Scott Montgomery's Bookshelf

Scott Montgomery's Mystery People Bookstore is housed inside Book People Bookstore in Austin, Texas, one of the finest bookstores I have ever been inside.


What book(s) are currently on your nightstand?

The Cartel, Don Winslows amazing sequel to The Power Of The Dog, Dry
Bones, the next book in Craig Johnson's entertaining Walt Longmire
series, and Perish Twice, the Robert B Parker's second Sunny Randall
novel. I also have Concrete Angel sitting there ready to be read.

Who is your favorite novelist of all time?

Dashiell Hammett with Elmore Leonard being a very close second. Both
had that direct style that changes the game of crime fiction and, in
there own way, they were champions of the working class.

What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?

I'm a pretty open book when it comes to my tastes. Maybe Janice
Hamrick's Jocelyne Shore series. They don't have the many of the noir
or hard boiled qualities of the books I normally champion, but Janice
has such a understanding of human nature and creates a such a
believable heroine you care about, I truly enjoy her work. Plus, for a
so-called "light" mystery writer she can get brutal and dark. She
killed a guy with a lion mauling. The first book is Death On Tour and
she gets better with each one.

 Who is your favorite fictional hero?

Lonesome Dove's Gus McCrae. I don't know why, but I always loved the
idea of not only saving a lady and showing her true humanity for the
first time, but telling her before he leaves "Someday, you're gonna'
learn other people will treat you kind." That to me is one of the most
gallant moments in literature.

What book do you return to?

Hammett's collection of Continental Op stories. The writing is tough,
sparse, believable, and even reading them today you feel the rules
being broken and more possibilities being set before all of us who
aspire to write in this genre. It's the punk rock album of crime
fiction.