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Peerless Detective
Once Billy Fox starts looking for trouble, he discovers that—in Chicago—trouble's under every footstep.
Home from the war, Billy Fox leaves Michigan for Chicago, hoping to find his ex-girlfriend, Rita—now another man’s wife. Chicago isn’t a town that takes kindly to strangers, and Billy finds himself barely scraping by, working odd jobs and living in squalor among convicts and other men that the city hasn’t spit out just yet.
A chance encounter lands him a job with Harry Strummer, the streetwise owner of the Peerless Detective Agency. At Harry's oddball agency, Billy hones his skills, learning how to stake out a mark, find a bug, and spot a tail. Odd life lessons and unexpected romance come his way. But as he searches for Rita, an even bigger mystery comes along, one that puts Harry, and Billy with him, in the crosshairs.
This punchy, spellbinding noir spins a web that will catch readers and hold them captive to the final page, when we learn that Billy’s Chicago is a town where nothing is ever truly left up to chance.
Home from the war, Billy Fox leaves Michigan for Chicago, hoping to find his ex-girlfriend, Rita—now another man’s wife. Chicago isn’t a town that takes kindly to strangers, and Billy finds himself barely scraping by, working odd jobs and living in squalor among convicts and other men that the city hasn’t spit out just yet.
A chance encounter lands him a job with Harry Strummer, the streetwise owner of the Peerless Detective Agency. At Harry's oddball agency, Billy hones his skills, learning how to stake out a mark, find a bug, and spot a tail. Odd life lessons and unexpected romance come his way. But as he searches for Rita, an even bigger mystery comes along, one that puts Harry, and Billy with him, in the crosshairs.
This punchy, spellbinding noir spins a web that will catch readers and hold them captive to the final page, when we learn that Billy’s Chicago is a town where nothing is ever truly left up to chance.
- GenresMystery
302 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2015
8 people are currently reading
277 people want to read
About the author
Michael Raleigh
13 books21 followersMichael Raleigh is the author of eleven novels. His novel POE STREET (Level Best Books) will come out in March. His most recent book is MURDER IN THE SUMMER OF LOVE (Coffeetown Press), 2021. Previous books include PEERLESS DETECTIVE, 2015 (Diversion Books), THE CONJURER'S BOY, 2013 (Harvard Square Editions), IN THE CASTLE OF THE FLYNNS (Sourcebooks 2002, reprinted 2012) THE BLUE MOON CIRCUS (Sourcebooks 2003) and the five Paul Whelan mysteries (DEATH IN UPTOWN, A BODY IN BELMONT HARBOR, THE MAXWELL STREET BLUES, A KILLER ON ARGYLE STREET, AND THE RIVERVIEW MURDERS, all originally published by St. Martin's Press and re-released by Diversion Books in February 2015). The Riverview Murders won the first Eugene Izzi Award. He has received four Illinois Arts Council Grants for fiction.
Along the way to becoming a novelist, Michael worked in a bank, tended bar for many years, operated a punch press in a factory, made microfiche, ran an office for the City of Chicago's anti-poverty program, wrote grants for the Salvation Army, and taught English and Chicago History at Truman College. He currently teaches freshman writing for DePaul University's Honors Program and First Year Writing Program.
Michael is married to Katherine and has three children, Sean, Peter, and Caitlin.
Along the way to becoming a novelist, Michael worked in a bank, tended bar for many years, operated a punch press in a factory, made microfiche, ran an office for the City of Chicago's anti-poverty program, wrote grants for the Salvation Army, and taught English and Chicago History at Truman College. He currently teaches freshman writing for DePaul University's Honors Program and First Year Writing Program.
Michael is married to Katherine and has three children, Sean, Peter, and Caitlin.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 7, 2017
I wish this had been a better book. It had many of the elements that make up a good tale: interesting location, characters searching for personal fulfillment, romance, action, but ultimately, the writing sunk the good ship story telling.
It didn’t happen right away. Young Billy Fox returns home after a stint in the army to Lansing Michigan where his aunt Josephine lives. He spends time there helping her take care of her house and helping her take care of herself. Theirs is a loving and realistic relationship. Billy knows, however that this is temporary, for he can’t get his old girl out of his mind. She has left home to start anew in the big city of Chicago and Billy leaves to try and find her, walking the streets of the city, down and out, picking up day jobs until he meets another character, Harry Strummer, the owner of the Peerless Detective Agency.
Here the story begins to take on an artificial tone. It’s the old-fashioned noir-ish detective taking on the young protégé and now most of the function of Billy as a character is to be the foil of this worldly-wise, speechifying mentor. There’s tons of cases and many random clients described and this serves as a means for the author to shoe-horn much Chicago history and many historic locations. And oh, the looking, watching, giving/shooting/flashing of looks, glances, glares and stares! Over fifty of such instances, (and this is after page 75 when it finally got to me and I began counting them!) They are modified with adjectives, but essentially the same phrase, at times appearing as close together as the very next sentence.
Billy has lots of “odd” feelings/impressions and things strike him as “odd” all the time. He understands/understood things instead of knowing/knew. (I realize some authors believe this “knowing” is against the rules in certain points of views, but when the use of this word is scrupulously avoided, it begins to stick out to the reader.) Another sore-thumb is the way the author mentions last names when it is totally unnecessary to do so, perhaps as a means to emphasize how much what is going on affects the character, but it does not work for the reader who by now knows all the last names of important characters.
There’s a reason that Harry is acting as a mentor to Billy. His aunt, who turns out to be his grandmother, knows Harry and has asked him to look out for the lad. This does soften the impression that Harry’s wisdom is over-the-top. The ending is satisfying. (Almost no one “gives looks,” etc., although there is one instance in the last few pages.)
One last thing that bothered me was having Billy’s internal thoughts always appear in italics. This is something writers do, but I find it unnecessary because I “understand” that these are his internal thoughts. After a while, this too becomes something that strikes readers as “odd.”
Billy deserved to have a more nuanced tale. I would have enjoyed this novel much more if the tone established in the beginning had been followed to the end.
It didn’t happen right away. Young Billy Fox returns home after a stint in the army to Lansing Michigan where his aunt Josephine lives. He spends time there helping her take care of her house and helping her take care of herself. Theirs is a loving and realistic relationship. Billy knows, however that this is temporary, for he can’t get his old girl out of his mind. She has left home to start anew in the big city of Chicago and Billy leaves to try and find her, walking the streets of the city, down and out, picking up day jobs until he meets another character, Harry Strummer, the owner of the Peerless Detective Agency.
Here the story begins to take on an artificial tone. It’s the old-fashioned noir-ish detective taking on the young protégé and now most of the function of Billy as a character is to be the foil of this worldly-wise, speechifying mentor. There’s tons of cases and many random clients described and this serves as a means for the author to shoe-horn much Chicago history and many historic locations. And oh, the looking, watching, giving/shooting/flashing of looks, glances, glares and stares! Over fifty of such instances, (and this is after page 75 when it finally got to me and I began counting them!) They are modified with adjectives, but essentially the same phrase, at times appearing as close together as the very next sentence.
Billy has lots of “odd” feelings/impressions and things strike him as “odd” all the time. He understands/understood things instead of knowing/knew. (I realize some authors believe this “knowing” is against the rules in certain points of views, but when the use of this word is scrupulously avoided, it begins to stick out to the reader.) Another sore-thumb is the way the author mentions last names when it is totally unnecessary to do so, perhaps as a means to emphasize how much what is going on affects the character, but it does not work for the reader who by now knows all the last names of important characters.
There’s a reason that Harry is acting as a mentor to Billy. His aunt, who turns out to be his grandmother, knows Harry and has asked him to look out for the lad. This does soften the impression that Harry’s wisdom is over-the-top. The ending is satisfying. (Almost no one “gives looks,” etc., although there is one instance in the last few pages.)
One last thing that bothered me was having Billy’s internal thoughts always appear in italics. This is something writers do, but I find it unnecessary because I “understand” that these are his internal thoughts. After a while, this too becomes something that strikes readers as “odd.”
Billy deserved to have a more nuanced tale. I would have enjoyed this novel much more if the tone established in the beginning had been followed to the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2018
A coming of age novel structured around the mystery plot of a young man coming to Chicago to find his lost love. Billy Fox learns the detective business from a man whom he believes is rewarding him for an act of honesty. The man seeks woman mystery is soon eclipsed by the mysteries lying behind the real relationships between the characters and Billy Fox's own relationship with himself. Raleigh skillfully handles the coming of age theme by infusing it with equal parts action, humor and heart. He never becomes maudlin or sentimental and Raleigh, as he does with the Paul Whelan series of books, makes Chicago a living, breathing organism, almost as much a character in the book as the human players. The Paul Whelan books and this book will be enjoyed by anyone who likes a lot of heart in their detective protagonists, an element that emerges from the actions of the characters and not by the characters or author telling us that they care.
February 9, 2020
Really well done start to crime series. Coming of age story mixed in with some "cases" and scenarios. Intriguing set of characters that make Chicago of the 70s come alive.
May 20, 2022
4-4.5 stars
June 6, 2022
This is just not a very good book. I keep picking up Raleigh books with the hopes that it will be as good as his Blue Moon Circus - one of my favorite books - but it’s just not very good.
July 1, 2015
I was intrigued by the description of this book on Netgalley because of its Chicago setting and its noir feel and I was not disappointed. It turns out the Michael Raleigh is not only a Chicagoan but has already created another mystery series set in Chicago with titles like Death in Uptown and A Body in Belmont Harbor, all featuring detective Paul Whelan (which I will be checking out next).
I don’t know if Peerless Detective is a standalone or the beginning of a new series but my guess is the latter. It tells the story of Billy Fox, who spends five years post-military service (just missed Vietnam) wandering aimlessly but finally returns home to Lansing, Michigan to discover that Rita, the girl he left behind, has not only married and had a child but has left her husband to escape to the big bad city of Chicago. After a brief stay with his Aunt Jo, a family friend, Billy heads to Chicago with the hazy idea of finding Rita and building a new life with her.
However, as soon as he gets off the Greyhound bus, Billy realizes that Chicago is bigger and more dangerous than he imagined and tracking down one person in this city of several million is not going to be easy. Yet, Billy is determined. He begins to explore the city and look for a way to support himself. He finds a cheap room in Uptown, takes on some odd jobs, and begins to walk the city. A few weeks in, a chance encounter connects Billy with Harry Strummer, the middle-aged owner of a detective agency, and soon Billy has a job and a small community of support—including the other employees of the agency—Leo, a former cop, and Doris, the office manager. Harry Strummer is Sherlock Holmes with people skills and he begins to teach Billy to really look at the world around him—to see the stories beneath the stories. Also, the jobs Harry gives Billy to do take him out into various parts of the city—giving him more chances to spot Rita.
Raleigh does a good job of evoking the gritty feel of Chicago in the late 70’s—especially how it might seem to an outsider from a smaller town. Though the setting is noir-ish, the characters aren’t; Billy has issues but isn’t a dark and tortured anti-hero, which also gives the book a slightly old-fashioned feel. This is definitely not the world of George Pelecanos (who has focused on DC in the same time period) but that’s okay. This was a solid beginning to what I hope is a series because I’d like to see where life takes Billy in the 1980’s.
I don’t know if Peerless Detective is a standalone or the beginning of a new series but my guess is the latter. It tells the story of Billy Fox, who spends five years post-military service (just missed Vietnam) wandering aimlessly but finally returns home to Lansing, Michigan to discover that Rita, the girl he left behind, has not only married and had a child but has left her husband to escape to the big bad city of Chicago. After a brief stay with his Aunt Jo, a family friend, Billy heads to Chicago with the hazy idea of finding Rita and building a new life with her.
However, as soon as he gets off the Greyhound bus, Billy realizes that Chicago is bigger and more dangerous than he imagined and tracking down one person in this city of several million is not going to be easy. Yet, Billy is determined. He begins to explore the city and look for a way to support himself. He finds a cheap room in Uptown, takes on some odd jobs, and begins to walk the city. A few weeks in, a chance encounter connects Billy with Harry Strummer, the middle-aged owner of a detective agency, and soon Billy has a job and a small community of support—including the other employees of the agency—Leo, a former cop, and Doris, the office manager. Harry Strummer is Sherlock Holmes with people skills and he begins to teach Billy to really look at the world around him—to see the stories beneath the stories. Also, the jobs Harry gives Billy to do take him out into various parts of the city—giving him more chances to spot Rita.
Raleigh does a good job of evoking the gritty feel of Chicago in the late 70’s—especially how it might seem to an outsider from a smaller town. Though the setting is noir-ish, the characters aren’t; Billy has issues but isn’t a dark and tortured anti-hero, which also gives the book a slightly old-fashioned feel. This is definitely not the world of George Pelecanos (who has focused on DC in the same time period) but that’s okay. This was a solid beginning to what I hope is a series because I’d like to see where life takes Billy in the 1980’s.
July 15, 2015
This was my first book by Michael Raleigh and I have to say he will become one of my favorite authors. His Billy Fox character starts out aimless and in search of his old girlfriend who dumped him 5 years ago but he has now found out she has left her husband and is hiding in Chicago IL with her child. He goes there to try and find her and possibly win her back and start a new life. Along the way he finds a job as an apprentice to a detective in the Peerless Detective Agency and finds that under the tutelage of Harry the owner he is pretty good at this job. He makes friends and attempts to start a new relationship but he also discovers maybe his life was not as it seems and he was looking in the wrong place for his place to home. I hope Michael Raleigh has more adventures in store for his Billy Fox character.
February 8, 2016
Could not put it down. With wonderful character development, the reader feels an almost immediate connection to each of the characters. A bit of a "Sherlock Holmes" feel, there are multiple stories within the story that keep you engaged all the way to the end. Chicago is also it's own character throughout the novel. You uncover details about the city and it is personality just as much as you do the characters. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a great noir/mystery novel.
August 7, 2016
A cab driver recommended this novel, which is by a Chicago author, and his good opinion was echoed by the clerks at a local independent bookstore. I am grateful for the tip! This is a character-driven detective novel set in Chicago in 1977. The atmosphere is rich, the pace is leisurely, and the characters are more believable and detailed (not shallow archetypes) than you might expect from the genre. It's a book you can really live in, a very satisfying read!
October 24, 2015
This is straight realism, and although it's pretty noir-ish, I wouldn't probably put it in the mystery genre. It's literary fiction peopled with detectives and genre themes. I really enjoyed it. If you are looking for a murder mystery, this isn't it, but the characters are very well drawn, and Raleigh's depictions of Chicago are as wonderful as ever.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews