About Author Rob Leininger
Rob Leininger is an electronic technician (U.S. Navy), a mechanical engineer, a high school math teacher, the author of the Gumshoe P.I. series and other mysteries and thrillers. He lives in Northwest Montana with his wife and three spoiled dogs.
Read our review of his latest, Gumshoe in the Dark, here.
BOOKS:
- Gumshoe in the Dark (Oceanview Publishing, 2021)
- Gumshoe Rock (Oceanview Publishing, 2019)
- Gumshoe on the Loose (Oceanview Publishing, 2018)
- Gumshoe For Two (Oceanview Publishing, 2017 )
- Gumshoe (Oceanview Publishing, 2015)
- Maxwell’s Demon (2015)
- Sunspot (2014)
- Richter Ten (2014)
- January Cold Kill (2014)
- Black Sun (Avon Books, 1991)
- Killing Suki Flood (St. Martin’s Press, 1991)
Biggest literary influences:
Edgar Rice Burroughs, John D. MacDonald, John Lescroart, John Sandford, John Blaine.
Last book read:
Savage Run by C.J. Box
The book that changed your life:
Sawdust in His Shoes by Eloise Jarvis McGraw (1950). Because the “hero” was a 15-year-old boy, a circus performer who could jump very high. I wanted to jump high too, so I practiced, then became one of the better high school high jumpers in California.
Your favorite literary character:
Travis McGee (from the series by John D. MacDonald) because Travis is strong, smart, good, interesting, tough, well-drawn, has a brain and knows how to use it.
Currently working on:
Gumshoe Gone, the sixth novel in the Gumshoe series.
Words to live by:
Be a good and honest person. Don’t be a jerk. Spend time alone. Don’t be a chatterbox. Love your pets; they’re human too.
Advice for aspiring authors:
- Don’t pay to have your book published. It doesn’t pay.
- When writing dialogue, always know exactly how the reader will know who is speaking. I’ve read too many novels in which the reader has no idea who is saying what, so the reader is thrown out of the story and is put in the position of having to be a detective, trying to determine who said whatever was just said.
- Keep it real. If someone has a gun, you can’t sneak up on them in the dark on a gravel driveway on a quiet night and punch them. Yes, I saw that in print.
- I could write a hundred more of these …
ARTICLES/REVIEWS
BookSeriesInOrder bibliography
Testimonials
” Gumshoe in the Dark is the best Gumshoe yet. Classic brilliant private eye magic from one of the mystery world’s top practitioners.
- —John Lescroart
” Outstanding! From its opening line to its satisfying denouement, Rob Leininger’s Gumshoe in the Dark is a tightly plotted, deftly executed, wickedly funny, and wildly entertaining story.
- —Sheldon Siegel
” The Mort Angel books are instant P.I. classics — smart, slick, charming and highly recommended.
- —Lee Child