The year is 1928 and Prohibition is the law of the land. Caroline Case, who we first met in 2019's The River Rats Murders (9780983575443) is now a wealthy, full-fledged private detective in Chicago. With her partner Hannibal Jones, she visits upscale yet scandalous salons near Lakeshore Drive and prowls dangerous and dark underworld dens in sleazy, industrial neighborhoods. Booze, murders, kidnappings and daring rescues abound. Caroline and Hannibal employ the latest tools of forensic science to solve murders and bring the culprits to justice, legal and otherwise. Although, fiction, Caroline?s story rings true to the fascinating history and colorful characters who lived, loved and died in the "murder capital of the world" during the heyday of Al Capone, speakeasies and Chicago-style jazz.
The River Rat Murders presents the first part of the diary of Caroline Case, a Wabash Valley Madame, during Prohibition. After the murder of her friend Alec in 1921, Caroline becomes an amateur but extremely resourceful detective. She and her mysterious new friend, Hannibal Jones, her "girls" and an odd assortment of local characters solve five murders. They get no help from the authorities, who are on the take from gangsters who control the booze trade in the Valley. Caroline, Hannibal and their friends call themselves "The River Rat Detective Agency." As they solve the murders, they become involved in the war between Al Capone and the North Side gang over control of the booze trade. There are shootouts, kidnappings and daring rescues. Over time (1921-1928), Caroline evolves from humble beginnings into a sophisticated, liberated woman. She accumulates wealth from investments in speakeasies, roadhouses and upscale salons. She uses her money to help her friends and to invest in legitimate businesses. After the fifth murder and an attempt on her life, she and Hannibal escape to their first adventure outside of the Valley. In 1928, just before the crash of the stock market, Caroline and Hannibal solve a sixth murder, this time at a high-end resort in Florida. This murder relates back to murders in the Valley and to Al Capone, who has his vacation house at 93 Palm Island, Miami Beach, Florida. At the end of the story, Capone lifts the bounty on Caroline, and she and Hannibal are off to new adventures. In this second Wind Grass Hill murder-mystery, Frank L. Gertcher lets Caroline Case tell her own story of booze, gang wars, love and adventure. Although fiction, Caroline's story rings true to the fascinating history and colorful characters who lived, loved and died in the bawdy towns along the Wabash River during the heyday of Prohibition. More murder mysteries will follow, as Caroline and Hannibal continue their adventures!
Journalist Angela Anselm investigates a suspicious death in a late 21st century speakeasy, where the moonshine of the times is garlic mash rather than sour mash. She uncovers a conspiracy that could topple the NArc, the government system that keeps everybody healthy with its prescribed, engineered nutrition. How much will she risk to expose the truth?
A taut police thriller featuring detective “Fang” Mulheisen—from a writer hailed as “the best-kept secret of hard-boiled crime fiction connoisseurs” (The New York Times Book Review). When a cop guns down an intruder during a break-in, it seems like another case of a bad guy meeting a bad end—until the owner of the garage being burgled is revealed to be Jerry Vanni, a young man whose trucking empire is branching out into juke boxes and vending machines. Detroit’s Det. Sgt. “Fang” Mulheisen knows that Vanni’s businesses are normally controlled by the mob—and when a pair of gunmen walks into a bar and fills one of Vanni’s jukes with lead, Mulheisen is sure there’s more trouble on the way. His investigation leads him into an ever-growing criminal enterprise involving gun-smuggling Cubans, a million-dollar heist, and a gorgeous woman mixed up with both. It’s the kind of trouble that can get a good cop killed . . . “Few color the police procedural with such bluesy riffs—or make it jump—the way Jackson does.” —Detroit Free Press
In 1929, independently wealthy Caroline Case Jones departs Chicago for Europe on the luxury ship SS Isle de France. She and Hannibal, her enigmatic new husband, enter a war-scarred continent embroiled in social turmoil and political upheaval. Solving murders is the name of the game.
Undergrad Susan Pearce meets Professor Hans Berger when she is selected to work on a cutting edge brain research project at MIT. After what appears to be a significant breakthrough in the quest to cure Alzheimer's, the team attracts 'angel capital' and launches a start-up biotech company. Later, several young women turn up dead in a series of sensational murders that rock the greater Boston area. Could there be a connection? Cambridge PD Chief Homicide Detective, Dimas Augustin, is tasked with finding out. The trail leads from New England to California and reaches as far as Europe. Unexpected twists and turns, with a strong dose of action and suspense will keep the reader riveted right through to the chilling climax.
From a murder-prone mistress to a killing farm that inspired a Clint Eastwood movie, rural Southern California has secrets that belie its bucolic setting. The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders—a horrible 1928 national news story that inspired the 2008 movie The Changeling from director Clint Eastwood—are only the most infamous despicable deeds that have bloodstained the rural countryside between Riverside City and the San Bernardino County line. Jurupa Valley has been a region of dark doings and scandalous misdeeds for generations. The city of Jurupa Valley was formed in 2011 from the area’s smaller communities, including Wineville (renamed Mira Loma to escape the shame), Pedley and Rubidoux. Buried in its landscape are salacious sagas of unchecked bootlegging, payday orgies and gruesome murders. Author Kim Jarrell Johnson digs deep to disinter the unsavory stories that have traditionally marked her home city as a resting place of enduring infamy. Includes photos!
Merlin investigates a royal mystery at Stonehenge. A baron and his sons are found dead at Stonehenge. King Arthur's potential heirs start to mysteriously die. And only Merlin can prove that the murders are not the work of the plague, but something much more sinister.
