Howie Rook Mystery Books

A newspaperman investigates the strange case of a murdered society clown Howie Rook does not care for the police. After a long career in newspapers, he has seen too many cases loused up by unimaginative detectives to have any faith in by-the-book investigation. Recently retired, he spends his leisure hours writing letters to the editor regarding police stupidity. He’s so good at pointing out the department’s screw-ups that it has decided to reach out to him. They have an impossible crime, and it requires an amateur’s eye. Real estate magnate James McFarley is found dead in a locked room, a bullet in his chest, and clown make-up on his face. The police have no suspects, no witnesses, and no hope but Rook. The amateur’s skill is about to be put to the test. Will he find the killer, or will he end up looking sillier than a murdered clown? Unhappy Hooligan is part of the Howie Rook Mysteries series, which also includes Rook Takes Knight .

A violent man is killed in a hit and run, and his wife is accused of the crime In the inky Los Angeles twilight, a man takes his dog for a walk. They are crossing the street when a station wagon comes charging around the curb, crashing into man and beast. Both are killed. The dog might have been innocent, but the man had it coming. It only takes a day for the district attorney to accuse the dead man’s wife of the crime. Deirdre Charteris, a former starlet who has lost none of her looks, had every reason to want her husband dead: He was psychotic, violent, and refused to agree to a divorce. But Dee swears her innocence, and Howie Rook believes her. A retired newspaperman with a detective’s sixth sense, he will do whatever he can to prove her innocence. But he will find that asking questions can be just as dangerous as going for a walk in the dark. Rook Takes Knight is part of the Howie Rook Mysteries series, which also includes Unhappy Hooligan .