Four
Jesse Thorpe Mysteries have been completed and fully edited:
Dead
Down East,
A
Priestly Affair,
Redbone
and
the latest: Flim Flam.
Link
to Purchase Wholesale Paperbacks from author (minimum any 4 books)
Flim Flam
Introduction
to Flim Flam:
Flim
Flam, a prequel to the Jesse Thorpe
Mystery Series, is an engaging and witty thriller set in Maine. Scott Decker,
a young entrepreneur from the Lewiston area, is murdered in his home, and
a trove of gold bars is missing from his wall safe. Scott's former high
school sweetheart hires Jesse to find out what happened. Witnesses suggest
that Scott may have made his fortune in the opioid trade, but his family
and closest friends insist that can't be true. Suspects abound, including
Scott's ex-wife, his business partner and several associates from a local
militia. Jesse's investigation spans six years and takes a number of surprising
twists along the way.
This
fourth, and latest, novel in the series is yet another delightful and engaging
detective story, brimming with lively banter, femme fatales, local charm
and quirky situations. Sophisticated readers will appreciate the confluence
of forensics, science and droll repartee. And, as usual, Jesse's band of
eclectic compadres are there for him when the going gets tough.
Go
to Flim
Flam
to read the opening chapter.
To
order through Amazon go to Paperback
or Kindle.
Dead Down East
Introduction
to Dead Down
East:
Dead
Down East, a fictional murder mystery,
is both detective noir and smart screwball comedy rolled into one. Jesse
Thorpe, a young private investigator operating out of Augusta, Maine, receives
a mysterious phone call from a former client, Cynthia Dumais. She begs
to be rescued from an island south of Brunswick, within a mile of where
William Lavoilette, the governor of Maine, was assassinated the night before.
She insists that her life is in danger, but is unwilling to provide any
further information. Reluctantly, Jesse goes to fetch her.
Fresh,
witty and loaded with eccentric characters, this first novel in the series
is both clever and sylish. It's an old-school private eye tale with inventive
twists and local charm. If you enjoy a well-crafted and zesty narrative,
lively banter, or take pleasure in the company of Mainers, you'll love
Dead
Down East.
Go
to Dead
Down East
to read the opening chapter.
To
order through Amazon go to Paperback
or Kindle.
A Priestly Affair
Introduction
to A Priestly
Affair:
A
Priestly Affair is a lively and offbeat
thriller set in Maine. Monsignor Francis O'Reilly has a three-year-old
daughter, conceived during a one-time sexual encounter with a seductive
parishioner, Nicole Levesque. A DNA paternity test confirms that he is
the father of the child, but Nicloe has never allowed him to see "Evelyn."
Father O'Reilly hires private investigator, Jesse Thorpe, to find her.
In short order, Jesse uncovers an organized "family" of con artists, willing
to use threats, and even deadly force, to keep their operation running
without a hitch.
This
second novel in the Jesse Thorpe Mystery Series is an intricate and riveting
tale, percolating with oddball characters and tongue-in-cheek humor, as
Jesse works his way through a collection of grifters and victims from Maine
to Florida. A Priestly Affair
is a can't-put-it-down book for connoisseurs of both detective mysteries
and dark comedy.
Go
to A
Priestly Affair
to read the opening chapter.
To
order through Amazon go to Paperback
or Kindle.
Redbone
Introduction
to Redbone:
Julio
Whitehorse Redbone is a likeable and strong-willed, though tragic, figure.
When he is three years old, his father, Chayton Enapay Redbone, a full-blooded
Sioux Indian, is killed in Operation Desert Storm. From that point
on, he is raised in Portland, Maine by his kind-hearted Hispanic mother,
Juanita.
At
the age of nine, Julio meets his childhood sweetheart, Hannah Cummings.
They are virtually inseparable for the next five years—until she becomes
pregnant with his child, two weeks before her fourteenth birthday.
Hannah’s father, Gaylord, whisks her away to Boston to have an abortion.
When they return home, Gaylord tells Juanita that Julio must stay away
from his daughter, permanently, or there’d be trouble. “Big trouble.”
Julio complies.
In
his senior year of high school, Julio is awarded a full-ride athletic scholarship
to Boston University. But before he leaves for college, he shows
a renewed interest in Hannah, and their romance reignites. Immediately,
the axe falls on Julio’s head. Gaylord Cummings has Julio arrested
for Gross Sexual Assault. For a conviction, all that is required
is to show that Julio had sexual relations with Hannah before her fourteenth
birthday. In court, Gaylord produces a surprise document, a DNA analysis
performed on the fetal tissue, which proves conclusively that Julio is
the father. He is sentenced to fifteen years in prison.
After
spending eight years behind bars, Julio receives a pardon from the Governor.
By that time, Hannah has married Randolph Brewer. Julio is out of
prison, but heartbroken. A month later, he dies from lethal dose
of potassium cyanide.
Juanita
and Julio’s friends are certain that he has been murdered, but after a
cursory investigation, the Portland police conclude that it is probably
suicide. Juanita approaches Jesse Thorpe, a local private investigator,
to find Julio’s killer. He takes her case, pro bono, and sets out
to solve the murder.
This
is where our story begins.
Go
to Redbone
to read the opening chapter.
To
order through Amazon go to Paperback
or Kindle.
Author's
Bio
Carl Schmidt resides in Sedona, Arizona, but for the first 30 years of
his life he lived in eleven different US states, Newfoundland, Philippines,
Japan and India. Yet Maine's natural beauty and its colorful personalities
have always held a special place in his heart.
Special
thanks to JanMarie Moullen who edited the first three of these novels
and
Linda DeMers Hummel who helped edit Flim Flam.