Award-winning, prolific author Loren D. Estleman does not plot his books out in advance.
“I never outline, and so where the story goes is as much a revelation to me as it is to the reader,” explained Estleman, 72. “Sometimes, as was especially true this time around, I worry that it won’t all work out in the end. When that happens, I plow forward, half-convinced the book’s the worst mess I ever got myself into and – as it always seems to happen – I find that in the re-reading, it’s the best I’ve ever written. Whenever I come to a crossroads, I pick a direction at random and plunge on, knowing any one of them would take me where I want to go.”
And his latest novel, “Smoke on the Water” (Forge $28.99), which features hard-boiled private eye Amos Walker, is no exception. “Smoke on the Water” has the intrepid detective investigating a fatal hit-and-run. The victim is Spencer Bennett, an attorney with the Waterford Group, who allegedly possessed a file of confidential documents on him when he died. This same file has gone missing. As Walker looks into the case, he learns that maybe Bennett’s death was anything but accidental.
“Walker’s first challenge is always solving the mystery of how much of what his client tells him is a lie and how much is the truth and basing his decision whether to take the case on the ratio of one to the other. The prospect of his working for a lawyer investigating the death of another lawyer offered so much potential for lying, I couldn’t resist,” said Estleman.
He spoke about what makes it stand out from his previous Walker novels.
“The detective’s increasing emotional involvement in the case: Whether his looking into the mystery has led to additional murders and how far he’s willing to go to set things right,” explained Estleman. “There’s also a rather touching romantic development, carried off with just the right amount of subtlety to support my faith in the intelligence of my readers.”
Born in Ann Arbor, Estleman is an alumnus of Dexter High School and Eastern Michigan University (which awarded him an honorary doctorate in humane letters in 2002), who lives in Whitmore Lake with his wife/fellow author Deborah Morgan. He is the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award.
Estleman published his first novel, “The Oklahoma Punk,” in 1976. “Smoke on the Water” is his 32nd Walker novel. He was taken aback when he realized he’s penned nearly 100 books, which range from mysteries, westerns, and nonfiction.
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“I remember each book vividly, but I let others keep score. I have a Ph.D. in humane letters and a straight D-plus in math,” he quipped.
Over the holidays, Estleman contributed a short story called “Wolfe Trap” to the anthology called “Christmas Crimes at The Mysterious Bookshop” (Mysterious Press $19.95), edited by Otto Penzler. In fact, Penzler appeared as a character in “Wolfe Trap,” as well as others in the anthology. Estleman described putting Penzler in his story as “fun and a bit scary.”
“The only other close acquaintance I’ve ever turned into a character in a story was the late Becky London, Jack London’s daughter, in ‘Ragtime Cowboys.’ I don’t fear personal repercussions, but I need to know I’m treating them faithfully and fairly, neither turning them into saints they themselves wouldn’t recognize nor missing their characters entirely. I know I won’t malign them, because I know of nothing to malign, but it’s crucial I get them right,” he explained.
An alumnus of the University of Michigan, Penzler owns The Mysterious Bookshop, which is located in New York City and is the oldest bookstore in America specializing in mysteries. It opened in 1979.
“I have read Loren Estleman for 40 years, knowing that I would have an unfailingly wonderful time in the hands of such a compelling, professional author,” praised Penzler. “While I am a great fan of the Amos Walker series, I am equally captivated by his adventures of Claudius Lyon, Estleman’s tribute to Nero Wolfe (and the protagonist of ‘Wolfe Trap’).”
Eslteman returned the compliment.
“Otto’s a dedicated hands-on publisher and bookseller who never loses sight of the importance of moving stock,” he said. “He knows he can count on writers to provide stories willingly that will help support his house and his shop, because he’s a man of iron integrity we can always count on to provide more than a fair shake.”
Next up, Estleman is excited to write a historical tale. While he didn’t come out and say what it’s about, he did say this: “It has to do with a certain Transylvanian nobleman in whom we all have a stake.”
Stephen Mack Jones, author of the August Snow series of mystery novels that are set in Detroit, called Estleman his hero.
“As brilliant as he is, he’s just as kind and generous. In a world nearly bereft of heroes, he is and remains one of mine – as a singularly ingenious writer and compassionate human being,” said Mack, of Farmington Hills.
Always adverse to technology, if Estleman – who is proud to state he’s never been on the internet and has no plans to – starts all his books on his 1960 Olympia manual typewriter and writes the final draft on a computer, which is cobbled together with spare parts and isn’t internet-accessible that he calls “Frankenstein.
“I apply the final polish on good old Frankie, who after 10 years-plus has earned his chops. But in the beginning I need to hear the clack of the keys and the sound of the strikers biting into crisp paper,” said Estleman. “I’m proud as hell to say that after 50 years I still love what I do and manage to make each new work as good as or better than all those that went before. Amos Walker is a prime example of what I’m getting at: It’s the longest-running single-author private eye series in publishing history and is now at its fifth (publisher). Industry wisdom says that’s impossible, but if I were ever an ‘It is what it is’ person, I’d have followed my mother’s advice and taken the civil service exam back in 1975. If so, I’d be retiring from the post office about now.”
Visit lorenestleman.com.
