Fred Carver Series

The New York Times–bestselling author of Single White Female introduces hard-boiled Florida PI Fred Carver: “Lutz has never written leaner prose” (USA Today).  When the criminal’s bullet shattered his knee, Fred Carver’s colleagues called him lucky. Between his pension and the insurance check, they said, he had a nice, easy retirement to look forward to. But Fred Carver would rather have his knee. His career finished, his marriage over, he takes a halfhearted stab at private detective work, and is already sick of it by the time he meets Edwina Talbot, a beautiful woman who wants him to find her dead lover. Of course, Edwina doesn’t believe her lover is actually dead. Every piece of evidence at the crime scene pointed to suicide, but as far a she’s concerned her man is just missing and Fred Carver is going to bring him back. Carver wants nothing to do with it, but he can’t say no to a little adventure. Some men just aren’t built for taking it easy. Tropical Heat is the 1st book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

When a serial killer takes PI Fred Carver’s son, the ex-cop goes hunting for vengeance in this “classic page-turner” by the New York Times–bestselling author (The Houston Post).  A year ago, Fred Carver was nothing but a disabled ex-cop whose career, marriage, and family were all little more than fading memories. But then, while working as a private detective, he met Edwina Talbot, and ten months of life together has made him happier than he has been in years. But fate does not let men like Fred Carver stay happy for long. On the eve of a visit from his ex-wife and their two children, tragedy upends his new life. As if Florida in July weren’t hot enough, a madman is on a killing spree with a homemade flamethrower. After Fred’s eight-year-old son becomes the third victim, a man who has spent his life trying to catch murderers now has some killing to do of his own. Scorcher is the 2nd book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.  

Ex-cop Fred Carver investigates a death at a Florida funeral home whose residents don't always die of natural causes Retirement is a word that has always frightened Fred Carver. One of Orlando's finest, he retired early—when a criminal's bullet shattered his kneecap and made him unfit for beat work. Since then he hasn't been able to relax, and fills his days and nights investigating cases the local police aren't willing to touch. Now one of those cops has come to him with a problem that only a private detective can solve. It takes Fred into the heart of Florida's retirement community: a spacious estate called Sunhaven where the elderly can finish their lives in luxury. But it seems that some of them are dying before their time. When the residents speak of murder, are they telling the truth, or are they simply confused? Unraveling the mystery will take Fred Carver into a place where death is seldom the result of natural causes.

When a client dies in a car explosion, Orlando detective Fred Carver learns the man may not have been who he said he was For Bert Renway, it starts out as a simple proposition: a fat bundle of money to spend a few weeks impersonating Frank Wesley, a local tycoon. But after a while Bert grows suspicious of the easy money, and seeks help in the shape of Fred Carver, an ex–Orlando policeman turned private investigator. Like Bert, Carver smells trouble, and agrees to help him find out who his employers are and why they want him to play Wesley. Neither of them is suspicious enough. A few minutes after Bert leaves, an explosion sounds in the parking lot—the new client’s car gone up in a burst of flame. When they pull his body from the wreckage, dental records identify him not as Bert Renway, but as Frank Wesley. Carver doesn’t care. He’s on the case no matter who the man was. Flame is the 4th book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.