Private Cities

Imagine a system in which a private company offers you protection of life, liberty, and property as a "government service provider". This service includes internal and external security, a legal and regulatory framework, and independent dispute resolution. You pay a contractually fixed fee for these services per year. The government service provider, as the operator of the community, cannot unilaterally change this "citizens' contract" with you later on.

Former NYPD detective Thomas Austin is enjoying a rare date at a monday night football game in Seattle when the evening takes a horrifying turn. A team of merciless terrorists has taken over the stadium by force, blocking cellphone signals and sealing the exits. The terrorists have a single demand: release a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative from a US supermax prison. And they have a simple threat: do so in the next 24 hours or they will blow up the stadium, killing themselves along with tens of thousands of innocent victims.

When you get up in the morning, the last thing you expect to see is a murdered guy hanging outside your window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you're squatting in your parents' old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can't afford is the attention of the cops. Oh yeah. Hi. My name is Pet. It's not my real name, but it's the only one you're getting.

As the Great Blizzard of 1888 cripples the vast machinery that is New York City, heiress Prudence MacKenzie sits anxiously within her palatial Fifth Avenue home waiting for her fiance's safe return. But the fearsome storm rages through the night. With daylight, more than 200 people are found to have perished in the icy winds and treacherous snowdrifts. Among them is Prudence's fiancé - his body frozen, his head crushed by a heavy branch, his fingers clutching a single playing card, the ace of spades.

Private investigator Jim Bean is a straightforward, to-the-point man. He likes his cases to follow suit. But when his latest client, Sophie Evers, asks him to find her brother Daniel, Jim has no idea how complicated his life is about to become. As he falls deep into a manipulative game of cat and mouse, Jim uncovers the horrible truth about Sophie. Now he must set things right before her plan leads to the loss of innocent souls...even more than it already has.

Archie Goodwin is not overly fond of Theodore Horstmann, who takes care of the orchids on the rooftop of Nero Wolfe’s West 35th Street brownstone. But as loyal assistant to the legendary private detective, Archie will put his animosity aside when the surly orchid-keeper stumbles through the front door beaten within an inch of his life. While the gardener lies in a coma, Nero sends Archie to poke around his apartment near the river.

Marla Bernstein is a pretty, dark-haired teenager who also happens to be the ward of Ben Morningstar - a semi-retired mobster who prefers to keep family business out of the newspapers. When Marla suddenly disappears, the gang boss is forced to call in private eve Amos Walker, who quickly learns his new employer doesn't take "no" for an answer when he offers a job opportunity. Unfortunately, the only clue to Marla's whereabouts is a pornographic photograph that clearly proves that she's become part of a world that disgusts even her criminal guardian....

Mystery, ghosts, and laughs… Add a splash of romance! Four paranormal cozy mysteries in one bundle! Set in New York City, Mandy, Rick and Jackie the ghostly drag queen dig in the four murder mysteries! Perfect for fans of Janet Evanovich, Jana Deleon, Amanda M. Lee and Sophie Kinsella! GRAB a copy and join their wicked ride NOW! FREE on Kindle Unlimited! Book1: Wicked for Hire Medical student Amanda Meyer thought she had her life all planned out until people started dying the moment they touched her. Being cleared of any wrongdoing didn’t stop the medical school from expelling her, and ...

Dana Forsythe is a grieving widow and hard-nosed ex-policewoman who turns private eye after her cop husband Frank is killed on duty. She gets an even bigger shock when she learns he had twins with a secret mistress who's just been murdered. Then the orphaned infants are dropped off on her patio in the middle of the night and she's hired to help defend the accused killer in the glittering desert oasis of Palm Springs. Will she nail the real killer or become his next victim? "A fresh new face in the always entertaining genre of female private detectives."--Amazon reviewer "Abandoned orphans, ...

When Jack Morgan opens the Mumbai branch of Private, the world's most elite detective agency, he hands the reins to top agent Santosh Wagh. Now, in this teeming metropolis of over 13 million people where the guilty have everywhere to hide, Santosh goes on the hunt for one elusive killer. A killer who is targeting seemingly unconnected women and placing strange objects at their death scenes in a series of chilling rituals.

When fates intertwine amid the madness of Mardi Gras, chaos reigns supreme A sinking crew boat carrying a dangerous mob assassin chained up for transport sets off a string of events that will affect the lives of many. Jacque Leguerre, a sociopath and hired killer, is consumed by revenge and blames Catholic priest Father Alphonso for his problems. When Jacque unexpectedly arrives in New Orleans, he’s determined to make the priest pay for his transgressions. Meanwhile, N.O.P.D. homicide detective Tony Nicosia finds himself facing off against a ruthless killer while dealing with a new ...

February 1940. In San Francisco's Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three-day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a thirty-three-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice - whatever it costs.

Welcome to Sunder City. The magic is gone, but the monsters remain. I'm Fetch Phillips, just like it says on the window. There are a few things you should know before you hire me: 1. Sobriety costs extra. 2. My services are confidential. 3. I don't work for humans. It's nothing personal - I'm human myself. But after what happened, to the magic, it's not the humans who need my help.

Was Harper Ellis murdered or was it suicide? Harper Ellis had everything to live for—a promising career as a beloved elementary school teacher, a tight-knit group of friends, and a dream wedding on the horizon with her fiancé, Daniel Kessler. Life in her beachfront condo in Panama City Beach, Florida, should have been the start of her happily ever after. But on the evening of January 26, 2021, Harper was found dead—brutally stabbed twenty times in her own home. Daniel swears he left her alive just thirty minutes earlier. When he returned, the condo was locked from the inside, the ...

Meet Mickey Friday: San Diego’s newest werewolf private investigator. In a city where shifters—werewolves, bears, cougars, and more—live in secret, Mickey Friday is trying to carve out her niche. Street-smart but still building her reputation, most of her cases involve tracking down cheating spouses and solving petty mysteries. That changes when Mrs. Laine, a wealthy werewolf, hires her to recover stolen heirlooms. The catch? The suspects are bear shifters, and Mrs. Laine doesn’t want the police involved. As Mickey digs into the case, her love life takes a surprising twist with the ...

There’s chaos in Hollywood at the end of the New Year’s Eve countdown. Working her graveyard shift, LAPD detective Renée Ballard waits out the traditional rain of lead as hundreds of revelers shoot their guns into the air. Only minutes after midnight, Ballard is called to a scene where a hardworking auto shop owner has been fatally hit by a bullet in the middle of a crowded street party.

Panama City PIs Burke and Blade are back! When Brooklyn Hill goes missing while on a pub crawl during her bachelorette weekend on Panama City Beach, Burke and Blade are called in to do what no one else has been able to—find her. Or at least figure out what happened to her. The seeming impossible vanishing has everyone baffled—Brook walked into Jungle Jim’s and never walked out again. Every entrance and exit is covered by surveillance cameras and the hundreds of people in the club saw her enter but never exit. And extensive searches, including both scent and cadaver dogs, prove she’s...

Private eye Sharon McCone receives an email asking for help from her emotionally disturbed half-brother, Darcy Blackhawk, but he fails to reply to her response. As Sharon digs deeper, she discovers that Darcy sent his message from an Internet café in San Francisco, a city he's never been to before. Sensing that Darcy is in terrible danger, McCone begins a search for him throughout the city. The investigation leads her to the body of a woman at the Palace of Fine Arts, where a witness told her Darcy was headed. As her search widens, Sharon uncovers a connection to an unsolved murder....

Relics. Risks. Revelations. Angus Darrow just wants to finish renovating his Exmouth flat. Charlotte Lockwood just wants something — anything — to distract her from the endless smell of paint. When the local museum reports missing artefacts, Charlotte takes the case. But what seems like a simple undercover job soon turns into something far more sinister. Meanwhile, Angus can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right with his neighbour... As Charlotte and Angus race to uncover the truth, it’s not just missing artefacts they need to worry about… it’s staying one step ...

It's strictly Friends & Family as V.I. Warshawski, "the detective mystery fans have been waiting for" ( Time), makes return appearances in a collection of stories that bring new meaning to "ties that bind." Decked out in her silk shirts and no-nonsense Attitude, V.I. is out to make a living - by the skin of her teeth.