Private Eye Mysteries

Private detective Tony Crow has been hired to investigate the cause of death of his client's late husband. The coroner ruled it a suicide; but she has doubts. He accepts, figuring he’ll find nothing different from the police investigation, but he could lay the widow’s doubts to rest. The deeper Tony digs—uncovering an investment-loan scam, interviewing smarmy business associates of the deceased, and dodging shady characters who seem intent on following Tony’s every move—the more he thinks his client’s suspicions might be grounded in facts. Tony discovers a connection between ...

Private investigator Tony Crow reconnects with an old Marine buddy, with whom he hasn’t had contact in over fifteen years. After meeting for lunch, Tony agrees to help his friend by locating a blackmailer who is threatening the man’s company. As Tony researches the evidence and attempts to find the identity of the blackmailer, he quickly discovers there is more to the assignment than he agreed to. As the facts become clearer, he must decide who he works for and what the result of his investigation might be. Each time he thinks the case is over, an explosive new situation comes up and ...

Detective. Gumshoe. Shamus. Call him what you want; just don't call him late for snack time. Hardboiled and wise beyond his years, Dingus is sought by family, friends, and mysterious strangers alike, whenever they need help from a kid who won't shy away from a little danger in order to uncover the truth.

The death of a powerful Chinatown crime boss thrusts private eye Lydia Chin and her partner, Bill Smith, into a storm of double-dealing, subterfuge, murder, and New York City real estate scandal. Choi has left the Tong headquarters building to his niece, who hires Lydia and her partner, Bill Smith, to accompany her to inspect it. The building is at the center of a tug-of-war between Chinatown preservation interests - including Lydia’s brother, Tim - and a real estate developer who’s desperate to get his hands on it.

A clever con man trying to go legit and a cast of eccentric characters team up to catch a killer in this fast, surprising, and witty mystery series debut. “Loaded with one liners. Keeps the plot turning.” — Kirkus Reviews When San Francisco con artist Jack McCoul gets married, he vows to give up his life of crime for good. But then his new brother-in-law pulls a heist that lands Jack in the middle of a deadly fight over hot computer chips. As bodies stack up, he must pull off the grift of a lifetime to solve a murder and escape a one-way ticket to death row. Read as a standalone or as...

SHE WENT HOME TO FIND PEACE AND QUIET -- AND FOUND MURDER! Ellen Shaw, a disgraced big-city journalist, heads home to Iowa to bury her mother. Once there, she takes a job at a local paper, and decides to pursue a cold case her writer mom was following. But more than memories lurk in the small town of Middleton. Soon Ellen Shaw, and a friendly local policewoman, are engulfed in a murderous conspiracy that involves a brutal Las Vegas crime family. “A LAWRENCE DE MARIA TITLE GIVES YOU MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK THAN JUST ABOUT ANYTHING IN THE BOOK MARKETPLACE TODAY.” (Florida Weekly); “A ...

(This book was previously published with the subtitle 'The Strange Case of the Exploding Dolly-trolley') When tragedy comes to Daisy's doorstep, it's way too close for comfort. Those responsible have to be brought to justice... and quickly, before they strike again. It’s been two weeks since Daisy brought Finn’s aristocratic world crashing down, and village life reverted to as normal as it ever gets where she is concerned. But then one morning it all changes, in a very disturbing way. To begin with, Daisy believes someone from her past is to blame. Before she retired, she had a job very...

After seven months laying low in Ocean Beach, California, Seattle PI Leo Waterman has finally stopped looking over his shoulder - specifically, for the vengeful band of Washington white supremacists who blame Leo for blindsiding their big plans for America. Where better to disappear with his bodyguard, Gabe, than this laid-back stretch of San Diego heaven? But when Leo finds a boy’s body on the beach, he comes out of hiding to investigate.

Joe Copp is hired by old buddy, ex-cop Tom Chase, to protect him from the FBI. Chase is the security chief for a defense contractor, and Uncle Sam is following him and setting up his executives for a sting. Sure enough, two of them are stung...Permanently! Then, without warning, Chase is arrested as a spy. Now, he is not only running from the feds, but he is busting KGB skulls, and rubbing elbows with traitors while tripping over corpses. Somehow, Joe Copp has gotten himself in deep, and it is getting deeper by the minute.

It is early 1942. You are in San Francisco, and you need a private eye. Sam Spade is rumored to be in Istanbul. The Continental Op has been drafted and is a sergeant in the Aleutians. Philip Marlowe is up at Little Fawn Lake investigating the disappearance of Mrs. Derace Kingsley. Lew Archer is in the army. Who's left? Nobody but C. Card. You haven't heard of C. Card? That's all right. Nobody has.

Chet Gecko loves a good mystery. Almost more than he loves his fee: Stinkbug pie. So when fellow fourth grader Shirley Chameleon asks him to find her missing brother, Billy, Chet expects the case to be as easy as pie. But Billy's disappearance is part of a larger plot, one that involves the Rat Sisters, a riddling junkyard dog, and a vicious Gila monster named Herman. If Chet doesn't solve the case fast, the entire school could be humiliated. Worst of all, Chet might not get his fee. And Chet's hungry...

NEVER ONE TO HOLD A GRUDGE, ALTON RHODE DECIDES TO HELP OUT A FORMER HOOKER WHO ONCE PLOTTED TO HAVE HIM KILLED. SHE WANTS HIM TO FIND OUT WHO MURDERED HER GRANDFATHER WITH AN ICE PICK! LORENE ROBILLARD BETRAYED ALTON RHODE AND ALMOST GOT HIM KILLED. NOW, SHE WANTS HIS HELP! ***The private investigator soon finds himself in a Southern town that has more secrets than pigeons on Confederate statues. But with two brutish killers straight out of “Deliverance” on his tail, Rhode is forced to call for backup. The new ally, making his own contributions to a rising body count, helps uncover a ...

IT WAS A SIMPLE INSURANCE INVESTIGATION -- UNTIL THE LIES AND BODIES STARTED PILING UP! Alton Rhode starts out in a Northern nursing home and winds up in a Southern town, where a military academy may be more soiled than local Civil War statues covered in bird droppings. He uncovers a twisty financial conspiracy involving radioactive isotopes, sex, and murder. "ALTON RHODE MYSTERIES ARE IN A CLASS BY THEMSELVES.” (John Crudele, New York Post); “A LAWRENCE DE MARIA TITLE GIVES YOU MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK THAN JUST ABOUT ANYTHING IN THE BOOK MARKETPLACE TODAY.” (Florida Weekly); “A ...

Barry Stackpole was tough once. Amos Walker met him in a Cambodian shell crater when Walker was serving his country and Stackpole was on the payroll of the Detroit News, and they formed the kind of bond that war often creates. At war’s end, they returned to the Motor City, where Stackpole took to reporting crimes and Walker to solving them. A violent run-in with a big time mobster left Stackpole a leg and two fingers short, and he became an alcoholic. He has made several attempts to get his life straight since, but never quite managed.

The sun beats down mercilessly on the dusty desert town of Mirage, New Mexico. An eerie silence falls over the usually bustling streets as a deafening blast rips through the VT Vines Mining Company, instantly killing young Joe Blackfeather Jr. His distraught Navajo family is left reeling, grappling with profound grief amidst suspicions of foul play. As they struggle to make sense of this unthinkable tragedy, a mysterious blond stranger rolls into town, his battered trailer concealing a deadly cache of high-powered weaponry and explosives. Haunted by the demons of his shattered childhood, he...

They say nothing ever happens in a small town. They've never been to Crystal Falls. When a fortune in gems is stolen from a local auction, and the woman he loves blames herself for letting it happen, Luke Cooper finds himself in the middle of another mystery. With the help of his dog, Bandit, and the strange telepathic link they share, Luke follows the trail of clues. Things escalate quickly when a potential suspect turns up dead. Luke's mom and his best friend Kenny join in the hunt for the murderous thief, but the more they investigate, the longer their list of suspects grows. Can Luke ...

One lonely night, after suffering yet another seizure from the bullet lodged in his brain, private investigator Jim Powers comes across a very unusual man— A man with a living dragon tattoo. A man who offers Jim a deal he can't refuse. What begins as another night of his own private hell, quickly turns into something very real. Jim Powers is about to discover that the world is a much darker place than even he'd thought possible. Monsters exist...and so does something else, something far worse. He's about to discover that the Devil is real, and the Prince of Lies has a deal for Jim. A hell...

THE MOB BLACKMAILS TWO SPORTS ICONS WHO MURDER A YOUNG COCKTAIL WAITRESS. An innocent man is in jail for the crime they committed. A media giant has that part of the story, but is afraid to publish without ironclad proof. They hire a dogged investigator to get it. Meanwhile, the woman freelancer who uncovered the injustice can’t leave it alone. All hell breaks loose, as great detective work reveals a plot far worse than anyone imagined! ***“De Maria is a talented writer who has produced a body of work that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. His novels are sure to please fans of...

Two strangers escaping their past share a harrowing future in Palm Springs, the iconic playground of the rich, the famous and the Mob.

Pigeon Bay, a tranquil and secure town, suddenly becomes shrouded in mystery when a woman mysteriously disappears. The arrival of Samantha and Jonathan Winters, attending a real estate convention and participating in a captivating photoshoot, sets the stage for an unexpected turn of events. Little does Jonathan know that his photographs might uncover more than he ever anticipated. In this gripping tale, Nina Dupree, a skilled private investigator and trusted ally of the Chief of Police, steps in to assist in unraveling the perplexing case. Could the evidence left behind by the missing woman...