True Crime Blog
The opening line of a story should grab a reader’s attention like a flash of lightning, the sound of tires squealing to a stop, the blast of an air horn, or the bugle of a bull elk rumbling through dark woods. A well-crafted opening line is a tease, a seduction, a baited hook that threatens…
The highly-anticipated book 7 in the Dickie Floyd series, THE PROGRAM, is now available! “Nothing less than brilliant storytelling.” “Outstanding! Very Highly Recommended.” “Few writers can take you into the minds of police and criminals. None do so as well as Danny R. Smith.” The wait is finally over! It’s been more than two and a…
Happy New Year, my friends. I have news about my plans for the new year and some details about the forthcoming new release of book 7 in the Dickie Floyd Detective series.
Forty-five years ago, a teenage girl was dumped on the streets of Compton, naked and with two bullets in her head. Believed to be only 14 to 17 years of age, it would seem that somebody, somewhere, would have known her. That they would have loved her and missed her and never allowed her to…
The most popular blog I’ve ever written, hands down, is 8 WAYS TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, a parody of the endless self-help features offered by every blogger and her dog. Although clearly a spoof, this blog has drawn the attention of some ne’er-do-wells scheming to harm their fellow man. The Original Murder Blog Spoof…
If you happened to be in the horseshoe-shaped cowboy town of New Plymouth, Idaho last Saturday night, you might have thought the rodeo had come early this year. Dusty pickup trucks, cars, and a sea of bobbing cowboy hats filled the fairgrounds parking lot, as family and friends gathered to pay their respects to a local cowboy…
Landing a BookBub deal is said to be a gamechanger for independent authors. As I write this, I’m two days into my first deal. But before we get into what exactly a BookBub deal is, allow me to tell you about the BookBub platform.
Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America As they walked him out of the building, Devin was back to whining. He wanted something—a soda. Skaggs turned, and for an instant, the calm, imperturbable patina he had maintained for two decades of working homicides slipped. Farell caught his look, surprised; he had never known Skaggs…
I just finished reading New York Times Bestseller Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, by former Los Angeles Times reporter Jill Leovy. It is the story of homicide in South Los Angeles, more specifically the seemingly endless epidemic of blacks murdering blacks. It is provocative, brutally honest, a story I believe should be…
“She’s going to kill us both.” The big man at the other end of my gun glanced over to see my partner pointing her gun at him—at us—the barrel bouncing in her shaking hands. He said, “I’m cool, man.”