Hard-Boiled Thrills: 2017’s Best Crime Fiction

The Village Voice names Crime Song as one of the top five best crime and mystery novels of 2017. “Talk about earning your crime-writing bona fides. David Swinson has accumulated some hard-earned mean streets wisdom. A former punk rock promoter, indie film producer, and decorated Washington, D.C., detective for sixteen years before turning to fiction, this year Swinson released the second installment in his Frank Marr series. Crime Song surpassed his debut effort, 2016’s The Second Girl, and firmly established his cokehead investigator Marr as one of the genre’s most damaged yet empathetic characters. The writing feels as authentic and true to the street as The Wire — which for crime writers is about the highest praise there is. (Mulholland Books, 368 pp.)”