Thicker Than Blood

John Lutz

The Alo Nudger Series Book 8 · Speaking Volumes

About this ebook

Edgar Award-winning author John Lutz returns with his newest Alo Nudger mystery—Thicker Than Blood. When shy, country girl-woman Norva Beane hires Nudger to investigate a possible securities fraud, he thinks it will be a routine case. He doesn't realize it will involve a wandering daughter, drug dealers, a dangerous, tattooed muscle-man, a dysfunctional family, and a poignant past that refuses to release its grip on anyone involved.

Nudger, his lady love Claudia Bettencourt, and his friends Lieutenant Jack Hammersmith and Danny Evers are all touched by a tragedy that continues to unfold in surprising directions no matter how hard Nudger tries to stop it. The suspense becomes riveting as trouble builds and answers lead to more questions and more danger.

In Thicker Than Blood, the nervous, antacid-chewing detective finds himself embroiled in his most perilous and fascinating case, and one that his readers aren't likely to forget.

About the author

John Lutz's work includes political suspense, private eye novels, urban suspense, humor, occult, crime caper, police procedural, espionage, historical, futuristic, amateur detective, thriller; virtually every mystery sub-genre. He is the author of more than forty novels and over 200 short stories and articles. His novels and short fiction have been translated into almost every language and adapted for almost every medium. He is a past president of both Mystery Writers of America and Private Eye Writers of America. Among his awards are the MWA Edgar, the PWA Shamus, the Trophee 813 Award for best mystery short story collection translated into the French language, the PWA Life Achievement Award, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Golden Derringer Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of two private eye series, the Alo Nudger series, set in St. Louis, Missouri, and the Carver series, set in Florida, as well as many non-series novels. The two series have garnered their share of awards. Both What You Don't Know Can Hurt You won a Shamus for Best Private Eye Short Story and Ride the Lightning nabbed an Edgar for Best Short Story in 1985. His novel SWF SEEKS SAME was made into the hit movie SINGLE WHITE FEMALE, starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and his novel THE EX was made into the HBO original movie of the same title, for which he co-authored the screenplay. When Lutz isn't writing, he's reading, following baseball, dining out with friends, or going to movies or plays. Lutz and his wife, Barbara, split their time between St. Louis and Sarasota, Florida. His latest book is the suspense novel Mister X. Praise for John Lutz "Lutz's plotting here has a stark, unusual, genuinely disturbing curve to it—making this another Nudgeresque blend of strong action, lean atmosphere, and downbeat personality." —Kirkus (Dancer's Debt) "...[Lutz] deserves high marks for another intriguing glimpse into the unusual world of Alo Nudger, a uniquely warm and thoroughly disheveled detective." —Booklist (Dancer's Debt) "Lutz's economy of language and well-timed suspense work very well in this tale... A taut mystery recommended for all active collections." —Booklist (Ride the Lightning) "Lutz does an excellent job here... keeping the story complicated and varied but never losing the reader in red herrings or distracting minutiae." —Publishers Weekly (Nightlines) "... a superb thriller that artfully leaves the reader unprepared for its surprising, shattering climax." —Publishers Weekly (Nightlines) "The brilliant language and technique of Nightlines serves his [Lutz's] commitment to people as life's greatest incentive and reward. Here's plenty of reason to read his fine new book." —St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Nightlines) "...Lutz builds a tense, witty tale that he persuades the reader to believe." —Publishers Weekly (Right to Sing the Blues) “CHILLING!” —Macon Telegraph News (Lazarus Man)