by David Swinson
This is the first novel by David Swinson, author of The Second Girl.
A relentless tour of DCs most crime-ridden streets, with many beautifully written surprises, and darker than the deepest noir.
~Madison Smartt Bell
Half of DC Police Detective Ezra Simeon’s face is immobilized from a persistent case of Bell’s Palsy—he must drink through a straw and eat carefully to avoid chewing through his own cheek. He has been detailed from robbery to the cold case department while he heals.
“How odd to dream with one eye open, like having one foot in reality,” Sim muses in the dark, bluesy vein that is typical of his Chandler-esque narration. “That’s what makes dreaming dangerous and why I moved my gun farther from the bed.”
Detective Simeon’s half-frozen world begins to heat up when a friend from his Academy days drops dead of a heart attack, and Sim is tapped to replace him, detailed now to homicide, where he inherits the high-profile case of a murdered escort he alone thinks may be the victim of a serial killer.
About the Author
David Swinson spent the 1980s as a punk rock music promoter and film producer, booking acts like Social Distortion, Nick Cave, John Cale, Chris Isaac and the Red Hot Chili Peppers into clubs and producing spoken word events with Hunter S. Thompson, John Waters and Jim Carroll. He produced the cult classic film Roadside Prophets, starring John Doe of X and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys and featuring Timothy Leary, John Cusack, David Carradine and Arlo Guthrie.
In 1994, Swinson returned to his hometown of Washington DC and joined the police force, where he worked robbery, homicide and narcotics and became one of the city’s most decorated detectives. In 2000 he was promoted to the Special Investigations Bureau/Major Crimes, where he was often called upon by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, The Treasury Department and The US Attorney’s Office for assistance with sensitive cases.
Downloads:
Praise for A Detailed Man
Interview with author David Swinson
Press Release: A Detailed Man hits number 1
Author photo
Book cover
Links:
DC Library pick for the 2012 Library of Congress National Book Festival
Washington City Paper (print feature)
Long Beach Press Telegram (print Feature)
Seattle Post Intelligencer (online review)
Defrosting Cold Cases (online review)
House of Crime and Mystery (online review)
The Best Reviews (online review)