Michael Kelly
Created by Michael Harvey

MICHAEL KELLY is your typical ex-cop turned P.I., working the mean and windy streets of Chicago. But it's the author's skill, a combination of what Publisher's Weekly tags as "the sardonic wit of Chandler with the gritty violence of Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro series" that sets it apart from the hordes.

In his acclaimed, The Chicago Way (2007 and certainly one of the most heralded P.I. debuts of the year), Kelly's old partner, now retired, asks for his help on a cold case, an old rape that's been stuck in his craw for years. But what at first seems like a simple case of a lot of legwork and re-tracing of old leads and re-questioning witnesses turns into something far more dangerous involving a cover-up, corrupt cops and a convicted serial killer currently residing on Death Row.

The author, Michael Harvey, is a a writer, journalist, and documentary producer, and currently the co-creator and executive producer of A&E's Cold Case Files, and he shows a real skill in bringing what should be a fairly standard plot to life, a definite way with a wisecrack and his depictions of Chicago capture a lot of the grit and colour of the Windy City (his Amazon page actually lists his five favourite drinking spots in Chicago).

More, please.

And what is it about Chicago, anyway? First Ray Dudgeon makes his debut, and now we've got Kelly.

NOVELS

• The Chicago Way (2007) ..Buy this book