The Jack Salvo Series by Jesse Miles

Amazon Kindle e-book

Looking for a great new private detective series? Try the Jack Salvo novels by Jesse Miles.

After falling into this book, when I stopped to take a breath, I couldn't believe it was a self-published. It reads as if it were written by a much more experienced author, and I was pleasantly reminded of the Elvis Cole series by Robert Crais, which I love. 

The main character in the series is a Philosophy teacher at a community college in Los Angeles, as well as a private detective, and I enjoyed his snarky internal and external voice. I appreciate that the author does not reveal all of Jack Salvo’s back story, which makes me want to keep reading the series to find out more. The plot involving a Russian ballet troupe is very creative, and the author has a great story on his website about where he got the idea for this novel. The descriptions of the two settings, Los Angeles and Saint Petersburg, Russia, were an integral part of the story and helped make it a great read. And the title comes from a very real church in Saint Petersburg, Russia called “The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood." I even looked it up on Google Images to get a vision of the setting. My only criticism of this excellent first novel is that the ending is a bit abrupt. I would have liked to have seen a little more there. Other than that, I do recommend this one.

The first title in the series, Dead Drop, is also well done and involves a case of embezzlement gone out of control. There is a third book underway called The Middle Sister, which I am looking forward to reading. I have a sneaking suspicion this author and his series may very well be snatched up by a traditional publisher. Here’s hoping.

(update: The Middle Sister was published on August 2, 2019 as a Paperback and eBook).

Amazon Kindle e-book

Happy Reading!