Dancing Bear

Dancing Bear

Summary

A classic from a legend of American crime writing. ‘Crumley writes like an angel on speed’ Time Out.

Milo Milodragovitch isn’t exactly an upstanding citizen. He’s more than likely to be drunk, and leaves heartbreak in his wake; five ex-wives to be precise. In fact, ‘his forte is self-destruction’ (Elmore Leonard).

When an elderly lady offers him a handsome fee to satisfy her curiosity he thinks it’s an easy job, a quick win. Every Thursday she watches a couple arrive at the same spot at the woods opposite her house, in separate cars. But finding out who they are and what they’re doing is far from straightforward and before he knows it Milo is in a world of trouble, complete with machine guns, grenades, and a bag of coke. Never a dull day...

Reviews

  • The first-person style, the author's sound, is bigger than life, satirical, and it lets Crumley get away with murder'
    Elmore Leonard, Washington Post

About the author

James Crumley

James Crumley was born in Three Rivers, Texas and spent most of his childhood in South Texas. He served three years in the US Army before teaching at University of Texas at El Paso, University of Montana and University of Arkansas. He passed away in 2008.

His private eye novels featuring Milo Milodragovitch and C. W. Sughrue are regarded as masterpieces of contemporary crime fiction, praised by Dennis Lehane, Ian Rankin and George Pelecanos. He was awarded the Dashiell Hammett Award for Best Literary Crime Novel and the CWA Silver Dagger Award.
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