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Harry Stoner Mystery #1
The Lime Pit
An old man enlists the help of Harry Stoner when the sixteen-year-old girl who was living with him disappears, and the perplexing case turns into a nightmare of sexual depravity and terrifying violence
245 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
3 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Valin
38 books16 followersJonathan Valin is an American mystery author best known for the Harry Stoner detective series. He won the Shamus Award for best mystery novel of 1989. After writing eleven Harry Stoner novels over a 14-year period, he took a break from mystery writing to help found Fi, a magazine of music criticism. He now works as an editor and reviewer for magazines.
He is an alumnus of the University of Chicago and lived there for many years.
He is an alumnus of the University of Chicago and lived there for many years.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
June 17, 2020
It is easy to fall in love with a mystery writer who writes books about your old home town, so its not hard to explain why I, being a Cincinnati boy, am a fan of Jonathan Valin.
Valin is the creator of Harry Stoner, a private detective who travels down the mean streets of Cincinnati, Ohio. Valin wrote eleven Harry Stoner novels in the ‘80’s and 90’s, and then—worried that he had started to repeat himself—stopped writing fiction entirely, devoting himself to music journalism. I’ve kept hoping through the years that one day he would write another Harry Stoner, but it has been almost a quarter of a century since the last one, and I’m beginning to to give up hope.
Still, I’m thankful for what we’ve got, for—if memory serve—those eleven Stoner adventures we do have are enough to put Harry in the ranks of the great unsung American detectives. He’s as literate as Spenser, as moral Marlowe, as compassionate as Lew Archer, and yet he’s got a nasty streak too, a disturbing attraction to violence.
In this, Stoner’s first adventure, Harry is hired by old man Hugo Cratz to find sixteen-year-old runaway Cindy Ann. Hugo is convinced that Cindy hasn’t just run off, that something has happened to her. Harry begins by talking to Hugo’s neighbors, the Jellicoes, but soon must take a trip across the Ohio to Newport, Kentucky, the Mister Hyde city to Cincinnati’s Dr. Jekyll, that sinkhole of corruption and crime. Stoney is sure something bad happened to Cindy Ann, and begins to wonder . . . is the girl still alive?
After all these years, I was pleased to find that The Lime Pit is as good as I remembered. The prose is solid, substantial; the characterizations—particularly of the Newport gangsters—is vivid and convincing; the evocation of the Queen City is masterful; and the detective himself is a convincing human human being and a significant moral force.
In fact, I liked this book so much I think I’ll read the other ten again too. And who knows—as they say, hope springs eternal—maybe by the time I get done with the eleven, Valin will have published another. Is an even dozen too much to ask?
July 3, 2019
Back in the day Jonathan Valin was hailed as among the best of the present day (the 80's) private-eye writers. Critics have praised Valin as the second coming of Chandler, however I would take that with a grain or two of salt.
Don't judge this book by the first chapter, as it is somewhat overwritten. Once begun it’s easy to find yourself vicariously trapped in the grimier depths of Cincinnati’s dingier sections, uncovering with private eye Stoner a hidden underground world of predatory sex and blood seeking violence.
In the book Stoner is hired by a dirty old man whose 16-year-old living companion has run away. He has pictures of her, of the kind not sold under counters, but in back rooms only. Harry fears the worst.
The activities taking place in The "Lime Pit" may not always be wholly appetizing, but they are morbidly fascinating.
Don't judge this book by the first chapter, as it is somewhat overwritten. Once begun it’s easy to find yourself vicariously trapped in the grimier depths of Cincinnati’s dingier sections, uncovering with private eye Stoner a hidden underground world of predatory sex and blood seeking violence.
In the book Stoner is hired by a dirty old man whose 16-year-old living companion has run away. He has pictures of her, of the kind not sold under counters, but in back rooms only. Harry fears the worst.
The activities taking place in The "Lime Pit" may not always be wholly appetizing, but they are morbidly fascinating.
June 22, 2013
cd: Who are your writing influences?
Valin: Well, I really don't have any except maybe Dashiell Hammett.
cd: Who did you read when you were young?
Valin: Books which were assigned to me for school projects.
cd: In school, what were your interests?
Valin: Not much of anything except getting through.
cd: Why didn't you continue the Harry Stoner series since it was so popular?
Valin: He got boring to me.
cd: You haven't written a book since the last Stoner in the series Missing which was published in 1995. So what are you doing now and do you intend to write another book, Harry Stoner or a standalone?
Valin: I edit a magazine on music and more importantly, I get a regular paycheck. None of this feast or famine for me. I'm also into photography. Another book? I don't know.
cd: Thank you, Mr. Valin for your time.
Jonathan Valin - No date
********
That poor interviewer. Oh, that would be me. Poor me. I know because I've interviewed people who gave clip answers which give little to follow-up on. So what to do? Wing it. Valin has already gone on record that he's boring, much like his creation, Harry Stoner. (Which by the way, is not true. Nothing boring about Harry Stoner.)
With interviews, you have to take it as it comes and if Mr. Valin has nothing to say, well it turns out to be a boring interview. Have to give it to him though, he sure as hell knows how to write a book.
His writing style reminded me of what I call "the masters." (I'm hooked on them.)
I consider "the masters" to be those writers who wrote pulps and created, developed and even polished up some of the private eyes. These writers were responsible for creating noir, pulp fiction and the thriller genres (and sub-genres.) Probably leaving off a couple, they are in my mind, Dashiell Hammitt, Ross Macdonald and Raymond Chandler.
Definite Pulp Vibe Here
And Still Another
Then later going into the 1950's and 1960's, the characters evolved into Mickey Spillaine's Mike Hammer, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee and Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. All these protags have a moral compass which they explore internally and logically rationalize when making critical decisions.
Valin's writing reminds me of a very smooth combination of all the writers mentioned above. Although I was not able to find specifically where Valin said he had read them, and that they had influenced him, he simply had to have at some point in his early life.
Cover looking a bit like pulp
I got The Lime Pit from our local library and as an inter-library loan, the book came from the Florida State Library and was last checked out in October 2, 1995; almost 18 years ago. That was a long dry spell.
Looks Pulpy to Me - The Back of a Naked Woman
Valin's from the what I call, "the old school" of writing where the sentences are not complicated and not long. Adjectives are sparse, just like the writing...clean and crisp. And Valin's dialogue is short, clear and to the point.
His description of Cincinnati and northern Kentucky is uncluttered and gives the reader the ability to see the depressed areas, the porno movie theatres and the "invitation only" condo/mansions where all the action takes place. And in our mind, we know what they look like because Valin's described them to us.
(Cincinnati is located in southern Ohio, on the Ohio River, just across the Kentucky state line. Hummm, I guess I knew that. As an aside, that gives me many questions about the politics and general opinions of the native Cincinnatians.)
In my opinion, Valin is to Cincinnati as Chandler is to Los Angeles. They have the ability to describe their respective city with such clarity that you get the "feeling" for the area which translates to the characters.
For those of us on Goodreads who love a good storyline, this one was strong and believable if that's of importance to you. It was a great mystery, that picked some at your heartstrings.
It's amazing that Jonathan Valin, the author few have heard of, wrote this, as his first novel. I bet it was a hit immediately. He wrote 11 in the series, then it seems that he just dropped out of sight as an author and his character, Harry Stoner, well, he dropped out as well, of course.
Apparently today Valin has a strong interest in photography and music as editor of a music magazine. Here is his photography posted on a professional photographer Website: Valin.zenfolio
There is so little information on Valin, it's a shame. However, he lives on in this fine series of P.I. Harry Stoner. A loner, a man who stands tall for the children and those in need. Harry Stoner has a heart of gold, no hardness there.
As I mentioned in my status on this book, I can't recall who recommended this series but I sure want to thank them. They know my reading preferences and especially my penchant for characters such as Travis McGee and, oh, now Harry Stoner, P. I.
I wish Valin's interest in Harry Stoner would increase enough for another book besides the ones already published. I will keep coming back for more.
Valin: Well, I really don't have any except maybe Dashiell Hammett.
cd: Who did you read when you were young?
Valin: Books which were assigned to me for school projects.
cd: In school, what were your interests?
Valin: Not much of anything except getting through.
cd: Why didn't you continue the Harry Stoner series since it was so popular?
Valin: He got boring to me.
cd: You haven't written a book since the last Stoner in the series Missing which was published in 1995. So what are you doing now and do you intend to write another book, Harry Stoner or a standalone?
Valin: I edit a magazine on music and more importantly, I get a regular paycheck. None of this feast or famine for me. I'm also into photography. Another book? I don't know.
cd: Thank you, Mr. Valin for your time.
Jonathan Valin - No date
********
That poor interviewer. Oh, that would be me. Poor me. I know because I've interviewed people who gave clip answers which give little to follow-up on. So what to do? Wing it. Valin has already gone on record that he's boring, much like his creation, Harry Stoner. (Which by the way, is not true. Nothing boring about Harry Stoner.)
With interviews, you have to take it as it comes and if Mr. Valin has nothing to say, well it turns out to be a boring interview. Have to give it to him though, he sure as hell knows how to write a book.
His writing style reminded me of what I call "the masters." (I'm hooked on them.)
I consider "the masters" to be those writers who wrote pulps and created, developed and even polished up some of the private eyes. These writers were responsible for creating noir, pulp fiction and the thriller genres (and sub-genres.) Probably leaving off a couple, they are in my mind, Dashiell Hammitt, Ross Macdonald and Raymond Chandler.
Definite Pulp Vibe Here
And Still Another
Then later going into the 1950's and 1960's, the characters evolved into Mickey Spillaine's Mike Hammer, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee and Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. All these protags have a moral compass which they explore internally and logically rationalize when making critical decisions.
Valin's writing reminds me of a very smooth combination of all the writers mentioned above. Although I was not able to find specifically where Valin said he had read them, and that they had influenced him, he simply had to have at some point in his early life.
Cover looking a bit like pulp
I got The Lime Pit from our local library and as an inter-library loan, the book came from the Florida State Library and was last checked out in October 2, 1995; almost 18 years ago. That was a long dry spell.
Looks Pulpy to Me - The Back of a Naked Woman
Valin's from the what I call, "the old school" of writing where the sentences are not complicated and not long. Adjectives are sparse, just like the writing...clean and crisp. And Valin's dialogue is short, clear and to the point.
His description of Cincinnati and northern Kentucky is uncluttered and gives the reader the ability to see the depressed areas, the porno movie theatres and the "invitation only" condo/mansions where all the action takes place. And in our mind, we know what they look like because Valin's described them to us.
(Cincinnati is located in southern Ohio, on the Ohio River, just across the Kentucky state line. Hummm, I guess I knew that. As an aside, that gives me many questions about the politics and general opinions of the native Cincinnatians.)
In my opinion, Valin is to Cincinnati as Chandler is to Los Angeles. They have the ability to describe their respective city with such clarity that you get the "feeling" for the area which translates to the characters.
For those of us on Goodreads who love a good storyline, this one was strong and believable if that's of importance to you. It was a great mystery, that picked some at your heartstrings.
It's amazing that Jonathan Valin, the author few have heard of, wrote this, as his first novel. I bet it was a hit immediately. He wrote 11 in the series, then it seems that he just dropped out of sight as an author and his character, Harry Stoner, well, he dropped out as well, of course.
Apparently today Valin has a strong interest in photography and music as editor of a music magazine. Here is his photography posted on a professional photographer Website: Valin.zenfolio
There is so little information on Valin, it's a shame. However, he lives on in this fine series of P.I. Harry Stoner. A loner, a man who stands tall for the children and those in need. Harry Stoner has a heart of gold, no hardness there.
As I mentioned in my status on this book, I can't recall who recommended this series but I sure want to thank them. They know my reading preferences and especially my penchant for characters such as Travis McGee and, oh, now Harry Stoner, P. I.
I wish Valin's interest in Harry Stoner would increase enough for another book besides the ones already published. I will keep coming back for more.
June 10, 2024
Valin, of Cincinnati, is a magazine editor, best known for his critically-acclaimed Harry Stoner 11-volume private eye series set in Cincinnati and published between 1980 and 1995, consisting of The Lime Pit (1980), Final Notice (1980), Dead Letter (1981), Day of Wrath (1982), Natural Causes (1983), Life’s Work (1986), Fire Lake (1987), Extenuating Circumstances (1989), Second Chance (1991), The Music Lovers (1993), and Missing (1995).
Harry Stoner is a lone gunman type private eye who feels in some ways like he came out of another era. Stoner is tired, sardonic, and the world around him seems tired and dirty. The client here is an older man, Hugo Cratz, who whimpered in a weak feminine voice that something happened to his little girl Cindy Ann. Cratz appears to be not all there and probably unable to pay the bill, but Stoner takes the case, thinking he made a bundle on his last case and he could afford to be charitable. Stoner figures Cindy Ann was not Kratz’ daughter, granddaughter or any relation at all, probably a poor-white teenager from lower Vine who saw old Kratz as a stepping stone out of the tarboard shacks and who had gone on her merry way after bilking the old man out of a few Social Security checks. He figures Kratz was “just a very sentimental, very lonely, and very dirty old man.” Indeed, Stoner tells the reader that “Hugo Cratzs happen, although we don’t usually see them unless they’re selling newspapers in front of a rusted tarbarrel on a windy street corner.”
Nevertheless, Stoner, having perhaps nothing better to do, walked across the street as Cratz pointed him to the nearby couple’s house, where Kratz thought Cindy Ann had disappeared and walks into a world of darkness and greed and nastiness hiding in plain sight behind suburban walls. The couple is Laurie Jellicoe, who dressed tastefully out of Cardin, with a bland Farrah-Fawcett face and great mane of ash-blonde hair and her husband, Lance, a monster in blue jeans and cowboy boots, a square-jawed big chinned Texas boy whose first thought was to menace Stoner. Kratz claimed they were using Cindy Ann for their sex orgies and had found Polaroids to prove it after she disappeared.
Stoner traipses back and forth across the dirty underbelly of Cincinnati and the tawdry Newport, Kentucky across the river, running into odd men with the upturned mouths of rats. Stoner seems to realize that the world is darker than it first appear and that the girls on Elm Street in their bright summer dresses with the dreamy, vacant look in their eyes are often to those viewing them “like an erotic daydream out there on the blazing street, a predator’s dream of ripe and easy pickings, a world of Cindy Anns.”
Stoner represents that genre of jaded private eyes who walk those troubled streets for little monetary gain but knowing that someone has to do it. He has one glimpse of happiness though, the waitress Jo Riley at the Busy Bee who enchants him and holds his hand. The novel, the first one of nearly, but not quite, a dozen succeeds quite well in just about everything it sets out to do.
Harry Stoner is a lone gunman type private eye who feels in some ways like he came out of another era. Stoner is tired, sardonic, and the world around him seems tired and dirty. The client here is an older man, Hugo Cratz, who whimpered in a weak feminine voice that something happened to his little girl Cindy Ann. Cratz appears to be not all there and probably unable to pay the bill, but Stoner takes the case, thinking he made a bundle on his last case and he could afford to be charitable. Stoner figures Cindy Ann was not Kratz’ daughter, granddaughter or any relation at all, probably a poor-white teenager from lower Vine who saw old Kratz as a stepping stone out of the tarboard shacks and who had gone on her merry way after bilking the old man out of a few Social Security checks. He figures Kratz was “just a very sentimental, very lonely, and very dirty old man.” Indeed, Stoner tells the reader that “Hugo Cratzs happen, although we don’t usually see them unless they’re selling newspapers in front of a rusted tarbarrel on a windy street corner.”
Nevertheless, Stoner, having perhaps nothing better to do, walked across the street as Cratz pointed him to the nearby couple’s house, where Kratz thought Cindy Ann had disappeared and walks into a world of darkness and greed and nastiness hiding in plain sight behind suburban walls. The couple is Laurie Jellicoe, who dressed tastefully out of Cardin, with a bland Farrah-Fawcett face and great mane of ash-blonde hair and her husband, Lance, a monster in blue jeans and cowboy boots, a square-jawed big chinned Texas boy whose first thought was to menace Stoner. Kratz claimed they were using Cindy Ann for their sex orgies and had found Polaroids to prove it after she disappeared.
Stoner traipses back and forth across the dirty underbelly of Cincinnati and the tawdry Newport, Kentucky across the river, running into odd men with the upturned mouths of rats. Stoner seems to realize that the world is darker than it first appear and that the girls on Elm Street in their bright summer dresses with the dreamy, vacant look in their eyes are often to those viewing them “like an erotic daydream out there on the blazing street, a predator’s dream of ripe and easy pickings, a world of Cindy Anns.”
Stoner represents that genre of jaded private eyes who walk those troubled streets for little monetary gain but knowing that someone has to do it. He has one glimpse of happiness though, the waitress Jo Riley at the Busy Bee who enchants him and holds his hand. The novel, the first one of nearly, but not quite, a dozen succeeds quite well in just about everything it sets out to do.
March 17, 2012
Cincinnati P.I. Harry Stoner is hired by a retired vet to find Cindy Ann Evans, a troubled teenager who'd been rooming with him until very recently. His client sends Stoner over to talk to a couple suspicious neighbors, who'd befriended Cindy Ann before her sudden disappearance. He also provides Stoner with a couple of obscene Polaroids of Cindy Ann that she'd left behind. Stoner reluctantly takes the case, figuring the girl for a wayward vixen who'd gotten tired of the old man and blew town. He soon realizes that Cindy Ann was a victim of a vicious child porn ring, servicing the perverts of Cincinatti, both well-heeled and otherwise.
It's the first Harry Stoner novel, and even though it's a compelling story, the pace is slowed by Stoner's constant philosophical self-analysis. The world has some sick puppies in it, this we all know. Stoner's indignation doesn't need any explanation. But we get it anyway. That said, it does pick up the pace in the last third of the novel and comes to a harrowing conclusion. I'd give it four stars if there were a little less preaching to the choir here.
It's the first Harry Stoner novel, and even though it's a compelling story, the pace is slowed by Stoner's constant philosophical self-analysis. The world has some sick puppies in it, this we all know. Stoner's indignation doesn't need any explanation. But we get it anyway. That said, it does pick up the pace in the last third of the novel and comes to a harrowing conclusion. I'd give it four stars if there were a little less preaching to the choir here.
September 23, 2016
Inspired by Goodreads friend Col (please see his outstanding review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... )
I dug this one out of my library where it's been filed with 4 or 5 other entries in Valin's outstanding "Harry Stoner" series.
I bought each of those novels when they first came out in paperback from Avon - early 1980s.
"Harry Stoner" might be my favorite private eye character of that era.
I hadn't read this in nearly 30 years.
The novel is leisurely paced.
The first 45-50 pages were so slow I was afraid I was going to have to bail.
Pages are spent introducing characters and then providing those characters with particular personality quirks and tics.
Like Chandler's "Marlowe" or Macdonald's "Archer", in Valin's series the reader views the world and the people who populate it through "Harry Stoner's" eyes.
The novel really takes off around page 90 and increases in intensity and suspense.
When you reach the final 40 pages you'll feel like you've been strapped to a rocket.
The book has an intensely violent pay-off.
I recommend this excellent novel.
Read
February 14, 2024darkity dark dark dark neo-noir anent a cincinnati PI on the trail of a kentucky-fried jeffrey & ghislaine. excels in fine-grained portraits of people, places, & acts of violence. (one simile that shone in partic was describing the inhabitants of a hard-luck KY town as 'looking like a tan was something you had to afford.') only critique i'd rly level was the absence of a personality for harry. we know he served in 'nam & likes pretty women... that's about it. give the guy a favorite hat or food or a hobby or something!! maybe that comes into the picture in the sequels, which i do intend to peep
July 6, 2021
Cn. Rape, statutory rape, tragic homosexuality
Cincinnati’s not a town known for mysteries but Jonathan Valin does a good job bringing them alive here. I wish the story didn’t involve the beats it hit in the CN. Valin wants his series to be slightly different than the typical PI one but he regurgitates some tropes. Still, it was an engaging tale (again, minus the potential triggers) and while I wouldn’t go out of my way to read the next one, I wouldn’t say no either.
Cincinnati’s not a town known for mysteries but Jonathan Valin does a good job bringing them alive here. I wish the story didn’t involve the beats it hit in the CN. Valin wants his series to be slightly different than the typical PI one but he regurgitates some tropes. Still, it was an engaging tale (again, minus the potential triggers) and while I wouldn’t go out of my way to read the next one, I wouldn’t say no either.
July 3, 2013
Jonathan Valin was a new author for me, brought to my attention by one of my GR friends. Thank you, Cathy.
Some readers compare authors. John D. MacDonald to Robert B. Parker to Dashell Hammit, to Raymond Chandler. And I suppose that's logical as authors tend to lean on each other's style. I'm more character driven and tend think about what Spenser, McGee, or Elvis Cole might do in a given situation. I can now add Harry Stoner to that list.
I was impressed with the character created by Valin in his first Stoner novel. Enough action to keep the reader interested and enough introspection by Stoner to give insight into who he is as a person and as a P.I. Also, enough description of the Cincinnati area to make the reader feel right at home. That's always a plus for me even if I have never been to the area.
All in all a very nice introduction to a P.I. series. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of Valin's Stoner books.
Some readers compare authors. John D. MacDonald to Robert B. Parker to Dashell Hammit, to Raymond Chandler. And I suppose that's logical as authors tend to lean on each other's style. I'm more character driven and tend think about what Spenser, McGee, or Elvis Cole might do in a given situation. I can now add Harry Stoner to that list.
I was impressed with the character created by Valin in his first Stoner novel. Enough action to keep the reader interested and enough introspection by Stoner to give insight into who he is as a person and as a P.I. Also, enough description of the Cincinnati area to make the reader feel right at home. That's always a plus for me even if I have never been to the area.
All in all a very nice introduction to a P.I. series. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of Valin's Stoner books.
September 28, 2020
"I first read this about thirty years ago and I think at the time I borrowed some of his other books from the library. This features hard-boiled private eye, Harry Stoner, and is a good read but not as good as I had remembered." was what I wrote on 22 July 2012. I think that pretty much sums up how I felt about it this time around. I suspect the author was trying a little too hard to come up with a 1980s version of Chandler's Marlowe. (1 July 2016)
Having read this for the fifth time I think my earlier comments still stand. What is surprising is how little of the story I remembered given that I last read it only four years ago.
Having read this for the fifth time I think my earlier comments still stand. What is surprising is how little of the story I remembered given that I last read it only four years ago.
August 15, 2012
Recommended by Stuart Kaminsky for The Rap Sheet's One Book Project, a good source the next time you need something to read. Harold Stoner is a Cincinnati P.I. looking into the fate of a sixteen-year old runaway who has shown up in some nasty pictures. Even a nice staid town like Cincinnati has its seamy side... Kaminsky says Valin never got the credit he deserved for this well-written series.
June 25, 2015
The first Harry Stoner mystery *pub. 1980*
The hard-headed and soft hearted PI, knows his way around Cincinnati. With a good sense of place, and a very "pulp" feel...this was a good debut. Will be checking in with Harry in the future....since I've collected the whole series.:)
The hard-headed and soft hearted PI, knows his way around Cincinnati. With a good sense of place, and a very "pulp" feel...this was a good debut. Will be checking in with Harry in the future....since I've collected the whole series.:)
November 23, 2024
Solid PI novel, great sense of place, lots of gritty characters and that full ‘70s flavor when things get ugly. And they do get ugly! Will be reading more in the series.
August 10, 2012
Jonathan Valin is a great observational writer of both characters and places. In Harry Stone he created a multi-layered, complex and flawed character that one immediately identifies with and cares about, and the book is populated with a myriad of other memorable and well drawn characters. The pacing is good and the dialogue snappy and realistic, and the contextualisation is strong without being overbearing. I thought the first half of the book was excellent, but the story started to slip a bit in the second half losing a bit of coherence and realism. Without giving any spoilers, my feeling was that Stoner’s judgement becomes suspect and slightly out of character and I think the story could have been resolved more effectively. Otherwise, I thought The Lime Pit was a great read and Stoner is definitely a character I want to catch up with.
March 22, 2010
a good solid mystery, recommended by one of my co-workers. Seems to be currently out of print, but is likely to be in your local library. at least if your local library is in Ohio, since Valin (and his protagonist Harry Stoner) is a Cincinnati boy. (yup, said co-worker hails from Ohio as well -- thus his ability to recommend a mystery that my mother had never heard of. and let me tell you, that takes some doing.)
i can't say i'll be rabidly searching out the rest of this series. but then again, i did tear thru this in one night, which i haven't done with anything in a while, so it definitely deserves a fair number of snaps.
i can't say i'll be rabidly searching out the rest of this series. but then again, i did tear thru this in one night, which i haven't done with anything in a while, so it definitely deserves a fair number of snaps.
February 14, 2017
I listened to this audiobook. Harry Stoner is a typical hard-boiled private eye in Cincinnati. He is called by a tottering old man who wants to hire him to find his little girl. As it happens, she is not his daughter or granddaughter, she is his companion. Harry looks into the disappearance, but really thinks the young girl just moved on from taking advantage of a lonely old man. But as he delves into it what he finds is a prostitution ring ruining young girl and boys. He begins to suspect the girl is dead. It is a gritty world with Harry turning over the rocks and confronting the danger head on.
September 11, 2013
This book was published in 1980 and I thought reading it now brought a vintage feel to the book. It was a good PI/mystery book and I enjoyed reading it. I will probably put more of this series on my "to read" list.
September 3, 2019
It's weird, in a way, to read a book that takes place 40 years ago in the same city where I live. Pay phones, phone books, no internet, no cell phones, no GPS. Smoking in public places. It was like traveling back in time.
The book reads well, albeit graphic in some parts. Very believable.
The book reads well, albeit graphic in some parts. Very believable.
February 8, 2025
Somewhere between a three and a four.
I won't lie. I picked this one up for a buck based on the lurid and ridiculous cover. I was surprised to find instead that this is a strong work of PI fiction, something of a (then) modernized take on the Raymond Chandler tropes. Valin's novel focuses on a likeable main character who is scarred by his service in Vietnam and, despite the nature of his work, remains a moralist who never fully gives into cynicism. The central mystery here is relatively twisted and involves human trafficking of child victims. Despite the subject matter, the book itself is relatively tame. Valin is the type of writer who will tell you how shocked the viewers are by child pornography but doesn't take the next step of describing the material in detail. Meanwhile, Stoner's romantic interactions are also relatively chastely described as well.
Overall, this was mostly an okay but not mind-blowing read...until the bloody and chaotic conclusion, which was extremely strong and rivaled the darkness of Jim Thompson. I mostly enjoyed Stoner's attempts to do the right thing and find justice for the little girl at the heart of this story, although I have to admit some of the writing about his relationship with the love interest was weak. And, while you expect a work with this cover to be un-PC, I found some of the (period appropriate) homophobia unnecessary and gratuitous.
I'll probably check out another story in this series but I'm not in a hurry to do so. All in all, a fun enough little ride with a great ending and a few regrettable weak spots.
I won't lie. I picked this one up for a buck based on the lurid and ridiculous cover. I was surprised to find instead that this is a strong work of PI fiction, something of a (then) modernized take on the Raymond Chandler tropes. Valin's novel focuses on a likeable main character who is scarred by his service in Vietnam and, despite the nature of his work, remains a moralist who never fully gives into cynicism. The central mystery here is relatively twisted and involves human trafficking of child victims. Despite the subject matter, the book itself is relatively tame. Valin is the type of writer who will tell you how shocked the viewers are by child pornography but doesn't take the next step of describing the material in detail. Meanwhile, Stoner's romantic interactions are also relatively chastely described as well.
Overall, this was mostly an okay but not mind-blowing read...until the bloody and chaotic conclusion, which was extremely strong and rivaled the darkness of Jim Thompson. I mostly enjoyed Stoner's attempts to do the right thing and find justice for the little girl at the heart of this story, although I have to admit some of the writing about his relationship with the love interest was weak. And, while you expect a work with this cover to be un-PC, I found some of the (period appropriate) homophobia unnecessary and gratuitous.
I'll probably check out another story in this series but I'm not in a hurry to do so. All in all, a fun enough little ride with a great ending and a few regrettable weak spots.
December 27, 2018
Harry Stoner is a P.I. People want him to find who or what has been lost. He drives around in his Pinto interviewing those who may know something; he gets shot at, beaten half to death.
I read the first thirty pages and wondered in awe where Jonathan Valin had been all my life. I had to put it down (life called) and when I could pick it up again I had changed. Stoner had worked in the D.A.'s office; he had contacts among the badmen. Worse, the villains did a thing or two that didn't make sense. And he had a perfect girlfriend. She thought Harry did what he did out of a sense of responsibility just as she worked as a hostess at a restaurant also out of a sense of responsibility. Okay, maybe she wasn't perfect in every way.
I like my P.I.'s broke and alone. They can have any kind of history you want provided it is a long history of loss. They find who or what not out of a sense of responsibility, but to turn the tide of loss. Just this once.
Writers are like serial killers; they start out tentatively and make obvious mistakes. But with practice they gain confidence, do their work in deeply self satisfying ways. In this novel, Valin has shown himself capable of much despite a few sticky wickets. There are eleven more Stoners to read.
I read the first thirty pages and wondered in awe where Jonathan Valin had been all my life. I had to put it down (life called) and when I could pick it up again I had changed. Stoner had worked in the D.A.'s office; he had contacts among the badmen. Worse, the villains did a thing or two that didn't make sense. And he had a perfect girlfriend. She thought Harry did what he did out of a sense of responsibility just as she worked as a hostess at a restaurant also out of a sense of responsibility. Okay, maybe she wasn't perfect in every way.
I like my P.I.'s broke and alone. They can have any kind of history you want provided it is a long history of loss. They find who or what not out of a sense of responsibility, but to turn the tide of loss. Just this once.
Writers are like serial killers; they start out tentatively and make obvious mistakes. But with practice they gain confidence, do their work in deeply self satisfying ways. In this novel, Valin has shown himself capable of much despite a few sticky wickets. There are eleven more Stoners to read.
February 24, 2024
An almost forgotten writer of private eye novels and I was able to find a copy of his first entry in the Harry Stoner series. At the time of issue, reviewers were saying he was the heir to Chandler and it is certainly in that vein. There is even a hint with a character in the DA's office Bernie Olson (a nod to Philip Marlowe's connection Bernie Ohls?). But it's not Chandler. The Lime Pit is well plotted and dealing with the hard issue of child sexploitation, Valin already has a style that gets refined with the later books. Stoner is the classic private eye who travels the mean streets trying to find a missing girl. However, he is less of a loner than Marlowe, he even has a love life. It's good to have a character who is almost normal - no drink or drug problem, no aggressive tendencies. But he is stubborn and won't let up on a case, which leads him into violent situations. These are handled well by Valin, no special tricks, maybe a bit of luck, but we know our hero is going to survive as it is written in the first person. Yet, there is tension as Stoner moves into dangerous territory. I just don't understand why Valin isn't being reprinted. There is a lot to enjoy.
June 16, 2019
This is the first book in the Harry Stoner series and it shows.
The plot is a little thin. Harry is hired to find a missing teen, Cindy Ann. She had been staying with an elderly man, a veteran, who had become attached to her and was distressed at her disappearance. Harry didn't really want to take on the case but was persuaded to spend a little time just to see if he could find a lead on what had happened.
The case takes a turn for the worse when Harry realises that Cindy Ann was in trouble and had been involved with a couple who were suspect.
The story line is exaggerated, violent, and not the best by this author.
The plot is a little thin. Harry is hired to find a missing teen, Cindy Ann. She had been staying with an elderly man, a veteran, who had become attached to her and was distressed at her disappearance. Harry didn't really want to take on the case but was persuaded to spend a little time just to see if he could find a lead on what had happened.
The case takes a turn for the worse when Harry realises that Cindy Ann was in trouble and had been involved with a couple who were suspect.
The story line is exaggerated, violent, and not the best by this author.
July 20, 2021
I've heard that this is a good series, so I decided to start with the first one. It's set in the days before cell phones and in a city I've never visited, so sitting here in the future it seems kind of strange.
The story is disturbing, mostly because it involves things I'd rather not know or think about. But I had trouble putting it down (although I didn't want to read this at bedtime), and will now look for the next in the series.
The story is disturbing, mostly because it involves things I'd rather not know or think about. But I had trouble putting it down (although I didn't want to read this at bedtime), and will now look for the next in the series.
February 11, 2021
I listened to the audio of this book. It is very SVU with some rough edges. Had adult content. It seemed well thought out and even humorous at times, but I can't say that I actually liked it. I just can't put my finger on the why.
January 5, 2020
A very violent private detective story. I enjoyed it because it was set in Cincinnati some forty years ago, about when I first moved here. The city has changed a little bit since then.
April 11, 2020
Good plot and main character. Definitely going to try another one in this series.
July 27, 2020
Brilliant. Listened on audio book. great narration. Hidden noir gem.
January 9, 2021
Looking for a new mystery series. This wasn't it. Didn't get too far.
July 22, 2021
Well-crafted basic tough-guy detective story about a search for a missing girl with sex-ring connections. Read in one day after another Harry Stoner book.
June 8, 2022
Really good book to listen to - quite captivating, great characters and story. Good to have another series on the back burner that I can listen to.
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