Tag: Joel Nedecky

Covers of King of Ashes, The Final Vow, Everybody Knows, Don't Tell Me How to Die, Where the Bones Lie, The Broken Detective, Second Lies the Son, Dark Neon & Dirt, One Death at a Time, and The Bang-Bang Sisters, next to an image of an anthropomorphized Pilcrow and the words 'My Favorites of 2025 Crime Fiction'
Finally, we’re at the end of my 2025 wrap-up. Thanks for sticking with me for so long! (assuming you have). I’ve taken to considering this genre apart from everything else when I put together my Favorites Lists, or just about everything else would get ignored. Even if I went with a Top 20 instead of a Favorite 10, maybe 5 books from the previous lists would’ve made it along with all of these. Maybe.

Once again, I’ll note that I limit my lists to things I read for the first time. Yes, there are some author names on here that have been on a couple of these lately. Under half the list. It wouldn’t surprise me if any of these showed up in the years to come. I might have to retire some authors from consideration. Maybe this list should be renamed “S.A. Cosby, M.W. Craven, and some others.”

As always, re-reads don’t count for these lists.

(in alphabetical order by author)

King of Ashes

by S.A. Cosby

This was a twisted, gripping, read about a group of siblings trapped (and shaped) by a shared trauma from their childhood. Now adults, they find themselves trapped in a deal with a local gang of drug dealers, and the only way out may be to become worse than them. Told with Cosby’s signature style and humanity, this will leave you in a daze.

The Final Vow

by M.W. Craven

This is a lighter book than the last couple of Poe and Tilly novels–but that doesn’t make it less compelling to read. Just a little more fun, and probably won’t leave you haunted and unable to get a good night’s sleep right away. It definitely sets a new direction for the series. But none of that matters. This is M.W. Craven at the top of his game–he sets a puzzle worthy of Poe and Tilly, puts some big obstacles in their way, and let’s the reader sit back and revel in it. Who could ask for more?

Everybody Knows

by Jordan Harper

My original post
This is one of the best and starkest depictions of human depravity and the dangers those who dare to stand against it will face. The only thing that makes this experience entertaining is Harper’s prose and fantastic pacing. It left me speechless.

Don’t Tell Me How to Die

by Marshall Karp

My original post
This is a devilishly clever story that’s also emotionally effective. I mean, part of the book’s premise is that the protagonist’s mother died young. Early in the novel, we flashback to that, and I got choked up. I knew the woman was dead before I started the book, and it still got me. Just imagine what the book did to me by the end. As far as the rest of the story goes–the less I say, the better it is for a potential reader. But it’s a doozy–a new kind of story for Marshall Karp and just as good (if not better) as his previous best.

Where the Bones Lie

by Nick Kolakowski

My original post
Kolakowski brings us a little L.A.-noir here with this book–a former Hollywood fixer gets a shot at a new life when someone hires him to find out why her father died many years ago. The interplay between the protagonists is great to read, the mystery is compelling, and the contemporary California-ness of the setting is so real (geographically, environmentally, and in the entertainment industry). It’s a really strong work from Kolakowski.

The Broken Detective

by Joel Nedecky

My original post
We move from L.A.-noir to Winnipeg-noir, which is a thing (apparently). This tale of broken detectives hunting for one particular broken woman in the midst of crime, corruption, and the worst of humanity grabs you in the first couple of pages and won’t let go until a couple of days after you finish. It’s one of the most satisfying endings I read last year, too.

Second Lies the Son

by Matt Phillips

My original post
Here’s another haunting read–Matt Phillips is one of those writers that I just want to read the prose of. The plot and characters don’t matter as much to me as the experience of reading Phillips. But, he always comes through with characters and plot that matter as much as you want, too. This is a fast, lean novel that will leave you moved (disturbed might be a better word) and chewing on it for days.

Dark Neon & Dirt

by Thomas Trang

My original post
And now we’re back to L.A.-noir…Trang’s debut is the kind of assured, nervy book that is a delight to find. You’ve got dirty (or at least compromised) cops, professional thieves, and a collection of coincidences that entwine them in more ways than they find comfortable. The diallogue is fantasitc. The whole things feels like a slick Winslow novel as cool as Miami Vice was at its height.

One Death at a Time

by Abbi Waxman

My original post
Abbi Waxman’s first mystery novel proves (to me, anyway) that she can write anything. The mystery portion of the novel is really well done; the characters are well-designed and well-executed, the relationships between them are strong and obvious—you like the people you’re supposed to like enough that you wish you sat around the room with them, watching them go back and forth Also, it’s funny. That’s a one-two-three combination that I’ll always enjoy and recommend.

The Bang-Bang Sisters

by Rio Youers, Kristen Sieh (Narrator)

My original post
This rollicking adventure captures the spirit of music and live performance (and inter-band dynamics) as…well, any rock novel I can think of. There’s a serial killer equal to Francis Dolarhyde; a violent, kill-or-be-killed, “game” as nasty as Chain-Gang All-Stars; and three great women characters with all the style, skill, and general badassery as The Deadly Viper squad–all in a book with the violence level equal to—if not greater than—Kill Bill, Vol. 1. It’s got the pacing of a classic rock song—with occasional bursts of speed metal–it’s fast, it’s furious, it’s bloody, it’s raw emotion, it’s dangerous. It is so much fun. It is Rock and Roll.

A few books that almost made this list, and I want to be sure to mention:

Mississippi Blue 42 by Eli Cranor; Medusa Protocol by Rob Hart, Righteous Trash by Nick Kolakowski; and The World Entire by Jo Perry.

The Broken Detective by Joel Nedecky: The Lost. The Broken. The Missing.

By HCNewton

On November 10, 2025

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

The Broken Detective

by Joel Nedecky

DETAILS:
Publisher: Runamok Books
Publication Date: October 15, 2025
Format: ARC
Length: 262 pg.
Read Date: October 29-30, 2025

What’s The Broken Detective About?

Our protagonist-narrator is a PI who just lost his license (a felony conviction will do that to a guy) and who is headed to prison in a couple of weeks (a felony conviction will do that to a guy). Jake’s major concern at this moment is his mother—she’s disabled and addicted, and cannot be trusted to pay her bills or feed herself anything but alcohol. Jake’s it—but Jake’s thrown all that away (also, related to his mom, but mostly because of dumb choices).

So Jake needs to make as much money as he possibly can over the next two weeks—he has a figure in mind, one he probably can’t meet. But he has a goal—bank robbery is probably the most likely way to meet it, but there are problems there (aside from the legality)—he’d probably get caught (I should mention that he’s a barely functional addict—which led to the dumb choices above) and then things would be worse for mom.

Thankfully, someone has a case for Jake, and she doesn’t care about the licensing. Her sister has been missing, she can’t go to the cops, but her sister needs to be found before it’s too late for her. This woman wasn’t even referred to Jake because of his skills (which is probably good). She’s sent to see Jake because Jake will go to the wretched hives of scum and villainy that this woman’s sister traveled in, because he belongs there, too. He won’t stick out like a sore thumb, and people will talk to him.

One broken detective looking for a missing and broken woman.

This will lead him into the paths of drug dealers, questionable authorities, a cult (or is it?) that the sisters once belonged to, other questionable associates of both sisters, and possibly a shot at hope for Jake and the missing woman.

The Title

I have several thoughts about the title—first, it’s incredibly fitting. On the other hand…

There’s part of me that wonders who the definite article is referring to—obviously, Jake’s the “The” in view, we know he’s broken from the get-go, and we never get anything but reinforcement of that fact. However, over the course of the novel, we meet more than one detective who fits that description. A Broken Detective or The Broken Detectives would work just as well as a title

But really, that just means the detectives we encounter are just like everyone else in the book. Everyone is broken (yes, like in reality, but it’s a bit easier to see here). From the witnesses, the bystanders, the victims, the complicit, and the guilty—from the first page to the last, this book could—and possibly should—simply be called The Broken. Don’t mistake broken for morally bent (or worse), but life and others have taken these people and have left them as other than they started, other than they could’ve been. Not whole, not intact, but broken.

But it’s not, it’s The Broken Detective, and it’s probably up to the reader to decide if it’s Jake or another candidate.

So, what did I think about The Broken Detective?

I hemmed and hawed about if I should say more about the plot and characters—but after a few tries, I opted not to. Everything I tried to say felt like a spoiler—it’s best if you learn about all involved the same way Jake does (or when he tells you about them, in the case of people he knows already). Because, sure, the book is about Jake looking for this woman. But really, it’s about Jake figuring out who he is, who he wants to be, and if he wants to do the required work to get from here to there. So it’s best for the reader to take the journey with Jake and come in with few preconceived notions.

Or so I think, anyway.

One critique I have is that I’m not sure that bringing in an church/cult from “the real world” as a comparison/parallel to the one in this book was necessary—or that the stone that Jake turned over as a result of his research was necessary. It turned a murky and questionable group (up to some horrible, repugnantly illegal stuff) into a creepy murky and questionable group (up to some horrible, repugnantly illegal stuff). Just a step too far. There was no ambiguity about the church already—I don’t see what he gained by making them worse.

Early on, I noticed something—and then backtracked to check to make sure I was right, and then watched for it going on. Nedecky cares about the last line/paragraph of a chapter. Obviously, he cares about every line and paragraph, but it feels like he puts extra care into those. Not in the way that some do to propel you into the next chapter (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but it’s like he knows that a chapter end is likely to be where someone puts the book down for one reason or another—and Nedecky wants to leave his reader with something to think about. It’ll either be an emotional punch or a line to chew on.

I had things I needed to accomplish the night I started this, so I forced myself to put it down—but this could’ve easily been a one-sitting book. This novel got its hooks in me and didn’t want to let go.

The ending—and the final revelations—will not make anyone happy. Well, it shouldn’t. But it will satisfy and gratify you—because of the storytelling involved, because it’s fitting, because it’s as noir as you can get. You won’t walk away with a smile on your face and a song in your heart, but you’ll walk away with that satisfaction that comes from a near-perfect execution.

I highly recommend this.

4 Stars

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