Elvis
Cole - Private Detective, Los Angeles, California
 "Sunset
Express"
 Sunset
Express is the sixth in a series of Elvis Cole mysteries which are
fast, can't-put-down reads set mostly in L.A. Elvis Cole is one
of those private detectives with a dry humorous narrative. He's a 90's
kind of guy, although set with the same quest, he is a far different kind
of guy than the the hard-boiled detectives created by Raymond Chandler,
John D. MacDonald and others of that time period. Then there's his sidekick
Joe Pike, a real mystic samurai type. He's hired by Elvis but seems to
always be there just when he's really needed.
In Sunset
Express, Elvis uncovers a case similar to the Mark Fuhrman incident, where
an L.A. cop plants evidence at the scene of the crime just to insure indictment.
But Crais adds some really inspiring twists and turns. Sunset
Express won the 1997 Shamus Award for best novel. (Reviewed
5-5-98)
Amazon reader
rating:  from
19 reviews
"Voodoo
River"
 In
Voodoo River, Cole looks for the biological parents of a famous
movie star. While in Louisiana he meets Lucy and subsequently falls
in love with her. Since you hear about her all through Sunset Express,
you may want to read Voodoo River first. I picked up this book
for its name and I was right, it is a fun trip to New Orleans. (Reviewed
5-5-98)
Amazon reader
rating: from
28 reviews
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Bibliography (with
links to Amazon.com):
Elvis
Cole series:
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Robert
Crais was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, among a family of cops (three
uncles and two cousins are, or were, police officers) before moving west to LA
in the 1970s. Crais has written TV scripts for Hill Street Blues, Cagney and Lacey,
Miami Vice and L.A.Law. The Monkey's Raincoat won both an Anthony
Award and a Macavity Award. He now lives in Santa Monica mountains with his wife
and daughter and is writing a screenplay for Demolition Angel.
