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A Cold Day In Paradise (Alex McKnight Mysteries) | 
| Author: Steve Hamilton
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy Used: $2.34
You Save: $20.61 (90%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 797697
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 0312192487
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312192488
ASIN: 0312192487
Publication Date: August 15, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Standard used condition.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Doing their best to ensure the future of the genre, St. Martin's Press and the Private Eye Writers of America give out an award every year for the Best First Private Eye Novel. The 1997 winner was this splendidly evocative work by IBM employee Steve Hamilton, which takes just about every cliche in the field and turns it inside out. Yes, Alex McKnight was an athlete in his youth--but a minor league baseball player, not a top pro forced out by injury. And yes, he was a cop in Detroit before he moved up to the town of Paradise on the shores of Lake Superior--but even this overused genre icon is made believable by the details of a particularly bloody shootout. In Paradise, Alex runs a hunting camp built by his late father and only drifts into private investigations because of two friends, a persuasive lawyer and a local millionaire with a gambling problem who needs his help. When two bookmakers are murdered and the millionaire disappears, all the signs point to the psychopath who killed McKnight's partner and left a slug near Alex's heart 14 years before. The only problem is that this man has definitely, positively been in prison ever since. You might figure out the plot twists a page or two before McKnight does, but don't bet the farm on it. And the deep layer of details that Hamilton provides about life in this bleak part of the world add to the book's many pleasures. --Dick Adler
Product Description
Steve Hamilton
Born and raised in Michigan, he now works for IBM in upstate New York, where he lives with his wife and a son. A Cold Day In Paradise, in addition to winning an Edgar and a Shamus, was the winner of the 1997 St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America Best First P.I. Novel contest.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 A good read but that's about all. July 17, 2008
I read most of the other three star reviews and have to say that I don't understand how some of them can say that they dislike the book so much but give it an average rating of 3 stars. Seems contradictory to me. I also don't understand the five star ratings that so many people gave. To me five star means it is an enduring classic (ala The Big Sleep or The Maltese Falcon). This book is definitely NOT a classic. Although I found it a good read for the most part.
I liked the setting, most of the characters, and some of the dialog. I also found the relationship between the main character and the police chief Maven to be unrealistic. I also couldn't figure out what Sylivia's problem was. But then again I can't figure out women as a whole, what guy can?
But it seems like a good first effort despite the Psycho killer thing that is much overdone by a lot of authors.
I expect for this author to improve over time. If he doesn't then I will stop reading him.
 A Cold Day in Paradise June 28, 2008
Another gripping read by Steve Hamilton. Alex Mcnight as the ex-cop, private investigator with a past which refuses to go away.
Seamless prose combined with an excellent plot makes it an ideal escape for a train or plane journey. No less dramatic, is the backdrop of a fierce Canadian winter. Hamilton creates the ideal atmosphere for this thriller. And snappy dialogue coupled with briliant characterisation keeps the reader absorbed.
McNight is a well-rounded, credible hero who evokes the reader's sympathy as well as admiration. After the first page , you just want to read on.
Alex McKnight is a P.I. Worth Investigating May 5, 2008
"A Cold Day In Paradise" is Steve Hamilton's first novel in his Alex McKnight series (there are currently 7 books). It was a good, quick read. This book won the 1997 St. Martin's Press/PWA Award for Best First Private Eye Novel, and it was an award well deserved.
Alex McKnight spent 8 years as a police officer in Detroit, Michigan. That career ended when Alex and his partner Franklin met up with a man named Rose, a delusional pyscho who killed Franklin and shot Alex 3 times in the chest.
Alex moved to Paradise (the town, not the idyllic meaning of the word) after his near death experience to live and run the rental of hunting cabins built by his father years ago. He is convinced by local lawyer Lane Uttley to get his private investigator license and start working cases for him.
When his friend, Edwin Fulton, calls him in the middle of the night to a murder scene, Alex gets involved in his biggest case yet. A local bookie has been killed, and another turns up dead within a few days. Alex starts getting calls and letters hand-delivered from Rose, which shouldn't be possible since Rose is supposed to be in jail for the rest of his life.
Then Edwin disappears, and even though his body has not been found yet, Alex feels responsible for his death. Can Alex figure out how Rose could be out murdering men when he is supposedly safely locked up in maximum security before anyone else ends up dead?
Hamilton did a great job keeping his characters intersting and keeping the action moving along at a quick pace. I am excited to see what happens next to Alex in "Winter of the Wolf Moon". If you enjoy P.I. mysteries and haven't had the pleasure of reading "A Cold Day in Paradise", I suggest you pick it up and give it a try.
More U.P. please December 15, 2007
No need for me to retell an excellent novel. The author should have focused a little more on the U.P. setting, had he done so I would have given it 5 stars. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
 Not enough U. P. and to much forced anger... September 8, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Being from the U.P. it is always a pleasure to stumble across a book with ties to my home. However, this was not the case with "A Cold Day in Paradise." This story could have taken place anywhere. The U. P. is a unique location that could have had more significance to the story or its characters. I was also disappointed in the continuous anger of each of the characters. As a reader I did not feel I was given enough information or background to understand or believe where this anger was coming from. As one previous review stated the characters seemed "flat." I would agree with this and in being more specific I would add it is more enjoyable and believable to watch a character moving into a state of anger, possibly struggling with it internally ... these characters were simply flat angry all the time.
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