The Marian Larch Mysteries Series

In her last week on the force, a strange robbery draws Marian Larch into a backstage murder case A madman points a gun at the NYPD’s Marian Larch, and prepares to pull the trigger. She charges, disarming him before he can fire the shot. The gun skids to the feet of Agent Curt Holland, who presses it against the madman’s head and blows him away. It was the right move, but that doesn’t make it legal. To save Holland’s career, Larch testifies that she was the one who fired the final shot. She doesn’t care what happens; she doesn’t want to be a cop anymore. Even when Internal Affairs rules the shooting a righteous kill, Larch plans to quit at the end of the week. But a lot can happen in seven days. When an actress friend asks Larch for help after her Broadway theater is robbed, NYPD’s toughest female detective stakes out the Great White Way—and discovers a highly theatrical murder. The Apostrophe Thief is the 5th book in the Marian Larch Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A grisly quadruple slaying drags Marian Larch into a shadowy government cover-up Marian Larch is tired of murder. This NYPD veteran has seen the worst the city has to offer, and she’s not sure she can stand another day. Temporarily assigned to the chaotic Ninth Precinct, Larch is saddled with a callous lieutenant and a partner who can’t stand working with a woman. Just coming to work every day is becoming a trial—but it’s about to get a whole lot worse. In the concrete jungle of Alphabet City, East River Park is a rare strip of green. When four well-dressed men are found there, handcuffed together and shot through their eyes, it’s up to Larch to find their killer. They were employees of a top-flight tech firm with ties to the US government, and their deaths were meant as a warning. But who was the warning intended for? Answering that question will show Larch that as rotten as the Big Apple can be, it has nothing on Washington. You Have the Right to Remain Silent is the 4th book in the Marian Larch Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A cutthroat Manhattan custody battle leads to kidnapping and murder Rita Galloway is leaving a puppet show when a stranger sprints up to her and snatches her son, Bobby, from her arms. She screams for help, and Bobby is able to wriggle out of the man’s grip, but the would-be kidnapper escapes without a trace. It would be just another ordinary Manhattan street crime if it weren’t for Rita’s estranged husband, heir to one of the wealthiest corporations in New York City. Rita’s convinced he paid to have his son kidnapped and will stop at nothing until he has the boy. When NYPD lieutenant Marian Larch is assigned to keep an eye on Bobby, she’s not surprised when the conflict turns bloody. And when people connected with the case begin dying, she finds herself dragged into the spotlight—and worries she may be the next victim. Full Frontal Murder is the 7th book in the Marian Larch Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

When a television writer is murdered, three women join forces to find his killer After years churning out schlock for television, Rudy Benedict is afraid his job will kill him if he doesn’t leave Hollywood soon. He’s wrong. He’ll make it all the way to New York before he dies. After a few weeks of fruitless work on his new play—an exposé of Hollywood’s seamy underbelly—Rudy is found dead on the floor of his apartment, poisoned. The cops are baffled. Who would bother killing someone with so little talent? At first, it looks like the real target was Kelly Ingram, a gorgeous actress on the verge of her big break, but NYPD detective Marian Larch isn’t convinced. Looking for answers, the two women reach out to Rudy’s mother for help unraveling the mystery—but Mrs. Benedict may have an appetite for murder. The Renewable Virgin is the 1st book in the Marian Larch Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

To find a blackmailer’s killer, Marian Larch investigates the extortionist’s victims A. J. Strode would kill for command of House of Glass, the corporation that controls everything from plate-glass windows to fiberglass insulation, and he nearly has it within his grasp. Only three stockholders—a violinist, a helicopter pilot, and a mercenary—stand between the businessman and his goal. But no matter how much Strode offers, they refuse to sell. And when money doesn’t talk, he turns to blackmail. Strode invites his three targets to his townhouse, intending to close the deal once and for all, but his plan backfires. When Strode is found in his library with three knives buried in his chest, the case falls to Marian Larch, a no-nonsense NYPD detective who’s hardly prepared for the brutality she’ll find inside House of Glass. He Huffed and He Puffed is the 2nd book in the Marian Larch Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

A clumsy robotics researcher scrambles to cover up a double homicide Despite his name, King Sarcowicz is hardly regal. A rumpled scientist, he spends every waking minute in his lab, tinkering with the robots he thinks will make human soldiers obsolete. It seems impossible that this gentle soul could create a killing machine, and in fact, he never will. Long before his robot is operational, King himself will become a killer. Working late in his lab, King commits a pair of clumsy blunders that lead to the deaths of two of his fellow scientists. In shock, he disappears into the streets of New York. When he’s finally confronted by NYPD detective Marian Larch, he lies to save his own skin. To discover what caused the tragedy in King’s lab, Larch will have to do more than outsmart this brilliant scientist—she’ll have to think like him too. Good King Sauerkraut is the 3rd book in the Marian Larch Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.