David Mapstone Mystery

When his friend Peralta, newly sworn in as sheriff, is shot by a sniper, David Mapstone, former historian and new deputy sheriff, can't keep a cool, academic distance—and he'd better not. While Peralta lies comatose in the hospital, the powers that be install Mapstone as acting sheriff in his friend's place. Mapstone feels unqualified, but he's the only person whose temporary appointment won't infuriate all the other candidates, who want the sheriff's position permanently. Meanwhile, a cryptic note scrawled by Peralta before the shooting forces Mapstone to confront his own personal history, inadvertently drawing him into danger. Mapstone soon discovers that the past has deadly consequences and the mean streets of the new West have never been more sinister.

A handsome young New York professor comes to Phoenix to research his new book. But when he's brutally murdered, police connect him to one of the world's most deadly drug cartels. This shouldn't be a case for historian‑turned‑deputy David Mapstone—except the victim had been dating David's sister‑in‑law, Robin, and now she's a target too. David's wife, Lindsey, is in Washington with an elite anti-cyber-terror unit and she makes one demand of him: protect Robin. This won't be an easy job, with the city police suspicious of Robin and trying to pressure her. With the sheriff's office in turmoil, David is even more of an outsider. And the gangsters are able to outgun and outspend law enforcement. It doesn't help that David and Lindsey's long‑distance marriage is under strain. But the danger is real and growing. To save Robin, David must leave his stack of historic crimes and plunge into modern Phoenix's savage world of smuggling people, guns, and drugs. Arizona's “History Shamus” returns in South Phoenix Rules.  It's the most gripping and personal David Mapstone Mystery yet. A Poisoned Pen Press Mystery

The private detective business starts out badly for former Phoenix deputy David Mapstone, who has teamed up with his old friend and boss, Sheriff Mike Peralta. Their first client is gunned down just after hiring them. The case involved the suspicious death of a young Arizona woman who fell from a condo tower in San Diego. The police call Grace Hunter's death a suicide, but the client doesn't buy it. He's her brother-or is he? After his murder, police find multiple driver's licenses, and his real identity is a mystery. Complicating the case is that the condo's owner is an Arizona state senator who was instrumental in Peralta's recent election defeat. In San Diego, David finds the woman's boyfriend, who is trying to care for their baby and can't believe Grace would kill herself. He, too, hires the pair to solve Grace's death and reveals some darker facts. Grace was putting herself through college as a high-priced call girl, an escort for rich men who valued her looks and discretion. Before the day is out, the boyfriend is murdered, and David barely escapes with his own life. Whoever is killing their clients may be coming for them. Neither the lovely beaches of San Diego nor the enchanting desert of Arizona can conceal the brutal danger that exists there. Solving the case will take Mapstone and Peralta into the world of human trafficking, corrupt politics, and the white supremacist movement. They no longer have badges, but they are still detectives-the night detectives.

Diamonds, greed, corrupt cops, mobsters-David Mapstone is about to be tested like never before. A cache of diamonds is stolen in Phoenix. The prime suspect is former Maricopa County sheriff Mike Peralta, now a private investigator. Disappearing into Arizona's mountainous high country, Peralta leaves his business partner and longtime friend David Mapstone with a stark choice: he can cooperate with the FBI, or strike out on his own to find Peralta and what really happened. Mapstone knows he can count on his wife, Lindsey, one of the top "good hackers" in law enforcement. But what if they've both been betrayed? Mapstone is tested further when the new sheriff wants him back as a deputy, putting to use his historian's expertise to solve a very special cold case. The stakes turn deadly when David and Lindsey are stalked by a trained killer whose specialty is "suiciding" her targets. In depressed, post-recession Phoenix, every certainty has become scrambled, from the short hustle of the powerful real-estate industry to the loyalties Mapstone once took for granted. Could Peralta really be a jewel thief … or worse? The deeper Mapstone digs into the world of sunbaked hustlers, corrupt cops, moneyed retirees, and mobsters, the more things are not what they seem. Ultimately, Mapstone must risk everything to find the truth. High Country Nocturne is an ambitious, searing, and gritty novel, with a fast-paced story as hard-edged as the stolen diamonds themselves.