Customer Reviews

The Burning Season

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I'm grateful that another Wayne D. Dundee reader recommended The Burning Season; it's a strong, well-crafted novel in the best traditions of P.I. fiction, and Joe Hannibal is a guy I intend to get to know better. The fact that quite a few Joe Hannibal novels follow this one foretells a long and happy acquaintance.

Joe Hannibal steps boldly out of the steely-eyed tough guy mold when he makes an extraordinary handshake agreement with the man he was sent to bring to justice: take 48 hours to find the killer of the man's mother--a woman whose death by fire has been dismissed as an accident.

And what a 48 hours it is, as Hannibal embroils himself in the life and secrets of a troubled southern Illinois county and its residents, using his heart as often as his head, risking everything to honor his promise to a hunted criminal. This first Joe Hannibal book carries my enthusiastic recommendation.

After making a name for himself as founder/editor of Hardboiled Magazine and with several short story award nominations (including an Edgar), this was Dundee's first novel-length work featuring his PI protagonist Joe Hannibal. It is a solidly impressive work and earned its own Shamus nomination from the Private Eye Writers of America.
Set in the moonshining region of southern Illinois, THE BURNING SEASON has the same blue collar/working class feel of most of Dundee's writing. There is plenty of tough action balanced by genuine human emotions, an array of colorful characters, a dose of racy sex, and a decent mystery element.
A well-written hardboiled tale definitely worth checking out.

There's honor among at least one thief in this tale, though it takes a little time for Joe Hannibal to discover it.

This is the first of Dundee's Joe Hannibal novels and the first to be resurrected on Kindle. If you haven't already discovered this tough-as-nails, heart-of-gold private eye you've got a treat in store for you. It's a fast-moving, tough-fisted account of the search for justice in the murder of a beloved elderly woman who stood in the way of what some consider progress and the killer sees as opportunity.

Joe goes out of his home turf of Rockford, Ill., in search of a bail-jumper who just happens to be the son of the victim. Junior Odum convinces Hannibal to devote 48 hours to investigating what has been declared an accidental death by fire. Whatever the outcome, Odum gives his word he'll willingly return to custody.

Though Mrs. Odum had received threats when she refused to sell her property to the largest employer in the county, it initially appears the ruling on her death might be correct. But it isn't long before Joe turns up some suspects and hostility. He also finds an accomplice in his investigation who has no objection to him getting physical with her.

Dundee provides solid characters, an action-filled plot and even a few surprise developments to keep the reader flipping pages.