Winner, 2018 Anthony Award for Best Anthology and Winner, Bronze Medal, 2017 Indie Book Awards for Anthologies, Foreword Reviews. Noir meets diverse voices and transforms the genre into an over-the-top, transcendental psychedelic thriller ride of pulpy goodness in THE OBAMA INHERITANCE, a collection of fifteen stories of conspiracy noir curated by editor and award-winning African-American crime novelist Gary Phillips.

 In the tradition of satirical works of Swift and Twain, with nods to the likes of William Burroughs, Asimov and Philip K. Dick, these tales contain vigilante First Ladies, Supreme Court judges who can clone themselves, gear-popping robots of doom, and races of ancient lizard people revealing their true master plan … and these are just the tame ones mashed up in the blender of fake news bots, climate change is but a hoax by the Chinese and humans roamed with dinosaurs. In an era where the outlandish and fantastic has permeated our media 24/7, where mind-bending conspiracy theories shape our views, THE OBAMA INHERITANCE writers riff on the numerous fictions spun about the 44th president of the U.S. Although Obama himself does not appear in most of these stories, contributors spin deliberately outlandish and fantastic twists on many of the dozens of screwball, bizarro conspiracy theories floated about the president during his years in office and turn them on their heads. THE OBAMA INHERITANCE editor Gary Phillips is a critically acclaimed author of mystery and graphic novels (Peepland, Violent Spring, and Warlord of Willow Ridge). Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Phillips draws on his experiences from anti-police abuse community organizing and anti-apartheid activism. He was the chair of the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color committee, and is president of the Private Eye Writers of America. Contributors include famed crime-detective author and essayist Walter Mosley, professor and former Department of Justice attorney Christopher Chambers (Sympathy for the Devil), noir raconteur Andrew Nette, actor and novelist Danny Gardner (A Negro and an Ofay), former Maine assistant attorney general Kate Flora (Death in Paradise), award-winning playwright and novelist Désirée Zamorano, and the Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master Robert Silverberg.

P L A N X
The new thriller by Rory Tate
When a suspicious explosion rocks a lab on a University campus in Montana, officer Cody Byrne is tasked with finding next-of-kin for one of the victims, a professor of Shakespeare. From this simple beginning she pulls the strings to unravel a secret jealously guarded by very powerful people. She won't give up her hunt, even as she battles wartime demons from her tour in Iraq, as she discovers she's chasing down her own identity, as well as a dead man's.
"PLAN X is both thrilling and sophisticated In a serpentine story that races from small-town Montana to the vaulted halls of Windsor Castle, nothing is as it seems, including the works of the great Shakespeare himself. Former military and current police officer Cody Byrne is unforgettable- a heroine you want to root for. I love this book "
"-New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author J. Carson Black"
"Rory Tate weaves a thrilling police procedural as officer Cody Byrne investigates the death of a Montana professor who may have been hiding one of the biggest secrets in academia- or perpetuating one of the biggest frauds- one that could scandalize the royal family of Great Britain. An entertaining read "
"-Robin Burcell, award winning author of THE BLACK LIST"
"A book to keep you up at night. Once begun it must be read through. Exciting, spellbinding, and riveting are words that come to mind. The best mystery/crime/spy novel I have read recently. One of the best of all time." "- book blogger and author, Ruth Ann Hixson"

Seattle reporter Mimi Raynard is having a bad week. Her ex-husband is now her boss at the TV station and wants her head on a platter. When three prostitutes die of a suspicious heroin overdose Mimi gets the story but in her nervous enthusiasm manages to bungle it. The narcotics detective on the case tries to help but both are out-foxed by the buxom intern. What's a girl to do? Desperate and out of ideas Mimi takes a friend's advice and dresses up as a Russian Mafiya Madam for a resume tape she has no intention of sending out. But the lark turns serious when the intern steals the tape. At the Seattle Police Department the narcotics detective Shad Mulgrew has his own career crisis. He is framed for stealing drugs from evidence. Are the murdered prostitutes linked to his case? Is he getting too close to the truth? And what is Mimi's father doing working for Eastern Europe's last Communists? Working together to save their reputations, Mimi and Shad look for the truth, from the fishing docks of Puget Sound to the tiny Republic of Moldova. At turns funny, sexy, and thrilling with an edgy modern voice, Jump Cut depicts Seattle from the inside, from damp streets to dark alleys, from the islands to the top of the Space Needle, as Mimi and Shad search for answers. They wind up salvaging a lot more than their careers in a wild race to save the soul of Seattle, and finding themselves. "An engaging heroine every woman can identify with: good-natured, smart, harried, all too aware she's growing older. She just wants to catch a break. I loved her almost as much as I loved Rory Tate's breezy, fast-paced writing style " -- Katy Munger, award-winning author of the Casey Jones mysteries

The sequel to the much-loved Blackbird Fly is here at last
Merle Bennett is spending another summer in France, vacationing with her four sisters and one friend, lawyers all, tramping around the backroads of the Dordogne. The sixth member of their walking tour is a law colleague, Gillian Sargent. She hasn't made a good impression on the Bennett sisters, being annoying and secretive and upsetting the delicate karma of sisterhood. When Gillian finds an injured dog along the roadside and wants to keep it for her own, the idyllic summer trip of sisterly bonding and wine-drinking turns dark and dangerous. Who else is after this dog? Why is she so special? And what secret is Gillian Sargent keeping so close to her chest that her co-workers call her 'The Girl in the Empty Dress?'
Lise McClendon introduced Merle Bennett in Blackbird Fly, taking readers on a journey of self-discovery for Merle as her late husband's life opened up its secrets. He left her a stone house in the Dordogne he never mentioned, his family estate. Merle's efforts to fix up the abandoned ruin, extract a squatter, and discover the family secrets help her through her grief.
Now, back in this corner of southwest France of dark, oaky wine, rocky hills, foie gras and earthy truffles, she juggles sibling bickering, her teenage son, two boyfriends, and the law. All she wants is to unwind in the golden light of France. But France has a few tricks up its sleeves again. Thanks to a sad, dirty little dog and a woman with too many secrets.

Deep in the cold heart of a Wyoming winter lies a dark tale of theft, murder, art, and archeology in this third entry in the Alix Thorssen mystery series. A visiting Norwegian artist comes to Alix's gallery and is soon found dead. Bad enough for Jackson Hole's winter carnival but for Alix it's worse. Her stepfather, builder of a magnificent model Viking ship, is accused of murder and refuses to defend himself. With ancient myths seeming to come to life around her, Alix's investigation could end with a Viking funeral. It all hinges on what the runes say. After The Bluejay Shaman and Painted Truth, Lise McClendon proves there is nothing cold about Norwegians in Nordic Nights. A sexy skier, a naughty ice carving, and a mysterious fortune teller make a visit to Jackson Hole a chilling puzzle. "In Nordic Nights, Lise McClendon gives us a good idea, a wonderful setting, and skillful writing. You'll like it." -- Tony Hillerman, bestselling author Savvy readers will enjoy the glimpses of Nordic ritual, the vivid descriptions of the Wyoming winter, and the pattern of fire and ice as Alix's emotions fight logic and the heated passions around her fight icy greed. -- Kirkus Reviews Set in wintry Jackson Hole, Wyo., this crisp, straightforward mystery plunges gallery owner Alix Thorssen into the local Nordic Nights festival, which features ice carving, a parade, ski races-- And a startling murder. Famous Norwegian painter Glasius Dokken, who had come to town for his show at Alix's gallery, is found stabbed with an ice pick in the hotel room of an itinerant and provocative fortune-teller. Alix, persistent and unflappable, begins to investigate. McClendon works a good deal of Nordic folklore into her story. The fortune-teller is a specialist in runes, and her silver-and-wood tools quickly become a central point in the case: Are the runes museum quality? Have they been stolen? The third entry in the McClendon's series conjures up the icy beauty of Jackson Hole. Her agreeably feisty heroine and a hair-raising finale will keep readers entertained throughout the night, Nordic or otherwise. --Publisher's Weekly

As Jackson Hole gallery owner Alix Thorssen plans an art auction to promote wolf conservation, she is plunged into a bitter feud between ranchers and environmentalists -- and an old mystery involving the strange death of a teenage boy. A reclusive artist delivers a stunning painting of a blue wolf at the auction, and asks Alix a favor: investigate the accidental shooting of Derek Wylie twenty-five years earlier. Alix finds disturbing clues to a murder and a cover-up, one that leads by tangled threads to the heated animosity right now in Jackson Hole, as the artist and her painting become the catalyst in a brewing storm of rage, guilt and dark secrets left behind in a trail of old blood. This is the fourth Alix Thorssen mystery, following Nordic Nights, Painted Truth, and The Bluejay Shaman. "A few writers are gifted with a feel for place that transforms locale from mere background into a vital element of the story itself, as important as the human characters who inhabit it. Among today's fortunate few are Tony Hillerman with his mystical view of Navajo country and James Lee Burke, whose evocation of the Louisiana bayous verges on the poetic. To their number add Lise McClendon, who has taken the small resort town of Jackson Hole and the Wyoming wilderness that surrounds it, and made her own. Picturesque Jackson Hole, placid on the surface, is not without its controversies and conflicts. When a rancher, claiming self-defense, kills a wolf, the community is divided among those who view the wolf, recently reintroduced into the wild, as a threat to their livestock and those who seek to protect and preserve the greatly endangered species. All Alix Thorssen wants is a long anticipated vacation. Alas, it is not to be. Alix, who owns an art gallery in Jackson Hole, is drawn into the argument when paintings by her client, Queen Johns, are banished from an upcoming art auction because of her pro-wolf stance. In standing up for her client, Alix incurs the ire of the ranchers, which increases when she agrees to help Queen research the death of a teenager 25 years earlier. Homicide is difficult to prove after so many years until Alix realizes that past and present are linked and that justice, although long delayed, is still possible. McClendon weaves a persuasive story, as haunting as the landscape it occupies and blessedly free of manufactured melodrama. In Alix, she gives us a heroine both captivating and credible. And when you add that feel for place mentioned earlier..." -- The San Diego Union-Tribune "Blue Wolf is a mystery that stars an engaging amateur sleuth, but it is also a novel about human frailties and fears that dog a person their whole life. Lise McClendon captures the essences of the human spirit to perfection, which is why her novels are so realistic." -- Midwest Book Review "Thematically, this work is the strongest of the four Alix Thorssen novels, plus the sense of something magical occurring in the area is powerful. Its use of the fall season in Wyoming for a setting is expressive, and the well-developed characters that people this work are also a highlight... Recommended to any traditional mystery reader, especially those who enjoy works set in the contemporary West." -- Mystery News

Traveling the back roads of Montana, not-quite-fearless art gallery owner Alix Thorssen is far from home and up to her Ray-bans in shaman's secrets, mysterious deaths, madness, and - ah yes - passion among the pine needles. Whoever killed Shiloh Merkin hated her and wanted her dead. But did Wade Fraser, Alix's brother-in-law and University of Montana anthropology professor, do the deed? What happened to the petroglyph of the bluejay shaman? Alix follows a trail of sex, moonlit rituals, and legendary artifacts as another murder leads her to a chilling confrontation with the killer. In this first novel of the Jackson Hole series about Alix Thorssen, Lise McClendon weaves a gripping tale of suspense, blending Indian lore, the timeless clash of western values, and the magnificent landscape of the Rockies. "Reminiscent of Tony Hillerman at his best," says James Crumley, author of The Last Good Kiss.

Behind the golden stone walls of a village in southwest France, American Merle Bennett finds solace from her grief while renovating her late husband's ancestral home. But things don't go as planned. Soon any calm she feels in her French summer is overshadowed by secrets from the past. A crumbling house, a deranged squatter, unfriendly and violent villagers, a surprise in the garden house -- it makes a girl almost wish for the sleepy suburbs. But Merle can't go home until all is resolved, one way or another.In Blackbird Fly, her first suspense novel, Lise McClendon reveals her love of both the French countryside and the intimacies and drama of family, in a book novelist Jenny Siler calls "heartbreakingly beautiful."