K.C. Constantine, Another Day’s Pain

“Published just after the author’s death this has been one of my surprises of the year. It’s a special book that chronicles the town of Rocksburg, PA and its inhabitants and it’s more a character study of a place than a crime novel. Crime happens, just as it happens everywhere, but it’s the mundane, everyday plodding of life and it’s wonderful. We follow the main character, Detective Ruggiero “Rugs Carlucci, as he goes about his business playing politics while bending the law to fit the (mostly petty) crimes that make up small town living. Great dialogue, people you will laugh with and care about even as the town slowly wastes away as businesses close and the young move away. Rocksburg is a place we all know, have driven through, and remember with rose colored glasses while being happy we don’t live there. I, for one, am happy that Rocksburg will always exist on my bookshelf. This is the last of a fairly sporadic series that started in the 1970’s. Out of print for awhile now books #2 and #3 have recently been re-issued with the rest, hopefully following close behind.” — Pete Mock