Charles Ray Willeford Libros

'No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford' Elmore Leonard

The story follows Miami Homicide Detective Hoke Moseley as he navigates a series of unexpected challenges, starting with an unusual order to grow his beard. Confronted by the presence of a man he once convicted living nearby and juggling family dynamics, Hoke's situation worsens when he's assigned an undercover mission without his usual tools. Posing as a drifter, he attempts to infiltrate a farm linked to the murder of migrant workers, only to find that his job prospects are far from what he anticipated.

A nervous breakdown, two daughters and a pregnant unmarried partner tell Hoke Moseley that it's time to simplify his crazy life. Moving out to Miami to manage a small hotel seems a good idea - until psycho career criminal, Troy Louden, happens along with his makeshift gang and Hoke is dragged back to the job he thought he had left behind for ever. 'No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford' - Elmore Leonard

This collection features a blend of short stories, vignettes, and autobiographical sketches, showcasing the absurdities of 20th-century life through Charles Willeford's signature wry humor and unexpected violence. With themes ranging from a malicious grandmother to insightful commentary on reality television, the narratives offer a captivating mosaic that both entertains and surprises. Willeford's unique storytelling style promises to engage readers with its rich, unpredictable content.

The story revolves around Sam Springer, a Miami novelist, and his captivating muse, Merita, who embodies an exotic beauty that transcends mere fantasy. Their relationship explores themes of love and desire, contrasting Sam's artistic perceptions with Merita's tangible existence. The vivid imagery of their connection highlights the complexities of attraction and the nuances of race and identity, setting the stage for an intriguing narrative filled with emotional depth and cultural exploration.

Richard Hudson, woman chaser and used car salesman, has a pimp's awareness of the ways women (and men) are most vulnerable. One day Richard decides to make an ambitious film, which turns into a fiasco. Enraged, he exacts revenge on all who have crossed him.

Detective Hoke Moseley faces a chilling mystery after a violent encounter leaves him hospitalized and without his gun, badge, and dentures. As he reflects on a decade of cases, he struggles to identify who might want him harmed. The investigation leads him to a series of puzzling clues linked to a dimwitted hooker, her ex-con boyfriend, and the unusual murder of a Hare Krishna pimp. The narrative weaves together themes of revenge and the complexities of crime, as Moseley pieces together the motives behind his brutal attack.

Detective Hoke Moseley has been dumped on by his boss and his ex-wife. His partner has been kicked out of her house and he is about to be evicted from his. However, the worst is yet to come in this crime novel.

Art student Ralph Tone is working in Miami as a bellboy. He meets Hollywood hopeful Maria Duigan and falls head over heels for the ambitious beauty. As Ralph fuels his obsession by booze, pills, and lack of sleep, they both quickly become entangled with sleazy pornographer Donald McKay. Charles Willeford's MADE IN MIAMI was originally released to the unsuspecting masses in 1958 under the title LUST IS A WOMAN by a publisher incapable of spelling the author's name correctly on the cover. Written in white heat by "the unlikely father of Miami crime fiction" (Atlantic Monthly) to match the requirements of the market, the book remains a textbook example of lurid 1950s pulp fiction. It was also a springboard to the author's later masterpieces MIAMI BLUES and SIDESWIPE.

"She was leaning against the door. Her smile was a sickly twisted grimace; the sort a prisoner gives a judge when he's asked if he has anything to say before he's sentenced." Russell Haxby is a ruthless used car salesman obsessed with manipulating and cavorting with married women. In this classic of hard-boiled fiction, Charles Willeford crafts a wry, sardonic tale of hypocrisy, intrigue and lust set in San Francisco in the early fifties. In High Priest of California every sentence masks innuendo, every detail hides a clue, and every used car sale is as outrageous as every seduction. First published 1953.