Back Bay Blues

Praise for Peter Colt's Andy Roark Mysteries:

"A classical mystery with an honor-bound detective and a keen sense of place... Besides having the P.I. spiel and the P.I. moves down pat, Roark is genuinely likable (not too tough, but not a patsy) and very much a character of his time." - The New York Times Book Review on BACK BAY BLUES

"Readers yearning for a noir mystery in the vein of Mike Hammer or Sam Spade are in luck. Peter Colt has delivered just such a tale of intrigue...Colt, an Army veteran who served in Kosovo and Iraq and now is a police officer in a small New England city, captures his firsthand, on-the-job experience in moody prose. The novel spends nearly as much time exploring Roark's inner demons from the Vietnam War and life afterward as it does with the case at hand, adding a deeply evocative perspective to events." --BookPage   on THE OFF-ISLANDER

"Roark's skill at his job is displayed amid a gift for self-conscious mockery, as though he knows he's a character in a novel. He models his mustache after Magnum's, totes a gun like Bond's, dresses spiffy like Spenser, but wonders if gun oil will stain his pretty blue shirt. Further, he offers a rare portrait of a type anyone who's been in the military will recognize... There's plenty of room for detection and a blood-soaked finale, but it's these tidbits that linger." - Booklist on BACK BAY BLUES

"Like Philip Marlowe--or Robert Parker's Spenser--Andy has a sharp eye for telling detail and male haberdashery." --Publishers Weekly    on THE OFF-ISLANDER
 
"New England police officer Colt's first novel is a boozy pipe dream of a private eye's search for a long-missing father...[with] lots of attitude." --Kirkus Reviews   on THE OFF-ISLANDER
 
"This atmospheric debut mystery should appeal to fans of the early works of Dennis Lehane and Robert B. Parker." --Library Journal  on THE OFF-ISLANDER

"Atmospheric and witty...Andy Roark is all instinct and tarnish--the perfect companion for your next reading binge." --Kyle Mills, # 1 New York Times bestselling author   on THE OFF-ISLANDER

"If you like your mysteries to be old-school in the vein of John D. MacDonald, or even farther back to Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett, then you will appreciate this striking debut by Peter Colt. Long on atmosphere, detail, and character, it could place detective Andy Roark amongst the classic noir sleuths." --Raymond Benson, author of Blues in the Dark  on THE OFF-ISLANDER
 
 "Where were you in 1982? Peter Colt's The Off-Islander is much more than a period piece. Colt's maiden effort introduces P.I. Andy Roark trying to locate a mysterious missing person. The closer this former Vietnam vet gets to finding his mystery man, the more people seem to want him dead. Colt knows the terrain, and the character, and has the personal background to make the most out of them. The Off-Islander is a gripping debut, and readers will certainly want more." --Alan Russell, author of Gideon's Rescue  on THE OFF-ISLANDER

"As Andy becomes more and more drawn into the case, he demonstrates to both himself and the reader that although you can take the man out of Vietnam, you cannot take Vietnam out of the man."- Bookpage on BACK BAY BLUES