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Bailey Crane #1
An Arizona Tragedy: A Bailey Crane Mystery
Meet Bailey Crane, a son of the south, now firmly transplanted in Phoenix, Arizona. Bailey is six feet tall, one hundred eighty-five pounds, a ruggedly good looking guy in the mold of a young Christopher Plummer, the "Sound of Music" gentleman. Bailey has just enough nuance in his charming southern manners and speech to make him appealing to most, perhaps a bit flamboyant for some. He's got a soft manufacturing rep business that brings in easy money. He's an actor on the local and regional scene, doing television commercials, print modeling, and some theater. He's a private investigator for a few attorney friends in town, and, a former cop, he is an auxiliary detective for the Phoenix PD. Bailey has love, friends, golf, and a bon vivant life style. For the most part the man is a crusader without a cape and has life just about where he wants it. In "An Arizona Tragedy" Bailey Crane's life takes a perilous and tumultuous twist when a young lady friend is brutally murdered in the Arizona desert. The friend, a twenty-six year old single mother and model, goes missing for weeks, is then found in a desert arroyo just northeast of Scottsdale, her skull crushed, her body ravaged and unrecognizable. Working privately on an estate matter for one of his attorney friends, Bailey finds the name of his lady friend's boyfriend. The discovery does not necessarily have great significance but it does start the wheels turning in the mind of our southern sleuth. Bailey becomes a target for an unknown pursuer and ends up battered, bruised, and angry. His strong feeling of hostility pushes him deeper into his friend's murder, and, finding a possible connecting link, he travels to Washington, D. C., to the hallowed halls and offices of the nation's lawmakers. At his hotel across the Potomac the unknown assassin strikes again, this time wounding our noble protagonist. The bad guy gets away, and Bailey has a temporary stay in a Reston, Virginia hospital. Through more ironic turns and twists Bailey goes on to solve not only his friend's homicide but another brutal slaying in the nation's capital. With the help of his PPD buddies, and, one very special female cop, the bad guy behind the gruesome killings is caught. The climatic ending scene in this Bailey Crane caper is nail biting tense and will keep the readers riveted to their seats of choice. "An Arizona Tragedy" was inspired by two actual homicides. The Phoenix slaying of the young mother and model has never been solved. With the decomposition of the body, accelerated by the desert's extreme heat and denizens of the habitat, evidence was scarce. This Phoenix murder was also very personal for the author … he was a friend of the real murder victim. While "An Arizona Tragedy" was written to be commercially acceptable and successful, the author also wanted it to be a token of remembrance.
- GenresMystery
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Billy Ray Chitwood
21 books83 followers- Graduate of Lycoming College (Williamsport, PA) - BA English
- Actor in film, stage, television
- Honorably and proudly served in the United States Navy
- Taught school (Advanced Writing)
- Worked in Sales and Marketing for major textbook publishers
- Owned and ran a business
- Author of 14 books, with one more in the oven
- Recently moved from The Sea of Cortez with wife, Julie Anne, and 'George' (a Bengal cat with some serious attitude). Now live in the bluegrass rolling hills of Kentucky.
-Writing is therapy for the soul.
- Actor in film, stage, television
- Honorably and proudly served in the United States Navy
- Taught school (Advanced Writing)
- Worked in Sales and Marketing for major textbook publishers
- Owned and ran a business
- Author of 14 books, with one more in the oven
- Recently moved from The Sea of Cortez with wife, Julie Anne, and 'George' (a Bengal cat with some serious attitude). Now live in the bluegrass rolling hills of Kentucky.
-Writing is therapy for the soul.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 13, 2017
I read this book via an Amazon-US KINDLE Unlimited Download.
As a voracious Book Reviewer, as well as a True Crime Enthusiast [check the badge on my Amazon profile] I was drawn to download and read this book, for which I’m now writing a review for.
The author, Billy Chitwood, in writing this book has shown a defined determination that all of characters and their emotions are as real as real can be, for this story is based on a True Crime Murder, a murder in which his wife’s friend had been the murder victim.
The murder victim, Catherine Gibbs, had worked for two of the protagonist’s, Bailey Crane, friends and had been seen by him at his friend’s place of business early of the last day she was alive. Crane’s dogged dedication in resolving the murder had been caused in part two kids had disfigured head/face of the victim and that she had been his ex-wife’s friend.
Once a possible suspect, Steve Langford, is identified, Crane’s sleuth mindedness kicks in as it starts to piece each additional tidbit of information. As is the case when the suspect fears they’re closing in on him, Crane has become a target, being pursued by an unknown assailant who has already beaten him up. This causes him to become angry and more determined than ever in solving this murder.
With what seems to have been ever unending stream of incongruous twists in the storyline, Crane ultimately solve the murder he’s been involved with in Washington, D.C., and for good measure a second murder as well.
For having given this true crime story aficionado, and other readers, an intense truth-based fictional murder mystery, I’m giving this endeavor by Mr. Chitwood 5 STARS.
As a voracious Book Reviewer, as well as a True Crime Enthusiast [check the badge on my Amazon profile] I was drawn to download and read this book, for which I’m now writing a review for.
The author, Billy Chitwood, in writing this book has shown a defined determination that all of characters and their emotions are as real as real can be, for this story is based on a True Crime Murder, a murder in which his wife’s friend had been the murder victim.
The murder victim, Catherine Gibbs, had worked for two of the protagonist’s, Bailey Crane, friends and had been seen by him at his friend’s place of business early of the last day she was alive. Crane’s dogged dedication in resolving the murder had been caused in part two kids had disfigured head/face of the victim and that she had been his ex-wife’s friend.
Once a possible suspect, Steve Langford, is identified, Crane’s sleuth mindedness kicks in as it starts to piece each additional tidbit of information. As is the case when the suspect fears they’re closing in on him, Crane has become a target, being pursued by an unknown assailant who has already beaten him up. This causes him to become angry and more determined than ever in solving this murder.
With what seems to have been ever unending stream of incongruous twists in the storyline, Crane ultimately solve the murder he’s been involved with in Washington, D.C., and for good measure a second murder as well.
For having given this true crime story aficionado, and other readers, an intense truth-based fictional murder mystery, I’m giving this endeavor by Mr. Chitwood 5 STARS.
December 17, 2020
Based on a real murder, this crime mystery grabs hold of readers and doesn’t let go. Chitwood is masterful in conveying tough emotions and building suspense. His descriptive detail is excellent, his dialogues natural. I wanted justice, anyone who reads this book will want justice – will demand justice. A woman is murdered in the middle of the desert. Why? Who could do such a thing? Chitwood offers clues, takes them away, offers more clues through one suspect after another. If you’re like me, you’ll read late into the night, because you need to solve the mystery.
June 4, 2013
Billy Ray Chitwood has written a fiction novel about a true crime.
Billy describes Bailey Crane as a transplanted son of the south. He says there are still a few words that will give his heritage away, like the word help that may come out as hep. Reading the story, I suddenly realized I couldn't tell where Billy Chitwood ended and his main character, Bailey Crane, began. Somehow, I think the two may have a great deal in common.
Catherine Gibbs, the murdered woman, had no idea as she started her morning that this was going to be her last day on earth. She kissed her daughter, and son good-by, hugged her mom, and headed out the door thinking things were right with her world.
Cathy Gibbs worked for two of Bailey's friends and she and Bailey had become casual buddies. When Bailey saw her that last morning, at his friend's place of business, he noticed her face having such a happy glow. He kept remembering how she looked that morning, and then hearing how two kids found her the next day with her head and face bashed in by a rock. It was that, and the fact that she was his wife's friend that made Bailey determined to help solve her murder.
Cathy met Steve Langford, her boy-friend, after work and they went to dinner. He was the last know person to see her alive, making him the police's number one suspect, and also Bailey Crane's as well. Rumor had it, they were fighting that night. To know more, you need to read the story.
I enjoyed this book. It had a great deal to do with Chitwood's sayings and the way he told the story. Sometimes he made me smile and sometimes he made me laugh out loud. Of course these are things said from Bailey Crane's perspective. An example would be Bailey Crane describing a rough night out and the way he looked the next morning. "My eyes looked like two weak and damaged headlights on a ugly foggy morning."
As for me,I'm looking forward to reading more books from Chitwood. All I can say is, rock on Bailey Crane.
Billy describes Bailey Crane as a transplanted son of the south. He says there are still a few words that will give his heritage away, like the word help that may come out as hep. Reading the story, I suddenly realized I couldn't tell where Billy Chitwood ended and his main character, Bailey Crane, began. Somehow, I think the two may have a great deal in common.
Catherine Gibbs, the murdered woman, had no idea as she started her morning that this was going to be her last day on earth. She kissed her daughter, and son good-by, hugged her mom, and headed out the door thinking things were right with her world.
Cathy Gibbs worked for two of Bailey's friends and she and Bailey had become casual buddies. When Bailey saw her that last morning, at his friend's place of business, he noticed her face having such a happy glow. He kept remembering how she looked that morning, and then hearing how two kids found her the next day with her head and face bashed in by a rock. It was that, and the fact that she was his wife's friend that made Bailey determined to help solve her murder.
Cathy met Steve Langford, her boy-friend, after work and they went to dinner. He was the last know person to see her alive, making him the police's number one suspect, and also Bailey Crane's as well. Rumor had it, they were fighting that night. To know more, you need to read the story.
I enjoyed this book. It had a great deal to do with Chitwood's sayings and the way he told the story. Sometimes he made me smile and sometimes he made me laugh out loud. Of course these are things said from Bailey Crane's perspective. An example would be Bailey Crane describing a rough night out and the way he looked the next morning. "My eyes looked like two weak and damaged headlights on a ugly foggy morning."
As for me,I'm looking forward to reading more books from Chitwood. All I can say is, rock on Bailey Crane.
July 25, 2014
Once You Crack This Book Open, You're Not Going To Want To Close It!
I just kept coming back to it because I had to know what was going to happen next. Why would someone drag a beautiful woman out into the desert and kill her and why does her old friend Bailey Crane keep having to look over his shoulder? Was the next attempt on his life going to be successful? Of course not as there are more bailey Crane Mysteries to follow, but still...
This is the first novel I've read by Billy Ray Chitwood and I truly enjoyed it. I'll be back for more of Bailey Crane.
I just kept coming back to it because I had to know what was going to happen next. Why would someone drag a beautiful woman out into the desert and kill her and why does her old friend Bailey Crane keep having to look over his shoulder? Was the next attempt on his life going to be successful? Of course not as there are more bailey Crane Mysteries to follow, but still...
This is the first novel I've read by Billy Ray Chitwood and I truly enjoyed it. I'll be back for more of Bailey Crane.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews