All I Did Was Shoot My Man

A Leonid McGill Mystery, Book 4

By: Walter Mosley

Narrated by: Mirron Willis

Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's Summary

In the latest and most surprising novel in the best-selling Leonid McGill series, Leonid finds himself caught between his sins of the past and an all-too-vivid present.

Seven years ago, Zella Grisham came home to find her man, Harry Tangelo, in bed with her friend. The weekend before, $6.8 million had been stolen from Rutgers Assurance Corp., whose offices are across the street from where Zella worked. Zella didn't remember shooting Harry, but she didn't deny it either. The district attorney was inclined to call it temporary insanity - until the police found $80,000 from the Rutgers heist hidden in her storage space.

For reasons of his own, Leonid McGill is convinced of Zella's innocence. But as he begins his investigation, his life begins to unravel. His wife is drinking more than she should. His oldest son has dropped out of college and moved in with an ex-prostitute. His youngest son is working for him and trying to stay within the law. And his father, whom he thought was long dead, has turned up under an alias.

A gripping story of murder, greed, and retribution, All I Did Was Shoot My Man is also the poignant tale of one man's attempt to stay connected to his family.

Crack another case with Leonid McGill.

©2012 Walter Mosley (P)2012 Penguin

Critic Reviews

“The best [McGill] book yet.” (The Boston Globe)

“Like the city he works in, and the Mosley books he inhabits, Leonid McGill is complicated, savvy and full of surprises: a would-be champ who can't win for losing, a fighter who can never be counted out.” (The Wall Street Journal) 

“A big city never looks the same once you've walked its streets with a hard-boiled private eye, preferably someone as perceptive and thoughtful as Leonid McGill.... [He] doesn't so much walk the city as case it for danger. Keeping pace with him is as much an education as an adventure.” (The New York Times Book Review) 

I have fallen in love again!

Where does All I Did Was Shoot My Man rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Althrough Leonid is flawed and has a past he is still attractive in a clumsy hero sort of way. I love your voice Mirron WIllis and secretly wait for the day that you will read me 1000 page bookle based on the adventures of Leonid McGill!

What other book might you compare All I Did Was Shoot My Man to and why?

Any of the ohter book in this series The Long Fall was nice.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene when the would be robbers broke into what he thought was his safe home. BAD Idea.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

When he talked to his father for the first time since he left him as a boy. Something about the rejection you feel for years only to learn that the person so near and never reached out to you. Tears.

Any additional comments?

Wonderful Story!

I really like this series!

What made the experience of listening to All I Did Was Shoot My Man the most enjoyable?

A good steady pace of not necessarily action, but interesting events.

What was one of the most memorable moments of All I Did Was Shoot My Man?

Two surprises, one concerning his dad and the other his wife.

What does Mirron Willis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His various voices. His transitions between character voices is smooth and fairly distinct.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No not really, but good for a few grins

Not my favorite of the Leonid Mcgills...

I enjoy the characters in this series, and they were true to form, however I found a lack of clarity in the plot details. It ended with too many loose ends. While I understand that this is designed to leave the reader wanting more, and thus reading the next volume, it came across as half hatched to me.
The narration bothered me at times as well. Morin Willis has a great voice, but his falsettos and bad accents were grating. I’ll still give the series another shot- but they are not all created equally.

Perhaps the best of the series.

*NOTE: SPOILER INCLUDED (if you've read the previous book "When the Thrill", then it's not a spoiler)

I have long been a fan of Walter Mosley, and perhaps the only one I know of who liked Leonid McGill almost as much as Easy Rawlins from the start. This is because, though Easy tells a more base, raw story (having a racist, Civil-Rights world around him), Leonid is much more multi-faceted and complex, with a highly intelligent voice and dealing with many more problems than Easy. For this reason, McGill stands as the more relevant of the two heroes, if not the more popular. Hopefully (if Mosley gets his wish) Jeffrey Wright can bring McGill to HBO's small screen with all the intelligence Mosley has poured onto his pages. "All I Did" has been criticized as being too convoluted a story, but if you read it quickly, you won't get lost, and Mosley keeps you reading quickly. Every member of McGill's family brings problems for him to solve (the wife is a drunk, his oldest son moves out, his daughter is sleeping with an older married man, and his criminal genius youngest child works for him but makes his own decisions on his first case). Not to mention he has to solve a decades-old robbery, keep himself and his client alive, and is still searching for a father who has been resurrected*. And why should it not be this way? Don't we all have a myriad of trials and victories each day we live?
Mosley weaves his six or seven subplots better than most, and gives us a hero we can believe in, because despite his external windmills, this dark-skinned Quixote is a man from our time, seeking the same redemption we are all searching for (as Americans, as humans)...to be ever better than we were the day before.
Mirron Willis, though he emphasizes EVERY letter, reads clearly, with the intelligence deserving of Leonid McGill's voice.

With further character and story development, and leaving us with a cliff-hanger ending, this is the best of the series thus far.

Great Read..

I haven't read or listened to a Walter Mosley book I didn't like. A great story teller!

True page turner

This series is so good thus far. I love all Mr.Walter's books. This is definitely a wonderful action filled book.

Another Great Book!

I’ve now read every book in the Leonid McGill series. Each one was a truly great read. I believe “And Sometimes I Wonder” was my favorite, however, all of the others were definitely entertaining and thoroughly enjoyed. Most of my audiobooks come from the library but I bought this one from Audible books. It was well worth the price! I highly recommend this author.

Ending was a an act of deceit

The usual entertaining formula, but Mosley choked at the end, leaving readers hanging unfairly. It felt like a failure of creativity or courage on his part.

Mystery and Intrigue

A thought provoking and intriguing work. Mosley did not disappoint! The narration was excellent . He held my attention.

best one so far

I liked this story better than the other Leonid McGill Mysteries. Very good read. I hope tge next one is as good