The Big Goodbye
Publisher Description
A vulnerable woman being followed. A PI determined to protect her. Former lovers embroiled in an intense mystery thriller fraught with intrigue and danger. A sexy, romantic, suspenseful ride through the atmospheric 1940s for fans of film noir and the classic hard-boiled detective novel.
Someone is following Lauren Lewis.
She ducks into the office of PI, Jimmy "Soldier" Riley, not to hire him, but to find out if he's the one following her. Back when they were lovers he told her if he ever decided to, she'd never know he was there.
It's1940's Panama City, Florida. The world is at war, and the growing panhandle paradise is doing its part. Tyndall Field is training pilots. Wainwright Shipyard is building battleships. The Naval Section Base is protecting vessels in the Gulf. The Dixie Sherman Hotel is hosting celebrities such as Clark Gable. Harry Lewis, a wealthy banker, is running for mayor, unaware his wife is running for her life.
With a secret to hide and a husband running for mayor in a city exploding and expanding like no other time in history, Lauren doesn't want trouble, but she's about to get a double-barrel full of it. Only one man can help her, and though it might destroy him, he doesn't mind. Better to die than be the walking wounded.
Get The Big Goodbye and begin your fun, romantic, and mysterious journey with Jimmy and Lauren today!
"Lister's hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction." Publisher's Weekly Starred Review of The Big Goodbye.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lister (The Body and the Blood) kicks off a promising private detective series set in 1940s Florida with a tantalizing opening line "I had not yet recovered from shooting Stanley Somerset when I saw her" and rapidly establishes the intriguing persona of narrator Jimmy Riley. Riley, who lost an arm while on the police force, now works as a PI partnered with a former Pinkerton agent. Obsessed with ex-lover Lauren Lewis, he's taken aback when she re-enters his life. Lewis, whose husband is running for mayor of Panama City, appears at his office to ask whether Riley is the person who's been tailing her. While she believes his denial, she declines his offer to help. Unsurprisingly, Riley decides to look into the matter anyway, and soon finds himself squarely in the crosshairs of the police when bodies start piling up. Lister's hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction.