Woody Haut's Cry for a Nickel, Die for a Dime

James Ellroy may rule the mid-century LA crime roost, enforcing his status with machine-gun prose that kills most competition, but Woody Haut has his own way of dealing with that in Cry for a Nickel, Die for a Dime. His take on the same period naturally involves gangsters and bent cops but the twist here is a 'Blues mafia' of obsessive record collectors around which many characters revolve, or rather, interact with. Abe Howard is the crime snapper who's record in certain areas is definitely soiled; he's certainly no clean-cut hero. Infidelity, betrayal and the ball-breaking strain of dissatisfaction with everyday life take their toll. When he photographs a murder scene he ends up with hellhounds on his trail. This novel, whilst partly a hardboiled homage, like classic Blues tunes has a lot of heart and soul, albeit broken hearts and battered souls. You can get some background to the novel on Woody's blog.  The title's taken from this song by Robert Johnson...