MALCOLM'S WINE: A NOIR CRIME NOVEL. Even the baddies (and they're pretty bad, indeed) are misguided idealists in this stunning, character-driven page-turner. A used book store clerk discovers he's been burglarized and relieved of a memento of his dead son. When he decides to track down the thieves he runs into some of the most colorful and strange people he's ever met. Along the way he is pursued by the police as chief suspect in the brutal murder of a sexy librarian. His girlfriend is kidnapped by a desperate wannabe rare book dealer. He meets and weirdly hooks up with a troll-collecting country queen. And he's beaten up, threatened, and humiliated by two red-necked meth freaks who've stolen the biggest score of their lives: one of America's largest private collections of rare books. MALCOLM'S WINE IS A NOIR CRIME NOVEL WITH AN INTELLIGENT TWIST. Hugh Gilmore has been a teacher, an anthropologist who studied monkeys in Africa, a drama critic, novelist, newspaper columnist, and owner of an old and rare bookshop. His life, he says, has involved an exciting, but driving, quest for self-improvement that eventually led to peaceful self-acceptance. Much of his life is embedded in his themed memoir, My Three Suicides: A Success Story, released in 2015. He lives with his wife and son in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia and still operates his rare book business. He is the author of two novels, a story collection, several e-books, and now, this funny and wise memoir. He writes a weekly column about books and reading for The Chestnut Hill Local. Used Book in Good Condition