Books: East of 14th Street ; George Pelecanos's Novels Break the Rules of American Crime Writing with Their Treatment of Inequality, Poverty and Race. Andrew Buncombe Meets the Self-Taught Author in a Part of Washington the Tourists and Politicos Rarely Get to See

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There's no need for George Pelecanos to look at the menu and barely any need for the waiter to ask what he wants to eat for lunch. Not only is the crime writer a regular at Vicino, a restaurant in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, but so are many of his characters. In one of his novels, Hell to Pay, a couple come here for a meal of linguine before heading home for some pasta- fuelled sex. Pelecanos cannot help including such details in his novels, in much the same way, it appears, that he cannot help but choose the red peppers and anchovies in olive oil.

Vicino is the perfect Pelecanos restaurant: simple but not shabby, with food that is pleasant rather than …