Little Black Dress: A Peter Macklin Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Loren D. Estleman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The value and limitations of trust--between men and women, between career lawbreakers--lie at the dark, wounded heart of Loren D. Estleman's Little Black Dress, his fifth outing (after 2002's Something Borrowed, Something Black) for now ostensibly retired Detroit hit man Peter Macklin.

Eleven months into Macklin's marriage to Laurie, a bright, breathtaking blond nurse less than half his age, the pair are visiting northern Ohio, looking to purchase her late grandparents's 80-acre farm, "where she’d spent all her summers as a girl." Planting fresh roots outside the Motor City is one more vital step along Macklin's reform path; but peace will be harder to find than he'd hoped. His domineering, vain, and resentfully divorced new mother-in-law, Pamela Ziegenthaler, is suspicious of men, in general, but especially of Peter Macklin. She doesn't swallow his cover story about being a financially secure former camera retailer. At the same time, this ex-killer is leery of Pamela's latest beau, Canadian-born Benjamin Grinnell, and with good reason: "polite and boring" Grinnell is a "case man" working for round-the-bend Toledo mobster Joe Vulpo and his cross-dressing son, "Terrible" Tommy. He reconnoiters video-rental stores, in advance of their being knocked over by a gang of younger, dissolute thieves led by wannabe gunfighter "Wild Bill" Berman. But a recent slipup has forced these crooks to find new targets--the first of which will be the chain bookstore that Macklin's mother-in-law manages. So how does Macklin protect the two new women in his life without scaring them both to death, or lying to Laurie about his intentions--something he's promised never to do again? And how does he bring down Grinnell without attracting the unwanted attentions of "Reverend" Edgar Prine, the chauvinistic but straight-arrow commander of an Ohio State Police robbery task force, committed to corralling the video-store bandits?

Estleman goes lighter on the wisecracks here than in his Shamus Award-winning Amos Walker PI series (Retro), though he finds some obvious delight in spinning out the idiosyncratic backgrounds of both criminals and lawmen. As compensation, this Detroit-area author gives his previously lonely, anti-hero protagonist a sexy, adult, and intriguing relationship with the curvilinear Laurie, one that could excite a few jealous bones even in the comfortably lone-wolf Amos. A high-caliber denouement and a staggering turning-point finale make Little Black Dress just the right fit for the season. --J. Kingston Pierce --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Peter Macklin was a contract hit man. He'd like to think he is retired, but he knows that there are skeletons in his closet that will never go away. He wants to settle down with his new young bride, Laurie, and restore the country home once owned by her grandparents. He senses something criminal about his new mother-in-law's boyfriend but has a difficult time defining it. He is correct--the suitor cases locations for a Mob-connected gang of armed robbers who've specialized in late-night hits on cash-heavy video stores. The gang's last job resulted in a death so they've opted to target a different business: bookstores. Laurie's mom manages a bookstore that is hosting a best--selling author on a book-signing tour. Also in the mix is an effective but publicity-addicted state cop. Estleman, a consummate craftsman, has done the near impossible: he has made an assassin a fascinating, dynamic series character. It will be interesting to see where he takes Macklin after the violent, life-altering conflagration that concludes this suspenseful, intelligent thriller. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (January 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076534789X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765347893
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,645,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A First Rate Crime Noir Novel from a Master, November 3, 2005

By	David Keymer "David Keymer" (Modesto CA) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Little Black Dress (Peter Macklin, The Nine-to-Five Killer, Book 5) (Hardcover)

What a clever book this is! Estleman's novels about "ex"-hitman Peter Macklin are distinguished by a hearty cynicism about human behavior and a black -very black-sense of humor. These books are as good as, though quite different from, the critically Parker novels of "Richard Stark" (Donald Westlake). As to similarities, Estleman's Macklin, like Stark's Parker, is almost devoid of personality except for his radical and persistent scepticism about other people's motivations. Macklin, like Parker, is a survival machine pure and simple with no illusions about what to do to survive. But while Parker is still energetically a player in the game, Macklin hopes to get out, to become as respectable as he already is --by temperament and deliberate strategy-- bland. Parker's femme accepts the truth about Parker's nature; Laurie, Macklin's wife, can't come to grips with the violence that keeps intruding in her new life.

In this excellent crime noir novel, Macklin meets Laurie's mother, the mother-in-law from hell, and finds that her boyfriend is a player just like he used to be: he spots for a gang of sociopathic robbers who have eyes on his girlfriend's bookstore. It's no surprise that violence erupts. Estleman, a master of the crime novel, handles it all adeptly, but an added pleasure is the way Estleman blends the comic and the violent. This is a very good book.

David Keymer
Modesto CA

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific thriller, April 27, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Little Black Dress (Peter Macklin, The Nine-to-Five Killer, Book 5) (Hardcover)

Hit man Peter Macklin "steals" Laurie by persuading her to become his wife although her mother Pamela raises an eyebrow or two since he is her age not her daughter's age. However, his profession's retirement plan is death so he and his spouse leave Detroit to move to her hometown in Ohio where they plan to buy back her late grandfather's farm.

Bookstore manager Pamela is seeing Ben Grinnell, who Peter recognizes as a peer at his former employment. Peter rejects coincidence and assumes that the "case man" is in town either to set him up or more likely select a location for robbery. Peter assumes the obvious moment would be when best selling author Francis Spain hosts an autograph sale at the bookstore. However, like Peter Ben wants out, but the mob has other thoughts about individuals retiring alive. Peter expects violence and prepares accordingly although he hides his knowledge from his beloved who expects honesty in their relationship. High noon is coming to Ohio on two fronts that of the mob with state police involvement and that of the relationship between the Macklins.

This is a terrific thriller starring a fabulous cast headed by the Macklins who are seeking a niche together while external forces have other ideas especially for Peter. The story line is cleverly set up with Peter believing that he can have love and post mob living in his middle age with his Laurie. Once that is established, Loren D. Estleman pulls out the rug from underneath peter and the reader as he spins the intrusion plot with several twists. Fans of powerful thrillers with solid casting will appreciate the enjoyable LITTLE BLACK DRESS.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars more of a tease than a thrill, September 6, 2006

By	Jay Marriott - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Black Dress (Peter Macklin, The Nine-to-Five Killer, Book 5) (Hardcover)

This book does not deliver as a stand alone novel. Even for this genre not enough story. Did he just bring this book out to kill off Peter Macklin or perhaps to free the character of a wife? Is this book just the tease for the next (high priced) Peter Maklin mystery to come? The story felt cranked out and flat and the ending disjointed and very ho hum.