Customer Reviews

Miami Blues

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Charles Willeford wrote wonderful true to life's absurdities crime fiction, among his many other accomplishments. This novel (which was made in a movie starring Alec Baldwin) is the first in his only series, starring a much put upon Miami detective named Hoke Moseley. In this initial adventure Hoke runs afoul of an intelligent pyschopath named Freddy Frenger and his ditzy hooker girlfriend while investigating the murder of a Hare Krishna. Along the way Hoke loses his teeth, badge, gun and some of his pride, but never his determination. A mere description of the plot wouldn't begin to do justice to this ironic superb book, full as it is of madcap characters coupled with doses of deadly realism. Very few writers can pull off a mix of the comic and hard boiled, but Willeford was one of those few. Indeed, he was one of the best at it. Read the rest of the books in this series if you can find them, then move on to Willeford's other works and his biography penned by Don Herron.
A 5 stars for sure on this tale of Miami mayhem, murder and mischief.

If you've seen the excellent movie made from this novel, get ready for an original that's not only funnier but about ten shades grimmer. Dead-pan doesn't even begin to describe Willeford. He never condescends or winks, but his tone is devastating.

You can't go wrong with any of his other books, either, or his memoirs.

Miami Blues is my first Charles Willeford novel but it certainly won't be my last. I remember the film Miami Blues (with Alex Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh). I enjoyed it and hoped the novel would be at least half as good. Thankfully it was even better than the film.

In Miami Blues we have a young psychopathic criminal from California landing at Miami International Airport. All he wants is to steal enough money to live on easy street, and he will not let anything get in his way. Unfortunately bad luck and stupidity are stacked against him. Worse, he partners up with an incredibly sweet yet dumb local girl who doesn't offer value for achieving his goals ... no matter how he manipulates her. Worse still, there is a rather crusty old cop out to get him. No spoilers here, but suffice to say Miami Blues has a good ending.

The best part of Miami Blues is Willeford's excellent capturing of the "feel" of Miami. It's very much like Carl Hiaasen material without the caustic satire (..oh, I should add Miami Blues does have funny bits also). And it doesn't take itself too seriously, as if Charles Willeford wasn't planning to write fine literature but simply a good story. He succeeded very nicely.

Bottom line: a minor jewel amongst the masses of mystery novels. Recommended.

Hoke Moseley has lost his gun, his badge, his teeth, his hair, and his wife, but he hasn't lost his bloodhound instincts. A knockout crime novel that has it all--a very bad bad guy, off-beat humor, police procedures, Miami mythos, and a beater Pontiac. If you like crime novels, this ranks among the best. Willeford sleeps with Chandler as a King of the Beat. Don't pass this up. Read all four of the Hoke novels in sequence for your crime fix. Not for kids.

Charles Willeford has written great works of genre specific literature since the 1950's where he was spawned among the greats - Hammett, Chandler, Thompson, Woolrich, etc. Finally, Willeford got the recognition he deserved with the Hoke Moseley novels and in the process created what is now the popular Miami crime novel genre. This first in the series is a masterpiece and each novel in the series gets successfully better. Willeford's knack for creating immensely interesting characters with an edge and his rare yet insightful perspective on life should not be missed.

Hey, is Willeford the man or what? I have spent the last few years devouring mystery/thriller/procedural books and had not come across Hoke Moseley until recently. I can't tell you how refreshing and cool it is to come across perhaps the greatest writer of this genre purely accidentally. Why isn't Willeford celebrated as the great author he is astounds me. Instead of millions reading James Patterson novels, it should be Willeford receiving the accolades. I just wish he were still around writing more books.

Miami Blues is a heck of a good novel; it's the first in the Hoke Moseley series and probably the worst, though it is still five stars all the way. If you have seen the entertaining movie Miami Blues with Baldwin, don't feel like this movie will compromise the reading experience, because it won't. Willeford's genius as an author comes forth here in the way that he plots the story line. Utterly original. His characters weave in and out of situations and conversations with a grace of a quick prizefighter. At one moment you are reading the very best of Bukowski and the next you are in an existential conversation mode ala McBain in his prime years. The opening gambit of a plot will resolve itself in the end, but the story here is about so much more, it's the journey along the way that brings the extra oomph.

I would not hesitate for a moment, buy this book, read the others in the series. You won't find a better mystery writer out there. Willeford is a god of prose and story telling.

This is the beginning of one of the best series in crime fiction history. It's also, as far as this South Florida native is concerned, the only series of Florida crime books to describe that specific world accurately -- for most people living in Miami it's not an especially glamorous place, but most Florida crime writers misrepresent that to give the public the glitz they are assumed to desire: don't fall for it! Willeford's Miami is the real place where I grew up, down to the most exact and telling details. You've got to read these novels in sequence -- their accumulated power results in a final line that, the first time I read it, had me reeling for days: but don't skip ahead! It works because 4 great books have led you to it.

Charles Willeford was a great writer but one whose writing was an acquired taste (as the divergent reviews here testify). I personally find his Hoke Moseley books to be classics and maybe my favourite series ever (I am not as fond of his other books).

Willeford creates a feeling of normality in his writing mixed with black humour that I find adds to the stories. It is not a case of the star of the book being wealthy and all powerful, but a situation where Hoke is all too human. Really good stuff.

If you like Carl Hiaasen, you will like Charles Willeford (although the latter is a lot darker).

I especially enjoy the Hoke Moseley detective series by Willeford. Hoke is a plain-joe type of cop who wants to follow the path of least resistence, but who has enough of a cop-work ethic to want to do the right thing and catch some crooks in the bargain. He usually manages to get victimized himself, by his quarry. The characterizations are very believable, and smack of the realism of everyday life. Miami Blues is excellent and like the other Willeford favorites (New Hope For The Dead, Sideswipe, The Way We Die Now) are definitely of the Noir variety. I rank this series up there with Ross Mcdonald's Lew Archer series.

Willeford's Hoke Mosely novels (of which there are four) are essential reading for any fans of this genre.