This is a very special 'private eye' series build around a lawyer and special court investigator, Sam McCain, in a small town in the midwest (Iowa) in the fifties and sixties. I absolutely love this series for several reasons:1. the wonderful immersion into a different time, spanning a decade from the late fifties to the late sixties. The descriptions are detailed, evocative, engaging and realistic. They are exceptionally well done.2. The protagonist is a likeable average joe, who is easy to identify with and tells the stories in the first person. His back story is as engaging and interesting as the murder mysteries he gets involved in, and has become the main reason why I have become hooked on this series.3. I like Sam McCain's world view. He is particularly adverse to any extremist tendencies (MCarthy witch hunts, racism, Beatle records burning, religious bigotry, snake handling churches, etc) and any form of social snobbery and elitism. Yet through all the turmoil (of which there was a lot in the fifties/early sixties), he retains a great sense of humor, which will have you smiling on and off, throughout the entire series.4. There are plenty of connections to the pop culture of the fifties and sixties, which is a bonus for any lover of music, books, cinema and culture of the period.5. The mysteries are well crafted and keep you guessing until the end.6. Every single one of the entries in these series is excellent without exception and well worth the read.Give this a try, you won't regret it. I read all 9 books in 2 months and can't wait for the 10th entry, 'Riders' on the Storm', that will appear in October 2014! I hope Mr. Gorman gets the opportunity to write several more before he retires.