Noir Detective Humor

There’s a voodoo woman in New Orleans who knows your darkest secrets French Quarter paranormal investigator Wyatt Thomas learns he’s permanently linked to the spirit of a man with whom he’d fought a duel during another lifetime. The only person who can free Wyatt from his curse is long-dead voodoo queen Marie Laveaux. To seek her help, he must travel back to Antebellum New Orleans, succeed in his endeavor, or be trapped in the past forever. When Wyatt meets his former lover at the Mulatto Ball, he doesn’t know if he wants to return. While Wyatt is time traveling, detective Tony ...

A mix of paranormal mystery, dark humor, and supernatural crime-solving, The Dead Detective box set follows Richelle Dadd, a cop who wakes up to find herself in the middle of a murder scene—her own. Book 1: The Dead Detective Detective Richelle Dadd has seen plenty of crime scenes, but she never expected to wake up in one. Now, as an undead investigator, she’s dealing with more than just a bitter divorce—she’s also on a mission to solve her own murder. But being reanimated comes with a catch: she’s been turned into a zombie assassin, forced to carry out dangerous assignments while...

Charlie McGinley wanted literary fame—He got a front-row seat to murder. Charlie writes hardboiled detective novels from his New Mexico ranch. He dreams of literary respect and maybe a few good reviews. So, when world-famous author Jon Masterson invites him to join his prestigious writer’s group, Charlie jumps at the chance. Sure, Masterson’s smug, rich, and conceited, but Charlie’s willing to play nice if it means being taken seriously as a writer. Then cracks in the façade start to appear. Is Masterson mentoring new talent, or stealing their work? When writers in the group ...

Bunker Stout, orphaned at six when his mother goes missing, is forced to roam the mean streets of Memphis to feed his infant brother. He is saved by a police captain who arranges for him and his brother to go to foster homes. Bunker eventually becomes a decorated Marine sniper and a state police agent in Mississippi. Then one day his wife is killed in a violent carjacking. He loses his mind, his badge, and his friends. At the urging of his friend, Okaloosa County Sheriff Titus Desoto, Bunker moves to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to hide from himself and the ghosts that haunt him. He becomes ...

When priceless dinosaur fossils vanish from a Southern California museum, private investigator Samantha Moon is called in to recover the bones. Sounds simple enough. But Samantha isn’t just a PI. She’s a vampire with a few extra tricks up her sleeve. And the theft of ancient raptor fossils is only the beginning. As Sam digs deeper, she uncovers a case tangled in black-market dealings, dark magic, and something far more dangerous than ordinary criminals. At the same time, life at home refuses to slow down. Her daughter Tammy takes on her very first investigation, her empathic youngest ...

In Undercover: Karma, Detective Carlo D'Scenzi finds himself stretched thin between two high-stakes cases and a ticking clock. Tasked with investigating the Michigan Patriots militia, he and his partner Big Lou must determine if the group poses a real threat or is simply exercising free speech. Meanwhile, they’re also assigned to track down the elusive duo of robbers, Benny and G, wreaking havoc across Detroit. Short on manpower, Carlo reluctantly brings in Red for backup, hoping it’s enough to get the job done while avoiding a mountain of follow-up work. But as the cases twist through ...

Private eye Eddie Valiant doesn't like Toons - those cartoon characters who live side-by-side with humans. But Eddie will work for a Toon if his cash supply is low enough. So he reluctantly agrees when Roger Rabbit, a Toon who plays straight man (or should that be straight rabbit) in the Baby Herman cartoon series, asks him to find out who's been trying - unsuccessfully - to buy his contract from the DeGreasy Brothers syndicate. Then Rocco DeGreasy is murdered - and Roger is the prime suspect!

Resourceful Bingo Riggs and his partner, Handsome Kusak, are in the sucker-bait business, snapping candid pics of tourists off Central Park. Their fly-by-night enterprise can be irresistible to souvenir lovers, but with one camera in a pawnshop and their developing room in the bathtub of a two-room dump near Hell’s Kitchen, their venture is wretchedly underexposed - until they stumble upon an insurance fraud scheme between the allegedly dead eccentric Mr. S. S. Pigeon and his business partner and beneficiary.

Brad Hunter is doing everything he can to keep his private investigation agency open, but the women of Honolulu keep distracting him from his work. His latest desire, a Chinatown barmaid, occupies too much of his time, and his money. At least until she is eliminated from his life the hard way--by murder. Within hours, his HPD detective brother puts Brad at the the top of the prime suspect list. Now that he is being scrutinized by the Honolulu Police Department, Brad heads to Chinatown to start his own investigation. What does Brad find first? A new woman, of course.

On a fog-swept night on the ledge of the Golden Gate Bridge, a despondent man—about to be indicted for embezzlement and ready to end it all—is stopped by a mysterious woman in a silk scarf and evening gloves. She is Celeste Ainsley, the glamorous wife of a wealthy and powerful financier. Struck by his despair and intrigued by his calm resignation, she persuades him to come home with her instead of jumping. At her palatial Marin estate, the man—Miles Redding is offered a second chance: a bailout from his money troubles by her philanthropist husband who believes in second chances. But ...

Charlie McGinley writes about tough guys…then he has to become one. Fed up with writing cheesy detective fiction, Charlie dreams of writing something serious. Unfortunately, his publisher insists that he keep cranking out hard-boiled Johnny Dent PI novels. When Charlie stumbles across an urban legend about Thomas Edison inventing a machine that could speak to the dead, he thinks he’s found the perfect gimmick to spice up his next book. That is, until he builds the "Ghost Machine" and accidentally uses it... And people in his small New Mexico town start dying. Suddenly, Charlie must ...

In a city ravaged by an undead plague, Steve, a seasoned detective, finds himself ensnared in unimaginable horror. His body, overcome by the infection, roams with the mindless horde. Yet, miraculously, his consciousness persists, distinguishing him as a unique aberration among the undead. As his physical form drifts unchecked among the undead, his fragmented memories coalesce into a grim puzzle, providing vital clues about the onset of the apocalypse. Aware his time is limited, Steve's mind strains relentlessly to decode the mystery of the epidemic that he failed to investigate and which ...

Charlie just wants a quiet life … Then he finds a human skull buried in the front yard. Mystery writer Charlie McGinley moves from L.A. to a small town in New Mexico. No more big-city hassles. No more big-city hustles. Guess again! Suddenly Charlie has to deal with disappearing bodies, crabby cops, crazed killers, and a very pregnant wife, while trying desperately to avoid ending up in an unmarked grave next to the mysterious stiff. Gold Medal Winner, Humor and Satire —2024 Global Book Awards “Proverbial skeletons in closets and actual ones buried in the yard help make this a bone-...

New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard delivers his trademark blend of action, sex, violence, humor, and hard-boiled suspense in this thrilling crime classic, LaBrava. Joe La Brava is an ex–Secret Service agent who gets mixed up in a South Miami Beach scam involving a redneck former...

Some people say that it’s a demon-haunted world. That certainly is true in Gus’s county around Halloween, mostly due to the digital demons plaguing Gus this year that live inside the new Pakiman game. There’s also a fancy Halloween party to deal with, to which everyone who is someone is invited—and that includes Gus. If getting a costume for a party he doesn’t want to go to was his worst problem, it would be a fun holiday season. Unfortunately, someone keels over dead in the free-cheese section of Fit Foods, and that opens the door to murder. That open door leads Gus right into ...

Hero of a best-selling mystery series ... and his author wants him dead. Frank Miller is the tough detective tasked with cleaning up the weird streets of Chapeltown. He is also the fictional hero of the best-selling mystery novels written by the mysterious Man Upstairs. Frank believes awareness of his own fictional existence is a sign the author's losing the plot. As Frank investigates this latest case, he understands the depth of his creator’s sickness. And comes to a shattering conclusion ... The Man Upstairs plans to end the series with the Death of Frank Miller. 'How I love Mark ...

Gus isn’t one to normally get invited to garden tea parties. However, the host is a political donor, and even though it’s not an election year, it never hurts to humor them. Only this party becomes more painful than most semi-political gatherings when the host inconveniently falls over dead. At first, given the woman’s poor health, Gus suspects natural causes. Only the coroner points out that it’s possible that Mrs. Lydia White died from an overdose of the herbal treatment she was using to lose weight. Thus, it is most likely an unnatural death from an all-natural product. That ...

From Stuart MacBride, the Sunday Times bestselling author of the smash-hit Logan McRae series. Move Over Miss Marple . . . The great and the not-so-good are gathered at Skirivour Castle Hotel, in the heart of the Highlands, for the wedding of the year – but they weren’t expecting Detective...

A short novel from the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author, featuring DI Logan McRae and DCI Roberta Steel. CID isn’t what it used to be… It’s a been a bad week for acting Detective Inspector Logan McRae. Every time his unit turns up anything interesting, DCI Steel’s Major...

Gus suspected Father Xavier asked him out for Thanksgiving dinner for more than just the friendly company. When you’re the sheriff of a small county you learn quickly that people only put on airs of wanting to be with you out of friendship. Typically instead these people think they’ve spotted a crime that they want you to deal with. The father suspects something rotten is in the air concerning a holiday family reunion involving the daughter of a once rich rancher, her famous author older brother, and her less than famous younger brother, the loan writer from Santa Fe. Gus isn’t one to...