From Publishers Weekly
Sgt. Hoke Moseley, whom readers first met in Willeford's Miami Blues, is an unlikely hero, even to himself. He's a Miami cop, near retirement, who's always taking out or putting in his dentures; he dines regularly on 711 Slurpees and hard-boiled eggs; and he has a strict moral code flexible enough for him to let someone get away with a hard-to-prove murder in exchange for a sublet on a house he badly needs. Here, Moseley wants to solve the murder of a junkie whose death looks like an accidental overdose, but the zeal of his pursuit is tempered by manifold obstacles: his ex-wife's sudden decision to impose upon him the disruptive custody of his two teenage daughters, his boss's insistence that he clear up a file of old, unsolved crimes, and his new partner's worries over an unexpected first pregnancy. This is a telling slice of Miami life, only coincidentally cop-life, whose gritty realism contributes to a good read. December 31Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Midwest Book Review
New Hope for the Dead features the Miami cop Hoke Moseley, who is assigned a stack of old unsolved murder cases. He's flat broke, his partner is pregnant, and his two daughters show up at his flea-bitten Miami Beach hotel in search of a real home. Moseley finds a glimmer of hope in a hot little case regarding a dead junkie and a beautiful stepmother. A relentless crime-comedy, New Hope for the Dead is a must-read for any mystery fan.

Review
New Hope For The Dead

"Nobody Writes Like Charles Willeford...He Is An Original -- Funny, Weird And Wonderful."

-- James Crumley

"Pure Pleasure...Mr. Willeford Never Puts A Foot Wrong."

-- The New Yorker

ANNOTATION

Bucking for a promotion, Major Brownley has assigned Hoke Moseley and his pregnant partner a stack of old, unsolved murder cases. In the meantime, Hoke is trying to find a home for himself and his two daughters who have just shown up. Dead broke, he finds a glimmer of hope in a hot case regarding a dead junkie and a beautiful stepmother. Previously published by Ballantine.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Miami homicide detective Hoke Moseley is called to a posh Miami neighborhood to investigate a lethal overdose. There he meets the alluring stepmother of the decedent, and begins to wonder about dating a witness. Meanwhile, he has been threatened with suspension by his ambitious new chief unless he leaves his beloved, if squalid, suite at the El Dorado Hotel, and moves downtown. With free housing hard to come by, Hoke is desperate to find a new place to live. His difficulties are only amplified by an assignment to reinvestigate fifty unsolved murders, the unexpected arrival of his two teenage daughters, and a partner struggling with an unwanted pregnancy. With few options and even fewer dollars, he decides that the suspicious and beautiful stepmother of the dead junkie might be the solution to all of his problems.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

This pair of Hoke Moseley mysteries came out back to back in 1984 and 1985. Miami finds Hoke hunting down a perp who stole his badge, gun, and dentures. In New Hope his investigation of a drug overdose puts him up close and personal with the deceased's hot stepmother. Fun, breezy reads. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"Hoke Moseley is a magnificently battered hero. Willeford brings him to us mean and hard and brand-new." — Donald Westlake