Humorous Noir

China Doll, another comical and exciting adventure, ripped straight from the files of Honolulu’s most incorrigible and languid, soft-boiled private eye, Richard Bishop.People come to Richard Bishop’s shabby Hotel Street office for professional help when trouble raises its ugly head because trouble is his business. But when the private investigator accepts an assignment from Nikki Kwan, a stunning and curvaceous China doll, to protect her and to deliver a sealed envelope to her ex-boyfriend, Rick soon has plenty of trouble all his own. He finds himself squarely in the crosshairs of rival...

Scarlet Accordions of Doom Step into the gritty world of Max Noir, a hard-boiled detective with a penchant for trouble and a cynical heart. When the enigmatic Lana Legs, her scarlet stilettos echoing through his smoke-filled office, presents a birth certificate with no parental names, Max is drawn into a labyrinth of secrets and danger. Lana's quest for her true identity plunges Max into a case that unravels hidden pasts and dangerous liaisons, from mob lawyer Daniel "DNA" Arundel's sinister warnings to the tragic love story of Boca Loca and Horatio Norris. Max navigates a city where ...

Meet Mason Ezekiel Barnes, former NFL tackle turned successful author. Mason is obsessed with winning a Pulitzer and is thwarted by his fellow author and nemesis, the twerpy little gnome Conrad Bancroft. Mason spends his days writing at a local cafe, Perk Noir, the one-of-a-kind jazz coffee shop. He's obsessed with the life of jazz great Earl "Lightning" Perkins, former owner of the Perk Noir. One day, unexpectedly in walks Shelly, a fan of Mason's books. Shelly has a mysterious pocket watch she recently inherited. She convinces Mason to assist her in unraveling its history.

Time is up in Old Town. As the pace of gentrification reaches frenzy in Portland, Oregon, Darby Holland’s beloved tattoo parlor, Lucky Supreme, is destroyed by a bomb that ripped through an entire city block. Only a warning call from his favorite prostitute saved his life. Developers have been like wolves at the door of Dmitri (the drunken landlord) for the past few years, but this is different.

There are only a few weeks left before an asteroid destroys the planet. It’s the countdown, and all of humanity is just waiting for the end. In Phoenix, AZ, the sheriff’s department and National Guard are battling for supremacy, gas is as good as cash, and elementary school kids are out for blood. Most people in town have become the worst versions of themselves. Except for Dutch Kovaks, private detective. Dutch wants to right some wrongs, help a few people in need, and use the days he’s got left for good. Most of all, he wants to track down a bottle of gin.

Southern California, 1996: a peaceful, scenic day in the coastal community of Santa Monica, except that there is a meter maid lying next to the sidewalk–dead. Fresh from a messy divorce case, North Hollywood private investigator Clive Wilts is on the case to find the killer before the bodies start stacking up and the city streets become a parking free-for-all.

Caleb Rush, aka Crush, is the toughest, coolest bodyguard/bouncer in Los Angeles, a man who lives strictly by his own moral code, which doesn't exactly hew to the standards of US law. When Amelia Trask, the wild daughter of a scruples-free billionaire tycoon, comes to Crush for help, his quiet life roars into overdrive, and he has to use his wits, brawn, martial-arts training, and knowledge of the Russian Mafia to stay alive and clean up the mess that young Amelia has created.

In addition to feeding the felines Aubrey and Vincent, Jeremy Goodman has a new responsibility: filling a recently vacated trustee role at a local charity that works tirelessly to house the homeless. Jeremy is initially enthusiastic—but soon begins to suspect that all is not as it seems at the nonprofit’s headquarters.

Midnight Rider Productions is a dark-web nightmare machine, headed by the one man who years ago drove Darby to hide in the seamy environs of Old Town and make his life there. But Darby left his own mark back in the day, and the shadowy head of production has a grudge to settle. Rider has found him at long last and plans to make an example of him.

Courting Death finds Melanie Wilkerson (from Cotton, book two of the Clarkeston Chronicles) and Arthur Hughes working uncomfortably together in the chambers of a famous federal judge. While Melanie neglects her duties as a law clerk to investigate the mysterious death of a young woman in the courthouse five years earlier, Arthur wades through the horrific habeas corpus appeals of two prisoners: an infamous serial killer and a pathetic child murderer.

A team of con artists travel the country, marrying rich, unsought women, only to clean them out on their wedding night. The only problem is their last mark's father happens to be a secret underworld kingpin now bent on avenging his homely daughter's broken heart. After Angie Robertson’s new husband disappears with over $200,000 in wedding gifts and a brand new 911 Porsche convertible, her gangster father makes it his mission to seek retribution. Alongside him is Angie’s brother and heir to the Robertson empire, Sebastian, who, like his father, is eager to enact a swift revenge. ...

Silicon Valley scion Captain Don Donogue is dead under mysterious circumstances. In fact, he might’ve well have been murdered. Just ask Captain Don himself. He’s been sending messages about his suspicious death from beyond the grave. Yep, he’s been tweeting from the afterlife. Or so it seems.

Desmond a des problèmes d'ouïe. Et d'ennui. Professeur de linguistique fraîchement retraité, il consacre son ordinaire à la lecture du "Guardian", aux activités culturo-mondaines de son épouse, dont la boutique de décoration est devenue la coqueluche de la ville, et à son père de plus en plus isolé là-bas dans son petit pavillon londonien.

COVID-19 is spreading across the country. Peaceful demonstrations for Black Lives Matter after the murder by cop of George Floyd have turned violent. President Trump’s handling of the pandemic seems incompetent and chaotic. Infections and deaths continue to rise. When Attorney General Barr orders riot police and troops to clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square for Trump’s photo-op with a Bible, something snaps in Jack Blair. After a psychotic episode he is thrown into prison, and his life is threatened by white nationalist boogaloo bois.

La série culte ! Nous les avions quittés sur un radeau emporté par un torrent en crue, nous les quitterons cette fois sur la plage embrumée de Malamer, en une sorte d'étrange retour à la case départ...Entre les deux, tout se passe au fond des mers. Recueillis à bord d'un petit sous-marin boîte à sardines, commandé par un capitaine Virelevent aussi jovial que soupe-au-lait, nos orphelins vont découvrir qu'il n'y a décidément jamais de réponse sûre à la question : "Ami ou ennemi ?".

Read about the mother of all alien bases! The big one, the mega-base, the center of the Alien Occupation Government: the headquarters, the brain, the nerve center, the absolute pinpoint big base, is right here on Earth, just outside Della, Alaska. Forget Roswell. Forget Machu Picchu. Forget Stonehenge and Tikal and all those alleged alien bases -- abandoned, every one of them. This is the big one, right here on Planet Earth, right now, the source of all the world's troubles, the whole solar system's troubles. Right here. Finally, the unflinching truth about aliens on Earth is exposed in ...

An office door bears the names of A. Kimrean and Z. Kimrean, Private Eyes. Behind the door there is just one desk, one chair and one scrawny, androgynous detective. A.Z., as they are collectively known, are twin brother and sister. He’s pure misanthropic logic, she’s wild hedonistic creativity. The Kimreans have been locked in mortal battle since they were in utero...which is tricky because they literally share one single body. That’s right. One body, two pilots. Someone is murdering the sons of a drug cartel boss in the biggest baddest town in California - San Carnal.

Alvie Knightly may be waking up in the Ritz, but her life is no bed of roses. Firstly, she has the mother of all hangovers. Secondly, her beautiful, spoiled twin sister, Beth, has just been found dead in Sicily - and the police want Alvie for questioning. And thirdly, Alvie's hot new boyfriend has vanished with every penny of the millions they stole from Beth. But he picked the wrong girl to mess with.

Aubrey had initially dreaded the move to the coast with the Goodmans, but now he loves it. All those rock pools to muck about in, caves to explore, and endless food opportunities from the beach huts means life is good. And he's especially pleased that his best friend, Vincent, has joined the household. But the sun slips behind a cloud when a body is found near Lilac Tree Lodge, the home for the elderly in which Molly Goodman works.

July 2021. Southwest Arizona, close to Tucson. In an office trailer, Mike finds Brad, a fellow engineer, lying in his own blood. Minutes later, Mike's daughter Jean listens in when their boss Sarah says Cactex, the developer, is worried about media attention. Legal action and protests could cause very costly delays. Only the engineers are supposed to understand the purpose of all the laser-guided drills, saws, and pneumatic chisels hidden behind 30 stories of scaffolding and tarps.