A .38, a nip of gin and sensational legs get Depression-era private investigator Maggie Sullivan out of most scrapes – until a stranger threatens to bust her nose, she’s hauled in on suspicion of his murder and she finds herself in the cross-hairs of a sadistic crime boss.Matching wits against dangerous men, with bits of information from a dime store waitress, a ragged newsboy and the girls at her rooming house, Maggie follows a path that leaves her drugged, in her DeSoto in a ditc...

When Depression-era private eye Maggie Sullivan is invited to dine with a millionaire, she doesn’t expect the first course to be a gun in her face. It draws her into a gold-plated web of theft, revenge, double crosses and murder.A big-time swindle has made fools of some of the city’s wealthiest businessmen. The manbehind it has vanished. When Maggie begins asking questions, he reappears – dead in the river. But she’s already learned too much. Someone’s out to silence her too...

When a man offers 1940s private investigator Maggie Sullivan twice her usual fee to look into a "possible" jewelry theft from his hotel safe, she’s skeptical — until a maid’s body tumbles out of a trash can and a jeweler known for high quality fakes is murdered.Does a hotel guest who vanished without a trace hold a piece of the puzzle? Or does it have to do with the Polish count and his family fleeing the start of WW2 in Europe? Could the cops be right that it’s all a trick devised...

** 2014 SHAMUS AWARD winner **NOTE: THIS IS THE CORRECT BOOK FOR THIS COVER AND TITLETea with two spinsters thrusts 1930s private investigator Maggie Sullivan into an explosive mix of murder, political rivalries and family secrets. Pursuing their case means risking not only her life, but her detective license.The Vanhorn sisters want her to learn the fate of their father, who vanished more than a quarter century earlier in Dayton, Ohio’s, catastroph...

2018 SHAMUS AWARD FINALISTMurderer or independent woman?Murder at a construction site draws Ohio private investigator Maggie Sullivan into a case that makes cops mistrust her and friends doubt her. The suspect, Rachel Minsky, is Maggie's closest friend – and all signs point to Rachel's guilt.Rachel ignores the rules society imposes on women. That independence, in 1942, as well as her success in business, has made her enemies. Yet th...

Join private investigator Maggie Sullivan for a fast-paced ride through streets and alleys of 1940s Dayton, Ohio, in the first four books of this historical mystery series that blends cozy with harboiled. The set includes the Shamus Award-winning novel Don't Dare a Dame plus these titles: No Game for a Dame, Tough Cookie and Shamus in a Skirt.NO GAME FOR A DAME – When a stranger who threatened her and wrecked her office winds up de...

As WWII rages in the Pacific, relatives of a Japanese-American suspected of starting a fatal fire hire Ohio private investigator Maggie Sullivan to uncover the truth. Did he do it? Is he alive or dead? The police claim not to know what became of him, and there are hints of War Department involvement.Tosh Hashimoto and his family are among some 150 Japanese-Americans brought to Dayton by a church coalition that found jobs and housing for them throughout the community. The more Maggi...

The brutal hit-skip death of a young woman is being written off as an accident until 1940s private investigator Maggie Sullivan finds signs pointing to murder. Charlotte Littlefield, a girl with "a past" was about to marry into one of Dayton, Ohio's, most prominent families and was staying with them to get better acquainted and smooth her rough edges. Did someone in the household object to her upcoming union? A frightened, incoherent phone call made moments before she fled the mansion and ...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER"Each author captures Christie—and Marple—perfectly, while also displaying just a bit of her own unique touch. . . . This new and entertaining collection by some of our favorite writers will hook a new group of readers to the formidable Miss Marple." — Rhys Bowen, Washington Post“Marple is the best loved [detective]. Also the most influential. . . . It is Miss Marple who introduced the revolutionary notio...

Days before the Pearl Harbor attack plunges the U.S. into World War II, private eye Maggie Sullivan is hired to find a missing engineer in Dayton, Ohio. Has Gil Tremain been kidnaped, or has he turned traitor — to his employer and maybe his country?As Maggie pieces together his last movements, she finds there are secrets the man’s ex-wife and his employers don’t want uncovered. Maggie herself is attacked and an innocent witness is murdered. The ruthlessness of her opponent — or opp...

At the end of Dayton's first WWII blackout drill, a murder victim is found with private investigator Maggie Sullivan's name and address in his pocket. Hours earlier he sat in her office asking for help – and using a different identity.With the war draining men from all walks of life, a homicide detective long dismissive of Maggie's skills reaches out to form an eggshell-fragile alliance. Warily they work in tandem to find the person behind two vastly different deaths: An ex-con kil...

The distraught mother begging1940s private investigator Maggie Sullivan for help is married to a crime boss who has plenty of reasons to want the detective dead. His past clashes with Maggie left both nursing simmering resentments. And Maggie killed one of his men to save the life of a vital witness.Now Nico Caras swears he'll let bygones be bygones if she'll find his daughter Adrianne, who disappeared off a city street after lunch with a friend. The police aren't likely to help, a...