"If you read only only one amateur detective novel this year, make it this one."
--Book Browse
Publishers Weekly
STARRED Review for Detroit Shuffle! (Excerpt)
"Johnson does for early 20th-century Detroit what James Ellroy did for 1950s Los Angeles, creating a noxious brew of violence and corruption in his fourth novel featuring auto mechanic Will Anderson (after 2012’s Detroit Breakdown).
"In 1912, as the women’s suffrage movement picks up steam, British suffragist Sylvia Pankhurst arrives in the city in advance of a pivotal vote on an amendment to grant Michigan women the vote. Anderson, nominally an employee of his father’s electric car business, finds himself again in the midst of murder and mayhem when he stops a gunman from shooting the love of his life, Elizabeth Hume, one of Detroit’s suffragette leaders.
"With his history of blackouts and illness, he has a hard time getting anyone to take his fears seriously, even as an assassination attempt on Teddy Roosevelt, the Progressive Party candidate for president, increases the tension around the campaign. Powerful forces are aligned against the amendment: in particular the Michigan Liquor Association, which fears that granting women the vote is but a prologue to prohibition.
"The complex plot works, and the detection and action scenes combine for a thrilling read—the series’ best so far."
Kirkus Reviews
STARRED Review for Detroit Shuffle! (Excerpt)
"Will’s fourth is his best outing yet, packed with action by turns funny and chilling and deftly blended with the historical background."
Mystery Scene Magazine Review (Excerpt)
"Detroit Shuffle (is) both an interesting look at a bygone era and an enjoyable ride.... this intrigue is set in the city of Detroit in the fall of 1912, and D. E. Johnson, a history buff, captures the essence of the gritty, blue-collar setting perfectly, from the single-purpose “gasoline stations” that are sprouting up on every other corner to the overpriced DUR trolley that costs a nickel to ride. The reader may empathize with Will’s annoyance that gas costs 30 cents a gallon...
"While Johnson’s fourth book in his Detroit series will definitely appeal to auto and history aficionados, anyone who likes to root for the underdog will enjoy this tale of conspiracy and murder."
Book Browse Raves About Detroit Shuffle! (Excerpt)
"Detroit Shuffle is the very best kind of amateur detective novel - a complex weave of disparate but interrelated threads that advance then double back on each other in ways that would make a Flemish tapestry artist envious....
"All of this is exquisitely laid out amid sumptuous descriptions of a time and a city so alive and vital as to leap off the page and embrace the reader in its grand exuberance. My only, albeit infinitesimal, complaint is that sometimes Johnson's story arc and wickedly sharp characterizations fall second place under the weight of these meticulously researched descriptions. But as I think about it, that may just be Johnson's secret to plot pacing. Because he is indeed a master at establishing a finely tuned tempo, holding a reader just breathless enough to keep turning page after page.
"Yessir. With all its mystery, thrills, moral, ethical and emotional dilemmas - even Will has self-doubts after suffering a day-and-a-half long blackout - to say nothing of Johnson's literary chiaroscuro, this is about as good as it gets. I say, if you read only only one amateur detective novel this year, make it this one."
Look Around!
You can probably guess which one is me!
On this site you will find my books, some of the fun history in them, interviews (be sure to check out my interview with Jay Leno), my upcoming appearances, and a variety of other bits and pieces. Enjoy!
