Leonid McGill Books In Order

Publication Order of Leonid McGill Books

Leonid McGill is a detective in the Leonid McGill series by Walter Mosley, who is considered to be one of the most popular and versatile writers in present day America. Winner of a number of awards including O.Henry award, PEN America’s lifetime achievement award, and a Grammy, he has written books in a wide range of genres.

The latest to join the bandwagon of Walter Mosley’s characters is Leonid McGill. The character is reaching the heights of Socrates Fortlow, Easy Rawlins and other popular characters by Mosley. The character first appeared in a short story titled Karma in the year 2005. The first novel based on the character came out in the year 2009 titled The Long Fall.

Mosley has written several books that revolve around Leonid McGill. He is portrayed as a contemporary man of African American origin. On the personal front he is a family man with three grown up children (only one of them his own) who can be quite troublesome at times. He likes the old school ways and is an ex-boxer. He is partial to beer and lucky strikes.

McGill is the kind of person who would take on jobs for a quick buck. He has taken assignments and tasks here and there to keep a roof above his wife and kids. The man took on jobs like framing people and other such things. He is what one could call a fixer. He did not believe in innocence of people and that virtue did not pay the bills. He was adept at bringing people to tight corners or placing them in sticky situations. He knew which strings to pull and how. He was skilled in accomplishing what the client paid him for. He lives a life of corruption for 20 years and a cop says to him that he had a finger in every dishonest business there was.

When he reaches the age of 53 he decides to turn a new leaf that is slightly better than the crookedness with which he has been living so far. His wife who runs off with another person comes back to him when the relationship fails. He has a hard time stopping his 16 year old step son from becoming a criminal.

The long fall starts when McGill is approached by a client to discover the whereabouts of 4 missing black children. From the very beginning McGill feels that things are not right but still takes on the job. He had done similar kind of jobs a thousand times before. He is compelled by his situation of being broke and that the rent had to be paid for.

His past soon comes back to haunt him through the journey. He betrays several people when trying to stay straight which results in many killings. Will he be killed in the process? How does he manage to save his son and get the task accomplished? The story unravels to answer these questions.

In the second book, known to evil, McGill is made to take on another task as a fixer. He is assigned a task by a man named Alfonso Rinaldo who is the kind of person that acts behind the scenes. Also known as the power behind powers the man seems to be the unofficial and unelected assistant who controls the activities of the mayor of New York City.

The man asks McGill to check up on the whereabouts of a young woman about whom not much is disclosed to McGill at an address. When McGill goes to the place to check out on the woman he unknowingly walks into a scene of crime. A scene of crime so fresh that two bodies that were still warm was the sight that welcomed him. This is where the story heats up making McGill wonder if he himself was being framed and he had walked straight into the trap.

When McGill informs Mr. Rinaldo that the woman was not to be found the man insists McGill to continue looking without disclosing the reason as to why he needs the woman to be found. The police department has been waiting all these years to nail McGill and they are more than delighted when McGill stumbles into the scene of crime. McGill abducts an assassin who was sent after the young woman from whom he collects the detail. To do so he sends for a man who is known to torture. How he solves the mystery and saves his skin makes up the rest of the story.

The third instalment is titled When the thrill is gone. Living straight is not an easy task, especially for someone with as corrupt a past as McGill. There are several complications in his life at the same time. His wife finds a new lover which angers the old one. This leads to the endangerment of the family. His stepson decides to drop out of school and endangers his future. McGill’s best friend is diagnosed with a terminal illness and is living on the couch of McGill.

To make things worse McGill is getting job offers from criminals whom he had worked with and wanted them to belong to his past. Now a rich woman walks into his office with a stack of cash and claims that she fears for her life. She was a poor girl who had married a rich collector and was an artist. Though McGill did not want to believe a single word of what the girl said he did not want to turn down the money. The rest of the story unravels the mystery.

The latest of the series is All I did was shoot my man. McGill is involved in a case with a lady named Zella who had come home to find Tangelo, her man, with a friend in bed. She insists that she doesn’t remember shooting him but does not deny the fact either. The district attorney decides that she was temporarily insane but not until the police find a huge amount of cash stashed in her storage cupboard. McGill believes Zella is innocent. How he unravels the mystery makes the story.

One Response to “Leonid McGill”

1. Robert Russell: 3 years ago

   I am a Mosley fan and I’ve read all the books do far. When will the next book be released?

   THR

   Reply