• The front cover of the paperback Blackheart Highway by Richard Barre, featuring a dark photograph of a road at night with the glowing red taillights of a car in the distance.
  • The back cover of Blackheart Highway, displaying critical praise from the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times above a plot summary of the Doc Whitney case.
  • The grey spine of the book Blackheart Highway by Richard Barre, featuring the title in red and a small inset photo of the car's taillights from the front cover.
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Richard Barre | Hardboiled Detective, Mystery, Crime Fiction, and Private Investigators

Blackheart Highway by Richard Barre

Blackheart Highway by Richard Barre

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A Hardboiled PI Mystery of a Wrongful Conviction and Central Valley Secrets

Southern California private investigator Wil Hardesty is drawn into a deeply personal cold case when he crosses paths with Doc Whitney. A former country music star, Doc has just been paroled after serving twenty years for the brutal murder of his wife and young daughters. Returning to the hot, dusty California Central Valley, Doc is met by a deeply divided town: some residents want the disgraced star gone permanently, while others are convinced he was framed. Navigating a dangerous maze of twisted local loyalties, long-buried secrets, and systemic betrayal, Wil must reconstruct a twenty-year-old crime scene to uncover the real killer before the town erupts into violence.

Why You’ll Love This Book

Richard Barre delivers a quintessential hardboiled detective novel anchored by a cynical but morally driven private investigator. This gritty California noir trades polished police procedurals for a dusty, atmospheric exploration of the Central Valley, making it a perfect match for fans of lone-wolf sleuths, wrongful conviction tropes, and character-driven cold case mysteries in the tradition of Ross Macdonald.

Edition & Specifications

Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime

Pages: 317

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Publication Date: 2000

ISBN: 9780425174678

Condition Note:

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  • 📸 True-to-Life Photos: For all vintage and pre-loved books, the photos on the page are of the exact physical copy on our shelf. Brand-new books feature official publisher cover art.
  • New: Direct from the publisher; immaculate, unread condition.
  • Like New: Pristine condition with minimal to no shelf wear; looks unread.
  • Very Good: Lightly read with minor shelf wear or light cover creasing. Pages are clean, crisp, and unmarked with a tight binding. (Our baseline standard for pre-loved books.)
  • Good: A well-loved reading copy with visible shelf wear or page aging, but fully intact and structurally sound.

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$11.00 USD
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