Killed with a Passion

By William L. DeAndrea

Matt Cobb goes to bat for a friend accused of murder.

Matt Cobb, an executive who is tasked with smoothing over sensitive situations for a major television network, is used to looking disaster in the eye. But while traveling upstate to look into rising corruption in the sale of cable broadcasting licenses, and mixing with some old college friends, he doesn't expect murder rears its ugly head.

Cobb's former roommate, Dan Morris, is still pining over his ex-girlfriend Debbie Whitten, who's about to marry another man. But on the night before her wedding, Debbie is killed with a crushing karate blow to her throat, and Dan is accused of murder. Cobb has to prove his friend's innocence -- no mean feat given that Morris was a martial arts expert and publicly vowed to put a stop to the marriage -- and also that a shady DA has an agenda in locking him up. Meanwhile, the cable corruption issue won't die down, and Cobb becomes the target of a goon dubbed 'The Organic Hit Man,' who kills with whatever's handy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784084073

William L. DeAndrea

William L. DeAndrea (1952–1996) was born in Port Chester, New York. While working at the Murder Ink bookstore in New York City, he met mystery writer Jane Haddam, who became his wife. His first book, Killed in the Ratings (1978), won an Edgar Award in the best first mystery novel category. That debut launched a series centered on Matt Cobb, an executive problem-solver for a TV network who unravels murders alongside corporate foul play. DeAndrea’s other series included the Nero Wolfe–inspired Niccolo Benedetti novels, the Clifford Driscoll espionage series, and the Lobo Blacke/Quinn Booker Old West mysteries. A devoted student of the mystery genre, he also wrote a popular column for the Armchair Detective newsletter. One of his last works, the Edgar Award–winning Encyclopedia Mysteriosa (1994), is a thorough reference guide to sleuthing in books, film, radio, and TV.