The Way We Die Now

Charles Willeford is one of the undiscovered masters of the American mystery. He wrote marvelous books that are far superior to those of much more popular authors. This is no exception and features Hoke Moseley, his Miami homicide detective sergeant. Williford’s world is darkly ironic and the humdrum, normal aspects of life, become part of the tension. Hoke is forced to make a series of accomodations and compromises, some very dark in this book.
Hoke has been working on a series of unsolved murders when his boss, Major Brownley and Mel, an immigration cop, ask him to go undercover to root out the murderer of some illegal Haitian immigrants. The woman he is living with — not really living with in the common sense, they are chastely show more sharing a house to save money with Hoke’s two teenage daughters -- ex-partner Ellita and her baby, has begun showing interest in a new neighbor, Donald Hutton, a man Hoke has reason to worry about because Hoke believes him to be a murderer who was released from jail too early. Hutton had sworn to get Hoke. He’s also working on a cold case, the murder of a physician, and he has just uncovered a clue that he believes will help solve the case, so he’s not enthusiastic about the new undercover work. It turns out to be a bloody assignment — there is a truly shocking scene where the foreman of the farm tries to kill and sodomize Hoke — one that we learn at the end of the novel was something of a setup to see how he would be able to react in difficult and lonely situations.
Willeford easily ranks with Hammett and McDonald. show less

Last of the Hoke Mosely's - and that is sad. The book ends most poignantly with Alita gone (to an enemy of Hoke's). This one covers a lot of ground- from an enemy of Hoke released from prison and moving across the street, to a long adventure in the backwoods with Hoke undercover. The baddies discover he is undercover and things are very iffy for a bit before Hoke blasts out of it with a pretty satisfying action / violent episode. Anyhow, back to Miami to solve a pretty confusing cold case file. Then, at the end, Hoke gets his reward- a big fat promotion to Lieutenant - in charge of internal affairs, which he comes to appreciate. Kind of an upper to end the series with.

Superb final installment in the Hoke Mosely series, Charles Willeford's pulp-noir crime novel. Willeford was something of a pulp genius, a fine writer who got caught in the lowbrow section of the industry, but churned out some fine work. This is not Willeford at his very best, but it is, still, very good.

Willeford's last novel includes some pretty riveting scenes but suffers from the lack of a real focus. There are two main cases going on - not at all related - and neither really receives the attention it deserves. Perhaps plotting wasn't really Willeford's best strength. The character of Hoke Moseley is still interesting, however, so if you've read the other three in the series, you won't want to miss this one.

3.5 stars
This little excerpt from chapter 2, makes me laugh, recalling my days of the 20th century, when people smoked everywhere, until about 1992.
" '.. .this really is important. I attended the new Chief's weekly briefing this morning and he's come up with a terrible plan. He wants to stop all smoking inside the police station. His idea's to set up a smoking area in the parking lot, and anytime you want to smoke you have to sign out for personal time and go out to the lot. Then, when you finish your smoke, you sign back in again and return to your desk or whatever. A lot of guys have already quit smoking, you see, and they've complained to the new chief that smoke from heavy smokers is invading their space.'
'what about the men's show more room?'
'no smoking inside the building, period. That includes the interrogation rooms, suspect lockup, everywhere except the outside parking lot.'
'it won't work, Bill. Lieutenant Ramirez, in robbery, smokes at least three packs a day. He might as well move his f****** desk out to the parking lot.' "

Hoke Moseley, Sergeant at the Miami Police department, is a rough old fart getting near retirement. He and his assistant, a transplant from the robbery Department, are assigned, besides other things, cold cases. Hoke is working on a three-year-old case of the murder of a dr.

I learned something about when people have their houses tented for getting rid of insect pests.
"... Termite swarms have an uncanny knack for finding their way back to an edible house, and exterminators in South Florida thrive on repeat business. The house is put under canvas, and the tenants must stay away for from 36 to 72 hours while the Vikane gas kills the termites and other insects inside the house. Food and other perishables are placed in plastic bags during the tenting, and homeowners either stay with friends or put up in a motel until it's safe to return home. Burglaries of tented houses occur frequently, and three or four times a year, and sometimes more often than that, dead burglars, overcome by the Vikane gas, are discovered together with the dead insects when the owners return home. Vikane is a powerful poison, and it kills people as easily as it does termites. Burglars who specialize in tent job invasions wear gas masks and get in and out quickly with their loot. But amateurs who hold dampened handkerchiefs over their mouths and stay too long looking for valuables can be overcome by the fumes and drop dead to the floor like the roaches and termites. Usually burglars are teenagers, high school dropouts with low IQs, but occasionally they are mature man who should know better. Warning signs are posted on all four sides of the tented house, in English and Spanish, but more than 30% of the Miami burglars are illiterate in both languages and cannot read signs." show less

Another great entry into the Hoke Mosley series, unfortunately this is the final book in that series written before Willeford died and even though it is set up at the end to be continued with Hoke as the head of internal affairs, we'll never know. Highly Recommend to all.

Great ending to an unforgettable series, I wish he'd lived forever and given us more...