If you read A Gambling Man by David Baldacci and need something similar or if you’re on the hold list and you’re looking for something to tide you over until it arrives, here’s a few read-a-likes we hope you’ll love.
The Monet Murders by Terry Mort
Private-investigator-to-the-stars Riley Fitzhugh finds himself caught up in the case of a missing Hollywood beauty-and a stolen Monet-in a 1930s hard-boiled caper as deadly as it is delightful. Hollywood, 1934. Prohibition is finally over, but there is still plenty of crime for an ambitious young private eye to investigate. Though he has a slightly checkered past, Riley Fitzhugh is well connected in the film industry and is hired by a major producer-whose lovely girlfriend has disappeared. He is also hired to recover a stolen Monet, a crime that results in two murders … with more to come. Along the way Riley investigates the gambling ships anchored off LA, gets involved with the girlfriend of the gangster running one of the ships, disposes of the body of a would-be actor who assaults Riley’s girlfriend, and meets an elegant English art history professor from UCLA who helps him authenticate several paintings. Living at the Garden of Allah Hotel, Riley meets and assists many Hollywood screenwriters, who frequent the hotel bar. Incidentally one of these gents, whose nom de plume is Hobey Baker, might actually be F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Stardust by Joseph Kanon
Hollywood, 1945. Ben Collier has just arrived from war-torn Europe to find that his brother, Daniel, has died in mysterious circumstances. Why would a man with a beautiful wife, a successful career in the movies, and a heroic past choose to kill himself? Determined to uncover the truth, Ben enters the maze of the studio system and the uneasy world beneath the glossy shine of the movie business. For this is the moment when politics and the dream factories are beginning to collide as Communist witch hunts render the biggest stars and star makers vulnerable. Even here, where the devastation of Europe seems no more real than a painted movie set, the war casts long and dangerous shadows. When Ben learns troubling facts about his own family’s past, he is caught in the middle of a web of deception that shakes his moral foundation to its core. Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Stardust flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller evoking both the glory days of the movies and the emergence of a dark strain of American political life.
Saint’s Gate by Carla Neggers
Emma Sharpe is summoned to a Maine convent, partly for her FBI art crimes work, partly because of her past with the Order. At issue is a mysterious painting of Irish lore and Viking legends. But when the nun who contacted her is murdered, it seems legend is becoming deadly reality. Colin Donovan is one of the FBI’s most valuable deep-cover agents. Back home in Maine after his latest mission, a contact clues him into an intrigue of murder, international art heists and long-held secrets that is too tempting to resist. As danger spirals ever closer, Colin is certain of only one thing—Emma Sharpe is at the center of it all.
Fearless Jones by Walter Mosley
When Paris Minton meets a beautiful new woman, before he knows it he has been beaten up, slept with, shot at, robbed, and his bookstore burned to the ground. He’s in so much trouble he has no choice but to get his friend, Fearless Jones, out of jail to help him.
Hunted by Elizabeth Heiter
Terror stalks a small Virginia town. FBI rising star and criminal profiler Evelyn Baine knows how to think like a serial killer. But she’s never chased anyone like the Bakersville Burier, who hunts young women and displays them, half-buried, deep in the woods. As the body count climbs, Evelyn’s relentless pursuit of the killer puts her career–and her life–at risk. And the evil lurking in the Burier’s mind may be more than even she can unravel. Terror is closer than she thinks–The Bakersville Burier knows he’s got an FBI profiler on his trail. He knows who she is and where to find her. And he’s biding his time, because he’s planned a special punishment for Evelyn. She may have tracked other killers, but he vows to make this her last chase. This time it’s her turn to be hunted!
