Hunsicker, Harry 1963(?)–

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Hunsicker, Harry 1963(?)–

(Harry Hunsicker, Jr.)

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1963, in Dallas, TX; son of Harry (a real-estate appraiser) and Foree Hunsicker; married.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Dallas, TX. Office—Hunsicker Appraisal Company, Inc., 4901 Cole Ave., Dallas, TX 75205-3401. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Commercial real-estate appraiser and novelist. Hunsicker Appraisal Company, Inc., Dallas, TX, real estate appraiser, 1991—, president, 2004—.

MEMBER:

International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America, Writers League of Texas.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Will Clarke) Don't Abuse the Muse: The Middlefinger Press Mixed Tape of Fiction & Reality (anthology), Middlefinger Press (Dallas, TX), 2004.

Still River: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery (novel), Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2005.

The Next Time You Die (novel), Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2006.

Crosshairs: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery (novel), Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Harry Hunsicker had an established career as a commercial real-estate appraiser—a job, he kidded Dallas Morning News writer Cheryl Hall, that is for people who find accounting too exciting—when his passion for creative writing led him to try his hand at writing a novel. Still River: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery was the result of six months of writing and eighteen months of canvassing literary agents. The book is set in Dallas, Texas, and is the first in a series about private investigator Lee Henry Oswald, who in his first outing becomes entangled in a world of corrupt real-estate deals and drug trafficking after taking on a missing persons case.

Several reviewers found Hunsicker a strong storyteller and a welcome new voice in mystery fiction. In Library Journal, Rex E. Klett wrote that "deft prose, wry observation, and a cleverly manipulated plot bode well for this new series." Dallas Morning News contributor Nancy Keil commented: "Hunsicker's clever writing and intriguing plot keep the pages of Still River turning quickly right up to the slam-bang ending." A Publishers Weekly reviewer remarked that "Hunsicker introduces enough fresh notes to make this a solid debut," while Harriet Klausner, critiquing for MBR Bookwatch, observed: "This is a strong urban noir starring an intriguing character." She added that "readers will welcome Harry Hunsicker into the fold."

Hunsicker has noted that the process of writing a novel reinvigorated his commitment to his family's business, of which he became president in 2004. As he stated in his interview with Hall: "I've had so much fun, this should have been illegal."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 1, 2006, Joanne Wilkinson, review of The Next Time You Die, p. 33.

Dallas Morning News, July 11, 2004, Cheryl Hall, "Doing It by the Book: Career Again Intrigues Businessman," p. A22; May 11, 2005, Nancy Keil, "Harry Hunsicker's Lively Whodunit Turns Dallas into a Shooting Gallery."

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2006, review of The Next Time You Die, p. 550.

Library Journal, June 1, 2005, Rex E. Klett, review of Still River: A Lee Henry Oswald Mystery, p. 107.

Publishers Weekly, April 25, 2005, review of Still River, p. 43; May 8, 2006, review of The Next Time You Die, p. 49.

Texas Monthly, July, 2006, Mark Shea, review of The Next Time You Die, p. 58.