Lady Yesterday

Amos Walker #7

by Loren D. Estleman

When Amos Walker, the Detroit detective, helps his friend Iris discover the whereabouts of her real father, the trail leads to mobsters, drug dealers, and the world of jazz music. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Loren D. Estleman is an American writer of detective and Western fiction. He writes with a manual typewriter.

Estleman is most famous for his novels about P.I. Amos Walker. Other series characters include Old West marshal Page Murdock and hitman Peter Macklin. He has also written a series of novels about the history of crime in Detroit (also the setting of his Walker books.) His non-series works include Bloody Season, a fictional recreation of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and several novels and stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Series:
* Amos Walker Mystery
* Valentino Mystery
* Detroit Crime Mystery
* Peter Macklin Mystery
* Page Murdock Mystery

Reviews

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

P.I. Amos Walker helps an old flame, ex-prostitute Iris Dexter locate her long lost biological father, who was a trombone player. Meanwhile, someone seems intent to scare her so badly that she will return to Jamaica. Amos finds himself under attack by a vicious Mexican drug lord for reasons we learn as the book progresses. The police, the Feds, and the Italian mob all want the drug lord gone, with the mob and police eventually helping Amos and Iris avoid being killed, ostensibly over a video tape. Along the way, readers learn about the Detroit jazz scene in the 1950s. Some of the dialogue between Amos and the mob guys is pretty funny.

[Chaim Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book

Good, but not his best. I think the best of Mr. Gentleman's books that I've read are Never Street-superb- , Whiskey River and Boy Gashade. He is one those authors that are so versatile and his use of the English language is highly enjoyable. I am a fan.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful old-school hard boiled wise-guy detective fiction. This is the seventh book in this series and was written in 1987. The series started in 1980 and is up to around 25 installments. The author is apparently not done yet and is still pounding new installments out on a manual typewriter; I plan to read them all, eventually. I thought that this was the best in the series so far and I'm giving it a 5, great stuff for those who like this genre.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading these Amos Walker books is like eating peanuts--once you get started you can't stop. Even though you're not crazy about peanuts.

[mindya business · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book out of a little free library. The author is clearly a racist. He describes a character in the book as a “digger Mexican” and he gives a Korean character the name “Ang” which is not a Korean name at all. No wonder this was given away. Garbage.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early book in the series of Amos Walker mysteries, this is the one in which he is first introduced to Lieutenant Thayler, cute and tough skilled detective in the Detroit PD. Where Allerdyce is like a wall of obsidian, Theyler is like a cheerleader with a teddy bear next to her Sig-Sauer.

This reads more like a procedural than most of the Walker series, giving you an inside guts experience into the work of being a detective. About half of the novel is Amos charming or intimidating information out of people, following leads, using resources, and generally doing basic detective work with flair and skill. Then the thing gets out of hand and we find out why Amos is respected by both police and criminal.

The case seems simple: find a missing man. Iris, a repeat character in the books, has a lead on her biological father and wants to follow it up. But its been 3 years since the man has been seen, and one lead after another dries up. And then the warnings and bullet holes start to show up.

Overall a great read, filled with lines you stop and read over to savor them like a fine wine.

[M. Sprouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

"When it's February in Detroit, it's been Winter forever."

One of the better Amos Walker mysteries. I loved the title it fit's well with this hard-boiled series. The plot is timeless and Estleman keeps it moving at a rapid pace. This story takes place in the 1980s, but it could just as easily have been one of Raymond Chandler's of the 1940s. And Philip Marlowe doesn't have anything on Amos Walker.

[Wayne Zurl · Rating 4 out of 5]

LADY YESTERDAY by Loren D. Estleman

Estleman is at his hardboiled best with this one. The dialogue between Amos Walker and the young Mafia boss is classic noir. A great addition to the series, where Amos helps his old flame, ex-hooker Iris Dexter locate her long lost father. Along the way, you’ll learn lots about the Detroit jazz business of the 1950s. 4 stars.

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Detective Amos Walker is hired to find the trombonist father of a black, beautiful reformed hooker. This leads him through Detroit's smoky music clubs where the past is packed with secrets. There's a nice twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Amos Walker Mystery. A flat effort, which the author calls "one of his best" in a self-serving afterward. Kind of offputting, but then it is followed by a short story which is far better than the and worthy of the class he belongs to (Hammett and Chandler).

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun for a Detroit girl: familiar locale; classic noir tone; and a likeable, three-dimensional private eye. I would definitely look for more books by Loren Estleman.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't remember the details.

[Dave Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, may be Estleman's best and he is a the living master of hard boiled detective writers.

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

Forgettable. Only read this because I was moving to the Detroit area at the time.