Mark Manning Mystery

A masterpiece of mystery and suspense, this is the moving story of a man struggling to come to terms with his sexuality Investigative journalist Mark Manning is on the trail of a story that could make his career. Airline heiress Helena Carter, who vanished seven years ago, is about to be declared legally dead. Her fortune, valued at over one hundred million dollars, will go to the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and the Federated Cat Clubs of America.   Manning is the only one who believes that the missing Chicago socialite is still alive. And he's just been given an ultimatum by his publisher: Prove it, or he's history. Determined to keep his job-and hoping to secure the five-hundred-thousand-dollar reward from Carter's estate, as well as the coveted Partridge Prize for investigative journalism-Manning enters a world of religious fanatics who could turn back the clock on gay rights. At the same time, Manning grapples with his own sexuality as he falls in love for the first time-with the man of his dreams.   Flight Dreams is the first book in Michael Craft's Mark Manning series, which continues with Eye Contact and Body Language.

Reporter Mark Manning searches for a killer and stumbles upon a stunning conspiracy Chicago Journal reporter Mark Manning has been called in to replace a colleague on a big story. Famed Swiss astrophysicist Pavo Zarnik has just stunned the science world with his announcement that he's discovered a tenth planet in our solar system. Manning is skeptical of Zarnik's claims and believes he's a fraud. His suspicions grow when his fellow reporter-award-winning journalist Clifford Nolan-turns up dead, his laptop missing.   Now, Manning is covering two breaking stories and coping with the not-entirely-unwanted advances of twenty-something reporter David Bosch. In a committed relationship with architect Neil Waite, Manning is determined to resist temptation. But he soon has bigger things to worry about. On the edge of a far-reaching political conspiracy, Manning matches wits with a killer whose agenda is about to become chillingly clear.   Eye Contact is the second book in Michael Craft's Mark Manning series, which also includes Flight Dreams and Body Language.

A midlife crisis sends Chicago Journal reporter Mark Manning back to his Wisconsin hometown-and into a morass of lust, lies, and lethal family secrets An unexpected windfall has given burned-out Chicago journalist Mark Manning the chance to reconnect with his boyhood roots. With the blessing of his lover, Neil, he leaves the Windy City to return to Dumont, Wisconsin, to take over the town paper. His long-awaited family reunion is cut short when his cousin Suzanne is bludgeoned to death just before Christmas dinner. Before she dies, she whispers something to Manning: the name of her son.   Was she expressing a mother's dying wish for the future welfare of her child? Or revealing the identity of her murderer? When Manning ends up in the local law's sights, he's suddenly racing against time to clear his own name and smoke out a killer. With no lack of suspects, from a troubled homophobe to a lesbian activist to a housekeeper, the clock is ticking on a story that could be the biggest of Manning's career-if he lives long enough to write it.   Body Language is the third book in Michael Craft's Mark Manning series, which begins with Flight Dreams and Eye Contact.

Journalist Mark Manning delves into the bizarre world of miniatures . . . and finds a king-sized case of murder Front-page news in the quiet town of Dumont, Wisconsin, where former Chicago reporter Mark Manning runs the town's Daily Register, involves the annual exhibition of the Midwest Miniatures Society and new zoning laws for an adult bookstore. But murder becomes the headline when "King of Miniatures" Carrol Cantrell, the nation's foremost expert, is found strangled in the guesthouse of a local shop owner.   It seems Cantrell was leading a double life. He was having an affair with Doug Pierce, Dumont's closeted sheriff and a good friend of Manning's. With a blackmail note pointing to his guilt, Pierce soon becomes the prime suspect. Enlisting the help of colleagues, friends, and his lover, Neil, Manning races to clear Pierce's name . . . and finds himself enmeshed in the seething rivalries and vicious back-stabbing that characterize the cutthroat worlds of miniatures and pornography. With suspects ranging from a gay-bashing feminist to a renowned French craftsman of miniatures, Manning unearths a hotbed of damning secrets someone has killed-and could kill again-to keep.   Name Games is the fourth book in Michael Craft's Mark Manning series, which begins with Flight Dreams and Eye Contact.

Journalist Mark Manning's Midwestern hometown closes ranks against him when his nephew is suspected of murder For Mark Manning, running the local paper in his Wisconsin hometown is a refreshing change from his life as a hard-charging reporter for the Chicago Journal. Together with his partner, architect Neil Waite, he's settling into scenic, sleepy Dumont, whose inhabitants have welcomed them into their fold.   Until Manning's nephew becomes the prime suspect in a murder case.   Teenagers Thad Quatrain and Jason Thrush alternated the lead role in the community theatre's production of Teen Play. Now Jason lies dead in his bedroom, the victim of mushroom poisoning. Amid rumors that Thad threatened to kill Jason, the town begins to turn against him. As a sweltering summer draws to an end, a shocking revelation has tempers seething-and threatening to boil over.   A novel about sexual identity, desire, and the lies we tell ourselves, Boy Toy explores the secret passions that war within the human heart.   Boy Toy is the fifth book in Michael Craft's Mark Manning series, which begins with Flight Dreams and Eye Contact.