Harry Starke Books

Why was she on the bridge that terrible night? It’s after midnight, in a blinding snowstorm. A beautiful young woman runs onto the Walnut Street bridge. Unable to sleep, former Chattanooga PD detective, Harry Starke, is on that same bridge, at that same moment . . . . . . The young woman climbs up on the ledge, Harry sees her and knows what she's about to do. She hesitates as she turns to see Harry rushing towards her. She steps off the edge just as he reaches her. Harry grabs her wrist and stares down into her terrified eyes . . . . . . She slips through his fingers. Tabitha Willard was beautiful, wealthy, and had everything to live for, so why did she take her own life? Why was she on the bridge that terrible night? Who was she running away from? What did powerful US Congressman Gordon “little Billy” Harper have to do with it? And then there’s Lester, “Shady” Tree, a crooked entrepreneur, and a man with secrets. What about him? Why did she leap to her death into the murky waters of the Tennessee? Harry Starke wants to know, and his search for answers leads him deep into the shadows of the city’s underworld, and, as he slowly peels back layer upon layer of an intricate secret society, and reveals their dirty secrets, the body count begins to rise. And he knows that somewhere in the mystery lies the key to Tabitha’s suicide. It is a tangled web he must unravel to find the ultimate truth. Can Starke find the answers he needs and stop the carnage? Welcome to the world of PI Harry Starke. He’s dark, dangerous and driven. If you love a good mystery, edge of the seat thrillers, then you’ll love this gritty series opener.

Who Killed Tom Sattler? Who Stole $350 Million from New Vision Strategic Investments? It's up to Harry Starke to Figure it out The call came on a Wednesday evening in the middle of August at around nine-thirty in the evening. It was from an old school friend that Harry Starke hadn't heard from in almost five years, and he hadn't thought about him in almost as long. Tom Sattler wanted to meet with Harry urgently, and it wouldn't wait until morning. When Harry arrived at Sattler's luxury home less than an hour later, he found him dead, lying in a pool of blood, a single gunshot wound to the head, and .22 revolver lying close to his hand. Suicide? If he was going to do that, why the hell did he call me? The search for an answer to that question starts Harry on wide ranging investigation that involves murder, corruption, organized crime, and, deception.

For more than ten years, she lay beneath the floorboards of Hill House. For more than ten years, she waited. Who was she? Who put her there? Why? Harry Starke vows to find the answers to those questions, but to do so he must embark upon an investigation that will put him and those close to him in deadly danger, take him deep into the underground city, the Dark Web, murder, organized crime, prostitution, and human trafficking. One by one, he peels back the layers, and with each one, he sinks a little deeper into the morass, the seamy underbelly of a world few know of, and even fewer want to be a part of. Hill House has many doors. None of them lead anywhere but into darkness and despair.

They found Angela Hartwell lying in the shallow waters beside the golf course. There wasn’t a mark on her, yet she was dead, strangled. How could that be?Once again, it’s up to Harry Starke to find out. The investigation takes him into a world he’s very familiar with, a world of affluence, privilege and… corruption.To solve the mystery, he must deal with three murders, a beautiful used car dealer, her lovely twin sisters, and a crooked banker. Not to mention Burke and Hare, two crazy repo men who will stop at nothing to protect their employer’s interests. There's also the matter of an ingenious, sadistic killer. But nothing is ever quite what it seems....

Emily Johnston is GONE. She’s been GONE for more than a week. She's also the daughter of Harry Starke’s one-time boss and nemesis, Chattanooga Police Chief Wesley Johnston. Harry and Chief Johnston haven't seen eye-to-eye in a long time, but when Johnston needs help, he knows there's only one man he can turn to. But Johnston’s jurisdiction ends at the city limits and when Emily’s body is discovered in a remote part of the county, Harry has to deal with the imperious sheriff, Israel Hands and two incompetent county detectives. So begins an investigation that will take Harry on a wild ride across Signal Mountain, a case that will include a second murder, two cold cases, sex, alternative lifestyles, and deadly danger for Harry and his friends, until… well, as always, there’s a twist in the tale.

Harry Starke loves a cold case, but this one is really cold—more than a hundred years cold. Family Matters is a whimsical tale, a flight of fancy. It takes place on the lonely coast of Maine, where Amanda, a true believer in the paranormal, has inherited—you guessed it—a haunted house. Or at least that’s what the rumors say.It all begins when Amanda inherits the house, substantial assets, and a large sum of money from her grandmother. The windfall comes with a request to look into the disappearance of Elizabeth, Amanda’s great-great-grandmother, more than a hundred years ago.Harry, a skeptic, a down-to-earth investigator who believes only in the facts, has a tough time dealing with Amanda’s… fantasies? We all know that the imagination can play tricks on a susceptible mind, especially when that mind is under stress. But is it just their imaginations? Could it be something more? You’ll have to be the judge.Family Matters began some twenty years ago as a short story. It was the first mystery I — yes, I did say I —ever solved. You’ll understand when you’ve finished reading it. Now I’ll turn it over to the inimitable Harry Starke who, I’m sure, will do a far better job of things than I did.Blair Howard 2016

RETRIBUTION – Harry Starke Book 7“I'm a fighter. I believe in the eye-for-an-eye business. I'm no cheek turner. I got no respect for a man who won't hit back. You kill my dog, you better hide your cat.” Muhammad AliThey say revenge is a dish best served cold, and maybe it is, but Harry Starke is already one cold son of a gun, and when someone brutally murders his kid brother and throws the body into the Tennessee River, that someone had indeed better hide his cat, and do it quickly.

“There are four basic reasons why someone commits murder. The first and most powerful is love. The second—equally powerful—is hate. Almost equally compelling is revenge. The fourth is profit. Money. When one family member kills another, one or more of them is almost always the motive, and the murders on Calypso Key were no exception.”—Harry Starke It was one of those beautiful, balmy days on Calypso Key in the US Virgin Islands. The sky was blue and a cool breeze was blowing in off the ocean as Harry and Amanda took their vows. All of their friends were there and all was well with the world... and then the sky fell. Harry draws the line at getting involved when the death of one of his father’s friends intrudes upon his wedding day, until he finds out he owes the girl’s father a debt he can never repay. And so he is dragged into an investigation of not just one murder, but two—and the wealthiest, most dysfunctional family he’s ever met. The cast of characters includes a former Navy Seal—now a butler—a man up to his eyes in shady financial dealings, and the woman at the heart of it all, who was pushed to her death from a third-story balcony. Harry clears a few hours to enjoy the good life on Calypso Key, but as for the investigation... well, we all know that when Harry’s involved, nothing is ever quite what it seems.

On a balmy afternoon in May 2002, wealthy stockbroker Peter Nicholson was turkey hunting with three friends in Prentice Cooper State Forest when he tripped and fell on his shotgun and accidentally shot himself... dead, but did he? 15 years later, as a last resort, Nicholson's mother asks Harry Starke to find the truth and, as we all know, Harry loves a cold case. As always though. There's a twist in the tale.

‘Stand absolutely still Amanda,’ she read, ‘and you won’t get hurt.’ Two seconds later a bullet from a sniper’s rifle shattered the driver’s side window of her Lexus SUV. That’s how it began, early on a Friday morning when Amanda, Harry’s wife, found the note tucked under her windshield wiper. The incident was quickly followed by a series of events that would put his family and friends in deadly danger, and test Harry to his limits.

There’s a serial killer on the loose in Chattanooga. Maggie Hart, a student at UTC, was abducted on Labor Day. Her body was found five days later on the RiverPark. She’d been strangled multiple times. She wasn’t the first, nor would she be the last. Harry Starke, recovering from a near-death experience, is dragged reluctantly into an investigation that quickly turns into a cat and mouse game between Harry and a very clever killer, Harry being the mouse. Emoji is an action-packed, lightning-paced story with an explosive finale you’ll not see coming.

Isla Tansy Mortenson Wallace was a noted local neurosurgeon, wife of local veterinarian Jim Wallace, and one of Chattanooga’s movers and shakers. That is until she was found dead on her own property. Did she fall off her horse? Was she thrown? Was she murdered? And if she was killed, by whom, and how, and why? Why does Lt. Kate Gazzara not want Harry Starke anywhere near the case? Lots of questions and no answers. Harry Starke is out of retirement, back on the job, and his long-time friend, Jim Wallace, is in big trouble. The evidence against him is overwhelming. To keep Jim from facing death row, Harry must find answers to all of those questions and, as usual, there is a twist in the tale.

An elite Iranian military unit. A missing tactical nuclear weapon. An aging Vietnam vet with a taste for violence.It began when an FBI informant was brutally gunned down outside a soccer stadium.A tactical nuclear weapon has gone missing somewhere in the Middle East and is thought to have been smuggled into the United States by a small group of Iranian terrorists intent on chaos and destruction. The target? Unknown, but the FBI’s local director is convinced that it’s the Sequoya nuclear plant, and that the clock is ticking. Convinced that the threat is real, and that his only link to the terrorists is Harry Starke’s nemesis, Shady Tree, he turns to Harry for help. But Harry has demons of his own to deal with, and the hunt for Tree quickly turns into a race against time.Apocalypse is the 13th standalone novel in a series of hard-boiled thrillers. If you like tough-as-nails heroes and , and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Blair Howard’s latest gritty, edge-of-your-seat thriller.

An elite force of private military contractors. A ragtag band of aging war heroes and civilians. It began with a simple kidnapping. It ended in an all-out private war. In Harry Starke’s world, nothing is ever quite as it seems. His wife is lying in hospital in a coma. His best friend and business partner is not who he says he is.Once again Harry says never again, but when his intellectually disabled uncle is kidnapped and becomes a pawn in a deadly game of cat and mouse, he finds himself plunged back into a life he so desperately wants to leave behind...Aftermath is the 14th standalone novel in a series of hard-boiled thrillers. If you like tough-as-nails heroes, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love Blair Howard’s latest gritty, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Grab a copy today and hang on tight; you’re in for a wild ride!

Harry Starke is at it again… So are his enemies. Backlash is an action-packed, high-intensity crime fiction thriller that will keep you turning the pages. Kidnapping. Murder. Revenge… The world around him is full of misdeeds and misfortune. It’s an all or nothing battle that Harry must win… or die.

End Game. Harry Starke Book 16 The game’s afoot, only Harry has no idea… Not yet anyway. It seems his enemies are endless, and his career and life are always at stake. This time, though, he may not make it out unscathed. Has Harry’s past finally caught up with him? Is this the end? Find out. Shop now.

There’s something strange going on at Clearwater Psychiatric Hospital. Director Dr. Norman Gill has a list in his desk drawer. He keeps it locked away. It’s for his eyes only. The list has seven names, with seven dates. Seven deaths in eleven months. PI Harry Starke will have to sharpen his skills for this one. Is there a lunatic loose in the hospital? A staff member, a patient? Does someone else have a list, and if so . . . how many names are on it? Will Harry Starke break this case wide open? Get your copy and start investigating!

A deadly game of poker. A man with secrets. A cold-blooded killer. The poker game had not yet begun but we found him at the table, shot three times in the chest. My name’s Harry Starke. I’m an ex-cop turned private investigator. It was the week before Christmas. My friend was dead. I looked down at his body and I made him a promise. I promised to find his killer and break his arms no matter what it took. Bad idea. Everyone knows you don’t make promises like that, not even to the dead. Harry Starke and Kate Gazzara together again in a deadly game of cat and mouse to catch a crafty killer. But there's also a rat in play. If you love a good mystery, a rollicking story with endless twists and turns you won’t see coming, Jokers Wild is for you. Jokers Wild is a gripping mind-bending crime story you won’t be able to put down. Scroll up and order your copy today.

Kelsey Hart is missing. She’s been missing for three years . . . . . . Is she dead or alive? When Kelsey Hart disappeared three years ago, her older sister, Brit, never gave up hope. But as time passed, and she heard nothing from her sister, she knew she needed help. Enter PI Harry Starke, the man with a reputation for solving the impossible cases. As Harry digs into Kelsey's disappearance, he quickly realizes that nothing is as it seems. Slowly, he uncovers dark secrets and a web of lies that will shake the Hart family to its core. And with every clue he uncovers, the mystery deepens, and people begin to die. Is Kelsey dead or alive? How many have to die before Harry finds the answer? To find out join Harry on his search for the truth in Blair Howard's latest novel, Presumed Dead , Book 19 in the Harry Starke Novels and be prepared for a thrilling ride!

One dark Friday evening in October, Dillon Harper and Brian McDaniel went out to drink a few beers and smoke a little marijuana. Their bodies were found hours later on the railroad tracks north of town. They’d both been struck by the midnight train. The autopsies revealed copious amounts of alcohol in their system so their deaths we deemed accidental. However, the brothers of the two men believe the investigation was botched and, knowing them as they did, don’t believe they were drunk, high or stupid enough to just lay down on the railroad tracks and go to sleep. So, more than three years later, they go to see Harry Starke and that’s when it all comes unglued. It doesn’t take long for Harry to determine the investigation was botched from the beginning, and he embarks on his own investigation, a wild goose chase, and he’s going to have to call in some favors to solve it.

Murder in Hilden Heights? Was Hattie Baker the victim of a serial killer? On a balmy, late summer morning in Hilden Heights Hattie Baker is found dead in her pool, and she wasn’t the first. A socialite and successful business owner, Hattie was an excellent swimmer. Even so, her death was ruled an accident. Her boyfriend, Mason Willis, however, doesn’t believe it was an accident. He thinks she was murdered and goes to Harry Starke for help. Thus begins an investigation that almost costs Harry his life. Can Harry find the killer before they strike again?

Harry, Kate, and Samson together again. What happened to Gavin Glassdon? A missing person, two murders, an enigmatic Irishman and a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme bring Harry Starke, Captain Kate Gazzara and her trusty K9 companion, Samson, together again in a bewildering detective thriller that takes them deep into the seedy side of New York City, As usual, there’s a twist in the tale you won’t see coming.

Sometimes, a city needs a ruthless detective willing to cross the line. Recommended for fans of Davenport, Hammer, and Bosch. _______________ Mystery woman, Morrigan Doyle, is in prison. Finn Doyle, her son, has ties to the Irish mob in New York. He became acquainted with Harry Starke when Harry was investigating his mother’s billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. But Finn has an agenda of his own and wants to hire Harry to “find a friend,” Matteo Rossi. Rossi, a low-level thug, a soldier in the Irish mob, is missing and Finn is worried, thinking someone has “offed him", and he wants to know who. Initially, Harry turns Finn down. But, as they say, curiosity kills the cat, and Harry, ever the curious cat, does a little digging and finds that Matteo’s mother and girlfriend are also looking for him. Finn, however, is nothing if not persistent and, taking into account the new information, Harry reluctantly agrees to take the case, for a fee, of course. Thus Harry and his team embark on an investigation that takes him back to New York, following Matteo, a trail of bodies, and a litany of misinformation until… Well, as always, there’s a twist in the tale; more than one, in fact. Get your copy today.

Twenty-one years ago, Harry Starke, on his first case as lead detective made a mistake, a mistake that sent an innocent man to prison for life. Now, haunted by the past, and with new evidence, he must finish what he started and find the real killer. A killer that will do anything to hide the past. __________________________________ Limited Time Special Preorder Price