A Dirty Business »

Joe Humphrey is a retired corrections officer who spends much of his free time writing detective stories and collecting antiques. His influences are Hammett, Chandler, and (Ross) MacDonald, though not necessarily in that order.

Born and raised in Central America, Humphrey's stories are full of interesting and diverse characters that run the gamut from rich socialites to depraved, well-worn individuals who traipse the broken sidewalks and broad, peopled avenues of his stories. A Dirty Business is his first published novel, which features a young novice private detective who will figure in many of his upcoming books. Considered by many to be a literary recluse (perhaps along the lines of J.D. Salinger himself) it took quite a bit of coaxing by publisher Jaime Vendera to convince Mr. Humphrey to publish his first book.

Mr. Humphrey, a decidedly private individual, resides in New York with his wife. He has two sons, and four grandchildren.

When an unemployed New Yorker returns to the city from a trip to North Carolina, he soon lands a job as a private investigator and is assigned an ordinary, if slightly peculiar, case. Almost immediately after setting out on his first investigative effort, however, the case begins to lead him in various directions, and along winding paths, as several painful truths are uncovered.

Midwest Book Review

A Dirty Business, the new debut crime novel by Joe Humphrey, goes down smooth and easy, like a slug of Chivas Regal on the rocks. . . . What appears to be a straightforward case begins to unravel into a tangled web of intrigue and bizarre obsessions . . . and like a terrier on a bone, [Kevin Bailey] gnaws at it with diligence and purpose, unearthing dead bodies and intriguing red herrings that keep the reader guessing until the end.
Mr. Humphrey writes with a strong sense of place and a consistent voice, with none of the pretentious tools often found in new writers. His style is simple and engaging, and the story moves, whether Bailey is in a fistfight in a parking lot or staking out a suspect and calmly observing the detailed architecture of a building. . . . Mr. Humphrey offers a touch of romance in the appearance of Amelia Helton, a delightful waitress with smooth caramel-colored skin and a ready smile who warms to Bailey and will hopefully play a larger part in the mystery series. This reader will anticipate the second book in the series, and hopes that Mr. Humphrey is writing fast.