Six-foot-tall, redheaded ex-cop and Boston-based private eye Carlotta Carlyle knows all about urban survival. That's why she's happy to do her neighbor, Valentine, a favor like this one. The elderly recluse needs help burglar-proofing her rent-controlled apartment. But it seems Valentine's fears are more immediate and threatening than she's letting on. Because just twenty-four hours later, the old woman turns up dead in her ransacked home. Finding...

The third, ground-breaking mystery featuring African-American maid and amateur sleuth Blanche White by Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award winning author Barbara Neely. Blanche White is working as a temporary cook and housekeeper for a right-wing, Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Alistair Brindle when someone tries to blackmail him. It's an ugly mess that Brindle's political team is eager to sweep under the carpet and that Blanche can't resist...

Boston detective and part-time taxicab driver Carlotta Carlyle is drawn into the hunt for the source of a manuscript written by a young literary sensation who disappeared twenty-four years ago at the height of her fame.

On loan to the Icelandic Police Force, former Boston detective Magnus Jonson is forced to confront difficult truths about his father's murder while investigating rumors about a priceless ancient manuscript.