Showing results by author "Gerald Darnell" in All Categories

All Carson Reno Mystery Series Books are standalone novels. It is not necessary to read them in any particular order. It’s 1962 and the Mafia has discovered some new tricks in getting their drugs from Colombia to the streets of America. Their plans are working perfectly until an unfortunate boating accident puts the FBI back on their trail. Carson’s friend, Elizabeth Teague, has a large amount of cash hidden in her luggage and this cash belongs to the Mafia. They want it back. Protecting his friend and sorting through the details, Carson finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy that ...

A famous author is murdered, Carson is at the scene of the crime and considered a prime suspect - but he doesn’t remember anything! Missing manuscripts, a missing diary, and strange stories from the past bring an unusual group of characters together in this tangled web of deceit, blackmail, and murder. The mystery travels from Memphis to New Orleans, while Carson works to prove his innocence - without success.

Carson’s investigative work for Attorney Jack Logan runs smack into the path of the largest law firm in West Tennessee. Trying to stay out of their path only succeeds in putting Carson in the crosshairs of lawyers who want him out of the way. Power struggles, infidelity, organized crime and eventually murder all appear to be somehow linked to this powerful law firm – McCabe, McCabe, Clark and Lewis.

It’s spring 1962, and a sergeant with the Memphis Police Department is found dead only hours before his scheduled testimony before a grand jury. Was it suicide, or was it murder? What was he going to testify about? A handwritten note left by the sergeant and addressed to the district attorney disappears.

Somehow the missing brother is linked to a gangster who has stolen thousands from the mafia, but that link isn’t clear. Carson’s search doesn’t turn up the brother, but it does turn up a body - the body of a gangster who was on a mission of murder. It seems that the Memphis Mafia and the Memphis Police are also searching for his client’s brother. Finding him first becomes a real priority.

When a nightclub stripper is brutally murdered, her boyfriend is quickly arrested and charged with the crime. Carson is hired by the accused man’s 12-year-old daughter to prove him innocent. Things quickly get out of hand. Bodies pile up, and it appears that a serial killer might be at work, and perhaps his client’s father could actually be guilty. The Memphis underworld of the 1960s is somehow involved and complicating the investigation.

Carson has been hired by an insurance company to resolve a $1.5-million-dollar life insurance claim, but things get quickly complicated. Bodies appear, and it seems that these deaths might be connected to the missing hunter - but how? Facts reveal that the missing man’s job as an independent truck driver is linked to his disappearance, and perhaps to the mysterious murders. Carson’s investigation unearths some very unusual characters, along with a wife who appears to be interested in everything but finding her missing husband.

All Carson Reno books are stand-alone novels - it is not necessary to listen to them in any order. This box set contains books 17, 18 and 19 of the series - three complete novels in one audiobook. Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Best of Carson Reno: Volume One, and experience the compelling world of noir detective fiction.

An ex-Memphis cop and a friend of Carson is in trouble – but what kind of trouble? While trying to answer that question, Carson finds more questions - and all with no answers. What Carson also finds is trouble coming from all directions. The Mafia, the Teamsters Union, an unhappy sheriff, and some very rough characters are all looking for his friend, and Carson is in the middle of this mess.

Jack Sloan, an ex-Miami cop turned private detective, is in serious trouble. Down on his luck with a gambling addiction that threatens to shred the new leaf he's turned over, his debts to drug dealers are about to get him the beating of his life, or worse. Life in the concrete jungle isn't easy, and Jack contemplates taking drastic action until a knock on his office door makes all his troubles disappear. He suddenly has a new client with a simple problem and loads of money to resolve it - or that's how it seems.

One of Humboldt's well-known horse breeders is brutally murdered, then left to burn in his barn along with his prized stallions. A Jack Logan client has been accused of the murder and Carson has been called in to investigate. However, getting to the truth is proving to be a real challenge. It seems no one, not even the accused, is capable of telling the truth. Greed, lust, infidelity, half-truths, and the Memphis Mafia all seem to be involved - somehow. Sorting out the pieces and finding the real murderer will be a monumental task.

Carson's feud with a local crime reporter continues, and then suddenly the husband of his client is brutally murdered - a husband he's been hired to investigate. Mysterious characters weave a web of blackmail and suspense while leaving Carson with more clients than he can handle. The Memphis police have warned Carson to back off, but an employee of a friend is missing from a murder scene, and he's determined to find her and the killer.

Carson's closest friends are enjoying a Caribbean cruise vacation when one of the cruise guests turns up missing. Missing is one of Humboldt's well known and prominent attorneys, and foul play is suspected. Mary Ellen Maxwell might have unknowingly witnessed the crime and needs Carson's protection. Something is seriously wrong - the Mafia has become the target of an unknown adversary and they are scared. Bad guys are turning up dead and the missing attorney could be a part of it. After all, he was heavily involved in defending the Memphis Mafia.

The year is 1962 and Carson Reno, once again, gets himself into situations that would be better left alone. A Memphis client hires Carson to prove infidelity, but instead he finds corruption and murder going all the way to the top of Memphis politics. A Jack Logan client investigation takes him back to Humboldt looking into automobile fraud, which lands him smack in the middle of a murder. Not just any murder, but the murder of a local beauty queen - one who seemed to have too many enemies for a girl her age.

The racial problems of 1962 have found their way to the small West Tennessee town of Humboldt. A white woman has been brutally murdered, and one of Carson's childhood friends has been accused of the crime. Carson's friend is a colored man who once worked for his grandfather, but the accusations and problems extend beyond the crime and to the heart of this small community.

The year is 1962 and this small west Tennessee town has been turned upside down by a labor strike at its main manufacturing plant. It seems that, as result of the strike, some very serious underworld crime problems have surfaced in Humboldt. A small-town sheriff and small-town chief of police have their hands full dealing with the strike - when the worst happens. One of the principal figures surrounding the labor problems is murdered.

It's 1958 in Miami - South Beach. An ex-cop with some serious character issues is trying to survive in a world where drugs are king and the value on life gets smaller everyday. His struggles, and the need for money put him on a dangerous path where the ending is almost inevitable - and its not a good one. Retired gangsters, a Russian hit-man and some very bad characters are on a mission, and unknowingly he is swept up in their undercurrent of crime. An undercurrent where the body count grows daily.

In 1955 a black Funeral Director in a small southern town was brutally murdered – a white policeman is suspected of committing the crime. However, despite a confession and lots of simple clues…nothing happens. A book was written and a movie made about the murder, using fiction to dress the truth. Now you can finally read the actual story and facts surrounding the murder of an undertaker – a real Murder in Humboldt.

All Carson Reno Mystery Series Books are standalone novels. It is not necessary to read them in any particular order. Carson’s client is suspected of two murders, and desperately needs his help. After a night of drinking she wakes up in a hotel room with a dead man, but claims no memory of the previous night’s events. However, a gun found in the hotel room was used for another murder – used to kill a lawyer at the local Drive Inn Theater. Then…things get worse! The murder gun belongs to his client’s husband and has her fingerprints all over it. The dead lawyer was blackmailing her...

When a potential client turns up dead in his Peabody Hotel room, Carson finds himself in the middle of a six-month-old armored truck robbery. Seemingly unconnected, his longtime friend Sheriff Leroy Epsee has been suspended from duty and is under investigation for the murder of a political opponent.