Part mystery, part parody, "Always a Cold Deck" is the first Harry Reese Mystery. Harry is an insurance investigator who never takes life too seriously. Which, given his current pecuniary crisis, is all for the best. In July 1900, he is sent to Buffalo to look into a fire that's destroyed a grain elevator. But when Harry uncovers a smuggling operation, the case morphs into something more serious. Trains and steamships feature prominently as he crosses into Canada and back, accompanied by a political boss's stooge and a curious young woman who seems to be conducting an investigation of her own. It's a byzantine odyssey, during which Harry can never be sure of anyone's loyalties, least of all those who've hired him.

This new paperback edition includes the short story, "Humbug on the Hudson."

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Part mystery, part parody, "Crossings" is the second novel in the Harry Reese Mystery series. It's the spring of 1901, a time when Brooklyn's own corrupt political machine, Willoughby Street, is more than a match for Manhattan's Tammany Hall. Harry is seeking a link between the apparent suicide of an insurance agent and the untimely deaths of two of his clients. To solve the case, he must visit gambling parlors, vice dens and, finally, New Jersey, while corrupt cops, opportunistic con men and often his own wife do what they can to mislead him.

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It's not surprising that a case that begins with a killing in a faux Chinatown and ends in a seance would include a generous helping of farce. But not even Harry Reese-a man well used to a life only loosely tethered to reality-is prepared for what he encounters that autumn in 1902. Before it's over, he'll meet cricket ranchers, vaudeville artistes, white slavers, morality crusaders, circus roustabouts, and wayward Utopians, and frequently become sidetracked by the need to rescue his loved ones from jail, or the clutches of a ruthless tong. Is it any wonder the case was put in motion by the machinations of his dear wife Emmie? For more information on the series, please visit: streetcarmysteries.com

Boodlers, and pikers, and slyboots... oh my It's December 1901, when the paths of three of the era's notable characters cross in the nation's capital: the Wizard of Oz, the Countess von Schnurrenberger und Kesselheim, and Harry Reese, insurance investigator. Harry has come to Washington in order to solve a string of jewelry thefts. But first he must match wits with a throng of thirsty newspapermen, a pack of rapacious lobbyists, and a young devotee of the Wizard's. And as is usual, his dear wife Emmie has her own agenda. For more information on the series, please visit: streetcarmysteries.com