Jim Nesbitt is the author of crime thrillers that feature battered but relentless Dallas PI Ed Earl Burch—each written in the raw and gritty hard-boiled American style with the soul of a classic Western.
The Last Second Chance was a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalist, and The Right Wrong Number was named am Underground Book Reviews “Top Pick”. His latest, The Best Lousy Choice, has walked away with a gold medal for best crime fiction in the 2020 Independent Press Book Awards, a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion for best action or adventure novel, a bronze medal in the best mystery/thriller e-book category of the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards, and a Distinguished Favorite in the 2020 NYC Big Book Awards.
Nesbitt spent more than 30 years as an editor and a roving correspondent, which he believes help him with the mystery writing.
“I broke in during the late seventies, when long format, magazine style journalism was a big thing,” he shared. “My bread and butter was working as a rover either off the state desk or off the national desk or in a bureau, going after where a big story was happening and doing a big Sunday stakeout on it and written using the devices of fiction writing and such to tell a tale.”
He covered a lot of politics, including Edwin Edwards’ campaign for governor—”when the bumper sticker was ‘Vote for the crook. It’s important’” —and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton before his presidential run.
Nesbitt added, “My writing was using the devices you use in fiction to tell a story rather than just an inverted pyramid. I knew I wanted to try my hand at novel writing. And I don’t fool myself that I’m a high literature aspirant, but I love crime stories, crime fiction, particularly old school, originators of the hard old school, Chandler, Hammett, James M. Cain and then later Charles Willeford.”
His journalism brought him to West Texas, where got “immersed” the culture.
“Since my stories are basically revenge, redemption Old Testament kind of stories, that countryside, that stark, harsh countryside, where the mountains look like the bones of the earth ripped open for you to see, that’s just the perfect setting for a hard, harsh, revenge and redemption story.
Who is Earl Ed Burch?
He laughed, “Well, contrary to what most people think, Ed Earl is not strictly an alter ego for me. For one thing, he’s got more ex-wives than I do. Although, we both have bald heads and beards.”
Nesbitt said, “When I started out with him, I knew I wanted to make him a deeply flawed character. And I saw him as an everyman. I didn’t want to have some super cool or super smart guy like Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe. He’s definitely not super cool like Steve McQueen’s Bullitt.
“I wanted more of a guy that people could readily identify with. He’s been knocked around by life. He’s had some setbacks. He’s a defrocked homicide detective and losing his badge, took away his higher calling and purpose in life.
“And he’s settled into a rut when you first meet him, a comfortable, safe rut of saloon, ratty, old office place, and an obscure sideline of investigating and chasing down guys who have tried to escape their deaths from the savings and loan crash, guys who walked out on partners and such. He tracks them down to try and get money back.
“He’s not a guy who follows the rules. He’s got a code, but he often forgets it and gets tempted and lured by usually bad women, wicked women. Let’s put it that way. There’s no such thing as a bad woman. But when the chips are down and pressure is on, he usually returns and rights himself back to what he used to believe in and is surprised to find out he still does.
Listen to the episode to learn more about Jim and Ed Earl.
Visit his web site jimnesbittbooks.com to read more. To check out all the “And the Murder Began” podcasts, visit Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Podomatic