Eliot, by Michael A. Wood Jr.

Need some good summer reading? Why not Eliot? It’s fiction set very firmly in Baltimore’s Eastern District. I know those streets well (even if the cameras are new to me). (and I love that he gives a shout out to Larry, the world’s best dispatcher.)

I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say I enjoyed taking the turns around my old stomping grounds. And Michael swears there’s no connection, but I could swear I went to the academy with the homicide detective. Here’s the cover and you can read the back of the book:

You can get more info and buy a copy on Michael Wood’s website. [Update: you can’t, and don’t] While you’re there, if you’re a cop, check out his promotion guide. I can’t personally vouch for the promotion guide (I’m not up for Sergeant or Lieutenant) but I do have a copy and think it gives you the straight dope on what you need to know.

I can vouch for Eliot: good crime fiction.

Next on my list is Cop Stories: The Few, The Proud, The Ugly by Dick Ellwood. Ellwood’s career goes back to 1965, so I look forward to what is now a bit of history.

And previously I wrote about Badges, Bullets, & Bars by Danny Shanahan.

Who would have though so many books would come out the ranks of the BPD?

And let’s not forget Michael East’s Beyond Hope. East isn’t a Baltimore Cop, but he did write a very good book.

Update: Turns out Michael Wood Jr. is an narcissistic SOB who confessed to crimes but tried to play it off as being a “whistle blower.” And then he he stole money from veterans. http://www.copinthehood.com/2018/09/15/michael-wood-jr-took-money-from-veterans-2/ The other books I stand by, though. And writing this years later, I particularly remember Michael East’s book. Outstanding.