Nicholas Litchfield

Wolf Cop and Port Angelique

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Richard Jessup was never content to stay in one genre—or even one type of story. Raised in an orphanage, he ran away to sea at thirteen and later dug cesspools and worked road gangs to feed his family. Writing was an act of grit and determination. Jessup hammered at his typewriter for ten hours a night, cycling through jobs as a merchant seaman, gambling dealer, and manual laborer. By age forty-seven, he had turned out hundreds of radio and TV scripts, seventy-five novels, and a fistful of film credits—sometimes under his own name, sometimes as Richard Telfair or Carey Rockwell.

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Cover of The Red Tassel by David Dodge

Litchfield Reviews The Red Tassel by David Dodge for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: A globe-trotting private investigator unravels thieving, murder and local vendettas while protecting a flame-haired heiress in The Red Tassel, an atmospheric thriller set amid betrayal, violence and the chill of the Bolivian Andes. First published in hardcover by Random House in 1950 and quickly reissued as a Dell paperback, David Dodge’s third and final case for the hard-nosed Al Colby is now back in print.

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Featured book cover image of Hessman's Necklace in The Yorkshire Post

Reedsy Discovery’s Best Mystery & Crime Books Features Hessman’s Necklace

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Reedsy Discovery released its roundup of the Best Mystery & Crime Books today, a list highlighting standout new titles in the genre, selected by experienced reviewers Twylla Johnson and Lorraine Cobcroft. Among the books featured is Hessman’s Necklace by Nicholas Litchfield.

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Jack Webb Rediscovered with James Reasoner on Stark House Double

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Today, New York Times bestselling author James Reasoner—well known to readers for his many acclaimed Western novels and his long-running blog, Rough Edges—reviewed the latest Stark House collection, for which I was fortunate to write the introduction. Reasoner may be best recognized for his Westerns, but his passion for classic crime fiction and pulp literature shines through in his thoughtful reviews. Over the years, his blog has become a trusted resource for aficionados hoping to discover overlooked gems and forgotten classics from all corners of popular fiction.

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Litchfield Reviews Tales of the Impossible by Bill Pronzini for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: Complex puzzles, strange disappearances, unconventional murder techniques and spectral encounters abound in Tales of the Impossible, a standout collection of hard-hitting crime stories by Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini.
Across a literary career spanning more than fifty years, Pronzini has published ninety novels, four non-fiction books, twenty story collections, numerous anthologies, and scores of articles, essays, and reviews. And his work has been translated into nineteen languages and published in nearly thirty countries.

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Litchfield Reviews Call the Witness by Edna Sherry for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: A newly minted partner at a prestigious law firm must fight for his reputation and freedom when he stands trial for his wife’s murder in Call the Witness, a taut 1960s crime novel steeped in small-town suspicion, legal intrigue, and simmering class tensions.

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Jack Webb Double: One For My Dame & The Deadly Combo

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Jack Webb isn’t a name that gets tossed around much these days, but back in the Fifties and early Sixties, he was a reliable source for sharp, fast-moving crime fiction. A Los Angeles native with a background as varied as his plots—aviary specialist, ad man, Army lieutenant—Webb hit his stride with a memorable run of novels featuring the unconventional team of Father Joseph Shanley and Detective Sergeant Sammy Golden. But his talents didn’t start or end with that duo.

This month, Stark House Press brings Webb back into the spotlight with a new double-novel collection: One For My Dame and The Deadly Combo. These are two of his best standalones, out of print for decades and ripe for rediscovery.

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Shakedown & The Blonde and Johnny Malloy by William Ard (Author), Nicholas Litchfield (Introduction)

William Ard’s Shakedown and The Blonde and Johnny Malloy

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As the author of the introduction to this new double volume from Stark House Press, I am pleased to see William Ard’s legacy continue to thrive. Ard, a Brooklyn native, distinguished himself through a prolific output of character-driven mysteries and westerns, publishing more than three dozen books under various pseudonyms. Though his career was cut short, his ability to blend hard-edged suspense with emotional depth has ensured a dedicated following and critical praise over the decades.

With the arrival of Shakedown / The Blonde and Johnny Malloy, readers are treated to a pair of novels that showcase Ard’s versatility and skill. In my introductory essay, “Ben Kerr and the Two Johnnies,” I trace Ard’s journey through the genre and examine the qualities that make his protagonists so enduring.

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Featured book cover image of Hessman's Necklace in The Yorkshire Post

Reedsy Discovery Reviews ‘Hessman’s Necklace’

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In the 4-star review of the novel ‘Hessman’s Necklace,’ Rachel Deeming for Reedsy Discovery, a platform dedicated to reviewing new independent books, writes: “I had high hopes for Hessman’s Necklace from the outset and I wasn’t disappointed. It was fast-paced, descriptive, with a tight plot and convincingly drawn characters throughout. The beginning of the book and the way we meet [Ray] is comic and there is a wryness of humour throughout which permeates the text; however, as Ray gets deeper into his mission, it is clear that this is no simple task and that he is going to have to have his wits about him and Litchfield infuses the book with more tension and less humour, leading convincingly to a surprising climax. I would recommend – good story, well delivered.”

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Image of Roadside Night by Edwin N. Nistler and Gerry P. Broderick

Litchfield Reviews Roadside Night by Edwin N. Nistler and Gerry P. Broderick for the Lancashire Post

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Lancashire Post book review by Nicholas Litchfield: In this moody, hard-edged noir – teeming with deception and sexual tension – a battle-weary ex-Marine is drawn by a beguiling stranger into a spiral of robbery and murder along the California coast where each shadow harbours treachery
and every promise comes at a price.

Litchfield Reviews Roadside Night by Edwin N. Nistler and Gerry P. Broderick for the Lancashire Post Read More »

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