The Dead of Winter: The first Lydia Barnwell Mystery
The man is nameless, faceless, and dead. Allegheny County’s new detective must find his killer to prove her doubters wrong.
The Dead of Winter is the first in a new series featuring Detective Lydia Barnwell, introduced in the Chief Novak trilogy.
A well-written, immersive mystery with a surprise ending set up by clues that make it totally believable.
–Joyce Yarrow, mystery writer
Novak’s Verdict: The third Chief Novak novel
The third book in the Chief Novak series finds the Boyleston Police Chief investigating the murder of a real estate agent, the borough’s former mayor. As Karol Novak and his team interview witnesses, one with an obvious motive stands out, but Novak can’t accept the man’s guilt.
An officer’s death interrupts the investigation and sends Detective Lydia Barnwell’s life into a tailspin. While the investigation continues, Novak prepares to assume leadership of a regional police force, but politics intervene. Barbara Novak wages her own battle with the school district over the behavior of a teacher. As the hunt for the murderer reaches its surprising conclusion, Karol and Barbara question whether public service is worth fighting entrenched bureaucracies.
Belonging: a family drama based on a DNA discovery
This gripping novel follows Sarah Mathews, a successful woman with a loving family who suddenly finds her life thrown into turmoil when a DNA test confirms her suspicions that her identity is a lie. Struggling to come to terms with her newfound reality, Sarah is pushed over the edge with the arrival of a stranger who brings unwelcome news. With her comfortable world in chaos, Sarah is left with one lingering question: ‘Who am I?’ If you enjoyed Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper, you’ll love this page-turning story of identity and family bonds.
Lewis keeps the reader uncertain as to who is in the right while subtly doling out hints. All comes together in a rush at the conclusion. So confronted, the characters are challenged to craft an ethical response to the legacy from the juncture of their pasts. In my opinion, women will take to “Belonging” from the first chapter. Guys, patience will be rewarded.
Amazon top reviewer
The Quadrant Conspiracy: The Plot to Kill FDR
As Anglo-American leaders gather to plan the defeat of Nazi Germany, Hitler orders the death of President Franklin Roosevelt to derail the conference. Brandon Armitage, a Canadian veteran of the Great War, has joined Canada’s Volunteer Guard to oversee German prisoners. When a Luftwaffe pilot escapes. Armitage pursues him to a remote island in Lake Huron, where FDR is fishing. Armitage alerts security officials the prisoner may be out to assassinate the president, but they refuse his help, insisting their security is tight. He must act alone, even as he seeks to rescue his failing marriage.
Novak’s Quest: The second Chief Novak novel
A new Chief Novak novel in the acclaimed series set in the Pittsburgh area:
Police Chief Karol Novak’s planned retirement is sidetracked when a dying man’s wish draws him into investigating the unsolved murder of a young woman two decades before. As the investigation unfolds, Novak and his team discover a similar unsolved murder. Are the two deaths related or are they the work of a serial killer? While they work to answer these questions, this small, undermanned police force must also find a three-year-old child who has disappeared without a trace.
Novak’s Mission: The first Chief Novak novel
Law enforcement and small town politics make a lethal combination. When Karol Novak is hired to restore public confidence in a scandal-ridden small-town police force, a young girl’s birthday wish plunges him into a three-decades-old murder case, forcing him to choose between duty and justice.
From the author of Sins of Omission and Breaking News comes a fast-moving police procedural and an appealing love story reflecting Pittsburgh’s patchwork approach to policing.
Sins of Omission: The first Alan Rudberg Novel
Journalist Alan Rudberg takes up an investigation begun by his estranged father into an early civil rights slaying. Why was this old, forgotten murder twice shuttered? Who is still threatened sixty years after a black minister was slain on a stretch of lonely road? Why is a candidate for the nation’s highest court trying to block the journalist’s probe? His quest to learn the truth unearths a family secret, and someone is following his every move. As the community closes ranks to derail his investigation, will Rudberg solve these intertwined mysteries or will they cost him his career … and his life?
Breaking News: The Alan Rudberg Prequel
An anonymous letter sends Rudberg to eastern Oregon to investigate a kickback scheme. As he digs into a sinister web of crooked politicians and businesspeople, he finds more than he bargained for. A powerful local politician files a libel suit that threatens his reputation. Although the facts are on Rudberg’s side, a biased judge and unsympathetic townspeople pull together to oppose the “big-city” reporter. As the outcome grows uncertain, his wife questions his commitment and his publisher grows distant. Rudberg realizes he is battling business interests far more powerful than the small-town graft of this rural Western community. A parable of modern journalism.
James H Lewis, novelist 