Hard Case Crime Alternative: Queenpin

Hard Case Crime Alternative: Queenpin

January 2010 is a month where Hard Case Crime won't have a new book out. For those of you that have read all of them and are looking for something to fill the void I suggest

Queenpin by Megan Abbott

here is my take on the book back in July of 2008
I almost didn’t pick up Megan Abbott's Queenpin. I’d heard an interview
with her a couple of years ago and been inspired to pick up a copy of
her first book… The Song is You, and wasn’t all that impressed….
However after running across a clip of her reading from Queenpin on
Youtube I was inspired to check it out of my library. I am so glad I
did, it radiates that pure Noir rhythm, and feel. I could almost hear
the Jazz, and taste the cocktails as I devoured the book. It’s the
story of a small time gal, who is plucked from the trenches of low
level casino grind and becomes the right hand of the local organization
runner. Soon she is also involved with a louse of a man, one that has
her number and gets her hips twitching…. And it’s all afoot from
there. I really like the sound and the tone, I love the feel of the
book, and I can’t wait to check out what ever Abbott has for us next…
hell I might even go back and check out The Song is You again, or her
second book Die a Little.

Since then:

I've had the chance to meet Megan and talk with her a couple of times. She confirmed that her goal with the book was to write a plot driven crime novel that would fit nicely next to the Hard Case Line. Her follow up book Bury Me Deep came out in 2009 and was a great look into the world of Phoenix in the 1930s, and another story about a man leading a woman astray. I know that she is working on a contemporary mystery currently, and I for one am looking forward to what ever she publishes next.

Thoughts, comments, HCC off Month recommendations?