The PI Steve Conacher Mysteries Series

When the heir to a comic strip empire is rubbed out, Manhattan private eye Steve Conacher is drawn into a colorful spread of nasty secrets.   When popular cartoonist Lawrence Lariar decided to moonlight as a mystery writer, creating comic book artist turned amateur sleuth Homer Bull was a natural. From the 1940s through the 1960s, Lariar continued to switch from sketching caricatures to sketchy characters, writing hardboiled crime fiction under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France, and creating a series of memorable gumshoes. Now his classic whodunits are available as ebooks.   A little man built for big trouble, private eye Steve Conacher finds plenty of it when his old friend, Mike Smith, disappears. Odd timing considering the talented cartoonist was set to take over a million-dollar comic strip from his ancient and ailing mentor. Anyone would kill for that gig. That’s why it makes more sense when Mike is fished out of an icy river, stone cold dead.   So who erased the new prince of pen and ink? Right now, Conacher is looking at three characters in Mike’s shady background: the bereaved widow, the hot career girl he was dating, and the ambitious wife of a rival artist. But it’s the second murder that leaves Conacher’s head spinning. Now he has a fresh set of motives, and a brand-new target in the killer’s sights: himself.   I’ll Kill You Next is the 6th book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

It’s a game of cat-and-mouse between PI Steve Conacher and an irresistible mankiller making her mark on Madison Avenue.   When popular cartoonist Lawrence Lariar decided to moonlight as a mystery writer, creating comic book artist turned amateur sleuth Homer Bull was a natural. From the 1940s through the 1960s, Lariar continued to switch from sketching caricatures to sketchy characters, writing hardboiled crime fiction under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France, and creating a series of memorable gumshoes. Now his classic whodunits are available as ebooks.   Steve Conacher got a new job—at Cumber’s Department Store. It’s the best way to collar the mastermind behind an inside heist that netted a fortune in jewelry. And the best way to avenge the murder of his partner—on track to nab the thief before he was pushed to his death from Cumber’s roof. The mantrap his partner literally fell for? Gorgeous Lila Martin, queen bee of advertising. Cool, sexy, a sucker for sparkly geegaws, and unburdened by conscience, she’s a perfumed nightmare.   Now it’s Conacher’s chance to play ladies’ man. He just hopes he’s luckier than his partner. When another one of Lila’s many admirers meets an untimely death, Conacher knows only one thing for certain: getting into Lila’s silken web will be as easy as she is. Getting out of it is going to be murder.   Kiss and Kill is the 5th book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

It’s a heady cocktail of business, pleasure, and murder for Manhattan PI Steve Conacher, who’s cruising into danger in the Caribbean.   When popular cartoonist Lawrence Lariar decided to moonlight as a mystery writer, creating comic book artist turned amateur sleuth Homer Bull was a natural. From the 1940s through the 1960s, Lariar continued to switch from sketching caricatures to sketchy characters, writing hardboiled crime fiction under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France, and creating a series of memorable gumshoes. Now his classic whodunits are available as ebooks.   For New York private dick and landlubber Steve Conacher, it’s a dream assignment: a free cruise to tropical San Juan to skip trace a budding young artist and runaway heiress. So far, the hunt for Nancy Scott is a pleasure—especially when his first contact is paradise incarnate. She’s smart, sexy, clever, and goes down as easy as a shot of aquavit. She’s also ready and willing to help Conacher on his search. Maybe that’s why somebody just throttled the fun-loving adventuress to death.   Now Conacher is looking into a murder, too. When his colliding investigations lead to a mysterious art gallery in Puerto Rico, run by a half-blind painter, Conacher learns just how deeply involved he is in the sun-kissed secrets of two women—one missing, one dead—that are beginning to threaten his own life.   The Sunburned Corpse is the 4th book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

After television’s hottest singing star goes missing, detective Steve Conacher follows a trail of glitter, glamour, bodies, and blood to find her.   When popular cartoonist Lawrence Lariar decided to moonlight as a mystery writer, creating comic book artist turned amateur sleuth Homer Bull was a natural. From the 1940s through the 1960s, Lariar continued to switch from sketching caricatures to sketchy characters, writing hardboiled crime fiction under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France, and creating a series of memorable gumshoes. Now his classic whodunits are available as ebooks.   With knockout curves and killer chords, nobody sells a song like Mari Barstow. Destined for stardom and eager to make the grade, she’s poised for the big time. So it doesn’t make sense that she’d disappear a few short days before headlining a high-paying, career-changing television spectacular. Unless the publicity-hungry belter is just looking to tease the gossip trade.   Steve Conacher sees a more sinister angle to Mari’s vanishing act. He can’t help it. Not with the spurned lovers in her party-girl past, the vindictive enemies she used to claw her way to the top, and her hot-shot TV director being stabbed to death. And it won’t be the last murder in Conacher’s skip trace gig. Now Conacher had better find Mari and fast, before she makes ink in the obits.   Triple Slay is the 8th book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

First in a series: The mysterious life of a gorgeous stiff leads a Manhattan detective from Broadway to Coney Island to find her killer.   Lawrence Lariar was one the most popular cartoonists of the twentieth century. But from the 1940s through the 1960s, he also crafted a line of lean and mean detective and mystery novels under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France. Lariar now gets his due as a leading artist in hardboiled crime fiction.   There she was in PI Steve Conacher’s office: totally naked, and given the knife wounds, unquestionably dead. The nasty business makes lurid headlines, but it’s also drawn the attention of a frantic new client. Grace Masterson says she needs help finding her husband, a runaway jewel thief with a tomcat rep. The lonely housewife also craves a little more intimate service on the side. Conacher doesn’t say no; although it does raise his brows.   But Grace isn’t the only puzzle. The DOA stranger has left a trail of secrets that lead from the posh office of a sexy Park Avenue barrister to Greenwich Village haunts to smoky New York jazz clubs. As the two cases begin to collide, Conacher’s not sure whom he can trust, whom he’s supposed to protect, or who’s got the motive to kill again.   Stone Cold Blonde is the 1st book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Private detective Steve Conacher tails a runaway wife to a luxury Catskills resort for a weekend of fun, sun, and murder.   When popular cartoonist Lawrence Lariar decided to moonlight as a mystery writer, creating comic book artist turned amateur sleuth Homer Bull was a natural. From the 1940s through the 1960s, Lariar continued to switch from sketching caricatures to sketchy characters, writing hardboiled crime fiction under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France, and creating a series of memorable gumshoes. Now his classic whodunits are available as ebooks.   The Montford Hotel in the Catskills is a fabulous playground for the rich and beautiful—like Grace Lasker, the high-class Park Avenue knockout Conacher’s been hired to eyeball at the behest of her jealous husband. But the simple skip trace turns to murder when Conacher finds the young lovely stabbed to death in her suite.   That her body disappears is just the first distraction in the investigation. The others come fast and loose: a high voltage Broadway torch singer on a stopover to Hollywood; a sultry rhumba teacher who offers free lessons to the right man; and a high-diving swimming star with slippery limbs and a broad mind. They aren’t the only ones with secrets. Grace had her share of them, too.   As the motives for her murder mount, Conacher realizes that Grace won’t be the last guest not to make it out of the Montford alive.   Knife at My Back is the 3rd book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

When a Manhattan madame makes a date with death, a detective must expose the sordid secrets of her clientele.   Lawrence Lariar was one the most popular cartoonists of the twentieth century. But from the 1940s through the 1960s, he also crafted a line of lean and mean detective and mystery novels under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France. Lariar now gets his due as a leading artist in hardboiled crime fiction.   Courting café society, Mary Ray was the queen of New York’s priciest escort service. Until private investigator Steve Conacher finds his old friend stabbed to death in her brownstone brothel. All eyes are on her hot-tempered lover, and when he commits suicide in his Greenwich Village studio, it seems the case is closed. But Conacher’s not buying the guilt and grief bit. Not when Mary’s revealing appointment book has conveniently disappeared.   Without it, getting a lead isn’t going to be easy, but Conacher does have one beautiful hook: a peach named Joy. The former call girl still has the shakes. And secrets. All he has to do is find her. With Joy’s help, Conacher will avenge Mary’s death even if it kills him. Considering the high-class lowlives he’s dealing with, it just might.   Murder for Madame is the 2nd book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Mon dieu! American detective Steve Conacher’s pursuit of a missing heiress in Paris becomes a case of murder—with a Gallic twist.   When popular cartoonist Lawrence Lariar decided to moonlight as a mystery writer, creating comic book artist turned amateur sleuth Homer Bull was a natural. From the 1940s through the 1960s, Lariar continued to switch from sketching caricatures to sketchy characters, writing hardboiled crime fiction under his own name as well as the pseudonyms Michael Stark, Adam Knight, Michael Lawrence, and Marston La France, and creating a series of memorable gumshoes. Now his classic whodunits are available as ebooks.   When wealthy and naïve American art student Judy Martin flees the states to find succès in Paris, she’s followed by a relentless paramour eager to marry into money. Now PI Steve Conacher’s been hired to tail both of them—and cut the shady romance short. But someone beats him to it. Lover boy’s been found cut to ribbons on the banks of the Seine. And Judy has vanished without a trace.   From scouring the backstreet bistros in Montmartre to tangling with unflics to playing in the pleasure-seeking circles of the missing girl’s private life, Conacher is running headlong into danger. Because one by one, his contacts are being picked off. Now Conacher isn’t sure if he’s searching for a terrified runaway—or a fetching fugitive with so much to hide it’s criminal.   Girl Running is the 7th book in the PI Steve Conacher Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.