James D.F. Hannah

It’s the kind of offer only Henry Malone would get: Local strip club owner Wallace “Bada” Bingham wants Henry to run for sheriff of Parker County, West Virginia, and he’s willing to back the candidacy. But while Henry considers the proposal, Bingham’s got an additional job offer: Investigate the robbery of a money-counting room at a washed-up country musician’s concert. Indecent proposals, semi-pro wrestlers, and a dead body soon follow, and Henry, along with his well-armed A.A. sponsor Woody, soon discover Bingham’s not telling him everything. To find the answers, catch the killer, and retrieve the money, Henry and Woody must put everything at risk and confront the forces who want control of Parker County—no matter what the costs, or who has to die. Praise for Books in the Henry Malone Series: “James D.F. Hannah is the real deal… (He) shows with this book he has no trouble holding his own against Robert B. Parker and Lawrence Block.” —Dave Zeltserman, author of Small Crimes and Pariah, for She Talks to Angels “Friend of the Devil is a blisteringly paced tour-de-force of the American underbelly, packed with crackling dialogue and pulse-pounding violence.” —Nick Kolakowski, author of Boise Longpig Hunting Club and Absolute Unit

Behind the Wall of Sleep

A missing woman. A suitcase full of drug money. An ex-cop with nothing to lose. A roadside shooting ended both his career and his marriage and sent ex-state trooper Henry Malone back to his childhood home in Serenity, West Virginia. A request to look into the disappearance of a young mother becomes a second chance, an opportunity to redeem himself. But Malone finds the unexpected as he scratches beneath his hometown’s surface: Crooked lawyers. Meth cooks. A hair-triggered sheriff. A beautiful legal secretary. And a seductive yet deadly white supremacist. It is a dangerous mix that leads Henry and his well-armed AA sponsor, Woody, down onto a wild and deadly road. A missing-persons case becomes the struggle for both men just to stay alive.

Midnight Lullaby

Getting a guy out of a bar should be a simple thing. Should be. But it’s Henry Malone and his well-armed A.A. sponsor Woody, so of course, things get complicated. Bar fight with bikers-level complicated. And things don’t get simpler afterwards, either. The man Henry and Woody rescue is soon accused of killing the leader of the motorcycle gang, and that leaves the gang hungry for revenge. Then there’s a sheriff’s deputy with something to prove, some Russian mobsters, the cargo of a hijacked semi that everyone wants, and the ghosts haunting Woody as he works to right the sins of his own mysterious past. Henry and Woody find themselves embroiled in a case that may change their lives—if they survive. LONG SYNOPSIS (with BLURBS) Getting a guy out of a bar should be a simple thing. Should be. But it’s Henry Malone and his well-armed A.A. sponsor Woody, so of course, things get complicated. Bar fight with bikers-level complicated. And things don’t get simpler afterwards, either. The man Henry and Woody rescue is soon accused of killing the leader of the motorcycle gang, and that leaves the gang hungry for revenge. Then there’s a sheriff’s deputy with something to prove, some Russian mobsters, the cargo of a hijacked semi that everyone wants, and the ghosts haunting Woody as he works to right the sins of his own mysterious past. Henry and Woody find themselves embroiled in a case that may change their lives—if they survive. Praise for FRIEND OF THE DEVIL: “James D.F. Hannah has created a memorable, resilient hero in Henry Malone. The downtrodden investigator’s wry humor, complicated relationships, and aching vulnerabilities combine to create a classic character in crime fiction, and Friend of the Devil is a wonderful showcase for Hannah’s stellar writing. This is a terrific outing for one of crime fiction’s rising stars.” —E.A. Aymar, author of The Unrepentant and They’re Gone “Friend of the Devil is an engrossing tale with characters as dark and mysterious as a West Virginia coal mine. P.I. Henry Malone investigates with the heart of a lion and the wit of an ice pick. It’s his heart that gets Henry Malone in the most trouble—that’s just the kind of P.I. I can root for.” —Matt Goldman, New York Times bestselling author “Friend of the Devil is a blisteringly paced tour-de-force of the American underbelly, packed with crackling dialogue and pulse-pounding violence.” —Nick Kolakowski, author of Boise Longpig Hunting Club and Absolute Unit

Friend of the Devil

Michael Bracken

Barb Goffman

John M. Floyd

David Dean

Richie Narvaez

Jeff Cohen

Terrie Farley Moran

Richard Helms

Robert Lopresti

Jennie Milchman

From Cold Spring Harbor in 1971 to River of Dreams in 1993, Billy Joel released a dozen studio albums that remade the face of American pop music, produced twenty-six Top 10 singles (on Billboard’s Top 100 and Adult Contemporary charts), and earned the Piano Man six Grammys. Although he hasn’t released a recording of new songs in almost thirty years, Joel’s live performances continue to electrify audiences around the globe—and until COVID-19 put things on hold he had sold out New York’s Madison Square Garden for a record-shattering seventy-four consecutive monthly shows! In this collection, twelve award-winning writers of short crime fiction tackle the Joel catalog, and the result—edited by Josh Pachter, whose The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell earned rave reviews in 2020—is a journey down life’s mean streets with a soundtrack by one of the great singer-songwriters of our time, and contributors Michael Bracken, Jeff Cohen, David Dean, John M. Floyd, Barb Goffman, James D.F. Hannah, Richard Helms, Robert Lopresti, Jenny Milchman, Terrie Farley Moran, Richie Narvaez, and Pachter himself are donating a third of their royalties to support the work of the Joel Foundation. In the Gospel According to Billy, only the good die young. Within these pages, though, Death is an equal-opportunity exterminator, and the stories you’ll find here don’t just hit the charts: they go all the way to Number One … with a bullet!

Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Billy Joel

Only the Good Die Young

James D.F. Hannah

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