New Hope for the Dead [Paperback]

Charles Willeford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2004

Miami homicide detective Hoke Moseley is called to a posh Miami neighborhood to investigate a lethal overdose. There he meets the alluring stepmother of the decedant, and begins to wonder about dating a witness. Meanwile, he has been threatened with suspension by his ambitious new chief unless he leaves his beloved, if squalid, suite at the El Dorado Hotel, and moves downtown. With free housing hard to come by, Hoke is desperate to find a new place to live. His difficulties are only amplified by an assignment to re-investigate fifty unsolved murders, the unexpected arrival of his two teenage daughters, and a partner struggling with an unwanted pregnancy. With few options and even fewer dollars, he decides that the suspicious and beautiful stepmother of the dead junkie might be a compromised solution to all of his problems.

Packed with atmosphere and humor, New Hope for the Dead is a classic murder mystery by one of the true masters of the genre. Now back in print, Charles Willeford’s tour de force is an irresistible invitation to become acquainted with one of the greatest detective characters of all time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sgt. Hoke Moseley, whom readers first met in Willeford's Miami Blues, is an unlikely hero, even to himself. He's a Miami cop, near retirement, who's always taking out or putting in his dentures; he dines regularly on 711 Slurpees and hard-boiled eggs; and he has a strict moral code flexible enough for him to let someone get away with a hard-to-prove murder in exchange for a sublet on a house he badly needs. Here, Moseley wants to solve the murder of a junkie whose death looks like an accidental overdose, but the zeal of his pursuit is tempered by manifold obstacles: his ex-wife's sudden decision to impose upon him the disruptive custody of his two teenage daughters, his boss's insistence that he clear up a file of old, unsolved crimes, and his new partner's worries over an unexpected first pregnancy. This is a telling slice of Miami life, only coincidentally cop-life, whose gritty realism contributes to a good read. December 31
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A top-notch crime novel... both tough and funny."- The Washington Post

"No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford."- Elmore Leonard

"Pure pleasure... Mr. Willeford never puts a foot wrong."- The New Yorker

"Nobody writes like Charles Willeford... He is an original—funny, weird, and wonderful."- James Crumley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (August 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400032490
• ISBN-13: 978-1400032495
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #511,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent Character Study, October 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: New Hope For the Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

So often, you come across a series of books of a certain detective or private investigator and there is no character growth. Well, this book brings about a refreshing change in that procedure. In fact, Willeford gives us a whole novel's worth of character study and you wish it would never end. Hoke Moseley is arguably the most realistic, honest, and likable police detective created in this genre. If you are looking for fluff, do not read this. If you are looking for an intelligent, creative, and interesting read, this is the book for you.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hoke gets a house. . ., October 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: New Hope For the Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

In this second book of the Hoke Moseley series, our loser-pants police detective must deal with various sleazoids while figuring out how to raise his two daughters who have been sent back to him because his ex-wife's pro-ball-player novio finds them distracting during his spring training. Sound Familiar? It's not. Funny and amoral, Hoke's counseling sessions with his daughters are not for the timid or politically correct. Lacking the outrageous antagonists of MIAMI BLUES or SIDESWIPE, this is not the strongest book of the series, but it is an essential set-up for the next tale. Buy it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great characterizations overshadow the thin storyline..., August 3, 2003

By 

lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Hope for the Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

'New Hope for the Dead' is one of Charles Willeford's comic-mystery novels starring Hoke Moseley, a crusty yet lovable member of the Miami police force. It is hard to not enjoy the trials and tribulations of Moseley: work partner getting pregnant, his own love life on the skids, two teenaged daughters arriving at his doorstep, etc. Always interesting; I never felt like I was reading the script to a soap opera. However Willeford forgot to include a strong crime element. Yes, there is a dead junkie and a sexy step-mom. But the story itself compares badly to 'Miami Blues', a much superior Hoke Moseley novel. And compared to Willeford's early masterpiece 'The Woman Chaser' one senses the Hoke Moseley series was not the best way for Willeford to end his career.

Bottom line: more of enjoyable literary junk food rather than quality stuff. Recommended for Willeford fans only.