In Richard Barre’s “The Ghosts of Morning”...

In Richard Barre’s “The Ghosts of Morning” (Berkley), Southern California sleuth Wil Hardesty is hired to investigate the reported reappearance of a surfing buddy long thought to have been a Vietnam casualty. On a flight to Hawaii (the resurrection site), Hardesty picks up a copy of Raymond Chandler’s “The Long Goodbye.” One assumes that Barre is using this reference to acknowledge a debt to that novel.

In “Goodbye,” Chandler’s Philip Marlowe endures beatings, both physical and mental, in a noble effort to clear a dead friend’s name. Hardesty embarks upon a similar quest and, like Marlowe, falls under the spell of a rich man’s daughter. Beyond that, the two works go their separate ways.

“Ghosts” is also triggered by a murder, but its narration is objective and impersonal, hopping from Hardesty to other characters, two of them psychotic killers who relish their work. Although the pivotal murder is one committed in passion (as was Chandler’s), around it are more bloody killings, illegal biochemical testing, sinister international cartels and other unlovely topics of the day, most the result of the Vietnam War.

Hardesty, reeling from personal ordeals (alcoholism, the death of his son and the departure of his wife) and suffering surfing flashbacks, seems a bit behind the curve of his hit men adversaries. But he’s still young and idealistic enough to rush into a final confrontation in which even Marlowe might have feared to tread.

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Author Loren D. Estleman woke his famous Detroit detective Amos Walker from a seven-year slumber for last year’s novel “Never Street.” The rest apparently was good for the private eye because that book, No. 11, was one of the best entries in the high-quality series. The new one, “The Witchfinder” (Mysterious Press), with Walker as uncompromisingly hard-boiled, smart-mouthed and honorable as ever, is just as satisfying.

Eight years ago, legendary architect Jay Bell Furlong received a snapshot of his young fiancee in bed with another man and, ignoring the woman’s denials, scrapped their wedding plans. Later, he discovered that someone had doctored the photo, emulating the witchfinders of 17th century New England who often manufactured “evidence” to make their case. Now at the end of a losing battle with cancer, Furlong hires Walker to find the witchfinder.

Estleman and his sleuth are both pros at this game, and they make the search and discovery well worth a reader’s time.

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Martin Limon’s “Buddha’s Money” (Bantam) furthers the adventures of hard-living Army investigators George Sueno and Ernie Bascomb as they prowl the mean streets and alleys of Seoul. Like Limon’s previous thrillers about this duo, “Jade Lady Burning” and “Slicky Boys,” this one places its likable ragtag protagonists on the wrong side of both their muddle-headed military bosses and the savage and violent forces of the Korean underworld.

The locations, which the author experienced firsthand for 10 years of his 26-year Army career, are as amazingly vivid as ever, and his wild men heroes are just as good company. But there’s almost an Indiana Jones, boys’ adventure quality in a tale that involves a hard-boiled princess, a murder cult and a priceless jade skull that once belonged to Kublai Khan, no less.

Awhile back, Willetta L. Heising produced a monumental reader’s guide and checklist for mysteries written by women, “Detecting Women.” Its popularity has prompted a companion volume, “Detecting Men” (Purple Moon Press). This remarkable trade paperback not only serves bibliographical purposes, but also includes brief biographies and breaks down the books by type (journalism, legal, ecclesiastical), setting, series characters and title chronology. It’s a treasure trove for browsers.

* The Times reviews mystery books every other Sunday. Next Week: Rochelle O’Gorman Flynn on audio books.