There's an OD that might be a homicide, but the real question is, will Mosely take the house sitting job where he has to jerk off a dog? I loved the psychopath narrative in Miami Blues so much that whenever Mosely showed up I got a little impatient. But here he's a great character, and this thing reads like a tightly plotted Bukowski novel. Hard for me not to picture Richard Jenkins or Ben Gazzara as Mosely.

Moseley, il protagonista, è un irriverente detective americano bianco, che porta il lettore dentro la storia in un modo tutto suo, fuori dagli schemi e imprevedibile. Non vedo l’ora di leggere altre sue avventure.

Very snappily written, with sharp, sardonic descriptions, realistic dialogue and a story that's less about the mysteries that are solved along the way as they are about Hoke Moseley's quotidian dilemmas - finding housing,looking after two teenage daughters and generally making ends meet. The way he solves his housing problem is startlingly amoral by my standards. My first Willeford novel and it seems like I'd enjoy more.

I like Hoke Moseley and all ... but this follow up to Miami Blues was dull. It was a like a very odd episode of Father Knows Best. Hardly anything happens except for conversations with Hoke's coworkers, Hoke searching for a place to live, and a weak-ass mystery.

There were some funny quotes and conversations that saved this from a one star review. The biggest difference between this installment and Miami Blues was the back and forth plots of Hoke and the main criminal character. I must say I preferred the dual narratives of the first book. Maybe that was because Junior was such a great villain.

I hope the series picks up.

An enjoyable offbeat detective novel. Hoke Moseley is not a straightforward character and I am enjoying the way he muddles through his life but when he decides to act he is quite positive.
This is not a hardboiled crime fiction series and the style makes a nice change of pace for me.

Hoke Moseley is the kind of police detective who - when he sits the prime suspect down at the end of the book for the big "hey I know you murdered this dude and here's how you did it" speech - also orders himself a dozen raw oysters and TWO pitchers of Michelob. Absolute hero, slay king, we stan a legend, etc.

It drives me up the wall when people talk about how they "love" such-and-such fictional character, but I have to say: Hoke Moseley rules and I really like him a lot and I almost kind of feel protective of him. He's an easygoing cornball white dude but he has a code, he has real decency and a tranquil respect for the gentle stupidness of the whole darned human comedy. He may be a fucking cop but also: the guy lives in a shitty hotel and already has dentures even though he's probably 40something; he never gets laid; one of his favorite meals is two cans of Dinty Moore beef stew with raw onion added; and he genuinely wants the other people in his life, his kids and his coworkers alike, to be happy and successful. I had a grand old time reading this book, it's like Elmore Leonard but cozier.

Il protagonista di Tempi d’oro per i morti si chiama Hoke Moseley, lavora presso la Squadra Omicidi di Miami, porta la dentiera, e ha atteggiamenti poco convenzionali per un sergente di polizia padre di due figlie. Il divorzio, frutto di un accordo sciocco e vincolante, ha prosciugato le sue finanze e lo costringe a vivere in uno squallido motel. Con lo scorrere delle pagine, Hoke deve barcamenarsi tra cataste di casi sospesi da risolvere, debiti, incarichi straordinari non retribuiti, e perfino gestire due figlie adolescenti delle quali non si era mai occupato prima. Le soluzioni ai problemi che spesso escogita sono poco ortodosse, come quando per esempio, decide di togliere l’apparecchio ai denti della figlia con le forbicine per le unghie. Mi sono sentita male anche solo a immaginare la scena!

Lo sfondo di questo noir è la città di Miami, colpita da una crescente ondata di criminalità dovuta principalmente a problemi di convivenza tra le varie etnie, e dall’arrivo dei centoventicinquemila “marielitos” di Castro. Hoke sta indagando sulla presunta morte per overdose di un ragazzo, ma quello che all’apparenza sembra un caso molto semplice, assume una piega contorta.

Ho impiegato un solo giorno di lettura per terminare questo romanzo molto scorrevole, il cui finale, davvero inaspettato, è totalmente in linea con la stravaganza del suo protagonista. Ottimo come lettura estiva, diletta e non delude le aspettative.

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What a weird novel. Willeford was to crime fiction what Philip.K.Dick was to sci-fi. Hoke Moseley is unlike any other police detective in the crime fiction genre. He is almost like an average middle class guy in some ways - he has to deal with rent and alimony, he has not had sex in a long time and in this book, he has to take care of his teenage daughters while he deals with gluttonous cravings and obesity. Despite being a policeman, he faces housing problems caused by mass immigration and white flight in Florida. He is also tremendously good at his job and nothing ever escapes him, because of which he has to fore go an opportunity to sleep with a beautiful woman.

Moseley's interactions with his daughters was the best part of the novel. Unlike Miami Blues and Sideswipe this Hoke Moseley novel does not have the charismatic villain. Willeford is not at the top of his game - the sharp and epic dialog is a bit scarce and the case investigations seemed like they were put together too soon.

But reading about Hoke Moseley has become like meeting up with good friends (along with Hank Chinaski, Holden Caufield, Enid and Mark Renton). So I am willing to forgive a few mistakes.

Lots of fun. Willeford has a wonderful prose style. Spare and humourous a joy to read. Home. Is a good hearted if slightly unprincipled sad sack a bit like Bill Murrays character in Ghostbusters. The lack of political correctness is a bit hard going for a modern reader especially as I couldn’t tell what was humour always. But it’s no worse than Sayers or Christie. I’d happily read more of these

This second installment in the Hoke Moseley series is an improvement over the first "Miami Blues."

Hoke Moseley has a heap of problems, but maintains a sense of humor and street smarts. The scene in which he figures out how a young addict was killed is wonderful. The other characters in the book, including his new partner and his daughters, are well written.

If I'd read this before Miami Blues, I'd probably have given it 5 stars and Miami Blues would have gotten the 4. It's just that what was so original when you first encounter it becomes more recognizable when you see it again. E.g. we had a Hare Krishna guy show up here as well. This is still a fun book to read.

Charles Willeford's New Hope for the Dead is the second of the author's Hoke Moseley novels. Moseley is a capable, instinctive detective with false teeth who lives in a semi-derelict Miami Beach hotel. The novel begins with his investigation of the death of a teenage junkie living with his stepmother, then switches gear as Moseley is put in charge of a detail investigating unsolved homicides.

His efforts are foiled when his ex-wide dumps his two teenage daughters on him without advance notice, and when his unmarried partner Ellida finds herself pregnant and is thrown out of her family home because her father decides to have nothing more to do with her. At the same time he must solve crimes, Moseley must find housing for the three women suddenly thrust upon him.

He manages to do so by performing a slightly underhanded bit of blackmail that solves his housing problems. This is a wonderfully atmospheric novel that gives one a good feeling of the strangeness that is South Florida.