Comedy Crime Fiction

Ian Bridges works as a hitman and is on permanent stand-by for West End gangster John Broad. He does maybe three or four jobs a year and spends the rest of his life desperately trying to find Mrs Right so he can settle down, but can't and it feels like the world is conspiring against him. He's about to find out he's right.

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.

Through world wars and civil strife, the Bangor Express has never missed an issue, but now it is losing money, and Rob Cullen has absolutely no idea that he's the man to save it. It's been a long time since Rob had a real story to get his teeth into...just as well then that he can rely on the Express crew to back him up. They're like a family. A dysfunctional, highly unpopular and poverty-stricken family.

What happens when an intrepid band of thrill-seeking, rollicking Americans ventures out in search of adrenaline? They learn the hard way that having everything means you have that much more to lose. Orla, a beautiful and sharp-witted young Irish woman, saves the day, earning their loyalty. She proves to be a valuable addition to the globe-trekking crew on a high-stakes journey where discoveries unravel at every turn.

Elle Harrison is back! She and her pals Jen, Becky, and Susan travel to Mexico where Jen has arranged cosmetic surgery, after which she will recover in a plush hotel suite. But more is going on at the hotel than tummy tucks. Soon after they arrive, Elle sees the woman in the suite next door fall from her sixth floor balcony. When the room is later occupied by another patient, Elle finds her brutally mutilated body on that same balcony. Police question Elle as the last person to see these women alive.

Miss Julia has promised her husband, Sam, to mind her own business. What a relief! She doesn't have to spring into action when a dead body is found in a toolshed six blocks from her house. Instead, she can concentrate on what's really important-like figuring out who's been passing bad checks in her name and, most important, preparing for Hazel Marie's impending due date. Then again, who else can figure out why that awful Thurlow Jones is trying to cast suspicion on someone Miss Julia feels certain is innocent? And, after all, what Sam doesn't know won't hurt him, right?

It's '86, the era of Pop Rocks, Jelly shoes, and big hair bands. Rachael O'Brien's freshman plan seems simple: Attend a southern college away from her hometown of Canton, Ohio, earn a degree, party, and meet cute guys-hopefully acing the latter two. But being threatened by a jealous She-Devil, avoiding the advances of a 30-something redneck, and discovering an art fraud scheme mess with her "to do" list.

A continually bullied runt of a youngster, Chas Larkin discovers his chutzpah and decides to take on the London gangs. In the sleazy and violent East End, he is unwittingly assisted by Scotland Yard and MI5, who use the boy to delay an IRA campaign in the city. Together with the mysterious DCI Casey, an enigma amongst the bomb-damaged slums, they stir the pot of fermenting disquiet.

Common Pleas: A Tale of Whoa! is a legal thriller dripping in humor set in rural North Carolina in the mid-1980s. If John Grisham, Harper Lee, and Larry the Cable Guy were penned for a weekend in a cabin with nothing but a typewriter and an ample supply of bourbon, wine, and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, something like this might result. Listen as the Good, the Bad, and the Butt Ugly collide in this riotous journey to a rural North Carolina courtroom ending in a verdict of local justice.

If stealing a half million dollars from the Mafia is a bad idea, then using the money to pay off a homicidal Russian loan shark is an insane idea. Elliot Becker realizes this a little too late as his well-intentioned South Florida real estate scam starts to fall to pieces. He needs a Plan B - and he needs it now - because when Ponzi schemes fail, they tend to fail fast. Complicating matters is Logan Treverrow, an aspiring sculptor and newly-returned veteran from Afghanistan trying to figure out who took out a $200,000 loan in his soon-to-be-ex-wife’s name.

An old enemy seeking revenge sends James Flynn back around the bend and into a wild adventure even more deranged than his last one. Once again he believes that his psychiatric hospital is the headquarters of Her Majesty’s Secret Service and that he is a secret agent with a license to kill. With the help of Sancho, his reluctant sidekick, Flynn confronts a mysterious new adversary just as unhinged as he is and far more deadly. The entire planet is in danger, and the only one who can save it is someone no one believes.

After serial killer Randall Burton is diagnosed with a terminal disease, he decides to jump bail and go out in a blaze of glory. One woman stands in his way. Her name is Counsel Fungo, and she’s an exceptionally talented bounty hunter, if a little eccentric. Officially, her two canine companions are therapy dogs. But she considers them partners. Counsel will do anything to stop criminals from preying on the vulnerable, and she’s intent on stopping Randall Burton. Randall’s trail leads to sleepy Rancor, Pennsylvania.

Early in July, Northern Nevada’s senior Internal Revenue Service agent, Ronald Soranden - disliked by every agent in the Reno IRS office - vanished without a trace. In September, he makes a dramatic reappearance, of sorts. His skull - stripped clean and white - is dropped through the slashed top of a Mustang convertible. The vehicle belongs to Lucy Landry, PI Mortimer Angel’s gorgeous young assistant now working with him on a seemingly unrelated embezzlement case. But Mort is a former IRS field agent in Reno.

When Gabriel Lee escapes an unhappy marriage and moves to Porlington to start over, he finds himself part of the Porlington Philharmonia - an orchestra made up of the usual characters you would find in such a thing. Until one of them is found dead following a concert. Suddenly, everybody is a suspect, but nobody seems likely. A thriller full of intrigue and humour, this tale gives an insight into just what a barmy world musicians live in, especially when things go fatally wrong.

Two dumb, wannabe criminals bite off more than they can chew when they abduct a schoolgirl from a particularly modern, angular suburban house. In the mould of Elmore Leonard or early Tarantino Blockhouse Blues and the Elmore Beast is a distinctly Australian story about kidnapping, obsession, and architecture. So, if you enjoy your crime gritty, your humour dark and dry and don't object to a little colourful language, you’ll love Jack Stroke’s debut novel Blockhouse Blues and the Elmore Beast.

Veranix Calbert is the Thorn - the street vigilante who became a legend to the people of Maradaine, especially the gangs that run the neighborhood of Aventil. The Thorn continues to harass Willem Fenmere, the drug kingpin of the Dentonhill neighborhood. Veranix is still determined to stop Fenmere and the effitte drug trade, especially when he discovers that Fenmere is planning on using the Red Rabbits gang to bring the drug into Aventil. But it’s also Exam Week at the University of Maradaine, where Veranix is a magic student.

What would you do if your ex got abducted? Remember, they're an ex for a reason. So let's assume you hate them from the depths of your soul. Line up the tequila shots, right? Not your problem? Now stay with me for a second. What if you were the only person who could save their life? Then would you save them? We are talking about another human being's life, after all. Now, imagine you have seven million dollars in your bank account. Sweet, right? It's seven million dollars or your ex's life. This is a judgment-free zone.

IRS agent turned PI Mortimer Angel is relaxing in a hole-in-the-wall bar in a Reno casino when an attractive young girl hires him to find out who left her a cryptic message demanding a million dollars. At the girl’s house, Mort finds the body of missing rapper Jonnie Xenon - Jo-X to his legions of fans - hanging from the rafters with two bullet holes in him. Mort is shocked when he learns the identity of the girl’s father - and even more shocked when the father hires him to investigate the murder.

In the style of Dashiell Hammett, ex-IRS agent turned gumshoe-in-training Mortimer Angel is approached by a beautiful hooker, Holiday, in a casino bar in Reno. Mort first met Holiday two months ago, but now learns that she's not really a hooker. She's a college engineering student, searching for her younger sister, Allie, who disappeared three months ago. Having seen Mort in the news, Holiday knows he's a PI who finds missing persons.

When a young woman is kidnapped, Donal is brought in to deliver the ransom money. But the tightly planned drop off goes wrong, Julie Draper is discovered dead, and Donal finds his job on the line - a scapegoat for the officers in charge. But when Donal is delivered a cryptic message in the night, he learns that Julie was killed long before the botched rescue mission.