The Skin Game

Private detective Samantha O’Malley takes center stage in Chicago’s high-stakes crime scene as she’s enlisted to unravel the mysterious murders of three esteemed businessmen on Michigan Avenue. With the police department drawing blanks and the chief’s reluctant nod, Samantha dives into a murky web of secrets. Yet, as she edges closer to the truth, she finds the chief thwarting her every move. Is it fear or a desperate bid to bury truths too dangerous to unearth? Amidst the chaos, Samantha’s heart wavers as Andy Courson, her cherished love, awaits her choice. Will it be the chase for justice or the promise of love? The Skin Game is a pulsating thriller that races through deceit and love, ensuring readers are hooked till the last page.

“Taunt and terrifying. Samantha O’Malley will join fictional Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, and Lew Archer. Chicago has its own great detective, and I can’t wait for the next case.”

– Joe O’Conner, Los Angeles writer.

“The detailed writing put me right in the story. Chilling!”

 – Laureen Diephof, news reporter for USA and South County newspapers.

“A thriller!”

– John Laughlin, actor and producer.

Those Amazing Mafia Wives

It was in the 1950s that mafia boss, Don Amato Rizoso, determined it was time to enter the lucrative human trafficking business. Five dedicated Rizoso mafia wives stepped up to work tirelessly for one desperate purpose: to rescue innocent girls their cutthroat husbands were trafficking in for modern day sale.

While, operating in a netherworld teeming with greed and corruption, the wives officially opened business after their daring rescue of multiple sex slaves from a mafia-owned opium den. As they adjusted to their life of vigilante justice, they faced near rescue misses, they helped set-up a daring underground railroad, and they took down the notorious Cocaine Queen. Amidst betrayal, mass slaughter, forbidden love, and a son whose secret threatened his life, they learned that fighting for what they believed in was anything but easy. Nevertheless, those amazing mafia wives worked doggedly to take down a family empire built on the bodies of children – even if it meant their own lives.

Through It All

Dive into the intertwining lives of two resilient women in Through it All, set against the backdrop of a small-town tapestry. Bonnie, weathered by life’s tempests, navigates through a maze of loss, abuse, shattered dreams, and a justice system that falls short. Amidst the storm of family secrets and societal judgments, her life is a testament to enduring hope.

On the other hand, Carly, a budding writer, embarks on a journey from rejection to acceptance and love, with the arrival of Detective Thorne Davenport, who aids in unveiling her roots. Her aspiration to pen down stories finds a purpose when she crosses paths with Bonnie, whose narrative is a poignant blend of life’s bitter and sweet.

Through it All unveils a compelling narrative of resilience, unexpected camaraderie, and the silent echoes of the past shaping the present, as Bonnie and Carly discover the redemptive power of sharing one’s story amidst life’s relentless trials.

Trouble Rumbles at Dawn

Welcome to the tranquil yet precarious town of Indigo Flats, nestled in the vast expanse of west Texas. Its peaceful façade shatters when a prominent businessman is brutally murdered, unearthing a cache of guns and drugs that send shockwaves through the region, putting the feared Mexican Ortega Cartel on high alert. However, the stakes intensify exponentially when a second murder rocks the town—a member of the cartel’s own family falls victim, igniting a relentless race against time for determined Detective Sharon Case.

With the relentless cartel crossing the border into Indigo Flats, Detective Case finds herself thrust into a perilous battle on multiple fronts. She must navigate the treacherous landscape of solving the murders while combating the vicious intruders and scrambling to safeguard her own family. As the clock ticks relentlessly, the line between right and wrong blurs, forcing Detective Case to make harrowing choices to uphold justice and protect all that she holds dear.

Unthinkable

Brady Johnson was looking forward to a peaceful retirement on a Northern Minnesota lake and in his St. Petersburg, Florida condo after decades of fighting Mexican drug cartels. He tried to forget the past, but the many bitter enemies he made in his years with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in San Antonio Texas, did not retire, did not forget, and did not give up their burning thirst for revenge. They caught up to Brady in Florida.

Years earlier his wife’s rape and death at the hands of a cartel triggered a murderous rampage against all drug dealers, and when the same cartel murders a new-found love interest in Tampa Bay, it ignites the same rage that drove him over the edge the first time.

He finds himself teamed up with two women – a Mexican National former DEA agent, and a Native Canadian, both of whom had survived cartel assassination attempts – and when they venture into Mexico after the traffickers, they uncover a joint cartel/Muslim terrorist plot to inflict a series of horrific attacks on the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Attacks that would effectively destroy all three countries.

When the cartels realize that they, too will be destroyed by the Jihadist offensive, they renege on the partnership they had forged with the Muslims and eventually join forces with Brady’s small group. But, in trying to prevent the terrorist attacks, the trio uncover another, more sinister plot against the United States unfolding in Northern New York and Ontario. Their quest comes to a shocking conclusion in the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River.

First Active Shooter

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, life doesn’t go the way we want. We either roll with the punches or go down and never get up. At a young age, Miles had his future all planned out. So when his life started to spin out of control, he accepted the inevitable and kept his eye on his dream. The one constant in his life was the truth. Miles would never lie. Helping those in need and living honestly were values ingrained in him by his late father. But when life and death decisions have to be made, only the smart and strong survive. Like a cornered animal, Miles fights fiercely for his loved ones and their future. In a dramatic turn of events, Miles reluctantly becomes implicated in the First Active Shooter.

A Tale of Prima Facie

Murder. Deception. Abandonment.

Mila Taylor is a commander in the Chicago Detective’s Bureau. The recent murder of Sullivan Maxwell, a local bookstore owner, leaves Mila with little detail and no obvious suspects. Mila’s initial investigation leads her to Davis Parks, the former partner of Sullivan, and a search for a woman that none of Sullivan’s family and friends have ever met.

Growing up on the outskirts of Chicago, in Sycamore, Mila’s family life was chaotic at best. Raised by her father, after her mother’s passing, Mila and her sister were left fending for themselves, until a disturbing event sent her on an unexpected path.

Through years of working on the police force and then the Detective’s Bureau, Mila built a credible career on solving cold cases. However, as her current case evolves, Mila is confronted with the twisted and terrifying secrets buried within the recesses of a merciless and sadistic mind.

Monty and the Rabbit: The Albino

Julia Montgomery (Monty) and Paddy Assenfeld (Rabbit) are reunited after a period apart following their previous adventures with a mafia crime family. In the meantime, Julia has become connected with another criminal organization led by Nikolas Bucher, a Swiss-born man known as The Albino, The Butcher, and the White Monster (the latter two nicknames originating from events during his teenage years in Switzerland). Julia introduces Paddy to Nikolas; although Paddy becomes friends with him, he is reluctantly drawn deep into various criminal enterprises. Meanwhile, The Albino lives alone in his castle, hiding from the sun.

An Accusing Finger

A man’s violent, early-morning death on the freezing pavement of a west-end convenience store parking lot in Canada’s capital city appears at first to be just another random act of gang violence. But is it?

The dead man has no identification, and his associate has mysteriously vanished. One of the victim’s fingerprints is linked to the unsolved murder of a young woman more than twenty years earlier. When Inspector Matt Armitage begins investigating the cold case, he uncovers a second, identical, unsolved murder. This one took place years later, in another city, in another country. As he works to close the case, Armitage discovers that cutting through red tape can cause serious, self-inflicted wounds.

Even if he were not a police officer, Inspector Matt Armitage of the Ottawa Police Service would be an imposing figure. He stands seventy-six inches tall in his dress socks, with a big-boned athletic frame, a thick shock of dark hair, and intense, piercing eyes the colour of Antarctic ice. He has an unblemished service record, but Armitage will probably never be promoted. His bosses believe he has one unforgivable flaw: he puts people first. He is a cop’s cop, operating in a milieu that rewards careerism and mediocrity, and punishes anyone who threatens the system’s status quo or the self-interest of the top brass.

An Accusing Finger was a Chanticleer Clue Awards finalist.

Ozark Justice

The year is 1938, and it’s a beautiful Indian summer day in the Ozark Mountains. Yarnell Cates, his wife Thelma, and his father are returning home with a wagonload of stove wood when they discover the sheriff’s car in their front yard. Sheriff J. D. Hawkins is there to arrest Yarnell on trumped-up charges concocted by the prosecuting attorney and his brother, the circuit judge. The charge is part of an ongoing feud between their families and the Cates. In a twist of fate, Yarnell is forced to kill the sheriff in self-defense. This act incites the prosecuting attorney to form a posse with orders to burn down the Cates’ home, slaughter their livestock, and shoot Yarnell on sight. A bounty of five hundred dollars is placed on Yarnell’s head, later increased to fifteen hundred dollars, driving Yarnell and Thelma to seek refuge in a cave in the mountains. Throughout the winter, they endure harsh conditions while evading the men of Sycamore County in a desperate bid for survival.

Un Crimen que solo el Cielo Puede Perdonar

Una rica empresaria de la industria farmacéutica aparece envenenada en el dormitorio
de su casa de Madrid, donde vive con sus cuatro hijos y su yerno. Todos ellos han
podido cometer el crimen. La investigación se cierra en torno a estos personajes con
un profundo retrato psicológico de la naturaleza de cada uno de ellos. La imagen
despiadada que transmiten de su madre los tres hijos pequeños, que va aflorando en
los sucesivos interrogatorios a los que son sometidos, contrasta con la estampa
afectuosa que presenta de ella la hija mayor, en un diario que escribe paralelamente al
desarrollo de la investigación. A la vez que se van desenterrando emociones familiares
ocultas, el policía encargado del caso va descubriendo hechos insólitos sobre cada
uno de los hijos, que hace pasar las sospechas de uno a otro. Una novela psicológica,
al más puro estilo de Agatha Christie, con una trama adictiva y un giro final
inesperado.

Into the Shallows Darkly

It’s 1980s New England and a young attorney named Tom Biggs travels back to his hometown to attend the funeral of his aunt who has died in a horrific car crash. But the circumstances that soon unfold reveal a dark world of corruption and duplicity that grips not only Tom’s uncle but his two law partners as well, the men who helped him to raise Tom after the founder of their firm, Tom’s father, was murdered twelve years earlier.

After the two law partners are both found dead in quick succession, Tom begins a frantic investigation, convinced that his uncle will soon be next. With the help of his girlfriend Clarissa, a crackerjack attorney herself, and a disgraced private investigator, Tom finds the root of the threat, a shady figure from his own past.

Tom and Clarissa rely on the help of the mysterious Blanfurth Consortium to rid Tom’s uncle of the menace that’s had a hold on him for the past twelve years. But when everyone’s moral compass is brought into sharp focus, it’s obvious that no one is innocent of the depravity that has thrown the entire family into jeopardy.