Showing results by author "Renee Pawlish" in All Categories

Reed Ferguson loves film noir and classic detective fiction, and he wants more than anything to emulate his hero, Humphrey Bogart. So Reed tries his hand at the detecting business and what follows is a humorous journey into suspense territory.

For Denver Homicide detective Sarah Spillman, a secret from her past haunts each new investigation and could derail her hard-earned career. A missing boy’s body is found in a dumpster in a seemingly idyllic Denver neighborhood, and the list of suspects includes the boy’s mother and father. Sarah barely begins her investigation when a man who lived nearby is also discovered dead, an apparent suicide. Sarah continues to dig deeper, looking for a link between the two deaths, only to find the lies are piling up.

Ex-Army Civil Affairs specialist Jo Gunning is a loner. No commitments. No fixed address. She's enjoying her anonymity in Virginia when she crosses paths with a runaway teenage girl in need. Assisting the girl in getting home leads to a phone call for help, and a claim from the girl that her father is holding her hostage. As Jo searches for answers, she finds that nothing is what it seems, and no one is telling the truth.

Jo Gunning returns to Greensville, Alabama—this time to testify in a trial that could finally bring down the town’s most dangerous power player, Rance Pollack. She expects tension. She expects threats. But she doesn’t expect Keyshawn Washington, her ally in disrupting a criminal empire, to vanish without a trace. An empty house, a cryptic note, and shadows lurking where they don’t belong—nothing adds up, and Jo can’t walk away. As she searches for him, a chilling possibility takes shape: Rance Pollack and the cartel he worked with haven’t forgotten what Jo and Keyshawn did to their operation.

Jo Gunning returns! Ex-Army Civil Affairs specialist and loner Jo Gunning is trying to lead a quiet life, but that’s interrupted when her friend, Dack, requests her help. She can’t turn him down, and he sends her to Mexico to provide security for millionaire businessman Chandler Holmes and his family.

After a tumultuous time in Colorado, Jo Gunning journeys west, where she encounters a couple whose daughter has joined a religious commune outside Las Vegas. Fearful that the commune’s charismatic religious leader may have harmed their daughter, they ask Jo for help. Jo has no job, no responsibility, and a burning desire to help others. She agrees to look for their daughter, but in order to find answers, she must join the religious group. What she discovers is as disturbing as anything she’s ever faced.

Ex-Army Civil Affairs specialist and loner Jo Gunning is headed west, but she detours and finds herself in a small town in rural Alabama. First, she runs afoul of local law enforcement, and then the owner of the local café asks Jo to find the truth about her nephew’s death.

Ex-Army Civil Affairs specialist Jo Gunning is on a personal errand when she and other customers are taken hostage during a robbery at a Dallas bank. Her instincts kick in immediately, and she does what she can to keep the hostages safe. Once the robbers flee the bank, Jo is debriefed by the police, and only then does she realize there’s something she missed. Driven by a desire for answers, Jo starts her own investigation into the robbery, which leads her to unseen enemies who will do anything to keep secrets buried.

The first three mysteries in the acclaimed Dewey Webb series: Web of Deceit, Murder in Fashion, and Secrets and Lies. It's 1949. World War II is over, but it has a way of haunting people for years to come. Meet Dewey Webb, a hard-boiled 1940s detective, a man of contradictions who gets down and dirty to get the job done.

When her sister’s friend, who works at a top-secret biolab, mysteriously disappears, Jo’s sister wants help to find her, and Jo can't say no. As she begins her search, Jo stirs up more than she bargained for, and her questions reveal an unknown and deadly enemy who can’t afford for her to discover the truth. Soon danger threatens her family, and Jo must use all her training to protect them and find answers.

Reed Ferguson's first case is a daring adventure, complete with a dose of film noir, and a lot of humor. With a great supporting cast of the Goofball Brothers, Reed's not too bright neighbors, and Cal, Reed's computer geek friend, This Doesn't Happen in the Movies is detective noir at its best. Follow Reed as he solves crime akin to his cinematic hero, Humphrey Bogart.

It's 1949. World War II is over, but it has a way of haunting people for years to come. Gordon Sandalwood suspects his wife Edith is hiding something from him, and he asks Denver private investigator Dewey Webb to find out what. Dewey, toughened by his own war experiences, reluctantly takes the case, certain it will lead to nothing. But when he sees Edith rendezvous with a mysterious man, Dewey realizes his assumptions might be wrong.

Amber is barely holding it together. In the midst of a messy divorce, sometimes the only thing that gets her out of bed is spying on her handsome neighbor Caleb. She fantasizes about trading places with Caleb’s spouse and makes it no secret that she’d kill for that kind of life. Her words come back to haunt her when Caleb’s wife is murdered and Amber becomes a top suspect.

Denver homicide detective Sarah Spillman is called to investigate the rape and murder of a young woman. With few clues, Sarah delves into the woman’s life and finds the most recent to see her are an angry ex-boyfriend and a mysterious stranger. But would either kill her? At the same time, Sarah confronts her own past, not realizing how close to home this killer will strike.

Potential client Brad Webb asks Denver private investigator Reed Ferguson to look into the decades-old murder of Brad's grandfather, Dewey Webb. Dewey was a Denver-based private detective who died mysteriously in 1955, and although Reed is intrigued, he doesn't see much promise in solving the case. After all, the police didn't find Dewey's killer at the time, and 70 years have passed, leaving a cold trail. However, Reed accepts the case, and as he is drawn back into both the underworld and the elite society of 1950s Denver.

When I receive a call from a mysterious woman seeking my help to escape her abusive husband, I can’t refuse, even though I'm supposed to meet my future in-laws in twenty-four hours. Like my hero, Humphrey Bogart, I am a sucker for a damsel in distress, but the woman disappears before I can whisk her to safety, and I feel compelled to find her. As I dig deeper into her identity, I discover her husband, a high-profile attorney, has secrets that could destroy his political aspirations.

Reed Ferguson returns in an outrageously fun tale! Perry Rawlings, an Elvis impersonator, has his prize Mickey Mantle baseball card stolen. Who is the culprit? This tale will keep you guessing!

Lights! Camera! Reed! That's right - Reed Ferguson, the intrepid hero of This Doesn't Happen in the Movies, is back. A mysterious death. A brother searching for the truth. A devious ex-wife. Real estate shenanigans. More danger for Reed than a film noir plot.

She was a prostitute, young and alone, a discard of society. No one cared she was dead except Denver Homicide detective Sarah Spillman. As she searches for a killer, Sarah finds that those who knew the woman didn’t care, either. Sarah uncovers few motives and even fewer clues. At the same time, her commander asks her to assist on another investigation, the drowning death of a homeless man, another forgotten member of society. However, he happened to be the son of the lieutenant governor.

Marijuana store owner Jodie Lundgren suspects that someone is trying to steal her newly developed process for growing marijuana faster and cheaper. She hires Reed to see if this is true or part of her stoner imagination. Reed goes undercover as an employee in Jodie's store, and he soon discovers that selling weed can be a dangerous business. It doesn't take long before Reed uncovers secrets and lies that lead to murder. But can he find the killer before his secret identity is discovered?