An eyewitness to a murder calls the Pittsburgh police from one of the city’s 446 bridges, then disappears. To solve the case, the police must find the bridge. But where to start? Detective Branko Radic and Officer Kathleen Mulroy seek help from a nun, a professor, a mechanic, and a tattoo artist. They learn of a family feud, a business in trouble, some sketchy Harry Potter merchandise, and a missing young woman. If only they can find the right bridge, they might be able to put it all together.
But sometimes, a case is like a funhouse mirror at an amusement park. You have to adjust to the distortions in order to perceive the truth.
TOO MANY BRIDGES (A Radic & Mulroy Mystery Book #1) by Bill Gormley is an intriguing murder mystery/police procedural with an intricate plot full of twists and misdirection while also introducing the reader to a cast of new characters and Pittsburgh, PA. This is the first book in this series.
The Pittsburgh Homicide Department receives an anonymous call from an eyewitness who claims to have witnessed a murder and will only give their location as under one of Pittsburgh’s 446 bridges. With no other information, or even a body, Homicide Detective Branko Radic is given a short timeline to investigate if this is valid information. He is given the assistance of Officer Kathleen Mulroy, who is relatively new to the force and has a social services background and is familiar with the city’s homeless population.
The initial investigation goes nowhere until a body is discovered. When the victim is identified, Radic and Mulroy suddenly have multiple persons of interest and lines of inquiry, but they cannot locate two of their major suspects. A cat and mouse game ensues over the greater Pittsburgh area with everyone seeming to be two steps behind until each discovered bit of evidence adds up to the killer and his motives.
This is an engaging and intricately plotted first book in the Radic & Mulroy mystery series. The author seamlessly pulled me into the investigation with realistic characters and dialogue that develop fully as the story progresses. These are characters that left me wanting to follow them into future books. The crime mystery plot is a strong step-by-step police procedural with dead ends and discoveries that are not always straight forward. The pacing is balanced and leads to many twists and an interesting conclusion. The city of Pittsburgh, the surrounding area, and the many bridges throughout adds authenticity and atmosphere to the story.
I highly recommend this first crime mystery/police procedural in the Radic & Mulroy series and am looking forward to reading many more in this series.
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About the Author
Bill Gormley is a mystery writer, amateur jazz pianist, and retired educator. For 33 years, he was a Professor of Public Policy and Government at Georgetown University, where he wrote and taught about public policy, federalism, bureaucratic politics, and early childhood education. He also helped to found the university’s day care center, Hoya Kids.
Gormley’s non-fiction articles have appeared in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, the Public Administration Review, the American Journal of Political Science, Developmental Psychology, Science magazine, and elsewhere. His non-fiction books have been published by the Brookings Institution Press, the Princeton University Press, the Harvard University Press, and others.
Since retiring from Georgetown, Gormley has written two murder mysteries, both published by Level Best Books: Too Many Bridges (2024) and The Silent Trumpet (2025). His murder mysteries are police procedurals set in Pittsburgh, PA. A third mystery, Too Many Steps, will be published in 2026. Books may be ordered from the usual vendors.
In addition to his writing, Gormley produces a podcast, Profs on Cops, which is available through Spotify and Apple.
Dead in Three Two One by Peter James brings back beloved detective Roy Grace. All his stories have unexpected plot twists, sinister antagonists, and realistic plots. Most of this book takes place at the Royal Courteney Hotel.
One sub-plot has Dritan Dervishi, the cold-blooded consigliere for Albanian mob boss Roel Albazi, arriving with a beautiful woman on his arm and a lethal secret in his suitcase as he checks into the hotel. He has specifically requested Room 321, a room with a perfect view of the sea, and a deadly proximity to a target he’s been dreaming of for years.
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is already pushed to the limit, coordinating the city’s massive security operation amid whispers of a potential terrorist attack. But the threat is more personal than he could ever imagine. Back in a prison cell, his old nemesis Albazi is counting down the seconds to a revenge that will not just take Roy’s life, but erase his entire bloodline. Roy and his wife Cleo prepare for a night of celebration at the Royal Courteney, but they have no idea that they are stepping into a deadly trap.
The secondary storyline has a long-term resident of the hotel who claims her family wants to kill her. Her son and daughter are angry because they think they have been cut from the will and see their mother spending all their inheritance.
This is a police procedural where the investigations are of a potential terror threat, a murder, and a potential killing. The hotel becomes a character in the book and readers learn about the goings on of a classy hotel.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Were you influenced for the story idea by Arthur Hailey’s novel,Hotel?
Peter James: I read Arthur Hailey’s novel Hotel in 1968. It was set in a grand old hotel in New Orleans, and the hotel was dilapidated and this elderly owner doesn’t want to spend any money on it. He’s got a young, ambitious manager and all the big hotel chains like Hilton are all circling like vultures. And it’s got all these characters in it. It’s got a career burglar who’s checked into a hotel, systematically robbing the rooms, and there’s an elderly aristocratic couple, who just killed somebody by a hit and run, and they’re hiding in the hotel. There is so much detail about the running of a hotel. After I’ve finished that book. I thought, so that is how a hotel works. And I was in awe and I thought, wow, you really must do a lot of research if you want to be a successful author. It always stuck in my head, and I decided one day I wanted to write a novel set in a hotel that had that kind of depth of research. So that was very much my starting point.
EC: There is a reference to Margaret Thatcher in the story, why?
PJ: One subplot was influenced when in 1984, the IRA, the Irish Republican Army, tried to murder Margaret Thatcher, who was then prime minister. A month before the Conservative Party conference, they knew Margaret Thatcher would be staying in her suite. A guy called Patrick McGee checked in the Grand Hotel with a timer bomb set to go off at 1:30 in the morning. And he specifically requested the suite that Margaret Thatcher will be staying in four weeks’ time. He planted the bond behind the bathroom and what saved her life was that she was a workaholic, and hadn’t gone to bed at 1:30 in the morning because she’s still working. But the bomb tragically killed six people, and badly injured many others.
I thought it’d be kind of fun to have somebody checking in the hotel. The book starts with describing this tall, handsome guy, in a smart suit, good haircut, a nice watch, and checked in at Brighton’s fabled Royal Courteney Hotel. He had his arm around a beautiful woman, a smile on his face, and a bomb in his suitcase. The reason this bomber is there is that he knows that Detective Roy Grace and his wife are going to be staying in the suite he wants to check into in exactly a week’s time. And he’s there acting on behalf of an Albanian gangster that Roy Grace put away who wants revenge on Roy.
EC: The other sub-plot?
PJ: I’ve always been fascinated by people who stay a long, long time in hotels who kind of make it their home. I asked three different hotel managers, ‘do you like having long stay residents?’ I figured they would. But they said no, they’re a bloody nuisance. And I said, ‘seriously, isn’t it good to have a steady income?’ They said, no. If you have a lot of those guests, then it means they can’t rent the whole hotel out to a company for a conference, which is very lucrative. They become a nuisance after a while, because what they do is they start to become priority proprietorial. And they’re quite disruptive. So, I thought it would be great fun to create a character, who is a long stay resident, whose husband died 15 years earlier, and she’s moved into the most expensive suite in the Royal Courteney Hotel, which is Brighton’s most fabulous seafront hotel. And we learn that she’s got a 50-year-old son, who’s had two failed businesses, and a daughter, who’s just gone through an acrimonious divorce and has not got very much money out of it. And they’re watching mummy burn through their inheritance. They enlist the help of a bent lawyer and a doctor to try to bring Mum’s death forward a few years.
EC: How would you describe the de Bairde family?
PJ: The mom is clearly a selfish lady who is pretty much uncaring, rude, and demanding. I think the son is just an angry person. He’s got his crappy little office, opposite a Porsche dealership, and he stares out his window day after day, looking at all the Porsches, and he’s really angry how life worked out, with his business systems failed, which means he can’t buy one of those lovely things that are tempting him, and his mummy won’t lend him the money to help bail the business out. His sister, Alex, is a spoiled bitch, who can’t accept the fact she’s being dumped by her husband and that she suddenly hasn’t got a means to live in the style which she believes she should be accustomed to. So, there are two angry people watching their mother, holding court, living in this grand luxury hotel, spending what they believe is their money.
EC: There is this book quote where Grace is upset about these criminals having juries declared not guilty as he investigates the murder done by the bomber. Can you explain?
PJ: You are referring to this quote, “While there were intelligent people on juries, there were occasionally some incredibly stupid ones too…Too often juries would be swayed, not by the facts, but by the defense-or-prosecution-counsel’s power of storytelling”. When I was on jury service, there was a case in which a father and son put up the marquis for a big motor show. And after they finished, they took all their workers out. They all got drunk. And then some got in a fight with one of the workers, punched someone in the face, broke his nose. blood everywhere. He’s now charged with causing assaults and bodily harm. The prosecuting council was laying out the case, and then we had a break, and we all went into the jury room. And one of the Tweety women on the jury said, ‘the man’s obviously guilty.’ I said, ‘excuse me, we haven’t even had the prosecution case fully laid out yet, and we haven’t heard from the defense. How can you say he’s guilty?’
EC: You like writing books about juries. One I really liked was titledFind Them Deadabout a woman forced to convince other jurors for a not guilty plea. Care to comment?
PJ: A key gangster has his men target her and a couple of other jurors to convince them that they should not return a guilty verdict.
EC: As long as we are speaking of previous books my absolute favorite wasLove You Dead. The main antagonist, Jodie Bentley was devious. Want to go down memory lane about this creepy book?
PJ: She was a black widow that used reptiles to poison and kill people. Jodie came about when I went to a prison. I am one of the charges of an ambassador of four for the reading agency. And we try to encourage people into reading and literacy generally. And I also do it for prisoners in English prisons, because the average reading age for 60% of the inmates is less than 11 years old. I was giving a talk in a women’s prison where all the inmates are lumped all together. So, you really don’t know if some of these are in there for a small offense or if they killed 10 people. Anyway, there’s this one woman in the audience. She’s about 55. And she keeps on interrupting me. She asked me smart questions about literature. She’s asked me about Dickens, Hemingway, and Fort. She’s got a very posh voice. And I’m wondering, trying to guess what she’s in for. Anyway, at the end, I get to mingle with the prisoners. So, I made a beeline for her. I said to her, ‘how much longer do you have to go?’ She responded, ‘Nine and a half more bloody years. And it’s just not fair. I asked, ‘What brought you in here?’ She replied, ‘I poisoned my mother-in-law, the old bag. The thing was, she went to the hospital to die. So, I cleaned out her bank account. And the bloody woman didn’t die? She came back home, so I realized she’s going to find out, so I thought I better poison her. And then I was afraid my husband would find out, so I thought I’d better poison him, too. And it’s just not fair. This woman did exactly what I did in London. She has only got six more years.’ Her husband was on life support for three months and he’s got permanent brain damage. And I thought you must be a character in a future book. And that is how Jodie came about.
EC: Is the Book Aid Ball charity for real?
PJ: It is one of Queen Camilla’s charges that she’s a patron of. So, I thought it’d be kind of fun that Cleo is giving a speech for that in the story. A quote by Camilla in the book, “Reading is exciting. There is nothing quite like the thrill of opening a book and being drawn into another world to meet new people and to discover their stories-It’s like making new friends.” Or enemies, like Jodie.
EC: What about the antagonist of this story, Albazi?
PJ: He is a classic, completely immoral gangster. His background is that he was working for a Chinese triad group as a debt collector, and he defaulted. There are a lot of Albanian criminals in England. A lot of good Albanians too, but yeah, the Albanian crime fraternity has a particularly nasty way of operating, which is that, if someone is doing business with an Albanian criminal, like a drug deal and they don’t pay them their way of getting back will be to go to the grandmother back in Albania and kill her. They go for the family as their way of retribution. Albazi is an Albanian gangster, who has been living in England, and basically Roy Grace has put him away. And as a result, Albazi had several of his beloved close relatives in Albania murdered by a rival gang. He was angry, so he is out to get revenge. It was Roy’s estranged, and now dead wife, but that caused Albazi problems, and it was Roy that ultimately put him away.
EC: Next book?
PJ: I don’t know the title yet. We haven’t got it, but it’ll be out this time next year, and it’s all set on a cruise ship. I’ve done quite a lot of talks on cruise ships so I set this next book on one. Roy’s gone along for a holiday. I was on the Queen Mary some years back and I was on the bridge talking to the captain, and I said to him, ‘Have you ever had a murder on this ship?’ He said, ‘Not on this ship but 34 people a year disappear off cruise ships.’ I thought, ‘wow, that will make a good story. Nobody should sit on the balcony. Plop. Person overboard.’
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for DARKNESS FALLS (A Detective Nathan Parker Novel Book #5) by James L’Etoile on this Partners In Crime Virtual Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy!
Book Description
Not all darkness flows into the Valley of the Sun from our southern borders.
Detective Nathan Parker discovers a double murder in a Phoenix drug lab, and all the evidence points at a connection to his son, Miguel. Was his adopted son swept up in a drug rip-off and murder? Did he play a role in the distribution of illicit designer drugs in the valley? As authorities close in on Miguel, Parker discovers a border militia group rushing to control the drug flow. The Night Watch militia leaves of trail of violence in their wake and local politicians use the shadow of the scourge of drug violence to influence an upcoming election. Who stands to gain while Parker and his family are caught in the crossfire? Who will betray them?
Genre: Thriller / Police Procedural Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: August 25, 2026 Number of Pages: 350 ISBN: 978-889203313 Series: A Detective Nathan Parker Novel
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
DARKNESS FALLS (A Detective Nathan Parker Novel Book #5) by James L’Etoile is another edge-of-your-seat police procedural/crime thriller featuring Detective Nathan Parker with the Maricopa Sheriff’s Department. While each book in this series centers around a new criminal investigation, this series has main characters that I feel are as significant as the plot and continue to evolve in each book. I suggest reading the series in order of publication.
When Detective Nathan Parker is called to the scene of a double homicide in an isolated trailer, at first glance it appears to be a tragic but not uncommon drug related murder. As he and his partner search the trailer, a familiar backpack is discovered. It belongs to his adopted son, Miguel. Now it is personal and Nathan must discover if everything he believes about his son’s life is true, even as he believes Miguel is not telling him the whole truth.
Miguel becomes a suspect in the murder investigation with DEA and ICE involved which could lead to Miguel losing everything. Nathan must deal with rogue DEA agents, crooked members in his sheriff’s department, white supremist biker gangs, and anti-government militias to fight to not only save Miguel but his pregnant wife, too.
This story has a fast pace and tension level that will keep you reading well into the night. Mr. L’Etoile never shies away from controversial and/or difficult topics that are related to our southern border and immigration. Money, power, and corruption, and all the alphabet agencies give this plot plenty of twists and surprises along the way with an ever-increasing sense of apprehension. Nathan needs the assistance of all his friends to solve this case and protect his family even as he faces a betrayal too close to home.
I highly recommend this thrilling addition to the Nathan Parker series and cannot wait for more!
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Excerpt
Chapter One
Sucking stale air through a respirator, John Thomas Mitchell finally found his niche. He dropped out of high school because it wasn’t his thing. The teachers said he wasn’t being challenged. Truth was, John Thomas left because he’d learned what he needed to make it on his own.
Most of the people he interacted with only knew him as the Birdman. If you wanted the best high, the Birdman was the source. He wasn’t a drug dealer; he was a connoisseur—a brand ambassador of pills.
“J.T., I got another five hundred bagged and ready,” a reedy voice said through his respirator.
John Thomas pulled the lever on his manual pressing machine, one of his own design, and twenty white, perfectly pressed pills dropped out, each embossed with his own logo—a Blackbird in flight.
“We need another thousand for the college this weekend. It’s pledge week, Cal.”
John Thomas tapped the plastic container, shaking loose the snow-colored powder residue from the sides, and monitored the loose material as it flowed onto the dimpled steel plate where it would be formed and pressed into the coveted Blackbird doses. The perfect blend of Ecstasy and opiate.
A hard knock on the trailer’s thick metal door reverberated through the old single-wide.
John Thomas and Cal exchanged a glance through drug powder dusted goggles.
“Cops?” Cal said.
John Thomas glanced at his watch. “Cops don’t knock. Must be our boy coming to pick up. He’s early. Get it would ya? I’m in the middle of setting up the next press.”
Cal scooted back from the workbench and placed the plastic-wrapped bundle of pills on the cheap folding table set up in the middle of the stripped-down trailer.
The knock at the door sounded again. This time, it came harder and rattled the heavy doorframe.
“All right, all right, I’m coming, dammit,” Cal said as he slid the two bolts that secured the door.
The moment he threw the door aside, a thundering blast echoed in the small space. Cal flew back against the far wall, a crimson blossom leaching through his t-shirt.
John Thomas fell out of his chair, and two gunmen, both dressed in black, wearing full-face respirators, stepped into the trailer. John Thomas crabbed backwards on the floor trying to distance himself from the gun-toting pair.
The closer of the two leveled a black shotgun at him.
John Thomas blanched. He looked away from the gunman. “Take it. Take what you want.” He held his hands up—submissive and cowering.
The gunman tipped his head to his partner, who stepped over Cal’s body and stuffed the bags of finished pills into a black nylon zippered duffle.
When the pills were tucked away in the duffel, the man backed away. The gunman didn’t lower the shotgun.
“You got what you came for. I won’t tell nothing,” John Thomas said. His voice thin and quivering.
Over his pounding heartbeat, John Thomas heard the gunman’s reply.
“I know you won’t.”
A flash from the muzzle and an ear-splitting roar filled the trailer. John Thomas lay sprawled on the floor. The gunman slung the shotgun over his shoulder and stepped around what was left of John Thomas’s head and grabbed the heavy pill press, dumping the powder that hadn’t been compressed on the floor.
He backed through the door and took a last look inside before his partner tossed in a plain blue backpack. They closed the metal door and jogged to where they’d parked their dark blue Ford F-150 pickup.
The pill-laden duffel went into a hardcover case. The gunman took less than a minute to strip down the pill press and remove the plates that formed the pills with their unique Blackbird signature logo. The two steel plates tucked into another hard case, and the mechanical parts of the press were tossed into a thick copse of creosote brush.
After the cases were secured in the back seat, the men got in, started the truck and backed away.
The gunman pulled his respirator off and tossed it into the back seat. His blue eyes fell on his cell phone he’d stashed on the console. He scanned it while driving on the rutted, washboard dirt road and dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency,” a voice sounded over the cellphone.
“Hey, I just spotted a pack of illegals busting into a trailer out near Vulture Mountain west of Wickenburg.”
“How do you know they were undocumented?”
“You can tell, and I heard gunshots.”
“What’s your name?”
The gunman hung up and handed the phone to the passenger, who slipped out the SIM card, snapped it in half and tossed the bits out the window.
“How long you figure it’ll take them to find the place?” the passenger said.
“Not long.”
The gunman pressed down on the accelerator toward Phoenix.
***
Author Bio
James L’Etoile uses his twenty-nine years behind bars as an influence in his award-winning novels, short stories, and screenplays. He is a former associate warden in a maximum-security prison, a hostage negotiator, and director of California’s state parole system. His novels have been shortlisted or awarded the Lefty, Anthony, Silver Falchion, Macavity, and the Public Safety Writers Award. Illusion of Truth, Sins of the Father, and Darkness Falls are his most recent novels. James also serves as the Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN (A Jonathan Grey, M.D. Mystery) by Michael Rigg on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, and excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a PICT giveaway. Enjoy and good luck!
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Book Description
On a frosty Sunday morning in February, Dr. Jonathan Gray, Coroner of Orleans Parish, faces a gruesome sight. A dead man splayed against the circular steel and cut-glass blocks of the city’s AIDS memorial in Washington Square Park has strange symbols carved into his forehead and chest. A coded note—a cipher—has been placed under one hand. The body mutilation and note are hallmarks of a serial killer dubbed by the news media as the “Mardi Gras Sweeper,” because he strikes during Carnival season and leaves coded manifestos taunting police and giving hints about his next victim.
Hoping to avoid a panic during the city’s most profitable season, Mayor Max Jamerson asks Gray to investigate the murder “on the sly,” without formal assistance from the New Orleans Police Department. Time is of the essence as Gray races to figure out the cipher and track down the Sweeper in order to prevent additional killings—and save Mardi Gras.
Genre: Medico-Legal (Coroner) Thriller Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: May 5, 2026 Number of Pages: 336 ISBN: 979-8898202354 Series:A Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery, Book 2
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN (A Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery) by Michael Rigg is the second exciting book in the Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery series. While this book is easily read as a standalone, I am glad I read book one, Voices of the Elysian Fields, first, just for more detailed character backstory. There is little time between each book with book one set during the Christmas/New Years holidays and this second book set during Mardi Gras.
There have been some repercussions for Lt. Detective Betsy Sprance since accusing the mayor in her last case, but Coroner Jonathan Gray is determined to get her help when a body is discovered with strange symbols carved into its flesh. It is very similar to bodies left during a killing spree two years previous, also during Mardi Gras. While Jonathan and Betsy believed they had witnessed the killer’s death, it appears he has returned.
As they race to catch a killer, they are hampered by the mayor not wanting to panic the Mardi Gras crowds. As the murders continue, they must solve the cypher of the killer’s manifesto with only the help of their small group of friends to stop the killings once and for all.
This is another New Orleans immersive fast-paced mystery/crime thriller featuring a great cast of characters. All the main characters are fully developed and realistic. Jonathan and his wife have a strong relationship that has been tested, and they came out even stronger. Betsy has worked hard as a Marine and then worked her way up in the NOPD Detective Squad. Ranger, Betsy’s husband’s storyline is still evolving and intriguing. Jonathan and Betsy are both engaging and exciting main protagonists. The plot of this serial killer crime/ mystery was well paced with as many dead ends as surprises and twists. The discovery of the killer completely shocked me, and I like when that happens. This series is addictive.
I highly recommend this thrilling addition to the Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery series!
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Excerpt
Chapter One
Alpha and Omega
Sunday, February 1, 2015 – 1:47 a.m.
Twenty-plus years with the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office taught Jonathan Gray to expect the unexpected. But Washington Square Park had always been a tranquil haven on the fringe of the French Quarter. So crime-scene tape draping the square’s wrought-iron fence presented the visual equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. Moonlight filtering through stately live oaks cast eerie—almost funereal—shadows, adding to the dissonance.
Fluttering in the nippy midwinter breeze, the neon-yellow ribbon communicated
a mute warning. On this side, normalcy. On the other, insanity. Stepping into the dysfunction never got easier. Regardless, turning back wasn’t an option. As if speaking the incantation aloud would immunize him against the unfolding drama, he repeated his trite pre-crime scene mantra: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” His breath lingered in the frosty air before evaporating.
After checking in with the uniformed officer monitoring access, Jonathan angled toward floodlights illuminating a temporary canopy above the city’s AIDS memorial. More tape—red as opposed to yellow—identified the innermost “Do Not Cross” perimeter. Crime scene technicians in white Tyvek protective suits busied themselves measuring and photographing what must be the reason he’d been summoned. A male corpse sitting upright on the ground—its arms and legs twisted at seemingly impossible angles—leaned against the memorial’s circular cut-glass and steel panels surrounded by a pool of thick, dark-crimson liquid.
A curved, nearly rectangular piece of wood with brass edges—most likely a knife handle—protruded from under the right side of the dead man’s rib cage. A portion of his intestines spilled out of the wound. A second knife—its handle and part of its blade visible—had been thrust downward into the soft tissue between the left collarbone and neck.
Cause of death seemed too obvious to require someone of Jonathan’s seniority. A first-year med student could have made the call. But markings carved into the dead man’s forehead and chest hinted at something more sinister. No wonder Mitch Broussard from NOPD had called him in the middle of the night. The man’s heavy flannel shirt lay open, exposing his chest and a series of
capital letters etched into his skin. The letters—G I D I A I D I V—made no sense, at least not in English. A folded piece of paper with similar letters and other symbols, not quite readable from that distance, lay under the man’s left hand. Lack of blood covering the letters in the chest signaled they had been added postmortem. Jonathan focused on two marks in the man’s forehead. An uppercase “A” and what looked like an upside-down horseshoe—the Greek letter Omega—apparently cut while the victim was still alive.
It couldn’t have been two years already. But there it was. Alpha and Omega. Jonathan bit his lip and cursed under his breath. Then, a silent prayer. Looked like the nightmare was about to begin—again.
One of the CSTs stood and raised her clear face shield. “Hey, Doc. Welcome to Funsville.”
***
Author Bio
Agatha and Anthony-nominated author Michael Rigg, a lawyer for more than four decades, writes mysteries and thrillers set in two very different locations: Virginia Beach (where he lives) and New Orleans (which he visits as often as possible “for research,” including participation in three Mardi Gras Krewes). He is a retired Navy Judge Advocate and a retired civilian government attorney, formerly working for the Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel. He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and both the Sisters in Crime national organization and its Southeastern Virginia Chapter—Mystery by the Sea.
Two days before Christmas, Jonathan Gray, M. D., Chief Deputy Coroner for Orleans Parish, receives shocking news. Robby O’Malley—Jonathan’s mentor for nearly forty years—has died under mysterious circumstances. Within hours after Robby’s death, Gray takes the oath of office as Coroner and participates in autopsies of an elderly couple murdered in their Garden District home. After mass on Christmas morning, Archbishop Phillip Fontenot asks Gray to investigate the sexual assault of one of his parishioners, as well as the disappearance of her sister—without involving the police. As Jonathan winds his way through what appear to be separate incidents, he uncovers connections and secrets that members of the city’s power elite would just as soon remain hidden.
VOICES OF THE ELYSIAN FIELDS (A Jonathan Grey, M.D. Mystery) by Michael Rigg is an exciting, fast paced start to a new mystery/crime thriller series featuring the Chief Coroner of New Orleans. This book pulls you in from the first chapter with realistic characters and a total immersion into life in New Orleans.
Just two days before Christmas, Chief Deputy Coroner Dr. Jonathan Grey finds himself at the death scene of the Chief Coroner of New Orleans, his long-term mentor and friend. Just hours later after taking the oath of office to Chief Coroner, he receives a high-profile elderly couple from the Garden District in what appears to be a murder-suicide. As the detectives investigate, the autopsy results call the original assumption into question.
Not only does he have a wealthy, prominent New Orleans family to deal with, but the Archbishop of New Orleans asks for Jonathan’s discrete help after Christmas day mass in the sexual assault of a couple that has asked the church for sanctuary.
With pressure coming from all sides, Jonathan and his friends on the New Orleans detective squad must untangle a web of deceit that brings together the political elite, the rich and powerful, and a multi-country sex trafficking ring. Are all these holiday death cases related or not and can he keep his friends and loved ones safe?
This is a wonderful start to a new series that kept me reading well into the night. The characters are fully developed and realistic even with this being the first book in this series. Jonathan and his wife are a tight couple even with the tragedy in their past and I love that they are well suited to each other, but also singularly strong characters. Jonathan and the detectives followed an intricately plotted investigation with red herrings and twists that continually had me reevaluating who I believed was guilty and whether the two major cases were related or not. The city of New Orleans’ history, geography, and people are woven throughout the story and made me feel like I was right there on the streets with the characters. I am looking forward to reading many more books with these characters in the future.
I highly recommend this amazing first book in the Jonathan Grey, M.D. Mystery series!
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About the Author
Agatha and Anthony-nominated author Michael Rigg, an attorney for more than four decades, writes mysteries and thrillers set in two very different locations: Virginia Beach (where he lives) and New Orleans (which he visits as often as possible “for research,” including participation in three Mardi Gras Krewes). He is a retired Navy Judge Advocate and a retired civilian government attorney, formerly working for the Department of the Navy. He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and both the Sisters in Crime national organization and its Southeastern Virginia Chapter—Mystery by the Sea.
When a husband, wife, and son are murdered in their Denver home and the family’s teenage twins vanish, the case draws the attention of FBI profilers Helen Belle and Benedict Hoffman. It triggers more than professional alarm. It mirrors a horrific case they investigated five years ago, when a boy slaughtered his family and went mute after speaking only a handful of haunting words. Among them: Midnight Man.
Then, nearly thirteen hundred miles away, one of the twins is found dead in a snowy Ohio field, and the parallels between the past and present cases grow more disturbing. Identical suicide notes. The same symbolic blood imagery. And a shared obsession with an online fantasy game. Its mastermind is an influencer who manipulates his most vulnerable and alienated players into killing the people they love most.
The Midnight Man is back.
Helen and Benedict must hunt the darkest corners of the internet to find him before someone else falls prey to an insidious evil that, for now, is in total control of the game.
A VOICE IN THE DARK (Benedict Hoffman and Helen Belle Book #1) by Barbara Nickless is a chilling crime thriller/FBI police procedural that is very relevant in all current discussions regarding AI, minors’ use of the internet, and the ever-present dangers on the world wide web. This is the start of a new series with two compelling protagonists and a serial killer crime plot that hooked me immediately.
Five years ago, Helen Belle and Benedict Hoffman had their belief in an outside influence and assistance from the Midnight Man in the slaughter by a boy of his entire family discredited in court. Helen goes on with her work at the FBI and Benedict walks out of his life and job. A detective from the old case is faced with a similar case as well as the kidnapping of the twin of the believed perpetrator and alerts FBI agent Helen Belle.
From almost identical suicide notes to a shared obsession with an on-line multi-player fantasy game, Helen believes the Midnight Man is back and reaches out to now Professor Benedict Hoffman for assistance. They put their personal past aside and work together to unravel hidden identities and motives as they realize they are racing the clock to rescue the missing twin and stop the Midnight Man before someone else is led to murder.
I was pulled into this story immediately and terrified by the possible reality of the crime plot. Ms. Nickless does a good job of not preaching that the internet is all bad and all gamers are going to become killers, but the gray of the situations and discusses the type of adolescents that can be influenced. The crimes are horrific but could also be ripped right out of the current news. Helen and Benedict are interesting protagonists with not only a somewhat unique outlook on humanist psychology on the study of crime, but with interesting backstories, also. This is a couple I will look forward to following in their future investigations.
I highly recommend this first book in this compelling crime thriller series!
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About the Author
Barbara Nickless is the award-winning, WSJ and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of nine novels; her first and third series have been optioned for film. A teacher and activist, she teaches combat veterans and civilians in the U.S. and Ukraine. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association, the World Affairs Council and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. A former fencer and falconer, Barbara lives in Colorado where she loves to hike, cave, snowshoe, and drink single malt Scotch.
