The Harry Starke Novels

Tabitha Willard was a beautiful, wealthy young woman with everything to live for, so why did she take her own life? What did powerful US Congressman Gordon “little Billy” Harper have to do with it? And then there’s Lester, “Shady” Tree, a crooked entrepreneur and a man with secrets. What about him? Harry Starke, an ex-cop turned private investigator, wants to know, and his search for the answers leads him deep into the shadows of the underworld, and the body count begins to rise. Can Starke find the answers he needs and stop the carnage?

The phone call came on a Tuesday evening in the middle of August. Harry Starke hadn’t heard from his old school friend in almost five years, and he hadn’t thought about him in almost as long. Tom Sattler wanted to meet, and it wouldn’t wait until morning. But when Harry arrived at Sattler’s home less than an hour later, he found him lying in a pool of blood with a single gunshot wound to his head and .22 revolver lying close to his hand. Was it suicide, or was Tom Sattler murdered? If so, by whom and why?

Who was she? Who put her there? Why did she have to die? Harry Starke vows to find the answers to those questions. But the trail has gone cold and Hill House is a desolate ruin with many secrets. To find the answers, Harry must embark upon an investigation that will put him and those close to him in deadly danger, take him to the lost and long-forgotten streets buried under the city, and deep into the Dark Web where he comes face to face with murder, organized crime, prostitution, and human trafficking.

When a well-known local socialite’s body is found during a round of golf with his father, Harry Starke suddenly finds himself embroiled in what quickly becomes a very thorny murder investigation. Who killed Angela Hartwell and why? The answers lie somewhere along a twisty-windy path through the patrons and morals of an exclusive golf club where the members are seldom what they seem, and their goals are infinitely more complicated than a simple round of golf. Harry Starke’s investigation takes him into a world he’s very familiar with. A world of affluence, privilege, and corruption.

Emily Johnston is GONE. She’s been GONE for more than a week. She’s also the daughter of Harry Starke’s one-time boss and nemesis, Chattanooga Police Chief Wesley Johnston. Harry and Chief Johnston haven’t seen eye-to-eye in a long time, but when Johnston needs help, he knows there’s only one man he can turn to. But Johnston’s jurisdiction ends at the city limits, and when Emily’s body is discovered in a remote part of the county, Harry has to deal with the imperious sheriff Israel Hands and two incompetent county detectives.

Harry Starke loves a cold case, but this one is really cold, more than a hundred years cold. Family Matters is a tale that takes place on the lonely coast of Maine, where Amanda, a true believer in the paranormal, has inherited—you guessed it—a haunted house. At least that’s what the rumors say. It all begins when Amanda inherits the house, substantial assets, and a large sum of money from her grandmother. The windfall comes with a request to look into the disappearance of Elizabeth, Amanda’s great-great-grandmother, more than a hundred years ago.

It takes only one phone call to turn Harry Starke into a monster. It begins when Harry’s kid brother is brutally murdered, his body thrown into the murky waters of the Tennessee River. That alone would be enough to set Harry on the warpath, but less than 24 hours after the body is found, Harry finds out there’s a bounty on his head, too. $25,000. His answer? Strike first and strike hard. And so it begins. Harry and his army of three must go up against old enemies, but they face almost insurmountable odds when they go looking for retribution.

It was one of those beautiful, balmy days on Calypso Key in the US Virgin Islands. The sky was blue and a cool breeze was blowing in off the ocean as Harry and Amanda took their vows. All of their friends were there and all was well with the world…and then the sky fell. Harry draws the line at getting involved when the death of one of his father’s friends intrudes upon his wedding day, until he finds out he owes the girl’s father a debt he can never repay. And so he is dragged into an investigation of not just one murder, but two—and the wealthiest, most dysfunctional family he’s ever met.