Mortal Sins: A Matthew Grace Casebook

by John L. French

Baltimore City is a powder keg. Its last few years have seen protests, riots, and too many murders. Its citizens don't trust the police, the police don't trust the State's Attorney's Office, and the State's Attorney wants to put as many cops in jail as she can, regardless of their guilt or innocence. The city is only a sin or two away from going straight to Hell.

In the middle of all this is Matthew Grace. A former crime scene technician turned private eye, Grace is now a forensic investigator for the State's Attorney's Office. It's supposed to be an easy job - working Monday to Friday, reading reports, reviewing crime scene photos, and requesting analyses and comparisons from the BPD Crime Lab.

But nothing is easy in Baltimore, and soon Grace finds himself involved in cases that threaten the very heart of the city he loves. Supported by his wife and aided by a cyber pirate, a judge who collects human skulls, and the most honest cop in the city, Grace must solve the crimes and find the sinners if anyone is to have a chance for redemption.

204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 11, 2022

About the author

JOHN L. FRENCH is a retired crime scene supervisor with forty years’ experience. He has seen more than his share of murders, shootings, and serious assaults. As a break from the realities of his job, he started writing science fiction, pulp, horror, fantasy, and, of course, crime fiction.

John’s first story “Past Sins” was published in Hardboiled Magazine and was cited as one of the best Hardboiled stories of 1993. More crime fiction followed, appearing in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, the Fading Shadows magazines and in collections by Barnes and Noble. Association with writers like James Chambers and the late, great C.J. Henderson led him to try horror fiction and to a still growing fascination with zombies and other undead things. His first horror story “The Right Solution” appeared in Marietta Publishing’s Lin Carter’s Anton Zarnak. Other horror stories followed in anthologies such as The Dead Walk and Dark Furies, both published by Die Monster Die books. It was in Dark Furies that his character Bianca Jones made her literary debut in “21 Doors,” a story based on an old Baltimore legend and a creepy game his daughter used to play with her friends.

John’s first book was The Devil of Harbor City, a novel done in the old pulp style. Past Sins and Here There Be Monsters followed. John was also consulting editor for Chelsea House’s Criminal Investigation series. His other books include The Assassins’ Ball (written with Patrick Thomas), Souls on Fire, The Nightmare Strikes, Monsters Among Us, The Last Redhead, the Magic of Simon Tombs, and The Santa Heist (written with Patrick Thomas). John is the editor of To Hell in a Fast Car, Mermaids 13, C. J. Henderson’s Challenge of the Unknown, Camelot 13 (with Patrick Thomas), and (with Greg Schauer) With Great Power …