Crime City

Right up until they put him in jail, McKenzie thought the cops were kidding. After all, he did them a favor by stopping a rookie cop from roughing up a distraught woman at a murder scene. But the next thing he knows, he’s in jail, missing an important date with his girlfriend and reliving nightmares he thought he had left far behind him - and vowing payback for all of it. If that means sticking his nose into an ongoing murder investigation, well, he’s done it before.

Riley Brodin is the granddaughter of Walter Muehlenhaus - a man as rich, powerful, and connected as anyone since the days of J. P. Morgan. Despite her family’s connections, it’s McKenzie she reaches out to when her relatively new boyfriend goes missing. Despite his reservations about getting involved with the Muehlenhaus family - again - Mac McKenzie agrees to look for one Juan Carlos Navarre. What he finds, though, is a man who appears to be a ghost.

...From the Bottom of My City is a collection of short stories that recall a young man's growth from naive rookie to seasoned veteran, with a few other recollections thrown in to balance the impression the collection offers. Being a cop unavoidably involves politics, which often distracts one from accomplishing his mission. Frustration and laughter go hand in hand in the humid, nitty-gritty streets of the magical city that is New Orleans.

While on his year long assignment to photograph every state capitol building for Travel USA magazine, Nick O'Flannigan gest stung by a wasp. But he isn't the only one. A strange death, ruled an accident, happened at a lab researching a vaccine for bee and wasp stings. Nick feels like there is something wrong. It doesn't feel like an accident.

There's been a mysterious drowning in Phoenix, but nothing terribly unusual. Teens, a pool party with drugs, and alcohol. But Nick meets the aunt of the victim and is unwittingly drawn into the investigation. Because this is more than an accident. It's murder.

On his way to the airport to pick up his friends visiting him on his trip around the country to photograph every state capitol building, a protest in Denver turned violent. The police question him, the media becomes involved, and Nick is again in the middle of a mystery against his will. At the same time, his long-distance girlfriend Sandra is visiting him in Denver along with the friend from Seattle who got him the assignment in the first place. To spend time with them, he needs to get himself out of this mystery.

Nick O’Flannigan suspects that his time in the small town of Helena will be one of relaxation and reflection, even time to think about the future. A rare murder, a hanging in a park outside of town piques his interest, though. The only real clue is in a photograph he took on a short hike. But he’s found a new friend, a stranger he feels oddly connected to. The more often they run into each other, the deeper their conversations go.

Nick arrived in Sacramento, only to have his camera stolen. A disaster for a freelance photographer on assignment to photograph every state capital for Travel USA magazine, Nick uses his amateur sleuth skills and his eye for detail to find the thief. But it turns out his camera theft spirals him into involvement with another mystery.

Six short stories compiled into this one collection. Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Six and the City and experience the compelling world of these mystery, thriller, and suspense short stories.

It all starts with a girl and a bag of cash. Candi was the kind of gal who could give a guy indigestion. She was poison, with looks to kill, a reluctant moll looking for a way out. Thurman was a young flatfoot, not necessarily the knight in shining armor. He went to shake out a brawl and nearly fed her his gun, was it any wonder he got a date? They spend an evening on the run, but where does it lead? Just when it looks like it's over - boom! Is it a dead girl, a bag of somebody else's dough, or both?

An old classmate from his days at Boston College lived in Boise, and now she’s been missing for over a year. Her husband seems like the perfect suspect, but Nick O’Flannigan, a photographer turned amateur sleuth, wants to know one thing: Why? Able to visit their home during a yearly event, Nick takes some photos and spots a clue.

Nick O’Flannigan thought he was just starting out on a freelance photography assignment. But when he arrives in Olympia, he learns that there have been two overdoses in hospitals in the last week, both seemingly connected. With his keen eye for detail, he notices something in the photos that no one else sees. But how will he, an out of town photographer and amateur sleuth, get that information to the right authorities before another patient dies?

Joe Maynard runs a legit place, good food, good service, and at night, good music. It's true, if you want to place a friendly side wager, Joe will take your bet. He's a community leader, a player in the local politics of Capital City on Beta Prime. But nobody really knows Joe Maynard, where he came from, and what his past is. Don't ask Joe about it, either - he won't tell you.

Nick O'Flannigan, a freelance photographer on a year-long assignment, is headed for Salt Lake City where there has been a recent series of murders. The Salt Lake Silencer is at large. But Nick has a new determination to stay out of mysteries. His involvement in a case in Denver nearly cost him his job and his new relationship. Both he and the police think they know who the murderer is. When another victim turns up they realize they could be wrong. Dead wrong. Will Nick stay on track with his assignment?