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Eoin Miller Mystery #3
Lost City
Even though he’s worked his way to the top of the West Midlands criminal heap as right-hand man to crime boss Veronica Gaines, ex-cop Eoin Miller still has to deal with the dregs of the underworld to earn his pay. That’s why he’s dispatched to a low-end hotel to work damage control after a hooker kills a local lowlife. But when one of his comrades is mysteriously murdered at the scene, and a suspicious fire claims two more victims, a simple clean-up job turns absolutely filthy.
Hustling to hide bodies and seek answers, Eoin calls on friends and foes alike, including his estranged a shady cop who’s a little of both. But the scheme he uncovers gives him a bad feeling in his gut that even his diet of pills and sex can’t soothe. Add an ice-cold hit man, a feeble but still ferocious gang lord, vengeful cops, pornography, prostitution, Romani patriarchs, and personal demons, and you’ve got a combustible cocktail of treachery that could blow Eoin Miller’s life sky-high.
In the third book of the gritty Eoin Miller trilogy, nobody walks away unscarred.
Hustling to hide bodies and seek answers, Eoin calls on friends and foes alike, including his estranged a shady cop who’s a little of both. But the scheme he uncovers gives him a bad feeling in his gut that even his diet of pills and sex can’t soothe. Add an ice-cold hit man, a feeble but still ferocious gang lord, vengeful cops, pornography, prostitution, Romani patriarchs, and personal demons, and you’ve got a combustible cocktail of treachery that could blow Eoin Miller’s life sky-high.
In the third book of the gritty Eoin Miller trilogy, nobody walks away unscarred.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 14, 2014
75 people are currently reading
343 people want to read
About the author
Jay Stringer
41 books119 followersJay Stringer was born in 1980, and he’s not dead yet.
He’s English by birth and Scottish by rumour; born in the Black Country, and claiming Glasgow as his hometown.
Jay is dyslexic, and came to the written word as a second language, via comic books, music, and comedy. He writes hard boiled crime stories, dark comedies, and social fiction.
His first three books, the Eoin Miller Trilogy explored the political and criminal landscape of the West Midlands.
He now writes books set in Glasgow and New York.
Jay won a gold medal in the Antwerp Olympics of 1920. He did not compete in the Helsinki Olympics of 1952, that was some other guy.
Jay is represented by Stacia Decker at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
He’s English by birth and Scottish by rumour; born in the Black Country, and claiming Glasgow as his hometown.
Jay is dyslexic, and came to the written word as a second language, via comic books, music, and comedy. He writes hard boiled crime stories, dark comedies, and social fiction.
His first three books, the Eoin Miller Trilogy explored the political and criminal landscape of the West Midlands.
He now writes books set in Glasgow and New York.
Jay won a gold medal in the Antwerp Olympics of 1920. He did not compete in the Helsinki Olympics of 1952, that was some other guy.
Jay is represented by Stacia Decker at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 11, 2014
Eoin Miller is the right-hand man of his childhood friend, Veronica Gaines, who has now taken over from her father as the leader of Birmingham's most powerful crime family. Neither Eoin nor Veronica has an easy job, and Eoin is basically the troubleshooter who cleans up the messy situations that can often result when one pursues a life in crime.
Lost City opens with a terrific scene that finds Eoin in bed with Veronica's younger sister, Claire. But Veronica phones at the most critical of moments to call him away to deal with a disaster at a sleazy hotel where the third floor is reserved for various criminal enterprises. Eoin, who is also an ex-cop, arrives on the scene to find a small-time hustler named Jellyfish, who's been stabbed to death. With Jellyfish is a hooker, who's apparently stoned or in shock, or maybe a combination of the two, and who appears to be responsible for bringing Jellyfish to his bloody and untimely end.
Eoin is left to deal with the mess, but right off the bat, he makes a critical mistake and before he can even get the room cleaned up, the hooker has disappeared, another body has been added to the mix, and the entire situation is spinning out of his control.
With that, Eoin is launched into a dark and complex web of danger and intrigue, where he can never be certain who he can trust. The cast includes the aforementioned Gaines sisters and their father, along with Eoin's estranged wife, Laura, who is herself a cop, and Eoin's gypsy father who has problems of his own. There are a number of very scary gangsters who seem to have no scruples at all, and if Eoin is even going to survive, let alone sort out this ever-expanding mess, he will need to keep his wits about him and stay at least a half a step ahead of an awful lot of people who would be happy to put him permanently out of the picture.
This is a very dark, engrossing tale with a great group of characters. Stringer also excels at setting the scenes in and around England's "second city," and this is a book that should appeal to large numbers of noir fans.
Lost City opens with a terrific scene that finds Eoin in bed with Veronica's younger sister, Claire. But Veronica phones at the most critical of moments to call him away to deal with a disaster at a sleazy hotel where the third floor is reserved for various criminal enterprises. Eoin, who is also an ex-cop, arrives on the scene to find a small-time hustler named Jellyfish, who's been stabbed to death. With Jellyfish is a hooker, who's apparently stoned or in shock, or maybe a combination of the two, and who appears to be responsible for bringing Jellyfish to his bloody and untimely end.
Eoin is left to deal with the mess, but right off the bat, he makes a critical mistake and before he can even get the room cleaned up, the hooker has disappeared, another body has been added to the mix, and the entire situation is spinning out of his control.
With that, Eoin is launched into a dark and complex web of danger and intrigue, where he can never be certain who he can trust. The cast includes the aforementioned Gaines sisters and their father, along with Eoin's estranged wife, Laura, who is herself a cop, and Eoin's gypsy father who has problems of his own. There are a number of very scary gangsters who seem to have no scruples at all, and if Eoin is even going to survive, let alone sort out this ever-expanding mess, he will need to keep his wits about him and stay at least a half a step ahead of an awful lot of people who would be happy to put him permanently out of the picture.
This is a very dark, engrossing tale with a great group of characters. Stringer also excels at setting the scenes in and around England's "second city," and this is a book that should appeal to large numbers of noir fans.
June 11, 2017
The third in the Eoin Miller series and a very complex gangster mystery involving the local crime family for whom Miller works, his ex-wife DCI and other police, and other criminal gangs. With a side story of his Romany father in a major high profile threatened eviction from a large gypsy encampment. The plot was too complex for my liking but the characters were written well and the story moved with some pace
March 9, 2016
Hey, there might be hope for Eoin Miller as a human being. Again, a lot of bodies pile up. It's hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. A solid story.
August 11, 2018
Very good
This is the third and final? book in the Eoin Miller trilogy. Very well written, this book ties together the series in a very surprise ending. There are double crosses, action and characters that are noble and shady at the same time. Can be read as a stand alone, but I would suggest starting with book one. Looking forward to more books by Mr. Stringer. Highly recommended.
This is the third and final? book in the Eoin Miller trilogy. Very well written, this book ties together the series in a very surprise ending. There are double crosses, action and characters that are noble and shady at the same time. Can be read as a stand alone, but I would suggest starting with book one. Looking forward to more books by Mr. Stringer. Highly recommended.
January 15, 2014
Eoin Miller’s day was going pretty well until he got the call from his boss. At first it seemed straight forward. A stoned john got rough with one of the hookers and she knifed him. Simple fix. Except Eoin knew the john and he wasn’t the violent type. Then another murder happens. Before long Eoin is in a race against time to protect himself and the crime family he works for. He uses the skills he learned when he was a cop to piece things together. The only question is can he get the answer before it is too late.
This novel is full of interesting and dark characters. The protagonist, Eoin Miller, is a half-Romani (Gypsy for those who don’t know the term they use for themselves) living in a modern world still loaded with prejudice against his father’s people. He was a police officer before he left the force and went to work for a crime family. The other characters are just as conflicted. Veronica Gaines runs the Gaines crime family, yet all the while she is trying to find a way to get the family free of its criminal enterprises. There is his ex-wife Laura. What is happening with their relationship? How does she fit in to all of this?
Lost City takes place in an area outside Birmingham, England. This is classic hard-boiled pulp fiction at its best. There is a surprise around every corner. Stringer keeps the reader guessing as to what will happen next. The pacing of the book is very quick. I found myself flying through the book. Now be warned, by its nature hard-boiled fiction has sex and violence. No one wears a white hat in this story.
Ever since Philip Marlow appeared in The Big Sleep hard-boiled detective stories have had a following. Years of reading these novels have taught me that while it is easy to write bad novels in this genre, it is very difficult to write good novels in this genre. Jay Stringer has managed to write a very good novel and I look forward to reading more Eoin Miller mysteries in the future. This book is recommended for anyone who loves to sit down with a fast paced story full of twists and turns.
This novel is full of interesting and dark characters. The protagonist, Eoin Miller, is a half-Romani (Gypsy for those who don’t know the term they use for themselves) living in a modern world still loaded with prejudice against his father’s people. He was a police officer before he left the force and went to work for a crime family. The other characters are just as conflicted. Veronica Gaines runs the Gaines crime family, yet all the while she is trying to find a way to get the family free of its criminal enterprises. There is his ex-wife Laura. What is happening with their relationship? How does she fit in to all of this?
Lost City takes place in an area outside Birmingham, England. This is classic hard-boiled pulp fiction at its best. There is a surprise around every corner. Stringer keeps the reader guessing as to what will happen next. The pacing of the book is very quick. I found myself flying through the book. Now be warned, by its nature hard-boiled fiction has sex and violence. No one wears a white hat in this story.
Ever since Philip Marlow appeared in The Big Sleep hard-boiled detective stories have had a following. Years of reading these novels have taught me that while it is easy to write bad novels in this genre, it is very difficult to write good novels in this genre. Jay Stringer has managed to write a very good novel and I look forward to reading more Eoin Miller mysteries in the future. This book is recommended for anyone who loves to sit down with a fast paced story full of twists and turns.
October 28, 2019
This is the third and possibly the best Eoin Miller mystery by Jay Stringer. Like all his others, it's tense, lean in the plot but full of enough gore and dirty tricks to satisfy a taste for tales of drug lords, crooked cops and inner city gangsters. Miller himself, this time out, seems a smarter, less thuggish fix-it man, and his usual cohort - especially the ex-wife, the reigning mob queen and Eoin's reprobate father - are finally more rounded and likable characters. The whole novel, in fact, has more heart and depth than previous installments; we see farther into the soul of people than we have glimpsed so far, and that is fitting, especially if this one is going to signal the end of the trilogy. It would be a good stopping place: The novel is satisfying, and we don't need to find out anything more after the last scene drifts away - if, like other writers have done, Stringer succumbs to temptation of carrying these characters on beyond this neat end to more (and not necessarily greater) sequels, I fear he will risk weakening the whole series thus far.
November 21, 2019
it was a very good book, in my opinion, the part I like the most is when they find the lost city
the characters have the depth the book was very intriguing some parts were shady and bad one of the character was all ways helpful and will make you happy for what she's doing for what she does I look up to this character. one is so selfish and doesn't think people are the boss of him that makes me not so happy in a way so I'm not giving names. :)
the characters have the depth the book was very intriguing some parts were shady and bad one of the character was all ways helpful and will make you happy for what she's doing for what she does I look up to this character. one is so selfish and doesn't think people are the boss of him that makes me not so happy in a way so I'm not giving names. :)
February 3, 2023
I'm puzzled...! How come I left it this long to read this 3rd book in the series - I read the other 2 as ARCs and really enjoyed them. Equally how come more people don't read Jay Stringer's stuff - he writes well and far better than some I've read.
Start with the first book please - it's great - however this 3rd one continues Eoin Miller's story. He was a cop, he is part Romani, he has crossed lines and now work for a local gangster family. The book can be violent and the body count certainly stacks up however who is actually behind it all. Eoin hooks up again with his ex-wife - current a senior police officer - who helps him out with a bit of a problem... Jay Stringer manages to write very dark and humorously too. The pace is excellent and it's a book that is quite hard to put down.
If the gangster story isn't enough we also get an insight into Eoin's relationship with his father. His father is a full Romani really and Eoin has always felt that he disapproved of Eoin joining the police. If you want to know how well Stringer can writes emotions I would be very surprised if most people were not moved by the father and son interactions.
This is a series worth taking a look at in my opinion. Equally his Sam Ireland series set in Glasgow manages to combine a lightness with crime and violence. I see echoes of Caimh McDonnell's Dublin series but also maybe the stories from Joseph Knox about Aidan Waits. Worth looking at - 4.5/5
Start with the first book please - it's great - however this 3rd one continues Eoin Miller's story. He was a cop, he is part Romani, he has crossed lines and now work for a local gangster family. The book can be violent and the body count certainly stacks up however who is actually behind it all. Eoin hooks up again with his ex-wife - current a senior police officer - who helps him out with a bit of a problem... Jay Stringer manages to write very dark and humorously too. The pace is excellent and it's a book that is quite hard to put down.
If the gangster story isn't enough we also get an insight into Eoin's relationship with his father. His father is a full Romani really and Eoin has always felt that he disapproved of Eoin joining the police. If you want to know how well Stringer can writes emotions I would be very surprised if most people were not moved by the father and son interactions.
This is a series worth taking a look at in my opinion. Equally his Sam Ireland series set in Glasgow manages to combine a lightness with crime and violence. I see echoes of Caimh McDonnell's Dublin series but also maybe the stories from Joseph Knox about Aidan Waits. Worth looking at - 4.5/5
March 16, 2019
A JS. Mystery Thriller (EMMB. - 3)/Murder/,Five Times/To Many Interested/Good and Bad
JS. has. penned the third Dion Miller murder mystery with many attachments added. The deeper EM. probes the more he realizes there are many hands involved in this incident. There are so many involved, with so many facts, thatCH is not sure if the murders were good or bad guys. What he does know is the wolves are for circling for the meat. EM. hopes to find out what is going on before he has a nervous breakdown of something worse. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
JS. has. penned the third Dion Miller murder mystery with many attachments added. The deeper EM. probes the more he realizes there are many hands involved in this incident. There are so many involved, with so many facts, thatCH is not sure if the murders were good or bad guys. What he does know is the wolves are for circling for the meat. EM. hopes to find out what is going on before he has a nervous breakdown of something worse. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
December 12, 2018
Quite the finale
I was impressed with how much each character has evolved by book 3. Overall, this is the grittiest and most exciting book in the series, with the most surprising ending.
I was impressed with how much each character has evolved by book 3. Overall, this is the grittiest and most exciting book in the series, with the most surprising ending.
January 22, 2024
Characters of the two sisters and father pinched from Chandler's The Long Goodbye. Knew as soon as I saw them who the baddy would turn out to be which spoiled the book for me. Quite liked Strinders books till I saw this. I might just reread his others now to see if he has done this in other books.
May 20, 2021
Another strong entry in the Eoin Miller trilogy. I really enjoyed these books. This one wraps everything up pretty well.
January 31, 2014
Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Unaware that this was the end of a trilogy, I enjoyed this crime novel immensely. Stringer gives the reader everything he needs to understand the motivation of the various characters.
I found the setting a pleasant change of pace from the more common American setting of the typical crime novel.
Unaware that this was the end of a trilogy, I enjoyed this crime novel immensely. Stringer gives the reader everything he needs to understand the motivation of the various characters.
I found the setting a pleasant change of pace from the more common American setting of the typical crime novel.
May 28, 2014
Besides the secret relationship, I didn't find very much intrigue I this story. I guess it's just not my type of book. It wasn't horrible, I'm sure other would enjoy it, I'm just in bothered. I didn't want to finish it but felt that I should since I'm expected to write a review and wanted to hold up my end of the bargain.
January 22, 2014
Lost City by Jay Stringer
Goodread Author
This is a real page turner. You will not be able to put it down.
Eoin Miller, an ex-police detective, is living a life filled with corruption.
Police ,crime commissioner, cartel families, along with ex-wife are amoung
the corrupt. The story is an amazing thriller at every page.
Goodread Author
This is a real page turner. You will not be able to put it down.
Eoin Miller, an ex-police detective, is living a life filled with corruption.
Police ,crime commissioner, cartel families, along with ex-wife are amoung
the corrupt. The story is an amazing thriller at every page.
April 24, 2014
Excellent end to a gritty and relatable series. Eoin Miller is a deftly realised character, and the setting is perfect for a crime story.
It's such a refreshing change to have something set in a place other than generic USA or London. Stringer's depiction of life in the West Midlands is insightful, honest, and pretty much spot on.
It's such a refreshing change to have something set in a place other than generic USA or London. Stringer's depiction of life in the West Midlands is insightful, honest, and pretty much spot on.
August 23, 2022
Overall a satisfying end to the trilogy. As usual this one is quite dark and fairly complex - difficult to keep track of all the double-crosses. There is a strong sense of place, with an accurate portrayal of the Black Country setting. While I've enjoyed the series I think the possibilities have been exhausted and Stringer has wisely brought it to a conclusion.
September 29, 2014
Loved this series. Had a big gap between reading the 1st book and the last 2, saw the author tweet about the inspiration he took from Matt Scudder for Eoin Miller, which made me buy the other 2 books.
Great decision, and Miller, while not quite Scudder, is a great character in a great story.
Great decision, and Miller, while not quite Scudder, is a great character in a great story.
June 14, 2015
Eoin Miller is working for the local gang boss, a long way from his time as a police officer, or maybe not. Life gets very complicated following a mystery death in a hotel.
November 15, 2022
Britain’s Johnny Shaw
Great book! I’m looking for Jay Stringer’s next book as soon as I’m done with this review. Excellent noir storytelling. Excellent!
Great book! I’m looking for Jay Stringer’s next book as soon as I’m done with this review. Excellent noir storytelling. Excellent!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews