Elmore Leonard Returns to Birmingham for Book Release Event

Birmingham will play host to a pair of literary lights Thursday as famed local mystery author Elmore Leonard and his son and fellow author Peter Leonard celebrate their most recent releases at .

The two authors will be at Baldwin at 7 p.m. Thursday as part of the library's Writers Live series, co-sponsored by Oak Park's The Book Beat bookstore.

Elmore Leonard, a Bloomfield Village resident who was honored in Birmingham during the three-day in 2010, is celebrating the release of Raylan: A Novel, officially released Tuesday. Joining him at the signing table will be his son, Peter, who is releasing his fourth book, Voices of the Dead.

Both authors will read from their respective novels, while books will be available for purchase from The Book Beat.

This is the second time the father-son team will appear together at Baldwin. In 2008, Elmore joined his son to promote Peter's first novel, Quiver. More recently, Elmore picked the recently-closed Birmingham Borders to .

An event Tuesday night in Beverly Hills, CA, and readings next week in New York City are the elder Leonard's only other publicity stops this month for Raylan. He'll also appear near Chicago on Feb. 2-3.

The novel focuses on U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, a character in three earlier novels (Pronto, Riding the Rap and Fire in the Hole) and Justified, an Emmy-winning TV series based on the elder Leonard's laconic, fast-shooting lawman. The show's third season on the FX cable channel begins Tuesday as well.

Peter Leonard's Voices of the Dead is also a crime thriller, this one set in 1971 and starring a scrap-metal dealer who's intent on seeking justice against a German diplomat who killed his daughter while driving drunk. John O'Connell writes in The Guardian that while Peter's stories are similar to his father's, Peter manages to set himself apart.

"There are thrills here but also a desparate pathos," his review reads. "If you haven't read Leonard before and you must, this is a great place to start."