American Detective

A completely revised edition of the first Henry Rios mystery, The Little Death, Lay Your Sleeping Head introduces Michael Nava’s singular protagonist, gay Latino criminal defense lawyer Henry Rios. Rios, beset by personal and professional problems, begins a passionate affair with the black sheep heir to a great California fortune who tells Rios an improbable tale of murder and sexual predation in his wealthy family. When the young man is found dead of an apparent drug overdose, Rios begins an investigation that ultimately reveals much more than murder.

In Strawberry Yellow, he returns to the strawberry farms of his youth and encounters family intrigue, danger, and murder. The series' most compelling and evocative mystery yet is set in the strawberry fields of Watsonville, California, where young Mas first arrived as a Hiroshima survivor in the 1940s. He returns for the funeral of a cousin and quickly gets entangled in the murder of a young woman. Was his cousin murdered, too?

Shortly after private eye Howard Moon Deer decides to settle down with his latest lady love, he accepts a new case that takes him away from the home front and introduces him to the dangerous passions that drive San Geronimo's thriving art scene. Howard and ex-police commander Jack Wilder have been hired to investigate Sherman Stone, a man notorious for his torrid liaisons and low-life friends. Rumor has it that he's planning to have his wealthy wife killed. But before Howard can separate fact from fiction, a local hobo is murdered, and then Sherman himself meets an untimely end.

Ghost saw somebody killing Santa Claus. Underneath the mistletoe last night… FREE on Kindle Unlimited! Dashing, debonair paranormal investigator Rick Rowling usually spends the holidays at luxurious resorts, with women falling at his feet. What would make him trade champagne toasts and caviar dreams for a Yuletide dinner in Queens with the family of his ravishing assistant Mandy, the only woman who seems immune to his charms? Turns out the single witness to the murder of Santa Claus is a lovelorn ghost who wants a date with Rick in exchange for information on the suspect. A romantic romp ...

The most impossible crime ever witnessed by… a ghost? FREE on Kindle Unlimited! Days away from giving birth, Mandy finds herself involved in the mysterious heist of a beastly piece of art. The USCAB duo suspect some monkey business is to blame for the disappearance of a priceless mask from the locked vault of Manhattan socialite Nicole Sparks. A ghostly art critic deems the masterpiece to be more hideous than haunting, but that won’t stop a serial art thief from attempting to add it to his growing collection of famous works. With an abundance of suspects and a dearth of clues, this may ...

A haunted theater, drama queen ghosts, and the rest is… Wicked? FREE on Kindle Unlimited! Alas, poor Mandy! Decorating the nursery for Baby Rowling is giving her the blues, and only Manhattan’s top interior designer can help, but securing her services could mean putting Rick into the clutches of a notorious homewrecker. In exchange for hooking Mandy up with the designer, famous actress Karina needs help with some strange happenings at her theater production of Hamlet, and who better to solve the mystery than someone who can talk to the ghost of the Ghost? Trodding the boards with the ...

From the Houston headquarters of his family-owned business, Bryce Ditloc surveys an economy that is in deep recession. Throughout the country unemployment is rife, and to satisfy his psychopathic urges Ditloc creates a vacancy in his sales department. He then invites applicants and many apply for what appears a wonderful opportunity. What they're not aware of is that Bryce Ditloc is a conniving, manipulative killer. After the disappearance of Ditloc Pharma's HR manager, detectives Beaufort and Hanson are dispatched to investigate. What will they find out and will they be able to prevent ...

Jack Wilder and Howard Moon Deer are back with a baffling new case. A lonely woman, recently arrived in New Mexico, has vanished mysteriously from her house on a snowy winter day, leaving her front door open and her emotional support dog, Gurdjieff, dead on the dining table.

In Parson, Texas, a small town ravaged by a devastating hurricane and the Vietnam War, twenty-nine-year-old Lou is diligently renovating a decaying old mansion for Miss Kate, the elderly neighbor who has always been like a mother to her. Mourning her brother’s death in Vietnam, Lou dreams of enjoying a more peaceful future in Parson. But those hopes are crushed when Miss Kate is murdered, and no one but Lou seems to care about finding the killer.

An Afro-Russian KGB agent returns to his forefathers' homeland — Chicago — to track down a Russian dissident prepared to unleash the ultimate doomsday device. Dissatisfied by the results of the Post World War I Civil Rights movement, angry African-Americans immigrated to the Soviet Union in the 1930's, for the promise of equality under Communism. Colonel Damian Turner, a native Afro-Russian KGB agent, returns to Chicago, the former home of his grandfather, as part of a worldwide manhunt for one of his nation's highest ranking officers, Marshall Victor Craig. Craig, infuriated at the ...

Los Angeles, 1986. A group of right-wing Christians has put an initiative on the November ballot to allow health officials to force people with HIV into quarantine camps - and it looks like it’s going to pass. Rios, now living in LA, agrees to be counsel for a group of young activists who call themselves QUEER. QUEER claims to be committed to peaceful civil disobedience. But when one of its members is implicated in the bombing of an evangelical church that kills its pastor, Rios finds himself with a client suddenly facing the death penalty.

When Brightness Tours’ bus driver, Duffy Radley, fails to return to the bus after a rest stop at the Jefferson Springtop rest area on Interstate 81, the passengers are sequestered on the bus until he is found. The state police are called, and a massive hunt around the rest area ensues. He is located inside the locked maintenance room, murdered, and shot seven times in the chest. How did he get there? And why was he shot seven times; what’s the significance? After the state police release the sequestered passengers, the director of bus services drives them to their drop-off place. ...

Kaira Hansley can illusion herself into anyone she chooses. Bodyguard who means business? Sure. Cute little kid with pigtails? Absolutely. The Alliance Director himself? No sweat. The only face she doesn’t want to wear into public is her own. After three years of living off the grid, she’s now the most famous Magic in Boston. And her boyfriend is the most famous Natural. Exposing themselves has put Kaira and Graysen right in the path of a cold-blooded killer. Murders are sweeping the city, where distrust between Magics and Naturals has reached a boiling point. As Kaira, Graysen, and the...

The world of culinary magic is about to implode as the greatest threat to their secret existence is carried—well, dragged—into this delectable second installment of the Hex Kitchen series. Kidnapped by the very group meant to protect her, Kenzie finds herself in another cooking tournament. This time, though, the stakes are higher. Every meal she cooks could be her last. If she’s going to survive, she’ll need to do the one thing she swore she’d never do again. Use her magic to kill. Braxton is facing his own battle. Each step that brings him closer to Kenzie jeopardizes his family....

Charmaine Joliet gets an offer she wants to refuse but can't. Someone from the old neighborhood knows a dark secret, one that could make Charmaine and her younger sister Jessi homicide suspects. But she'll keep quiet a price. The client "hires" Charmaine to help rid her of an unwanted rich husband. Meanwhile, troubled Jessi is in jail again for assault. The police would believe Jessi is capable of murder and that Charmaine is willing to be an accessory to protect her.

Everyone has secrets—ghosts are no exception… FREE on Kindle Unlimited! Finding her body taken over by a ghost with unfinished business while entertaining a tempting (yet dangerous sounding) invitation from Rick Rowling—her boss—has Amanda Meyer, FBI special assistant and resident ghost whisperer for the Paranormal Cases Division, in a tailspin. Her drag-queen-guardian ghost is acting even stranger than usual, a murder victim holds a clue to finding a stolen sculpture, and a parade of well-meaning family members might just set another murder in motion. What’s the girl nicknamed ...

Armed with snacks and voted 'Most Likely to Succeed' by his fly-by-night private investigator school, Reverend Richard Burgess has left the pulpit behind to try his hand at helping people in a different way. After shedding his pastor duds for a newly acquired closetful of somewhat questionable disguises, Detective Burgess sets out to leverage his considerable people smarts to solve crimes and bring closure to his clients. In this hilarious novel of linked short stories, the former minister busts a smuggling ring, solves a murder, launches a viral video on YouTube, tracks down a ghost, and ...

I could stay awake just to feel you creeping... FREE on Kindle Unlimited! Life is sweet for FBI Special Assistant Amanda Meyer. Her live-in boyfriend just happens to be her sexy boss, Rick Rowling, head of the Paranormal Cases Division, and cozy evenings at home are becoming a thing - but that just means a wicked new case is right around the corner. When a little girl is kidnapped, the evidence points to world renowned psychic Aurora Westwood but something just doesn’t add up. In exchange for her help finding the missing child, Aurora has a proposition for Mandy that could change ...

The name Allan Pinkerton was for decades synonymous with private detective; indeed, the work “Pinkerton” was generally used for any private detective whether or not they were associated with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. The all-seeing eye that served as the symbol of his company and the slogan - “We Never Sleep” - projected an image of a detective working tirelessly to pursue a desperate criminal and bring them to justice.

Don't blink A gripping thrill ride begins when Oklahoma private investigator Buck McDivit witnesses a murder and finds himself possessing an ancient artifact with mystical powers. The investigation leads him to the Spiro Mounds Archeological Museum, where he meets the gorgeous Chief Archeologist Thorn Little Deer and discovers someone recently stole the artifact he now possesses—the priceless Black Cup of Oklahoma. A deadly ex-Army Ranger with the nickname Blade may be responsible for both the theft and the murder. As Buck sets out to catch the thief, he joins a cryptid expedition to the ...