime situation shows originality.

Both "Framed" (2006) and "Body and Fender" (2008) have puzzle plots that depend on the collapse of identity among cars. Their punning titles reflect this.

Cobb's stories about Pulaski appear in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine: "The Sound of Justice" (July 2005), "Framed" (June 2006), "Over the Edge" (July 2007), "Body and Fender" (August 2008).

William Hallstead

William Hallstead's "Pledge Night" (2004) offers a nicely done mystery, set against the background of a Public Television station in the United States, and its fund-raising pledge drive. The story has a good puzzle plot, and comedy about its public TV setting. The story appears in the November 2004 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

John H. Dirckx

In recent years, veteran short story writer John H. Dirckx has published a long series of police procedural tales about homicide detective Cyrus Auburn. These take place in an unnamed, mid-size American city. They include all aspects of police investigation, from crime scene analysis by a forensics team to Internet background checks on the suspects. Dirckx includes a large continuing cast of police investigators. However, the emphasis is mainly on exploring the situation of the crime and how various connected characters fit in with it. Auburn usually then develops some unexpected theory about who and why the crime was committed. The best stories in the series are fair play whodunits, which offer surprising but well-clued solutions in the best fair play detective tradition.

The Auburn tales often open on some public festival, party, entertainment. This can be anything from a nature tour to a flea market to dinner theater. The stories tend to give a back stage look at how this is staged, and the characters involved in presenting it to the public.

Next, each tale tends to focus on a particular business or institution: a book store, a small-time restaurant, a local University department. These tend to be small, locally operated businesses with a tiny staff - all of whom immediately become suspects. The Auburn tales never look at huge corporate conglomerates, big-time academics or the famous. They concentrate instead on portraits of small business America away from centers of power. How such small companies or academic departments operate is fully explored in the stories. There is an enormously detailed look at the physical plant of the business. Every object on the premises can be listed, along with a vivid description of the place's overall look and feel. These objects often took years to build up, and give a pronounced look at the character and personalities of the people who work there.

Science often times make an appearance in the stories. It is used to describe and explain some aspect of the business and the murder. The science tends to be tightly focused on one aspect of the crime, often the part used in the actual murder. We get looks at some little known, out of the way fact that is peculiar to the business, and which has an impact on the crime. The focus is tightly controlled. Still, it links the Auburn tales to the tradition of the scientific detective story.

Dirckx likes settings near the water. These are most prominent in "Midnight on Cemetery Bog", but they run though other of the tales. These settings are not glamorous. Instead, they can involve "routine" - but interesting - infrastructure. In this too, the Auburn tales follow the scientific detection tradition.

The Cyrus Auburn stories appear in both Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine: "Midnight on Cemetery Bog" (August 2001), "A Thing of the Past" (August 2003), "In a Pool of His Own Blood" (November 2004); and in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: "Ah, Rash Deceiver!" (December 2003), "The Dog in the Daytime" (July/August 2006), "Not Your Everyday Poison (April 2007), "Numskullduggery" (January/February 2008), "First Cousin, Twice Removed" (September 2008).

Yokoyama Hideo

Yokoyama Hideo's "Motive" (2000) won the Best Short Story Award for 2000 from the Mystery Writers of Japan. It was later published in English translation, in the May 2008 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

"Motive" shows Yokoyama Hideo as a skilled all-arounder. A police procedural tale, "Motive" has the detailed, inside look at police procedure (here in Tokyo), and realistic characterization that are de rigueur in the procedural subgenre. It also has a solidly constructed puzzle plot. As the title suggests, the sleuth is trying to find out the mysterious motive, for a theft in a police station, as well as identify the culprit. Characterization, police procedure and puzzle all interact with each other, in a logical and ingenious fashion.

Hopefully, more of Yokoyama Hideo's mystery fiction will be translated into English.

Susan Fry

Susan Fry wrote "Peat" (2003), a mystery short story starring Mitra Mohanraj, a British policewoman of Indian descent. The tale has a good puzzle plot. "Peat" is notable for the way in which social commentary ideas about the situation are also woven into the puzzle plot aspects of the story: they form structural building blocks for different solutions proposed in the story. There are a lot of such solutions: Fry's tale resembles E.C. Bentley and Ellery Queen, in the number of different possible solutions the author proposes, and in the compass of a very short story.

"Peat" also evokes another ancient mystery tradition: that of R. Austin Freeman, and his interest in "dispose the corpse" puzzles. Freeman's interest in British antiquities, some also found in Freeman's follower H.C. Bailey, also pops up in this story.

"Peat" appeared in the December 2003 Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

John Lantigua

John Lantigua is probably best known for his private eye novels. His "The Rafter" (2003) is a puzzle plot, police procedural tale with a background among Cubans living in exile in Miami. The story appears in the July 2003 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

Bruce Graham

Bruce Graham wrote an amusing tale about Public Attorney Lori Prewitt, and her clever scheme to convict a sinister mobster in "The Charge Not Filed" (2004). This tale is not a mystery story in the strict sense - there is no mysterious situation to be solved - but the ingenious plotting is in the tradition of the mystery tale. Graham clearly knows a lot about law: the story is full of legal detail about a prosecutor's life.

"Either Way" (2007) about policewoman Sharon Lucelli is in the same mode. Although it is about a police officer, not a prosecutor, it has a courtroom framework, and also features an ingenious scheme to trap a villain. Here we look at legal issues involved in gathering DNA.

Bruce Graham's short stories appear regularly in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine: "The Charge Not Filed" (January/February 2004), "Either Way" (October 2007).

David Knadler

Newcomer David Knadler has started a series about Montana policeman John Ennis. "Karaoke Night" (2006) offers a witty satirical look at the "new" Montana, and the rich white people who move there to live what they consider to be fantasy lives of cowboys on the frontier. Class issues are never far from the foreground in Knadler, with a look at what poverty means in America and the very restricted options of the working poor.

David Knadler's stories about John Ennis appear in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine: "Karaoke Night" (September/October 2006).

Eric Wright

Eric Wright's short stories are collected in A Killing Climate, available from its publisher Crippen & Landru. The best detective stories in the book, "One of a Kind" (1998), "Caves of Ice" (2002), "The Lady of Shalott" (2003), are notable for their complex detective work, often using oblique and off-trail approaches. This detection is often accompanied by layers of reflection on the work, from the police and officials involved, by the narrator, and by other characters in the story. People reflect on the detective technique, the sociological implications of the investigation, whether other approaches would work, how such things are viewed by detective fiction authors, etc. The author shows both wry humor and a supple intelligence in such reflections and commentary.

The stories display Wright's ability to describe whole ways of life. "The Lady of Shalott" looks at construction and neighborhood life in modern Toronto, while "One of a Kind" and "Caves of Ice" recreate Canada's far North of fifty years ago.

The little locked room story, "An Irish Jig" (2001), is pleasant in its story telling, but not very creative with its puzzle plot.

The book also contains a number of crime stories without mystery or detection. Although these too have some of the reflective approaches of Wright's real detective fiction, they tend to be less interesting as a whole - "Twins" (1990) is the best. The crime stories tend to be the earlier works in the collection, while most of the stories from 1998 on feature real mystery and detection. Just as Wright's mystery stories use a reflective technique detection, so does "Twins" deal reflectively with its crime scheme. The scheme is discussed, explored for options, and finally varied, just like the detection in Wright's mysteries.

Margaret Maron

Margaret Maron's "Lieutenant Harald and the Impossible Gun" (1991) is an impossible crime tale that should be better known.