Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).

Jason Starr’s top 5 crime novels

We asked crime fiction writer Jason Starr (The Pack, Panic Attack, The Follower) for his top five crime novels. Some very interesting choices – Highsmith and Leonard are of here, of course, but also prolific lawyer-turned-writer George V. Higgins, Charles Willeford (perhaps best known for his character Hoke Moseley) and Ken Bruen (Irish writer and sometime Starr collaborator).

Here’s the list (comments in parentheses also Jason’s):

The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins (for the dialogue)

Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973).

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (for the dark psychology)

The Shark-Infested Custard by Charles Willeford (for the twistedness)

Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard (for the humor)

John Travolta and Rene Russo in Get Shorty (1995).

The Guards by Ken Bruen (for the character)