"Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author." Salon
In the first week of the new decade, an emergency phone call shatters Chicago Private Detective Smokey Dalton's hopes for a good 1970. His adopted son Jimmy and Jimmy's best friend and cousin Keith Grimshaw need help.
Smokey arrives at a South Side hotel across from the boys' school in time to clean up a horrible mess, one the boys mostly solve on their own. But the boys' heroic actions echo across all of Chicago. Smokey finds himself standing alone against street gangs, the mob, and the Democratic Machine.
If he fights this battle and fails, he stands to lose not only Jimmy and their future together, but also his life.
A finalist for the 2015 Shamus Award for Best Original Paperback P.I. Novel by the Private Eye Writers of America.
"Easy comparisons can be made to Dave Robicheaux, Spenser, and Easy Rawlins, but Smokey is his own man. Women want to be near him and cook his dinner as he settles his nerves with three fingers of Scotch. A great read for fans of detectives guarding an inner city's grimy streets."—Library Journal
"Dalton's hard won small victory vividly illustrates a turbulent period of our recent cultural history."—Publishers Weekly
"... a gripping read that drags us deeper into [Smokey] Dalton's uneasy world."—Entertainment Weekly on War at Home
Read the whole gripping series:
A Dangerous Road, Book 1
Smoke-Filled Rooms, Book 2
Thin Walls, Book 3
Stone Cribs, Book 4
War at Home, Book 5
Days of Rage, Book 6
Street Justice, Book 7
Acclaim for the Smokey Dalton Series
• Edgar Award nomination
• Shamus nomination for Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel
• Winner of two Spotted Owl Awards for Best Mystery by a Northwest Writer
• Oregon Book Award Nomination
Kris Nelscott is an open pen name used by New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
The first Smokey Dalton novel, A Dangerous Road, won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar Award for Best Novel; the second, Smoke-Filled Rooms, was a PNBA Book Award finalist; and the third, Thin Walls, was one of the Chicago Tribune's best mysteries of the year. Kirkus chose Days of Rage as one of the top ten mysteries of the year and it was also nominated for a Shamus award for The Best Private Eye Hardcover Novel of the Year.
Entertainment Weekly says her equals are Walter Mosley and Raymond Chandler. Booklist calls the Smokey Dalton books "a high-class crime series" and Salon says "Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author."
