The Man in the Crooked Hat

by Harry Dolan

"A new master mystery writer emerges."--Forbes Magazine

One cryptic clue leads a desperate man into a labyrinthine puzzle of murder in the electrifying new novel from national bestselling author Harry Dolan.

There's a killer, and he wears a crooked hat.

Private investigator Jack Pellum has spent two years searching for the man who he believes murdered his wife--a man he last saw wearing a peacoat and a fedora. Months of posting fliers and combing through crime records yield no leads. Then a local writer commits suicide, and he leaves a bewildering message that may be the first breadcrumb in a winding trail of unsolved murders . . .

Michael Underhill is a philosophical man preoccupied by what-ifs and could-have-beens, but his life is finally coming together. He has a sweet and beautiful girlfriend, and together they're building their future home. Nothing will go wrong, not if Underhill has anything to say about it. The problem is, Underhill has a dark and secret past, and it's coming back to haunt him.

These two men are inexorably drawn together in a mystery where there is far more than meets the eye, and nothing can be taken for granted. Filled with devious reversals and razor-sharp tension, The Man in the Crooked Hat is a masterwork from "one of America's best new crime writers" (Lansing State Journal).

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

355 pages, Hardcover

First published November 28, 2017

About the author

HARRY DOLAN is the author of the mystery/suspense novels BAD THINGS HAPPEN, VERY BAD MEN, THE LAST DEAD GIRL, THE MAN IN THE CROOKED HAT, and THE GOOD KILLER. His new novel DON'T TURN AROUND is out now from Grove Atlantic. He graduated from Colgate University, where he majored in philosophy and studied fiction-writing with the novelist Frederick Busch. A native of Rome, New York, he now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I read by this author.

And...He used a technique I have not seen with many authors…

He gave us the identity of the murderer in the first chapter. By name.

Now... What will it take for the other characters to figure this out?

And... For us, the readers…

To know why he killed the people he did.

Because…Isn’t that important to us?

So... This becomes the intricate puzzle created through the author’s writing!

Fast-paced, excellent plotting, interesting characters, many twists and turns. Give this one a try mystery readers.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't like serial killer books where the excuse for the murders is that the serial killer is "crazy", so I was relieved to find that this isn't one of those stories. Set in Detroit, Jack Pellum is an ex-cop whose wife Olivia was murdered. The reader, but not Pellum, knows from the first chapter that Olivia's murderer was Michael Underhill. The story is a search for the reason behind that murder. Pellum is now spending most of his time putting up flyers searching for a man in a crooked hat who he suspects is the killer. His suspicions lead him to several other crimes that might be linked to the man in the crooked hat.

There is a pretty high body count in this book, but by the end each killing had been logically explained. Underhill has an interesting back story and I understood perfectly why his first murder was committed. I even agreed with him. Pellum is also an interesting, obsessed character and a good detective. I can see him continuing in other books if the author decides to make this into a series. I had never heard of this author before but, since I liked the writing style and the twisty plotting of this book, I will probably read more by him.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced, intricate plotting, interesting characters, many twists and turns. For me, the only detractions were a few too many serendipitous occurrences and twists near the end.

[David Putnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry Dolan is one on my favorites. This one is not as strong as the other books even so I liked it a great deal and recommend it. I don't know why Dolan isn't more well known.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was only ok for me at times, and other times I was hooked.
I didn't feel a connection with the protagonist.

[Luanne Ollivier · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Man in the Crooked Hat is the latest book from Harry Dolan. This was a first read of this author for me, but it will certainly not be the last! Dolan's writing is clever, his plotting serpentine and his characters intriguing, making for an addictive read.

Jack Pellum is a former police detective. When his wife is murdered, Jack goes off the rails. The case remains unsolved after two years, but there is a clue that Jack is sure will lead him to the killer. The man wears a crooked hat. A recent murder finally lends credence to Jack's belief. The man with the hat is also sighted at this latest scene.....

Jack is a great character, well fleshed out in both personality and personally. I liked his voice. Dolan gives him snappy dialogue, but also an introspective internal look at grief, loss and love. Jack is juxtaposed with Michael Underhill. Yes, we know the name of the killer and he too has a voice. A frightening one, as he can justify everything he's doing and has done. "This is as much on you as it is on me. I'm not going to feel bad about this." We get to see inside Underhill's personal life as well.

The plotting of The Man in the Crooked Hat does not follow a straightforward path - instead it is, well, crooked. We know who the killer is - or do we? Dolan's plotting is delightfully complex, with minuscule clues that need to be connected. A clever cat and mouse game.

I really enjoyed this decidedly different mystery.

[Gatorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another terrific mystery from Dolan about a former police officer on an obsessive search for the man who murdered his wife, who he believes he saw a few days before the murder wearing a hat. His search brings him into contact with many interesting characters who lead him to believe the man may have killed several others over a period of years. Dolan writes with the best of them, making each character come to life and play a vital, if unknowing, part of the story. He's got the whole noir thing down pat. The plot moves along effortlessly and the mystery never lags, leading to a final confrontation that brings the whole thing full circle. Dolan has become one of my favorite authors. If you haven't read any of his books, it's time to start. 4.5 stars. Highly recommended.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a strange, quirky book. This is the first book I have read by this author. My rating was a three, but in the end I raised it to a four, simply because it kept my interest. You know from page one who the murderer is, but you don't find out the why's until late in the book.
I may try another book from this author in the future.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meandering tale that takes it's time in the telling. Slowly the clues add up as the story moves along. A big cast of characters/bodies along the way. No who done it here. We know from the beginning "who", we just have to wait to see how and why as the mystery unfolds. Interesting read.

[Midwest Geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although most users classify this as a mystery, we readers find out in the first chapter that the killer is Michael Underhill, whose victim in that chapter is the wife of the MC, Jack Pellum. Jack is a former detective who is obsessed with finding out who killed his wife about three years earlier. The only mystery for the reader is WHY he killed her, but do I care? I generally love mysteries but not pure thrillers, and among the genre, I am tired of reading about serial killers. However, this differs from the usual thriller trope, in that it is less of an adventure and action story and more like a police-prodedural investigation. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed this standalone story, which was well-written and suspenseful.

Structurally, this reminds me of Very Bad Men, the other book by this author that I read several years ago. Like that story, this book spans a long time and involves so many characters that it is helpful to write down the names of various people to remind yourself who they were when mentioned later. I wonder whether all his plots proceed in this way. I'll have to wait until I've read The Last Dead Girl, which apparently is a prequel to the David Loogan series.


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[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Man In The Crooked Hat
By
Harry Dolan




What it's all about...

Jack Pellum is a tortured man. His wife has been murdered. He has one goal. That goal is to find the man in the crooked hat...that’s the man who murdered his wife. Matters are complicated because Jack is a former policeman. Jack’s father is a powerful judge with good intentions for his son. He interferes with Jack’s mission. Jack posts flyers, investigates, talks to people...to get what he wants...finding the man with the crooked hat.

Why I wanted to read it...

I wanted to read this book mostly because of the author. I loved The Last Dead Girl...another amazing book written by him.

What made me truly enjoy this book...

Complexity of plot as well as complex damaged characters and skillful edgy writing made this book irresistible. It is a smoothly written book. It’s reveal is slow and enticing. Jack is relentless in his pursuit of this murdering man. And yet...as the murdering man reveals bits and pieces of himself...I was caught up in the idea that he had some sliver of good within him. But...did he? Hmmm...

Why you should read it, too...

Readers who love really good mysteries...complex and unputdownable...will love this author’s book.

I received an advance reader’s copy from the publisher through Edelweiss and Amazon in exchange for my honest review.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Pellum, a former police officer and currently doing private investigative work, has a personal stake in his latest case. His wife was murdered when she was out doing her job, taking photos. When Jack looks into the case, he realizes that the killer is probably connected to a prior murder which took place 20 years before. The most noticeable thing about this killer is that he often wears a either a ball cap or a fedora, which is crooked. As Jack keeps going over law enforcement files, he finds that several young teenage boys had disappeared around the same time that the 20 year old murder occurred. However, much to everyone's surprise, they are not connected. Since Jack's father is a well respected judge, he is able to access the police reports and files on all the incidents. Deep into his investigation, he realizes that the man with the crooked hat has murdered other people in addition to his wife. All he has to do his try and fit the pieces of this strange puzzle together. And it is definitely a strange set of events that connects all the murders related to the man in the crooked hat. This book has a very convoluted plot and I thought it was a great story. The characters in the story are very well depicted by the author, down to each one's philosophy of life. The book is quite different from the other Dolan books, the David Loogan series.

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dolan's last book really knocked it out of the park so I had high expectations for this one, but I found this one to be just your average competent mystery. Relies too heavily on the tropes I like to see subverted (man obsessed with wife's death, man whose every hunch is always correct, etc.) and the plot itself didn't do anything particularly novel.

[Eric Kalenze · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a damned good mystery/thriller. My to-read list now has a lot more Harry Dolan on it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read books before by Harry Dolan and enjoyed them - he is a very talented, assured writer. The Man in the Crooked Hat was another well-written addition to his repertoire. An added bonus: the story should appeal to readers who are not strictly mystery fans, as there was more depth and heft to the story than say, a typical thriller or action-based mystery. Another reviewer included that the book was more 'literary' and I'd agree with that.

The only reason I gave the book 3 instead of 4 stars is I'm not overly fond of books that go back and forth between different narratives and characters - although I can understand why the book was laid out in this fashion. I wouldn't let this stop anyone from reading this book however - and to try other books written by Mr. Dolan as well.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review - thank you to the publisher and Goodreads for providing me with this opportunity.

[Gloria Feit · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the publisher: Jack Pellum is a Detroit detective who left the force after his wife was murdered in a random attack. But Jack never bought that theory, and the case was never solved. Eighteen months later, Jack is working as a part-time private investigator while continuing the hunt for an elusive person of interest in his wife’s murder: a man in a fedora who Jack is convinced could break open the case. When a local writer’s cryptic suicide note suggests the man in the fedora actually exists, Jack picks up the thread he’s certain will lead him to his wife’s killer. He never imagined it would also unravel twenty years of secrets and unsolved crimes or make him the target of a psychopath trying to erase his own past.

In the early pages of the book, Jack meets Paul Rook, 26 years old, whose mother was killed nine years earlier, and who shares a similar obsession, trying to find a man in a fedora who he thinks killed his mother. When Jack asks him what he thinks the man’s motives are, the reply he receives is “’He kills people. He doesn’t have motives.’ He tells Paul that he has been doing his own sleuthing, and that he’s ‘found sightings of him. Some of them go back years. The earliest one I’ve found was twenty years ago. It happened about thirty miles from here, in a town called Belleville. I think the man in the hat got his start there’ . . . Paul had told him about more than a dozen murders - - each one with a witness who claimed to have seen a man in a hat. The sightings took place at different times, sometimes on the day of the murder, sometimes in the days before. Never at the scene of the crime. ” Jack then is told about another boy who was killed, about a month later, in a town six or seven miles from the scene of that murder.

Jack is relentless in his search, and at times I must admit it became a bit too much of a slog for this reader. But the tension and the suspense mount, and almost before one realizes it one is caught up in the investigation almost as much as its protagonist. In the very first pages of the book we meet Michael Underhill. It is over 70 pages later before we meet him again. But surprisingly, that doesn’t lessen the suspense. Even when we learn “who,” the “how” and “why” are absorbing, and the resolution is very satisfying. The novel is highly recommended.

[Michael L Wilkerson (Papa Gray Wolf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harry Dolan has to be the best author of crime and mysteries you've never heard of. Well, until I came across one of his books, possibly through The Mystery Guild. I'm not sure which one I read first but it was good; very, very good, and then I read the next two, and now this, The Man In The Crooked Hat.

Dolan didn't miss a beat with this book and in fact of the four I've now read this may be the best. Just excellent.

Jack Pellum is the son of a federal judge, an ex detective, a currently licensed private detective and a man with a singular purpose in life; to find the man in the crooked hat who Jack thinks murdered his wife and to not go to dinner with his mother and father. (Read the book to understand the reference.)

Along the way he is instrumental in solving a few other homicides but remains frustrated at solving the one closest to him. But he thinks he's getting close, and so too, does the man in the crooked hat. . . thinks Jack is getting close that is.

Twists and turns galore but with a plot that is easy to follow. Friends, companions, lovers, people that want to do harm to Jack fill this novel but not so many that you can't keep track.

If, like me, you haven't come across Harry Dolan and his works (until I got lucky) then follow the signs to your nearest bookstore, brick and mortar or virtual; it doesn't matter. Get this book and, if you agree with my assessment of Dolan, buy the previous 3 works and then wait for The Good Killer coming out in February. Any mystery lover should feel well rewarded once they read anything by Dolan. He's that good. Well; that's my opinion and that opinion is worth everything you're paying for it.

[Lisa Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first experience with Harry Dolan, and I’m definitely going to look into more! Jack Pellum was an interesting character, searching for the man who killed his wife. The reader knows from the beginning who the killer is, though we don’t know the motive. Jack looks into other murders around the area, wondering if perhaps they’re related and if he’ll find the man in the crooked hat if he could just solve them. Jack, and the reader with him, follows many twists and turns on the road to the man in the crooked hat. The characters were interesting and well developed. I liked the way the book bounces from Jack and his search to Michael and his “normal” life. The book was very engaging and I enjoyed it a great deal. I’d definitely recommend his book!

Thanks to Penguin’s First to Read program for an advanced copy of this book.

[Judith Shadford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dolan, apparently, is noted for his intricate plotting. My instinct says "thriller" following with "never mind". But fortunately, Man in the Crooked Hat has changed my mind, at least in the case of Dolan. Highly intricate. Lots of characters. But the pace is measured until the pace itself heightens the tension. Jack Pellum, the protagonist, former cop, with a murdered wife. A father that keeps trying to fix Jack's life and has the money and political connections to do just that. The murderer at work in the first chapter, by name. As the characters move in and out of focus, they do so with the slightest tinge of unreliability. Or with a genuine ability to love. Or not, when love is expected.

Well done. Will read more Dolan.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mystery in which the obsessive is the protagonist unwilling to return to his life after his wife is found murdered. A police detective, he only wants to work one case, his dead wife’s, so that’s what he does as he leaves everything and everyone else behind. The reader is introduced to the killer right away but how he will be caught and what leads him towards his victims, those issues drive the tale and keep the pages turning. It’s a hard book to put down. I received my copy from Penguin’s First to Read Program.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Pellum is a broken man. Two years ago, he saw a man in a crooked hat watching his wife. The next day she was murdered.

He's left his job as a police detective to concentrate solely on finding his wife's murderer. He has been posting hundreds of flyers with a vague drawing of the suspect.

But now he has stumbled across others who think they saw a man in a crooked hat before other murders.

Is there a serial killer on the loose or are none of the crimes related?

Harry Dolan writes a great book. This one is no exception.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Pellum is a very interesting character who is obsessed with finding the man who murdered his wife and is determined to solve the mystery. As we follow Jack, there are many twists and turns along the path and many events that rely on one another to lead him to the end. I am looking forward to reading another book by Harry Dolan. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twisty and turning plot kept me up many a night when I really should have been enjoying my beauty sleep! Harry Dolan is a writer worth spending time with. I eagerly await his next book! Do your self a favor and run out and get this one!

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts were really good. But I completely lost interest after awhile and skimmed the last third. (The female characters were cardboard cutouts. Had absolutely no idea why Jack was with Kim. )

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kinda wish I'd skipped this one. I sometimes forget how... er... unliterary these pop novels are. Sure, they make you curious and want to keep reading (so it was good for entertainment), but I wasn't exactly enriched by this book. In fact, I felt like the only mystery about this book was that the author had created a series-of-events-that-lead-to-a-murder and then slowly revealed pieces of the timeline to the reader.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

3+

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jack Pellum used to be a Detroit police detective, until his wife was murdered. In the two years since her death he has been trying to find her killer and find himself. He believes he had seen “the killer” near his apartment days before his wife was killed and he spends his time posting notices with a sketch of a man in a crooked hat. There are an assortment of characters that come and go as well as a list of other murders that may or may or may not have been committed by the same person. Even though the murderer is revealed to the reader early on, the story is well written and fast paced.

[Kathe Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this a four because it was written well. The story kept you interested all the way through and even though I didn’t like the beginning where he gives us the name of the killer, I went with it.
I just happen to be browsing the shelves at my local library and this jumped out at me. Like the others who have written reviews here I will check out his other books because I am a mystery girl.

[Carolyn Feltus-atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty light read considering it was about a serial killer. Even though you know who it is in the first chapter it is still kind of a surprise ending.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

New author to me and I was intrigued by the book’s description. Unfortunately the plot was somewhat contrived and not very interesting.