The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave - by Bill Pronzini (Paperback)

About the Book

Nothing much happens in Peaceful Valley, Montana. And that's just how Sheriff Lucas Monk likes it. Aside from the occasional drunken brawl or minor disturbance out on the reservation, he hasn't had to resort to his fists or sidearm in years. That is, until mid-October, 1914, when the theft of a wooden cigar store Indian sets off a crime wave like nothing Lucas has ever seen.

Book Synopsis

Bill Pronzini's riveting western mystery, The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave, takes on the modern world with old-fashioned violence--and his Peaceful Valley is anything but...

Nothing much happens in Peaceful Valley, Montana. And that's just how Sheriff Lucas Monk likes it.

Aside from the occasional drunken brawl or minor disturbance out on the reservation, he hasn't had to resort to his fists or sidearm in years.

That is, until mid-October, 1914, when the theft of a wooden cigar store Indian sets off a crime wave like nothing Lucas has ever seen. Teenager Charity Axthelm goes missing, Reba Purvis's housekeeper is poisoned with cyanide Reba is sure was meant for her, and Lucas's gut tells him that this is only the beginning.

It's not long before the first corpse shows up, bringing the peace in the valley to a thundering end.

Review Quotes

Praise for Bill Pronzini

"Give-a-Damn Jones is a delightful cross-section of small-town life in pre-statehood Montana. It feels true to life..."--The Oklahoman on Give-a-Damn Jones

"One of the best in the mystery-suspense field."--The Washington Post Book World

"[Nameless] is the classic private-eye hero pared down to the bone; he has no identity except for his detective work...He is a remarkable creation."--Chicago Sun-Times

"The best rock 'n' roll songs are two minutes fifty seconds long, and the best short detective novels are written by Bill Pronzini. In both genres you are drawn in immediately, have a lot of fun, and when it's over, you look ahead to the next time."--The Boston Globe

"The reader's involvement with Nameless and his problems continues to increase in intensity, making the series succeed on an emotional level rare in the field."--Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

"The Nameless Detective novels are a thinking reader's detective series."--Chicago Sun-Times

"There is no living writer whose work more faithfully embodies the spirit of classic private-eye fiction than Bill Pronzini's. [It is] classy, classy noir storytelling."--The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

About the Author

BILL PRONZINI has been nominated for, or won, every prize offered to crime fiction writers, including the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. It is no wonder, then, that the Detroit Free Press said of him, "It's always nice to see masters at work. Pronzini's clear style seamlessly weaves [storylines] together, turning them into a quick, compelling read." He lives and writes in California, with his wife, crime novelist Marcia Muller.

Pronzini's books include the Nameless Detective series, the longest-running private investigator series in print.