Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues (USA 2010)

From the Publisher:
"LEONARD DELIVERS A CERTIFIABLE MASTERPIECE OF SUCH TWISTED INGENUITY THAT HE TRANSCENDS EVEN HIS OWN BAD SELF... . TISHOMINGO BLUES IS THAT GOOD." -- BALTIMORE SUN

Daredevil Dennis Lenahan has brought his act to the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi -- diving off an eighty-foot ladder into nine feet of water for the amusement of gamblers, gangsters, and luscious belles. His riskiest feat, however, was witnessing a Dixie-style mob execution while atop his diving platform. Robert Taylor saw the hit also. A blues-loving Detroit hustler touring the Southland in a black Jaguar, Taylor's got his own secret agenda re the "Cornbread Cosa Nostra," and he wants Dennis in on the game. But there's a lot more in Robert Taylor's pocket than a photo of his lynched great-grandfather. And high-diver Dennis could be about to take a long, fatal fall -- right into a mess of hoop skirts, Civil War playacting... and more trouble than he ever dreamed possible.

"The debate over who's the all-time king of the whack job crime novelists just ended. Living or dead, Elmore Leonard tops 'em all... Tishomingo Blues ain't just reading, friend. It's bloodshot eyeballs at 4 a.m." -- Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

ELMORE LEONARD has written more than forty books during his highly successful career, many of which have been made into movies. He has been named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Leonard lives with his wife, Christine, in Bloomfield Village, Michigan.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues. Harper Paperbacks, ISBN: 9780062009395 (September, 2010), 308 p., $13.99.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues (UK 2010)

From the Publisher:
Vintage Elmore Leonard - a searing tale of gambling, gangsters, hidden agendas and a whole heap of trouble from the virtuoso of American crime fiction.

Daredevil Dennis Lenahan has brought his act to the Tishomingo Lodge and Casino in Tunica, Mississippi - diving off an eighty-foot ladder into nine feet of water for the amusement of gamblers, gangsters and luscious belles. His riskiest feat, however, was witnessing a Dixie-style mob execution while atop his diving platform.

Robert Taylor saw the hit also. A blues-loving Detroit hustler touring the Southland, Taylor's got his own secret agenda and he wants Dennis in on the game. And high-diver Dennis could be about to take a long, fatal fall - right into a mess of hoop skirts, Civil War play-acting and more trouble than he ever dreamed possible.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues. Phoenix, ISBN: 9780753827321 (March, 2010), 288 p., £7.99.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
Dennis Lenahan is a high diver. He drops from an eighty-foot perch into nine feet of water at the Tishomingo Lodge and Casino just along from the Mississippi river. It's no sweat and the girls think he's pretty cool. However, when Dennis witnesses a murder from his perch, life gets shaky. Maybe he's gonna need more than strong nerves to see him through this one.

Then he meets Robert Taylor, a smooth-talking gangster from Detroit with a passion for the blues and a hustle involving the Dixie Mafia and a Civil War battle re-enactment. Robert takes Dennis under his wing - he needs a man who can stay cool under pressure. But when the guns start firing, Dennis needs to know who's shooting blanks and who's using the real thing...

'Exactingly imagined. His characters have larynxes like guitars, always riffing' -- Mark Lawson, Guardian
'Cracking one-liners, knock-out description and pitch-perfect dialogue... Tishomingo Blues leaps out of the covers at you with all the vigour and attitude of a pushy, street-smart teenager' Daily Mirror

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues. Penguin, ISBN: 0141009861 (February, 2003), 308 p., £6.99.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
"ELMORE LEONARD IS BACK AT HIS SLY, FINGER-POPPING BEST." -- Detroit Free Press
THE COOLEST, DARKEST, FUNNIEST, MOST SERPENTINE AND SURPRISING THRILLER TO DATE FROM "THE BEST WRITER OF CRIME FICTION ALIVE." -- Newsweek

Daredevil Dennis Lenahan has brought his act to the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi -- diving off an eighty-foot ladder into nine feet of water for the amusement of gamblers, gangsters, and luscious belles. His riskiest feat, however, was witnessing a Dixie-style mob execution while atop his diving platform. Robert Taylor saw the hit also. A blues-loving Detroit hustler touring the Southland in a black Jaguar, Taylor's got his own secret agenda re the "Cornbread Cosa Nostra," and he wants Dennis in on the game. But there's a lot more in Robert Taylor's pocket than a photo of his lynched great-grandfather. And high-diver Dennis could be about to take a long, fatal fall -- right into a mess of hoop skirts, Civil War play-acting... and more trouble than he ever dreamed possible.

"TISHOMINGO BLUES IS TYPICAL ELMORE LEONARD. WHO COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE?" -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues. A Novel. HarperTorch, ISBN: 0060083948 (January, 2003), 432 p., $7.99.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues (UK 2002)

From the Publisher:
When daredevil Dennis Lenahan brings his motorcycle high dive act to the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, he witnesses a mob hit while atop his diving platform and becomes mixed up with murder, mayhem, wild women, and a pack of southern-fried hoods.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues. A Novel. Viking, ISBN: 0670912956 (July, 2002), 308 p., £16.99.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
Dennis Lenahan the high diver would tell people that if you put a fifty-cent piece on the floor and looked down at it, that's what the tank looked like from the top of that eighty-foot steel ladder. Dennis is a daredevil and the girls love him. Things are going along okay with his gig at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, "the Casino Capital of the South," until the day he looks down from the high-dive platform and witnesses a mob hit -- Dixie style. The killer looks up and says, "Let's see you dive." Suddenly, being a daredevil has lost its kick.

Turns out there was a second witness, Robert Taylor from Detroit, who carries a picture of his great-granddaddy's lynching along with a gun in a briefcase and listens to Marvin Pontiac while cruising the back roads of Mississippi in his black Jaguar. Robert works for a man from up north who has come to play General Grant in a Civil War battle reenactment, but like Dennis, Robert has a death-defying act of his own: he's sleeping with his boss's wife. Thirty-seven miles from Tunica is the famous "crossroads" where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil for a style of funky blues that had never been heard before.

Robert Taylor is about to introduce Dennis to a "crossroads" of his own. He has a secret agenda for taking on the Cornbread Cosa Nostra and wants Dennis in on it. To complicate matters are the women. Some are dressed in hoop skirts, and all of them have plans of their own. Vernice lures Dennis with the whitest thighs he's ever seen. Diane comes to do a story on him and wants to take him to Memphis. And still another comes along to give Dennis the surprise of his life. But it's the scams Robert Taylor plays, drawing Dennis into his game, that move the action through all kinds of unexpected twists and turns. Before he knows it, Dennis has agreed to join Robert in the battle reenactment, which leads to a showdown between the bad guys and the really bad guys.

Tishomingo Blues rings true with the bestselling author's dead-on dialogue, capturing the flavor and rhythms of the South, and finds him plotting at his unpredictable best.

Elmore Leonard: Tishomingo Blues. William Morrow, ISBN: 0060008725 (February, 2002), 308 p., $25.95.