LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel Mysteries

A body so badly burned that it could be mistaken for a movie prop...except for the smell. That's not something the LAPD finds lying on the street every day. And when Detective Tully Jarsdel is called to the scene, it's clear to him that something about the placement of the corpse is intentional, even ritualistic. Jarsdel's former career in academia seems to finally be coming in handy, rather than serving merely as material for jokes from his partner, Morales. But nothing Jarsdel learned in school can prepare him for the deep evil behind this case, which appears to be as hopeless as it is violent. As Jarsdel and Morales attempt to settle their differences and uncover the motive behind the horrendous crime, they find themselves dragged into the underbelly of a city notorious for chewing up and spitting out anyone dumb enough to turn their back on survival.

The nightmare descends on a Tuesday. An elderly couple's home is transformed into a scene straight out of a horror film, their mutilated bodies the only clue left behind by the killer?and they are only the unlucky first in a series of impossible murders. Soon dubbed the Eastside Creeper, the murderer stalks Hollywood, camping out undetected in his victims' homes until he's ready to strike. After killing, he vanishes like smoke. Considered an expert in the grotesque, Detective Tully Jarsdel lands this seemingly unsolvable case. Jarsdel, an academic-turned-cop, is intrigued by the Eastside Creeper. His methods are vicious; his path, untraceable. Nothing about this killer makes sense. But as the murders become more gruesome and the clues more inscrutable, widespread panic sets in. And amid the terror-induced chaos, Jarsdel's unconventional methods may be the only thing left between a killer and a city about to descend into chaos. What Waits for You is the story of a terrified community, the only cop in LA who might be able to put a stop to the hysteria, and a murderer with nothing left to lose.

Bad things happen every day. No one knows this better than LAPD Detective Tully Jarsdel. He also knows that bad things often go unpunished - all it takes is a glance at his dusty stack of cold cases to see that time is kind to sinners. A museum curator is found shot point-blank; his home torn apart. It's the sort of random crime destined to fester in an evidence locker. But it's a case tailor-made for the academic-turned-detective - he can't leave any question unanswered. In pursuit of an untouchable killer, Jarsdel soon uncovers a web of fraud and corruption that leads him to sunny Catalina Island, Hollywood's bygone playground. There, nothing is as it should be: the past is ever-present, and Jarsdel unwittingly finds himself embroiled in a widespread conspiracy. While reckoning with a dark legacy, he'll exhume long-buried secrets of LA's troubled past, and with it, deadly consequences. A searing mystery from critically acclaimed author Joseph Schneider, The Darkest Game is a story about dread, greed, and anguish - how it spreads like rot and how one detective struggles to keep it at bay.