Detective

[close] From Dan Fante, the son of novelist John Fante, comes a gritty detective novel featuring JD Fiorella, an ex-private investigator who's bent on avenging his friend's murder.

Failed private investigator JD Fiorella was a pro at finding trouble. Mixing it up with the wrong people in New York, he escaped to L.A.—only to hit rock-bottom after too many nightmares and too much booze.

Now forty-six and sober, JD is working hard to get it together. Living in Malibu at his mother's house in Point Dume, he's got a new job selling used cars with his friend Woody and a new girlfriend. But just as things are looking up, JD discovers a gruesome murder. Now the ex-private detective has to make a choice.

Determined to exact vengeance, he follows a twisting trail of clues that leads him to unexpected truths about himself and his new life—and to a psychopathic killer with an eerie connection to his past. And, as JD soon learns, this time there's no easy way out. [close]

[close] THE HAPPENSTANCE MARSHAL

If you think you’d enjoy a mystery with some romance, humor, and action thrown in and wrapped in a cast of interesting characters, this is the book for you. It is the story of a young war widow who faces adversity but is not about to let it get her down. There is a saying that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well in the heroine Millie’s case it is a life lesson, her first. “If life give you lemons set out to save a town and in the process get the badge and the gun you always wanted.”

Millie’s lakeside hometown of Safe Haven Harbor is broke and times are tough for the community. No one can understand why developers aren’t “breaking down the doors” and the little city isn’t a tourist destination.

The city hires a new hunk of a city manager named Mitch to sort out the mess. By chance Millie is thrown together with him and in the process of unraveling the city’s financial problems, they create sparks and uncover the roots of the mystery. It doesn’t take long for Millie to realize there is a greater mystery within a mystery.

Millie sets out to prove she has what it takes to be what she has trained for. With a little help from her friends and her community, she sets out to save the city. Her quest will put her life in danger more than once and prove she has what it takes to be “The Happenstance Marshal”.

One buyer who reviewed the book wrote, "I found this book to be truly enchanting. It is a rare blend of mystery, romance and humor - which is rare in books these days. It is well-written, with strong character development and good chemistry between the players. When I finished it, I was eager to find the next book in the series. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in years." [close]

[close] I'm looking forward to giving away two signed trade paperback editions of the first novel in my Johnny Spicer series. Here's a brief description of the story:

Set against a backdrop of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, Hollywood gumshoe Johnny Spicer's first novel-length caper plunges him into the depths of international intrigue where he becomes entangled in multiple webs of conspiracy and deception. Walk a tightrope of suspense with Spicer as he chases conflicting clues and dodges deadly foreign agents in a case where nothing—and everything—is what it seems to be.

H. P. Oliver [close]