programs and playing football for various colleges before a three-year stint in the U.S. Born in Three Rivers, Texas to an oil-rig worker, Crumley spent his early adulthood in R.O.T.C. Why? The answer is as simple and straightforward as could be, and if you haven’t read it, you’ll hate me for telling you why.įirst, some context. It showed us a crime novel could be about something bigger than the mystery itself.” Unlike other influential entries in the genre, however, Kiss has never been adapted for television or film. Consider Pelacanos’s words on the subject: “If you asked us to name one book that got us jacked up to write crime novels, it would be The Last Good Kiss. Many of the greats, including Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos, Craig McDonald, and others, cite Kiss as both a huge influence on their own career, and revere it as one of the very best examples of the genre. But its standing in the pantheon of hardboiled private detective novels is manifest.

Or, as some like to say, it had a cult following. Like his other works, it was a modest seller. In 1978, James Crumley published his second private eye novel, The Last Good Kiss. His fiction debut, “Rising Sun,” appears in the Department of First Stories in our current issue (March/April 2022). Key elements of the plot are revealed! We can’t tell you much about Jameson Trahearne himself, other than that he is a Cincinnati native who is fascinated by his city he is scrupulous in maintaining his pseudonym. We must warn readers in the strongest way, however, that the post is not intended for those who have yet to read the book. In this post, one of Crumley’s great novels, The Last Good Kiss, is examined in detail. Jameson Trahearne is a pseudonymous new writer whose pen name, first and last, is taken from characters in the novels of James Crumley.

The last good kiss by james crumley