Amos Walker is a fictional
private detective
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...
in a series of more than thirty novels and short stories written over the course of five decades by
Loren D. Estleman. ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' has called author Estleman "arguably the finest
iving Iving may refer to:
*Intravenous therapy
Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonl ...
practitioner of hard-boiled private eye fiction with his Amos Walker novels," and the series has won multiple
Shamus Award
The Shamus Award is awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best detective fiction ( P. I. = Private investigator) genre novels and short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a sing ...
s from the Private-Eye Writers of America (PWA), including a Lifetime Achievement Award for the author.
Walker works in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and lives on the Detroit-
Hamtramck
Hamtramck ( ; ; ; ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An enclave of Detroit, Hamtramck is located roughly north of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded by Detroit on most sides. As of the 2020 census, the city had a po ...
border. A Vietnam veteran
who boxed in college and served as a military policeman, he is sharp and streetwise. Like all good private investigators, Amos has an independent and pugnacious streak: While still in the police academy, he was fired from the Detroit Police for punching out a creepy but connected fellow cadet in the shower. On his first appearance, in ''Motor City Blue'' (set around 1980), Amos is in his thirties, and he ages over the course of subsequent novels.
Amos Walker is a traditionalist. As one reviewer noted:
The ''Thrilling Detective'' website stated:
Bibliography
#''
Motor City Blue''
#''
Angel Eyes''
#''
The Midnight Man''
#''
The Glass Highway''
#''
Sugartown
Sugartown was the name of at least three Cherokee towns. In Cherokee, the name was Kulsetsiyi (Syllabary:ᎫᎳᏎᏥᏱ), meaning "honey-locust place" from "kulsetsi" ( honey-locust) and "yi" (locative). The word "kulsetsi" came to be used for ...
''
#''
Every Brilliant Eye
''Every Brilliant Eye'' is the third album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. It was released in 1990 and produced by Jeff Eyrich, whose previous production credits included The Gun Club, The Plimsouls and T Bone Burnett.
The album was record ...
''
#''
Lady Yesterday''
#''
Downriver
Downriver is a region of the Detroit metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan covering 18 municipalities in Wayne County, south of Detroit, along the western shore of the Detroit River.
Etymology
The name derives from the fact that the ...
''
#''General Murders: Amos Walker Mysteries'' (1988; ten short stories)
#''
Silent Thunder''
#''
Sweet Women Lie'' (1990)
#''
Never Street''
#''
The Witchfinder''
#''
The Hours of the Virgin''
#''
A Smile on the Face of the Tiger''
#''
Sinister Heights''
#''
Poison Blonde''
#''
Retro
Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture.
Definition
The term ...
'' (2004)
#''
Nicotine Kiss'' (2006)
#''
American Detective'' (2007)
#''
Left-handed Dollar'' (2010)
#''
Amos Walker: The Complete Story Collection'' (2010; short stories)
#''
Infernal Angels'' (2011)
#''
Burning Midnight
Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion ...
'' (2012)
#''
Don't Look for Me'' (2014)
#''
You Know Who Killed Me'' (2014)
#''
The Sundown Speech'' (2015)
#''
The Lioness Is the Hunter'' (2017)
#''Black and White Ball'' (2018)
#''
When Old Midnight Comes Along'' (2019)
#''Cutthroat Dogs'' (2021)
#''Monkey in the Middle'' (2022)
#''City Walls'' (2023)
Further reading
* Estleman, Loren D.
ext
Ext, ext or EXT may refer to:
* Ext functor, used in the mathematical field of homological algebra
* Ext (JavaScript library), a programming library used to build interactive web applications
* Exeter Airport
Exeter Airport , formerly ''Ex ...
and Monte Nagler
hotographs(2007). ''Amos Walker's Detroit.'' Wayne State University Press, Detroit. . "It's a hard-boiled town," writes Estleman of Detroit in his preface, "made to order for a remaindered knight chasing truth through a maze of threats, deceptions, and inconvenient corpses. City and protagonist are cut from the same coarse cloth. They are the series' two heroes."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Amos
Fictional American detectives
Fictional private investigators
Fictional characters from Detroit
Detroit Police Department officers
Fictional portrayals of the Detroit Police Department