L.A. Morse Books In Order

Publication Order of Sam Hunter Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

LA Morse is for the most part known as an award-winning author of hard-boiled crime mysteries. However, the author has been a wearer of many hats ever since he got into writing.

The author grew up in Los Angeles and it was while he was living there that he earned his English literature degrees and worked all manner of jobs. During the 1960s, he moved to Toronto where he worked at the University of Toronto as an administrator and in educational television among other things.

He got his start in fiction writing with the publishing of “The Flesh Eaters,” which he published in 1979. The work followed the life and times of Sawney Bean, a Scottish cannibal, and his clan as it chronicles their brutal and horrifying acts.
He began writing the novel after he returned to the United States following extensive trials in Southeast Asia. He wanted to pen something artistic, sensitive, and delicate. He would find his story in the true story of the cannibalistic Sawney Bean and his family who ate a ton of Scottish citizens during the 15th century.

While this book was well received, some of his best-known books have to be his crime fiction including those that star Sam Hunter the LA detective.

Morse won the Edgar Award for his 1981 published novel “The Old Dick,” which was the follow-up to his blockbuster work “The Flesh Eaters.” The novel told the story of a private detective in his seventies who comes out of retirement to undertake what he believes to be his last ever job.

Just like many of his contemporaries, LA Morse has been engaged in other literary activities apart from writing books. In 1984, he was responsible for unearthing a Runa Farleigh unpublished manuscript which would then be published as “An Old Fashioned Mystery.”
However, many people started postulating that he could, in fact, be the real Runa Fairleigh and as such, he is the owner of the work he claimed to have discovered. Still, no one has been able to establish the truth or otherwise of these wild claims.

Apart from writing, Morse is also a sculptor who has been sculpting for many years. He is also huge on bird watching and claims to have documented more than 1500 different bird species.

He is such an eccentric character just like the many characters he writes about in his novels. He has also been actively involved in the publication of “Video Treasures and Trash,” a two-volume guide to the bizarre and obscure movies from the 1980s.
When LA Morse is not out of the house watching birds in the tropics, he divides his time between trading on the stock market and stone carving.

LA Morse’s “The Old Dick” is the first novel of the Sam hunter series of novels. The lead in the novel is introduced as Jake Spanner, an ex-private detective summoned out of retirement by an unexpected client.
His latest client is Sam Piccolo, a man he had helped the authorities put in prison several years back. He had only come back since Sam had pleaded with him to help find his missing grandson, even though he had some serious reservations.
Since he is about to turn eighty, he has to deal with physical limitations in addition to the fact that most of his resources and contacts are no longer available since he had been inactive for so long.

The author pens some humorous situations mostly to do with Jake’s age and some of the old-school tactics he uses to get over the many challenges he has in his assignment. Very early on, Jake discovers that things are much less simple and different than what Sal had told him they were.

There is all manner of interesting turns and twists that keep the book rollicking to a satisfying conclusion. It makes for an excellent work of fiction that makes good use of the aging detective trope.

“Sleaze” by LA. Morse is a follow-up to the first novel of the “Sam Hunter” series “The Big Enchilada.” Sam Hunter the lead is a private detective in Los Angeles known for being hard as a knuckle to the face.

As such, when he is called in to help the editor of a trashy magazine, he is not doing the assignment out of the goodness of his heart. For the most part, he is doing this because he fancies the gorgeous curves of the sizzling hot editor who called him for help.
Sleaze is the name of the magazine and this is why it was targeted by a fanatical cut that will do anything including kill in order to cleanse the land of all sin. It is not long before Sam discovers that sin and morality are not so black and white.
Soon enough, he is shuttling down a path toward thugs who want him dead, a Tijuana corpse, and X-rated videos. Unfortunately for the cult, they have targeted a man that is almost impossible to kill.

While most of the twists and underlying plot are classic private eye fodder from the 1950s, Morse does a great job adapting it to the new world and the 1980s.

“The Flesh Eaters” by LA. Morse is a fictionalized tale of a maniacal killer that may or may not be an urban legend. Scottish serial killer Sawney Bean once stalked the Scottish highlands alongside his incestuous cannibal crew during the 16th century.
For the most part, he is believed to be a real person even though the view is not absolute. LA. Morse pens a dark and gruesome book, as he describes what happened in the highlands during the reign of some of the most daring cannibals.
Everything about the cannibalistic family and its leader is repugnant and repulsive to almost anyone that reads their story.

The author tells his story with hardly any downtime quickly going through the activities of the family. He makes a lurid description of the evils of the family making for a supremely fun and pulpy unputdownable work.