David Swinson's Blog

Nice profile piece by Del Quentin Wilber, in Washingtonian Magazine.

This Former DC Cop Just Wrote Your Favorite Summer Crime Novel

Here's a bit of the Booklist review for THE SECOND GIRL. It'll be in the March issue.

"Frank Marr turns the PI mold on its head...A gritty knockout debut that screams for a series."– Christine Tran, BOOKLIST

"Within the first couple of pages, David Swinson pulls off a masterly piece of characterisation: he creates a damaged, damned protagonist who no sane person would want to get close to, and then he grabs you by the collar and hauls you into Frank Marr's mind so fast and so thoroughly that none of that matters. The writing throws sparks, and the ferocious plot peels back layer after layer of Frank's character as we - and he - find out how much of his humanity is still left."
Tana French, author of THE SECRET PLACE

"Once you’re drawn into Frankie Marr’s world (in, oh, the first few pages of this fine novel), you won’t want to leave. Marr is one of the most compelling and complex protagonists to come along in years. And, not content with just creating a memorable hero, author Swinson also offers up a breakneck plot, which he recounts in muscular prose and with a commanding knowledge of cops, bad guys and the streets of Washington, D.C. Reminiscent of The Wire and the writing of George Pelecanos and Dennis Lehane, The Second Girl is a winner."
Jeffery Deaver, author of THE STEEL KISS

"Like Dennis Lehane and Richard Price, David Swinson gives us a gritty urban crime novel populated with morally complex, utterly believable characters. Swinson knows how to build suspense, and he has a great ear for the patois of the streets, but it is Detective Frank Marr’s tightrope walk between noble and darker impulses that makes The Second Girl such a rewarding read from start to finish."
Ron Rash, author of SERENA

My new book, THE SECOND GIRL, will be released on June 7, 2016!

It's available for pre-order through Mulholland Books or if you want to you can add it to your "to read" list here on Goodreads -
The Second Girl

I'm very excited to announce this (again)!

The following is from Publisher's Marketplace:

Deals
January 8, 2015 - THE SECOND GIRL by David Swinson
Fiction: Thriller
Former DC detective David Swinson's THE SECOND GIRL, about an ex-cop and private investigator in Washington, DC, and his quest to free girls abducted by local druglords, to Josh Kendall at Mulholland Books in a three-book deal, by Jane Gelfman at Gelfman Schneider/ICM (World).

Really excited to announce I'll be participating in one of the Bouchercon 2014 - Murder at the Beach panels in Long Beach, CA -

We’ve Got Grit: Traditional to Thriller to True Crime, on Saturday, November 15th, along with authors, Diane Vallere (Moderator), Graham E. Brown, John McFetridge, Charles Salzberg and David Stout.

Hope to see a lot of my LB, LA friends there.

A Detailed Man is going to the London Book Fair 2013. I'm working hard on the next book in the series, The Confidential Life.

Gelfman Schneider/Curtis Brown Literary Agency at the London Book Fair 2013

If anyone read, and liked A Detailed Man, you can vote for it at the following link as one of the "Top Indie" books of 2012, under #5.

There's also some other great reads, including the authors I spent time with in Quebec for the 2012 Quebec Literary and Mystery Writers Festival - Mons Kallentoft, Peggy Blair, Wayne Arthurson, Chris Holm, Owen Laukkanen and Robert Pobi.

So cast your vote here -

House of Crime and Mystery

I don't normally post stuff like this, but I've been working hard on the second Detective Simeon book and his new supervising LT has serious issues. In fact, he might fall into the first category seen on this well done, and well researched graphic.

I've also had some bad supervisors during my time as an officer and a detective on the police department, but let me get this straight right away. This new character IS NOT based on any one of them. He is fiction!

In light of all this, but absolutely coincidental, Sara Wenger, at Learn Stuff.com sent me the following infographic that she recently developed. I can say that I have personally experienced a lot of this. They know who they are.

Thanks for letting me post this, Sarah.

Very nice to be included in this "top 5" pick for Father's day.

Crime Fiction Lover