Hunt

Andrew Welsh-Huggins is the Shamus, Derringer, and International Thriller Writers award-nominated author of the Andy Hayes private eye series; author of the standalone crime novel The End of the Road; and editor of the Columbus Noir anthology. His short mystery fiction has appeared in multiple magazines, including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and in many anthologies, including The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021; Groovy Gumshoes: Private Eyes in the Psychedelic Sixties; and Paranoia Blues: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Paul Simon. His nonfiction book, No Winners Here Tonight, is the definitive history of the death penalty in Ohio.

"The author has crafted a fine procedural based on human trafficking, and it's a pleasure to watch his PI, Columbus, Ohio–based Andy Hayes, go to work. …Welsh-Huggins has a way with language…[He] is an Associated Press reporter, and the urge to bring the news is an unkillable one." (Booklist) "Welsh-Huggins's strong fourth Andy Hayes mystery finds the Columbus, Ohio, PI still struggling with personal relationships but a bit more confident as an investigator.…Welsh-Huggins handles equally well the complex motivations of politicians, social workers, cops—those who are supposed to help victims—and of those who prey on them, such as pimps and johns. This series gets better with each book." (Publishers Weekly) "Intelligently plotted, with prose as tight as a garrote, a strong stamp of place and a multidimensional gallery of characters, The Hunt excavates the filthy underworld of major cities. Call it Rust Belt noir. Call it a hybrid of whodunit and thriller. But above all, call it splendid — and this talented author's best yet." (Richmond Times–Dispatch) "Andrew Welsh-Huggins is the real deal. In The Hunt, he gives us sharp dialogue, characters flawed but trying their damndest, settings you can feel and breathe, wrapped by a satisfying story. A welcome addition to the private eye genre." "Private eye Andy Hayes, a man with a good many sins on his soul but a strong sense of what's right, takes on the search for a young prostitute gone missing into the violent and sordid world of illicit street sex, with a serial killer on the loose. In the best hard-boiled tradition, Hayes travels the mean streets to expose not only the crime and depravity in the city's underbelly but the complicity of respectable society with the exploitation that takes place there." "With The Hunt, Andrew Welsh-Huggins proves himself a master of heartland noir. Seldom, if ever, has the dark side of the Buckeye State been so honestly examined. Andy Hayes, the hard-edged, fallen-from-grace former quarterback at the center of this fine series, hits the mean streets of Columbus with much the same jaded eye and undaunted heart as Chandler's Philip Marlowe. You can't help but love a book that not only harks back to the classics, but also carves out a unique spot for itself in the genre." "Welsh-Huggins handles equally well the complex motivations of politicians, social workers, cops—those who are supposed to help victims—and of those who prey on them, such as pimps and johns. This series gets better with each book." (Publishers Weekly) "Andy is a likable, cynical, at times humorous, and always witty protagonist with a penchant for trouble." (Mystery Scene)