The Riverview Murders

The Riverview Murders
Author: Michael Raleigh
Publisher: Diversion Books
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2015-02-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1626816239

“The mystery fiction that Sara Paretsky fashions from Chicago’s South Side is fully matched in Raleigh’s gritty North Side tales” (Publishers Weekly). Margaret O’Mara’s brother disappeared decades ago. But now that his last known associate has just been found dead, O’Mara hires PI Paul Whelan to investigate. Whelan makes the rounds through seedy bars and dilapidated apartment buildings, discovering connections to a long-gone Chicago amusement park that was once the site of another murder. Soon, Whelan is navigating his way through dark pasts, deep secrets, and a mystery that may cost him his life. “What makes this riveting private-eye yarn work is a mixture of superior Chicago atmosphere, with the ghost of the legendary Riverview amusement park lurking in the shadows; great dialogue; and compassionately drawn characters.” —Booklist

The Wychford Murders

The Wychford Murders
Author: Paula Gosling
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2018-07-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1509860754

Meet Detective Inspector Luke Abbott. Set in the West Country, The Wychford Murders is the first in the series, from CWA Golden Dagger winner Paula Gosling. Wychford is a charming and quiet West Country village. Or rather, it was – until Mrs Tompkins was found with her throat slashed. Detective Chief Inspector Luke Abbott is sent to find the killer. He was born and brought up in Wychford – but he hardly recognizes it. The young girl he loved has become the local doctor. The boy who once bullied him is now a respected local Squire. And the people of Wychford are in hiding – fearful of who will next fall victim to the killer’s bloody knife. There are secrets behind these doors – love and hate, perversion, envy, greed and – eventually – a ruthless murderer . . . Continue the series with Death Penalties.

Killer on Argyle Street

Killer on Argyle Street
Author: Michael Raleigh
Publisher: Diversion Books
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2015-02-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1626816220

A Chicago PI hunts for a missing kid who fell in with the wrong crowd: “Raleigh presents a genuine good guy in the luckless Whelan” (Publishers Weekly). An elderly woman has asked private investigator Paul Whelan to look into the disappearance of Tony Blanchard—a young man she’d taken in after his parents died. Instead, Whelan discovers a string of murders, all tied to a car-theft ring. All the evidence suggests that Tony is dead as well, but Whelan keeps digging until he finds himself surrounded by a dangerous maze of silent witnesses, crooked cops, and people willing to kill to keep the truth from surfacing. When a friend from Whelan’s past emerges—a friend Whelan thought long dead—his investigation takes a dangerous turn: one that brings him no closer to Tony, and a lot closer to his own demise. “Raleigh’s Paul Whelan series brings to mind the late Ross McDonald’s Lew Archer novels . . . Read Whelan now; he won’t be a secret much longer.” —Booklist

The Murders of Anonymity

The Murders of Anonymity
Author: Michael Sol Pollens
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2012-06-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1611602092

When Kurt Larsen is hired to investigate embezzlement at Boston's latest entry into the fast-moving world of home-finance, he expects little more than an opportunity to take down some white-collar, rich-man wannabe, while paying something on account to his "credit-card company, two girlfriends, ex-wife, and bartender." But the theft of hundreds of thousands has only opened the door into New World Mortgage's labyrinth of secrets. Soon after the case begins, Karina Miller, the company's beautiful young accountant, is found strangled in her apartment. Crime follows bloody crime as Larsen and State Police Detective Stewart travel the seamy, underworld streets. They encounter high-class prostitution, stylish confidence games, and high-flying financial fraud. It's a nightmarish pursuit of a vicious mind whose path is strewn with uncontrollable lusts and unholy pleasures, even as the killer remains hidden in the polyester-like fabric of everyday life in corporate America.

Peerless Detective

Peerless Detective
Author: Michael Raleigh
Publisher: Diversion Books
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2015-08-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 162681242X

In 1970s Chicago, a young man searches for the woman he lost—and finds a mystery: “Clever and surprising, a pleasure of a read” (Michael Allen Dymmoch, award-winning author of the Caleb & Thinnes novels). Home from military service, Billy Fox leaves Michigan and gets on a Greyhound to Chicago, hoping to find his ex-girlfriend, Rita—now another man’s wife. Chicago isn’t a town that takes kindly to strangers, and Billy finds himself barely scraping by, working odd jobs and living in squalor among ex-cons and men that the city hasn’t spit out just yet. Then a chance encounter lands him a job with Harry Strummer, the streetwise owner of the Peerless Detective Agency. At Harry’s oddball agency, Billy hones his skills, learning how to stake out a mark, find a bug, and spot a tail. His life begins to change in ways he didn’t expect—but as he continues to search for Rita, an even bigger mystery comes along, one that puts both men in the crosshairs.

A Body in Belmont Harbor

A Body in Belmont Harbor
Author: Michael Raleigh
Publisher: Diversion Books
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2015-02-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1626816204

Death on the Chicago waterfront pulls a PI into a twisting case: “An underappreciated, carefully crafted series” (Booklist). Two years ago, a computer software specialist was found dead in Belmont Harbor, an apparent suicide. Now, the body of a low-rent bookie has been found very close to the same spot—and the businessman’s wealthy widow hires Paul Whelan to find out whether her husband really killed himself at all. There are, in fact, connections between the two men—and as Whelan tries to sort them out with some unofficial help from a friend on the force, he’s drawn into a world of missing accountants, mysterious tough guys, and dirty deals . . . “Sleek plotting . . . Raleigh, who delivered the goods in his debut novel, Death in Uptown, shows no signs of faltering.” —Publishers Weekly

Death in Uptown

Death in Uptown
Author: Michael Raleigh
Publisher: Diversion Books
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2015-03-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1626816190

A killer terrorizes a diverse Chicago neighborhood in this “impressive first mystery” (Publishers Weekly). Private investigator Paul Whelan’s specialty is tracking down missing persons. But when his good friend is found slain in an alley, Whelan is steered down a path of violence as he searches for answers in a murder case. His investigation is interrupted by the arrival of an attractive young woman who is on her own search for her missing kid brother. But as clues lead Whelan to believe the two cases may be connected, the body count rises quickly, and he finds himself racing to catch a killer before he strikes again . . . “Raleigh seems to have gotten so deeply inside his hero and his seamy world that there may be nothing left for a sequel. But it would be great to be wrong about that.” —Kirkus Reviews

The Maxwell Street Blues

The Maxwell Street Blues
Author: Michael Raleigh
Publisher: Diversion Books
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2015-02-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1626816212

A PI combs the seedy Chicago streets to untangle a web of old feuds that may have turned fatal: “This series is a small treasure” (Booklist). Chicago private eye Paul Whelan is hired by an elderly jazz musician to find a missing street hustler named Sam Burwell. As Whelan delves into Burwell’s past, in the world of sidewalk vendors and corner musicians, he uncovers old enmities and love affairs, but his search for Burwell comes up empty. That is, until Burwell is found murdered—and Whelan is swept up into a whirlwind of old feuds, dark pasts, unlikely romances . . . and a killer hiding in plain sight. “There is method as well as charm in the congenial manner of Mr. Raleigh’s detective, who manages to conduct a very thorough investigation by winning over grumpy bartenders, crabby waitresses and wary old men on benches. He likes these people—and that’s good enough reason to like him.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times “The smells and the sounds are evocative: the greasy food that Whelan thrives on, the dank workingman’s bars and the ever-present rattle of the el overhead . . . Raleigh presents a genuine good guy in the luckless Whelan and offers a knockout supporting cast.” —Publishers Weekly

Murder & Mayhem in Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley

Murder & Mayhem in Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley
Author: Deborah Cuyle
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2022-07-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1439675384

Murder & Mayhem in Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley uncovers pain and punishment in the panhandle Northern Idaho's natural beauty shrouds tales of gamblers, prostitutes and violent prospectors. Illegal gambling, excessive drinking and vicious disputes were commonplace from Coeur d'Alene to Kellogg. Bordellos lined the streets, and some tempted soldiers mysteriously never returned to Fort Sherman. Former Wallace Mayor Rossi shot a man in cold blood in front of numerous witnesses and was somehow found not guilty. One mining dispute led to the gruesome murder of Idaho's ex-Governor Steunenberg. Legendary Wyatt Earp lived in the valley, until he got caught claim jumping in Murray. Author Deb Cuyle exposes accounts of Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley's debauchery, secrets and sin.

Curious Toys

Curious Toys
Author: Elizabeth Hand
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2019-10-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316485896

An intrepid young woman stalks a murderer through turn-of-the-century Chicago in "this rich, spooky, and atmospheric thriller that will appeal to fans of Henry Darger and Erik Larson alike" (Sarah McCarry). In the sweltering summer of 1915, Pin, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a carnival fortune-teller, dresses as a boy and joins a teenage gang that roams the famous Riverview amusement park, looking for trouble. Unbeknownst to the well-heeled city-dwellers and visitors who come to enjoy the midway, the park is also host to a ruthless killer who uses the shadows of the dark carnival attractions to conduct his crimes. When Pin sees a man enter the Hell Gate ride with a young girl, and emerge alone, she knows that something horrific has occurred. The crime will lead her to the iconic outsider artist Henry Darger, a brilliant but seemingly mad man. Together, the two navigate the seedy underbelly of a changing city to uncover a murderer few even know to look for.