Jack Dwyer Books In Order

Publication Order of Jack Dwyer Books

Jack Dwyer series denotes a literary series penned by the late American man of letters named Ed Gorman. Meet Ed Gorman. Incidentally, his birth name is Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. Gorman, whose literary works has featured in notable publications such as The New York Times, was born in November 1941 in Cedar Rapids upon Iowa, in the United States. He also died in the aforementioned location in October 2016, at the age of 74. Gorman adopted many different names during his time. He wrote under the following pseudonyms: Daniel Ransom, Robert David Chase, E. J. Gorman, Edward Gorman Jr, and Richard Driscoll.

Ed Gorman’s bibliography is extensive and comprehensive in equal measure. It comprises of acclaimed standalone novels and novellas, award-winning short story collections, several noteworthy series of books, and revered graphic novels. Moreover, Gorman has both edited and contributed to a laundry list of notable anthologies.

Prior to his recent death, Ed Gorman, who also co-founded a mystery genre-oriented magazine, had been writing full-time since mid-1980s and continued to do so for almost twenty years. However, Gorman had been working in the advertising sector, spending two decades, in the run-up to writing books. His niche was especially western fiction, mystery and thrillers, horror fiction, and non-fiction books.

Section on Books
Ed Gorman debuted in 1985. Gorman’s debut book is titled Rough Cut. Did you know that this debut novel was expounded to form the Jack Dwyer series? Basically, this series comprises of six primary works and the books contained therein were published between 1985 and 1990.

There are seven editions of the first book in the Jack Dwyer series. The first edition was initially published in 1985, titled Rough Cut (Ed Gorman’s debut, to labor the point); and the Jack Dwyer series is shelved under the mystery, thriller, fiction, and suspense genres.

Another early book that Ed Gorman published in the Jack Dwyer series is titled New, Improved Murder. This book is the second one in the series. As a matter of fact, it has five editions and the first one was also originally published in 1985. As the title of the series stipulates, Jack Dwyer is the featured protagonist in the Jack Dwyer series but for the first book.

Meet protagonist Jack Dwyer. Dwyer hails from the Midwestern region of the US. He is a former police officer but is currently a private investigator. He has a passion for acting and, by resigning from the police service, he hoped to set aside extra time to indulge in his hobby. Generally, Dwyer is a compassionate and humorous hero.

The first book in the Jack Dwyer series, Rough Cut, is a whodunit. Denny Harris, the co-owner of an advertising agency is murdered and, Michael Ketchum, his business associate, chances upon the scene of crime. Ketchum fails to inform the authorities, even after another firm’s worker is killed. He prefers to smoke out the murderer instead before he is targeted. In the second book, New, Improved Murder, store detective Jack Dwyer chances upon his shocked girlfriend gripping a smoking gun. And thus he starts sleuthing a murder.

Jack Dwyer Series: Awards
Two of the six books in the Jack Dwyer series have been nominated for literary awards. In 1986, Ed Gorman’s second book in the said series, New, Improved Murder, was nominated for the Shamus Award in the Best First PI Novel category. Two years later, Gorman’s fifth book in the series, The Autumn Dead, was also nominated for the Shamus Award in the Best PI Novel category.

Other books authored by Ed Gorman have won other prestigious literary awards. For instance,in 1992, Gorman clinched the Spur Award in the Best Short Fiction category; he won courtesy of his short story titled The Face. In 1997, his short story titled Eye of the Beholder was nominated for the Shamus Award, in the Best Private Eye Short Story category. In 1988, his short story named Turn Away won a Shamus Award in the Best PI Short Story category; his short story titled The Reason Why was nominated too.

Ed Gorman edited The Fine Art of Murder which, in 1994, clinched Macavity Awards in the Best Critical/Biographical category; it was also nominated for Anthony Award. Ed Gorman alongside Martin Greenberg edited the collection titled Speaking of Murder; in 1999, they were nominated for the Macavity Awards in the Best Critical/Biographical category, and, in 1998, for the Agatha Award in the Best Non-Fiction category.

In 2003, Ed Gorman clinched the Ellery Queen Award. His 1994 book titled Cages was nominated in the Best Fiction Collection category of the Brom Stoker Award; and The Dark Fantastic was nominated in 2001. Lastly, Ed Gorman has been a recipient of Life Achievement Award proffered by Private Eye Writers of America and The International Horror Writers Award.

Jack Dwyer series: Books into Films
Ed Gorman’s 1999 standalone book titled The Poker Club has a film adaptation. The film was produced in 2008. The starring actors are Johnny Messner (Bill), Michael Risley (Neal), and Jana Kramer (Trudy). There are short films, adapted from Gorman’s short stories; The Long Silence After was produced in 2009 and the starring actors are Duane Sharp as Neely, John Shane as Friend, and Tiffini Funches as Mary Williams. The Ugly Fire was also released in 2009, starring Michael Lechner as Roy Hubbard, Kirsten McCain as Mrs. Cunningham, and Scott McClelland as Mr. Byerly.

Jack Dwyer series: Best Books
The following are the best three books in Ed Gorman’s Jack Dwyer series. The first one is titled New, Improved Murder. The second one is titled The Autumn Dead; it is the fifth book in the Jack Dwyer series and was originally published in 1987. The other one titled Murder Straight Up; it is the third in the series.

Other Books You May Like
Readers who enjoyed the Jack Dwyer series authored by Ed Gorman also liked these series of books. The first one is titled Alex Mercer Thriller series penned by Stacy Claflin. Protagonist Alex Mercer puts his life on the line in a bid to save the life of his daughter whom he gave up for adoption. The second is titled Charlotte Anthony Mysteries series penned by Meg Wolfe. The tetralogy features protagonist Charlotte Anthony, an amateur sleuth. The third one is titled John Milton series authored by Mark Dawson. Protagonist John Milton is a heartless, unseemly, deadly, and intelligent government assassin; he wants to quit his job but cannot just make a spur-of-the-moment decision to do so.