Re: Stieg Larsson Trilogy
Post 27
Another series of three books (same characters but not a triology) you might find interesting is by Peter Speigelman. Best to read in order so you follow the development of the characters. All three books are available from Book Depository.
Black Maps:
"John March walked away from his family's merchant bank for the life of a rural deputy sheriff- a life that would explode in personal tragedy and professional disaster. Three years later, March is back in New York City, working as a private investigator and still running from his grief and guilt. When he takes the case of Rick Pierro, a wealthy investment banker threatened by blackmail, March is swiftly drawn into a web of Wall Street insiders and outcasts, and back to a world he thought he' d left behind. The more he learns about Pierro's connections to a notorious international bank that made billions in blood-money, the darker the terrain becomes. Soon March's own life is in danger, as he follows a trail of blood and shattered lives to a ruthless and depraved extortionist. In this thrilling and intelligent debut, Peter Spiegelman illuminates the dark underside of the financial world and introduces one of the most compelling fictional detectives of the new millennium."
No Way Home (also know as Death's Little Helpers):
"After the slaying of his wife, New York private investigator John March made an uneasy peace with grief and guilt. But his truce came at a price: a life of solitude and rigid self-discipline. It was a hard bargain, but one he was willing to make - until he met Jane Lu. Brilliant and beautiful, Jane offered March a chance at a larger life. But with that hope came a terrible reminder of how fragile happiness can be - Jane was swept up, and nearly swept away, in the violent currents of one of March's jobs. March decided to stay clear of danger from then on, but soon afterwards what seems a cut and dried missing persons case, it becomes something more deadly. There is more than one person looking for the missing man - someone who doesn't want March getting too close,and who will put March, and all he holds dear, in the cross-hairs again.
In this masterful follow-up to Peter Spiegelman's stunning debut "Black Maps," private investigator John March finds himself drawn into a web of corruption that extends from the halls of high finance to the dark underworld of organized crime. Gregory Danes, a Wall Street analyst has gone missing, and his ex-wife, a fashionable painter, calls March to track him down. She just wants him to sign her alimony checks, but as March soon discovers, she's not the only one looking for him. Danes was once an industry hot shot, but has lost his touch. His biggest gains lately, it seems, had been in enemies-including a few members of the Russian mob. When March receives a threat upon his own family, he realizes Danes had been involved in something far more dangerous than insider trading."
Red Cat:
"As a cop, John March once flirted with danger. Then his wife was murdered and his flirtation became full time engagement. Now he is a private investigator in one of the most dangerous places on earth, New York City. He is a loner whose job has destroyed every new attempt at a relationship. The one thing he has promised himself is that he will never mix danger and his private life again. But that's before his brother asks John to warn off the mysterious young woman who is blackmailing him. He knows her only as Wren. Principle identifying mark: a red cat tattoo. And that's before the woman's dead body is pulled out of the East River. People remember John asking questions about Wren. Now he is prime suspect in a homicide case."
"John March (Death's Little Helpers, 2005, etc.) returns to the crime scene in the third installment of an impressive series.This time around, private detective John March is hired by his older brother David, a buttoned-up, power-hungry executive. Happily married, self-righteous David, it turns out, is being blackmailed by a one-night-stand he met through a website designed to broker casual sexual encounters. The situation worsens when the woman is found dead and David becomes a suspect in her murder. The two brothers have never been close, and working together exacerbates their contempt for each other. Indeed, investigating the blackmail scheme leads to uncomfortable truths about how manipulative and damaging siblings can be to one another, for the case hinges on a family nearly as unhappy as John March's. The murdered blackmailer, initially identified only by the tattoo of a red cat, is a young woman using her anonymous tricks to make performance-art films about sexual blackmail. She developed this scheme to quite literally act out her family secrets-just as March's investigation is organized around protecting his. The book's premise is certainly inventive-an old plot of sexual intrigue is nestled within a shiny new plot about techno culture-and John March is a worthy heir to the hardboiled detective. The moral landscape of the minor characters is richly drawn, pulsing with petty evils that call to mind the work of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. John March is perhaps less like Philip Marlowe than he is like Bill Smith, S.J. Rozan's updated Chandleresque detective, but he will doubtless become Smith and Marlowe's peer in the future.Gritty atmosphere and clever plotting enhance a fine addition to the noir tradition. (Kirkus Reviews)"
