Miami Blues by Charles Willeford

This is the first of three books featuring Hoke Moseley, a Miami police detective. Good stuff, if a bit formulaic: Rough-around-the-edges-cop, straight laced partner, bureaucrat boss, naive-but-plucky females, sociopath bad guy and all the other stock urban crime characters mix it up on the way to a satisfying resolution. The other two are similar. Formulas exist for a reason, though. When followed well, they work. These books do. The writing is crisp. The there’s no manufactured suspense. The location is richly described. These are great books.