Lt. Hastings

Series · 6 books · 1973-1993

By Bill Pronzini, Collin Wilcox

Books in series

Hiding Place

1973

How well do parents know their children? Mrs. Towers thought her daughter June was a good girl. Why, then, did the pretty teen turn up dead atop a rubbish heap in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park? Had she gone there to rendezvous with her killer? Had she always done what mother said?Lt. Frank Hastings has some answers and some obvious suspects, but not all of either. He keeps digging, and it's a good thing. There's more to this than a wayward girl, as a second murder confirms. It's up to Hastings to stop a third. "Involves you like (Dashiell) Hammett does." (Ross MacDonald)

Doctor, Lawyer…

1975

Lt. Frank Hastings finds a killer's extortion notes on the victims, each note successively asking for more money. Tons of evidence turns up at the murder scenes, but it points back to San Francisco cops. Before the bloodletting ends, Hastings looks death in the eye. It all comes down to a final moment when quickness counts and luck calls the last shot.

Twospot

1978

Pronzini and Wilcox combine their superlative talents—and their two popular San Francisco-based detectives, "Nameless" and Lieutenant Frank Hastings—on a harrowing case of murder and bizarre conspiracy surrounding an old California wine-making family.

#17

Hire a Hangman

1991

The murder of an adulterous physician, Dr. Brice Hanchett, head of Barrington Medical Center's renowned transplant surgical team, leads Lt. Frank Hastings to an unexpected number of suspects, until the killing of a prime suspect further complicates the case

#18

Dead Center

1992

Tony Frazer, a millionaire playboy, tries to sidestep a panhandler. To Frazer's amazement, the man whispers his name. . .then pumps two bullets dead center through his chest.Frank Hastings, a veteran police lieutenant, knows it's not a casual killing. Then others are killed in the same way. All are men, all wealthy and powerful. And all are shot with a silenced .22 automatic. Can Hastings pull together the threads that link them and snare the murderer? "Finely honed and richly textured, a story that gets under your skin." (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

#19

Switchback

1993

1st edition Henry Holt 1995 paperback, fine In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Authors

Bill Pronzini

Author · 104 books

Mystery Writers of America Awards "Grand Master" 2008 Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987 Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink Married to author Marcia Muller. Pseudonyms: Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann) Jack Foxx William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann) Alex Saxon

Collin Wilcox

Author · 8 books

Aka Carter Wick Collin Wilcox was an American mystery writer. Born in Detroit, Michigan, his first book was The Black Door (1967), featuring a sleuth possessing extrasensory perception. His major series of novels was about Lieutenant Frank Hastings of the San Francisco Police Department. Titles in the Hastings series included Hire a Hangman, Dead Aim, Hiding Place, Long Way Down and Stalking Horse. Two of his last books, Full Circle and Find Her a Grave, featured a new hero-sleuth, Alan Bernhardt, an eccentric theater director. Wilcox also published under the pseudonym "Carter Wick". Wilcox's most famous series-detective was the television character Sam McCloud, a New Mexico deputy solving New York crime. The "urban cowboy" was played by Dennis Weaver in the 1970-1977 TV series McCloud. Wilcox wrote three novelizations based on scripts from the series: McCloud (1973), The New Mexican Connection (1974), and The Park Avenue Executioner (1975).