New hardboiled detective mystery novel, GYPSY ALDY TO DIE FOR, compared favorably to works of raymond Chandler, Dashell Hammett

If you like noir mysteries with a hardboiled private eye in the tradition of Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe, or Dashell Hammett's Sam Spade -- but in a modern-day setting -- you'll enjoy reading Zane M. Smith's A GYPSY LADY TO DIE FOR.

Charley Grant, a disgraced CEO and alcoholic ex-con, who served 18 months for insider trading, is desperate for work. A senior executive for a high-tech company throws Charley a bone. He hires him to find whoever is behind the theft of product secrets from the company's software division.

Charley dives into the job and right back into the bottle. Seven murders later, Charley's got more trouble than any one guy can handle. The cops accuse him of two of those murders and mount a nationwide search for him. A couple of professional hit men come after him to settle personal scores. And an entire Gypsy family goes out of its way to frame him for murder, if not outright kill him.

He teams up with a droopy-eyed undertaker, a guy who favors canary yellow pants and pointy Italian shoes, and carries a .25 automatic in his jockey shorts. A guy who reads Chekov. These two social outcasts drive to the heart of the criminal ring responsible for the theft and expose the murderers.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM for Zane M. Smith's hardboiled detective mystery novel, A GYPSY LADY TO DIE FOR

"Zane M. Smith comes at you like a roaring freight train. His prose is spare and lean, yet leaves the reader with a wonderful sense of character and story. If you enjoy the kind of hardboiled detective fiction that nobody seems to be writing today, the kind once written by Raymond Chandler, you'll gobble up Smith's novel, A GYPSY LADY TO DIE FOR, in one sitting."
Kevin Miller, President, Odyssey Entertainment, Inc. and award-winning TV producer

"Do you like detective stories but you're bored with little old ladies solving ho-hum mysteries? Want a tough private eye in the tradition of Sam Spade of Maltese Falcon fame? Then read Zane M. Smith's A GYPSY LADY TO DIE FOR. It's got action, drama, loads of black humor and zany characters like the droopy-eyed undertaker who carries a .25 automatic in his jockey shorts, and a 400 pound Southern gentleman who enjoys breaking people's fingers."
Stephanie Beaton, TV writer, producer and host of Cable TV's "Blackie's Widow."

" . . . enjoyed it tremendously ( A GYPSY LADY TO DIE FOR). . . .very well written, and had me turning pages right to the end."
Aliske Webb, editor and publisher, "Bookmice.com."

"Zane M. Smith traps you in the opening pages, then refuses to let you go. His scenes are painted with a storyteller's brush, dipped in a colorful mixture of dialogue and narrative. Those who read his books are in for a special treat."
Ron Flower, author of Nightbox

"A GYPSY LADY TO DIE FOR is a gripping noir mystery populated by an assortment of delightfully nasty characters and unexpected twists that will keep you riveted until the final pages. The climax is a shocker, one that will take you by surprise. A terrific read."
Dan Fusting, Chairman & CEO, The Olympia Group