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Ed McAvoy Mystery #1
Stream of Death
Even with a left leg shattered by a drug dealer's bullet and a medical retirement from the Detroit Police Force, former homicide captain Ed McAvoy feels he’s too young to be put out to pasture.
With the slower pace in the Catskills, being Chief of Police in Peekamoose Heights will be sort of like running a country club, or so he thinks. After all, how much crime can there be?
McAvoy soon discovers that his skills as a homicide detective will not atrophy from lack of use in Peekamoose Heights. Murder, as it turns out, is an equal-opportunity crime that not only resides in large bustling cities like Detroit, but in sleepy little Catskill villages like Peekamoose Heights as well.
In the closing days of WWII in Sicily, the famed Isabela Pendant disappears amid a hail of machine-pistol bullets. When it temporarily resurfaces in Detroit after fifty-some years, six people are murdered. Now, four years later, a dog has dug it up in the woods near McAvoy's peaceful Catskill village of Peekamoose Heights.
With the slower pace in the Catskills, being Chief of Police in Peekamoose Heights will be sort of like running a country club, or so he thinks. After all, how much crime can there be?
McAvoy soon discovers that his skills as a homicide detective will not atrophy from lack of use in Peekamoose Heights. Murder, as it turns out, is an equal-opportunity crime that not only resides in large bustling cities like Detroit, but in sleepy little Catskill villages like Peekamoose Heights as well.
In the closing days of WWII in Sicily, the famed Isabela Pendant disappears amid a hail of machine-pistol bullets. When it temporarily resurfaces in Detroit after fifty-some years, six people are murdered. Now, four years later, a dog has dug it up in the woods near McAvoy's peaceful Catskill village of Peekamoose Heights.
226 pages, Hardcover
First published March 7, 2001
About the author
Bill Stackhouse
22 books2 followersBorn in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Mystery writer, playwright, and part-time actor Bill Stackhouse has a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan, and a Masters Degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
At Ford Motor Company and later, as Director of Quality Assurance & Training at a large automotive parts supplier, Bill became involved in the development of instructional manuals and training films. In the throes of a mid-life crisis, he decided to pursue the most enjoyable aspect of his job on a full-time basis—writing.
Bill's scriptwriting credits include training films and promotional videos for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to name a few. He has also written numerous radio and TV commercials.
Branching out from technical writing into the arts, four of Bill's seven stage plays (The Best Laid Plans, The Early Bird, To Serve and Protect, and A Tradition of Service) have won contests—a local, a statewide, a regional, and a national.
In addition to playwriting, Bill has directed many productions for various community theatres. For a very brief time, he even had a theatre company of his own.
After filling his gas tank at a truck stop on I-65, Bill entered the station and slipped on the wet floor. While in a dazed state, he thought he heard the ghost of John Barrymore say, "If you offer it, they will come." Thinking that the late, great actor was referring to theatre, Bill promptly formed Road Show with the Vagabond Players and set out to tour six mid-size cities in Northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
Following an initial 5-play season, with meager attendance and a debt of many, many dollars, RSVP folded. Only then did Bill realize that the voice he had heard was not that of John Barrymore's ghost, but of Bubba Barrymore, the fry-cook at the truck stop. Bubba, of course, had not been talking about theatre, but about tractor pulls and monster truck rallies.
Bill and his wife, Arlene, are retired in Florida where he continues to write mystery novels and stage plays (when it's raining and he can't play golf).
Only rarely does he wake up anymore in the middle of the night, haunted by the sound of one hand clapping.
At Ford Motor Company and later, as Director of Quality Assurance & Training at a large automotive parts supplier, Bill became involved in the development of instructional manuals and training films. In the throes of a mid-life crisis, he decided to pursue the most enjoyable aspect of his job on a full-time basis—writing.
Bill's scriptwriting credits include training films and promotional videos for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to name a few. He has also written numerous radio and TV commercials.
Branching out from technical writing into the arts, four of Bill's seven stage plays (The Best Laid Plans, The Early Bird, To Serve and Protect, and A Tradition of Service) have won contests—a local, a statewide, a regional, and a national.
In addition to playwriting, Bill has directed many productions for various community theatres. For a very brief time, he even had a theatre company of his own.
After filling his gas tank at a truck stop on I-65, Bill entered the station and slipped on the wet floor. While in a dazed state, he thought he heard the ghost of John Barrymore say, "If you offer it, they will come." Thinking that the late, great actor was referring to theatre, Bill promptly formed Road Show with the Vagabond Players and set out to tour six mid-size cities in Northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
Following an initial 5-play season, with meager attendance and a debt of many, many dollars, RSVP folded. Only then did Bill realize that the voice he had heard was not that of John Barrymore's ghost, but of Bubba Barrymore, the fry-cook at the truck stop. Bubba, of course, had not been talking about theatre, but about tractor pulls and monster truck rallies.
Bill and his wife, Arlene, are retired in Florida where he continues to write mystery novels and stage plays (when it's raining and he can't play golf).
Only rarely does he wake up anymore in the middle of the night, haunted by the sound of one hand clapping.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 30, 2009
This book is a page turner! There are missing/found/missing/found diamonds, the mafia, a small town police chief. a lady minister and a twelve year-old boy and his dog. All are melded together into a taunt mystery that keeps you guessing. I was a little worried with the mafia connections, often those turn into total blood baths but this one keeps a lot of the killing off-stage or minimally described, which I appreciate. I had part of this one figured out but not the whole thing and the twist most certainly was a surprise to me. Highly recommended and I hope this author continues writing.
Need to edit this, just checked and there are three more books in the series, so I'm going to be putting them high on my list of "to be read".
Need to edit this, just checked and there are three more books in the series, so I'm going to be putting them high on my list of "to be read".
May 3, 2017
In Sicily during World War II, in the early days of the Mafia, the Isabela Pendant was stolen after the brutal killing of one of the "Familys".
Years later the stone turned up by a stream in the United States. The question was how and why! Who was involved in this vendetta?
This was a pretty good read but alot of characters to follow
Years later the stone turned up by a stream in the United States. The question was how and why! Who was involved in this vendetta?
This was a pretty good read but alot of characters to follow
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews