Murder in Mexico Books
Twenty Centavos Does an artist really see things differently? Painter Paul Zacher, preparing for a gallery show in the Yucatan, is unwillingly drawn into a murder investigation in his home town of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. A prominent antiques dealer has been shot in the head, and a twenty centavo coin found in his mouth. Zacher draws on the help and expertise of his Mexican girlfriend, Maya Sanchez, and his retired detective friend, Cody Williams, to comb the prosperous expatriate community for clues as he tries to stay out of the way of the police. The action ricochets from the heartland of colonial Mexico to the steamy jungles of the Yucatan, as Zacher inches closer to the killer, only to find himself marked as the next victim. Twenty Centavos is the first book in the Murder in Mexico mystery series.
The Fifth Codex It's a routine job for painter Paul Zacher, now getting a reputation for his abilities as a detective. Simply facilitate the authentication and transfer of what could be a genuine Mayan book (codex) from the 1500s, of which only four others are known. But when the book's inflammatory message proves to be at the core of a three-way struggle among the Mexican government, the rebels of Chiapas, and a private collector with deep pockets, the conflict escalates. Kidnapping follows murder as the three forces compete for possession, until Zacher commits what looks to everyone like an act of coldblooded execution. The survival of the Zacher Agency and Paul himself are gravely in doubt in this, the second of the ten books in the Murder in Mexico mystery series.
BRUSHWORK What looks like a routine portrait commission for a flamboyant former vice president of the United States quickly turns to disaster when he is murdered after only one session. The artist turned detective, Paul Zacher, becomes intrigued by the reason for his presence in San Miguel, but his curiosity turns to desperation when accumulating evidence indicates that Zacher himself is the killer. When a reading of the victim's will reveals the motive, Paul and Maya are forced to flee across central Mexico to avoid arrest for murder. After one of the most ruthless conglomerates in the country lines up with the police against the Zacher Agency, Paul goes on the offensive and sets a trap that exposes the plotters. When he is nearly trapped himself, he is forced to kill one of them in a face-to-face shoot out. Brushwork is the third mystery title in the Murder in Mexico series.
A woman from Paul Zacher's past is found murdered When a young former madame is murdered and her body left in a sexually posed position, the San Miguel police quickly discover a connection to Paul Zacher. While he’s not eager to talk about a brief relationship he had with her years earlier when she modeled for him, he is launched into action when another model of his is arrested for the murder. When Maya wants no part of this case and Cody comes up with a completely different view of who the killer might be––another painter, Paul is unable it accept it and winds up working alone. What he comes up with is a woman he may have met in his dreams. Or is she just another nightmare? And what was Daddy’s problem, anyway? Daddy’s Girl is the fourth mystery in the Murder in México series. Scroll Up and Grab Daddy's Girl Today!
A Hunt for an Ancient Aztec Treasure When the Federales discover that wealthy San Miguel resident Barbara Watt has the legendary fifth Mayan codex, they offer her a deal. Give it up, or we’ll hound you through the courts for the rest of your life. When she comes up with an alternative scheme to furnish them with the long lost gold of the last days of the Aztec empire instead, cast in the form of a human skull, they accept. Now all she has to do is get it. The Zacher Agency springs into action in Oaxaca, where the skull was last seen in the possession of an old soldier. When Paul and Cody cut a deal with him, they find there are several others interested as well, one of them the son of Hermann Goering. Scroll Up and Grab Strike Zone Today!
A mysterious disappearance hits close to home The Zacher Agency is pulled out of Mexico to investigate the disappearance of Cody’s nephew, Peter Welsh, a year after the mysterious death of his wife. When they arrive, they find his house burned to the ground. They follow his trail to New Mexico, not knowing whether Welsh is the criminal or the victim. When his body is discovered still in the ruins of his house, the problem becomes finding out who they’re pursuing. Or are Paul, Cody and Maya the next victims of something too monstrous to contemplate? Vanishing Act is the sixth of the Paul Zacher, Murder in Mexico mystery series. Scroll Up and Grab Vanishing Act Today!
It’s all uphill and getting steeper in Jack and Jill’s marriage That is, until Jack discovers an easy way out. He’ll simply have her eliminated while he’s gone on a business trip. It’s not that he’s a bad guy; anyone can have a single slip up. But when the hired killer has some slip ups of his own, it looks like Jack is going down for it. Naturally, he does what anyone would do; he calls the Zacher Agency to prove his innocence. Paul Zacher and friends end up with their least favorite client, ever. Jack and Jill is the seventh of the Murder in Mexico series of mysteries. There is no nursery rhyme on the subject of murder. Scroll Up and Grab Jack and Jill Today!
Naming the culprit is easy, but what is the crime? It’s a backwards kind of case for the Paul Zacher Agency. Naming the culprit is easy, but what is the crime? And why is Paul’s old nemesis, Antonio Trujillo (Brushwork) on the streets again? Life was so much simpler without him. When the kinky tastes of a state governor open the door to an environmental disaster of cosmic proportions, Paul Zacher and his friends come up against a sinister conspiracy of government and industrial plotters. When they launch their secret weapon at Paul personally, a diminutive blonde with spiky hair and impossibly short skirts, Maya takes the field with deadly results. It’s vintage Zacher from start to unpredictable finish in this Murder in México mystery #8. Scroll Up and Grab Identity Crisis Today!
THE THEFT OF THE VIRGIN When Paul Zacher finds a genuine old master's painting hanging in an exhibit of great fakes, it can only mean one thing: the fake must be hanging in place of the real one he's seeing. Is this a new way of transporting stolen masterworks? And who was skilled enough to paint that copy? This ninth of the San Miguel mysteries puts Paul on the trail of a world-class forger. When that trail crosses the route of the Virgin of Guadalupe as it tours México, the ante is boosted to murderous levels. As the action swings from Florence, to Texas to Guadalajara and San Miguel, the question becomes, what is Paul Zacher really looking at?
When the International Mystery Writers’ Conference picks San Miguel for its seventh meeting, no one is surprised that murder is on the agenda. What is startling is that its first speaker is murdered in mid-sentence. Justus Barlow, noted critic and editor, falls to the platform halfway through his speech on the Death of the Adverb. Can the 200 mystery writer wannabes in attendance solve this case, or will it take the quirky insights of Paul Zacher and his friends? As a painter, Paul finds himself at sea in the world of publishing, as he digs deeper to reveal its murky and unsavory aspects. The Book Doctor is the tenth of the Murder in Mexico series, featuring painter turned detective, Paul Zacher.
An ancient tomb that holds a secret that will change history The Zacher Agency is summoned to the Yucatán to find and explore the mysterious Mound 31. Is it really a Mayan pyramid? What they find was not only a burial deep in the jungle, but the tomb itself held an object that could throw the history of the Americas into an uproar. Here every step has to be cleared with a machete, and a life-threatening situation erupts as the tomb robbers, the collectors, and even their own clients turn against them. Tracked by an enraged jaguar at the end, they are suddenly faced with the question, who or what is the Predator? The Predator is the eleventh of the Murder in Mexico mystery series, with painter-turned-detective Paul Zacher. Scroll Up and Grab The Predator Today!
Paul Zacher meets his match on the trail of human traffickers When the San Miguel Police are paralyzed by the grip of powerful pressure from behind the scenes, the Paul Zacher Agency is launched on a trail of human trafficking that reaches into one of the city’s most posh neighborhoods. Maya heads for Veracruz to track the origins of a Central American girl whose body was found in San Miguel. Paul meets his match in the upscale French bordello hostess from Toulouse named Renée Bontemps. Not everyone wins in this, the twelfth Paul Zacher mystery. Scroll Up and Grab The Girl from Veracruz Today!
Caught between the Vatican and Big Money Religion comes calling at the Paul Zacher Agency when long-dead teen movie star Claudia Arango makes an unexpected comeback as México’s newest saint. To avoid becoming a laughingstock, the City of San Miguel hires Paul to get her reburied without publicity. But with the Vatican pushing on one side, and big money pulling on the other, Paul, Maya, and Cody may be overmatched. When the bullets start flying it’s hard to know who to bury next in this, the thirteenth of the Murder in Mexico mystery series. Scroll Up and Grab Angel Face Today!
UNEASY RIDERRunning neck and neck with spirited horses, passionate women , grandiose ranches and outsize egos, the Paul Zacher Agency takes on a killer in the San Miguel equestrian community. Nothing is quite the way it seems as they race for a solution . Coming in second is not a survivable option in this, the fourteenth mystery in the Murder in México Series.
LOST IN CHIAPAS A young Minnesota woman travels to the extremes of southern México in search of a cult to join. High in the cloud forest of the rebellious state of Chiapas, she is surrounded by the Zapatistas in their autonomous zones, an area abandoned by the Mexican government. She becomes an exile in the misty highlands without Internet, phone, or electricity. Terrified by her disturbing silence, fearing she's been kidnapped or murdered, her parents hire the Paul Zacher Agency to rescue her. Their escape, pursued by a homicidal rival cult leader, proves to be the journey from hell in this, the fifteenth of the Murder in Mexico mystery series.
THE JERICHO JOURNALS The eccentric San Miguel painter, Edward Jericho, is known for his unannounced absences, but usually he cleans his brushes before he leaves. It would be so like him to be off in search of one of the great lost artifacts of western culture. He is, after all, an eccentric collector with some means at his disposal. Eventually the sinister tone of his present disappearance draws the eye of the Paul Zacher Agency. Paul finds the ongoing presence of Edward's shoes in his closet and his car in his garage too disturbing to ignore. People don't usually go off on an adventure barefoot in a taxi. And then there is that journal he left behind... But when Edward's money is the only other thing to disappear, and traces of an obscure Middle Eastern cult surface at the edges of the case, the Zacher Agency is soon in full pursuit, in this, the sixteenth mystery in the Murder in México series.
When a prominent Northern California winery family comes to San Miguel to check out additional properties, a disturbing conflict is already running deep beneath the surface. As they rent an upscale mansion for a month's stay, the head of the family is murdered on a stone staircase worthy of a coronation procession. With five family members and nine staff people in the house, there's a rich roster of possible killers. Layer by layer the mystery unfolds in this, the seventeenth Paul Zacher mystery.
A call for help on a missing person case brings the Paul Zacher Agency down to the untamed jungles of Guatemala. Is it a kidnapping? And what is the true story behind a missing jade burial mask? Because even among the pyramids of the ancient tropical Mayan city of Tikal, nothing is as it seems. Who is more dangerous, old friends or new enemies in this, the 18 th book in the Paul Zacher Detective Agency mystery series?
DEATH IN THE THIRD ACT A young actress is murdered onstage on opening night of a new play. There's no need to call the Paul Zacher Agency--they're all sitting in the front row. But is witnessing the shooting going to be any help in solving this crime? The conflict between reality and theater is never so tense as in this, the nineteenth Paul Zacher mystery.
Ancient Power Clashes with Modern The ancient culture of central México breaks through the surface as the Paul Zacher Agency matches wits with an evil shaman. Will the modern resources of the twenty-first century be enough to combat the wiles of a tradition older than time? In this, the twentieth Paul Zacher mystery, the Agency discovers that it can be its own worst enemy. Scroll Up and Grab Scorpion Rising Today!
The Spoils Go to the Last Man Standing Thirty-three years ago 50 Hollywood players put down $20,000 apiece. In the meantime the fund has grown exponentially in a Swiss bank. Now only ten are still alive. The last one standing will get it all. There was never a better motive for murder than claiming THE DEAD POOL, Murder in Mexico mystery #21. Scroll Up and Grab The Dead Pool Today!
His latest job isn't what it seems When Paul Zacher is hired by the painting’s owner to reproduce a rarely seen Matisse, it looks nothing like another detective case. He’s just happy to be painting again, even if it’s a copy. But when the original is stolen just as the copy is finished, the whole project takes on a different look. When bullets start flying, the Paul Zacher Agency is back in business in this, the twenty-second mystery of the series. Scroll Up and Grab The Missing Matisse Today!
An earthship colony like the one in Taos has landed outside of San Miguel. There, right-thinking people lead a quiet life of off-the-grid environmental consciousness. But when a decades-old crime resurfaces in their midst, their entire world is overturned. When it can only be covered up with another murder, and then another, the Paul Zacher agency comes aboard in this, the twenty-third Murder in México mystery.
A wealthy Boston lawyer’s family collects around him a family retirement compound in San Miguel––four heirs with high hopes. Dad’s health is none too good. But when their mother dies and Dad’s reaction is to get a facelift and start dating again, the mumbling begins. But when he quickly gets engaged and then the new fiancée is murdered, the Paul Zacher Agency finds itself working too close to home for comfort. The trick is to figure out who in NOT a suspect, in this the twenty-fourth Paul Zacher mystery.
Does Jessica Lain’s weakness for much older men stem from her fondness for her late father? If that’s the case why does she have a collection of engagement rings in her wall safe? Shouldn’t she get divorced before she accepts any more marriage proposals? It seems that Jessica has her own way of doing things, but when it includes blackmail, the next church service on her schedule may turn out to be a funeral instead of a wedding. The Paul Zacher Agency is not quite charmed when Jessica signs on as a client in this, the 25th Murder in Mexico mystery.
NAZI LOOTED ART SHOWS UP IN SAN MIGUEL When the Paul Zacher Agency tries to restore at stolen painting to its former owner, it unearths a cesspool of fraud and art theft. In a case where crimes go back more than 80 years and happen all over the world, the agency finds itself the only possible source of justice in this, the 26th of the Murder in Mexico mysteries.
When a ruined hacienda finally begins to yield its secrets, they’re more about riches than history. Can the Paul Zacher Agency uncover its mysteries in time to keep their client alive? The answer comes from an unlikely source in this, the 27th of the Murder in Mexico mysteries.
When the Paul Zacher Agency exposes a prominent educational foundation as a child trafficking ring, it quickly comes up against $500 million worth of revenge. Paul, Maya, and Cody discover that philanthropists kill just like anyone else in this, the 28th Paul Zacher mystery.
When the legendary giant emerald of the Inca disappears in Mexico on its way to an exhibit at the Smithsonian, the FBI is on it in a heartbeat. But can they make any progress south of the border without the aid of the Paul Zacher Agency?
When a Chinese spy ring reaches south of the border, Paul Zacher finds himself caught between saving its American expat targets and their unwillingness to believe they are victims.
When an ancient Templar gauntlet shows up in a box of scrap metal at a local market, Paul Zacher is pulled back into the wars of medieval Europe. But why should the grave of a Templar hero inspire murder today?
When a new client comes to the Zacher Agency with a painting he wants identified, there’s no reason to connect it with a Raphael that was stolen in 1880 and hasn’t been seen since. That’s ancient history. But what if that painting is not the only one on the canvas? The real question becomes, What lies beneath a wonderful picture that’s always been hanging in plain sight?