SHE NEEDS A KID TO CATCH A KILLER…BUT HOW TO CATCH THE KID?

"Julie Smith writes like jazz should sound—cool, complex, and penetrating right to the heart.” -Val McDermid, best-selling author of the Tony Hill series

The TENTH installment of the Skip Langdon series is a New Orleans feast for the senses, a canine love story, an action-packed police procedural made-to-order for readers who like their female sleuths bold, smart, and refreshingly human. A serial killer is using Airbnb units to stage his murders, but a teenage runaway has escaped his grasp and now she's in the wind, believing she's killed him. Meanwhile the real killer stalks the city – and her.

Cody, the pink-haired sixteen-year-old, should be in school or at the mall texting her friends, not hanging out at the intersection of serial murder and human trafficking. When the options are: (1) Return to a life of slavery (2) Go to jail for murder (3) Be killed by a serial killer, Option 4 makes perfect sense – RUN! As mean as the streets of The City That Care Forgot can be, this child attracts angels (often unlikely ones) – and entire packs of dogs – who come to her aid.

She also finds a friend in NOPD’s newest Sergeant – big (six-foot!), beautiful, tough, and tender-hearted Skip Langdon. Skip knows her best hope of finding the killer is to find Cody – plus she feels for the girl, in whom she recognizes a younger version of her plucky, resourceful, whip-smart self. The city’s hard-boiled; the detective has a heart the size of the Superdome.

Longtime Skip Langdon fans who’ve thirsted for #10 will be delighted to hear the music of New Orleans in Smith’s prose. Fans of female-sleuth authors like Sue Grafton, Marcia Muller, and Linda Barnes, will love Skip Langdon’s pluck and charm. And those who particularly favor female cop stories, especially those by Nevada Barr, Lisa Gardner, Tana French, J.D. Robb, Karin Slaughter, Tess Gerritsen, and Anne Hillerman will find a new fave here.

“If you haven't discovered Smith yet, now is the time to do so… Move over, Sara Paretsky.” --KPFA-FM (Berkeley, CA)

“If it’s gritty realism you’re craving, gently simmered with spicy suspense and marvelously memorable characters, Smith is the perfect New Orleans tour guide… --The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)

“BRILLIANT.” --San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

Begin your discovery of Titus Ray Thrillers with this box set of Books I & II

Together, this highly acclaimed series has over 700 five-star reviews!

Book I, One Night in Tehran
When he starts searching for answers, an assassin begins his own search--for him.
In Tehran, while hiding out from the Iranian secret police, CIA officer, Titus Ray, finds shelter with a group of Iranian Christians. Compelled by their unwavering faith, the battle-hardened agent becomes a believer shortly before they smuggle him out of Iran to freedom in Turkey.

Returning to the States, he discovers his Iranian mission failed because of political infighting within the Agency. After delivering a scathing indictment against the Deputy Director of Operations, he's forced to take a year's medical leave in Oklahoma.

Before leaving Langley, however, he discovers a Hezbollah hit man has targeted him for assassination. Now, while trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of Christ, he must decide if the Iranian couple he meets in Oklahoma has ties to the man who's trying to kill him, and if Nikki Saxon, a beautiful local detective, can be trusted with his secrets.

Book II, Two Days in Caracas
On the hunt for an assassin, Titus Ray faces a threat he never imagined. Can he overcome the obstacles and capture Ahmed Al-Amin before it's too late?

In this pulse-racing Christian thriller, CIA intelligence officer, Titus Ray, travels from Costa Rica to Venezuela in an effort to stop Ahmed Al-Amin, a Hezbollah assassin, from murdering a high-profile government official. Along the way, a family crisis jeopardizes his mission, and an Agency division head threatens to destroy his career. As the danger mounts, he's forced to partner with an untested operative to complete the mission and bring Ahmed to justice. Will he make it in time?

Purchase Books I & II in the Titus Ray Thrillers Series for the price of one!

USA Today Bestselling Author
Seven European tourists set off on the trip of a lifetime—a Grand Circle Tour of the American West.

Unaware that a desperate journalist has hidden evidence in their van that could bring down a high-level criminal conspiracy—or that they are being pursued by ruthless thugs determined to retrieve the proof at any cost—the innocent visitors travel from one scenic stop to another.

The blistering heat, freezing cold, flash flooding, and a vast desert wilderness crammed with menacing wildlife are the least of their problems.

A comic mystery set amid the dangerous beauties of Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and Zion.

From USA Today, Audible, and 5-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Carolyn Jourdan, whose previous mystery, Out on a Limb, was voted a Best Kindle Book of the Year. And Ludger Dominic Bracht, an experienced guide and owner of Personal Scout Tours.

She began a journey of self-discovery. She never expected to uncover an old boyfriend and a dead body…

Stuart, Florida. With her parents deceased and her son away at college, Cara Mia Delgatto longs to reinvent herself. And a sentimental purchase of a fixer-upper in a small, coastal town seems ideal for a new business selling repurposed relics. But when she trips over a corpse at her rundown building, she flips from renovator to prime suspect.

Desperate to clear her name, it shocks Cara to discover that her property once housed a multi-million dollar art collection—stolen after the original owner’s death. And when her first love shows up and tugs at her heartstrings, her whirlwind life upgrades to a hurricane. With accusations of murder and theft looming, she’s running out of redos…

Can Cara crack the case and rebuild her reputation, or will her desire to upcycle treasures send her to jail?

Tear Down and Die is the charming first novel in the Cara Mia Delgatto traditional mystery series. If you like cozy reads, witty heroines, former flames reconnecting, and Florida’s beautiful Treasure Coast, you’ll adore Joanna Campbell Slan’s captivating tale.

Buy Tear Down and Die and relive the joy of a second chance at life and love today!

A novel of international intrigue and catastrophic terrorism from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Ghost War and The Faithful Spy.

For CIA operative John Wells, the underworld has become more real than the real world. He's spent years in the close company of evil men. And he's paid the price in every possible way. Now, he's on the ragged edge of burnout. His nights are plagued by twisted dreams. He's beginning to doubt if he can ever live a normal life—and he's right to think so.

When a power adversary from Wells's past finds him, he must once again enter the fray. For his country. For his soul. For revenge....

"It's a shell of a fun read!"

Nolan Parker just wants to relax, paint some turtles, and toss a ball with the dog. But like much of life, thing's aren't going as planned. The economy is supposedly, "The greatest in the history of the world," but he's just scraping by. What starts out as a side hustle to pay for wifi and dog treats, ends up with Nolan chasing a teenage runaway around the beaches of Florida trying not to get killed. Worse, his tropical paradise has been invaded by a crew of wacky Floridians...and maybe an alligator.

Will Nolan find the kid and get the girl? Or will the sunshine state suck him into its swamplands?

A TRIP AROUND THE WORLD TO KILL FOR

Celebrated mystery author Michaela Thompson whisks readers away to many an exotic place—and time—with the kind of realism that stems from William Faulkner” (NYTimes) in this complete collection: featuring dazzling armchair gems that will delight both classic cozy mystery and international thriller fans.

There’s psychological terror in India circa 1972, a moonshine-laced hurricane-fueled whodunit set in quaint Eisenhower era Florida, an American journalist sleuth in France, a burgling divorcee in San Francisco, and murderous revelry at Carnival in Venice. The common thread? Every one of these puzzling murder mysteries revolves around an irresistible female sleuth—each as unique as her own fingerprints.

MAGIC MIRROR
Florida transplant Georgia Lee Maxwell doesn't take to Paris at first, despite the fact that she's at least leaving a no-good man and a hated job as a society editor. Now she's a Paris correspondent, thank you very much—a dream come true for any journalist. There's just a slight down side—she arrives in freezing rain, gets caught in a traffic jam caused by a bomb scare, and finds herself face down on a museum floor during a robbery.

A TEMPORARY GHOST
In journalist Georgia Lee Maxwell's second adventure, she leaves her new home in Paris for Provence, where she's been offered a lucrative ghost-writing job. But her co-author, suspected murderess Vivien Howard, the widow of a wealthy New York financier, seems strangely uninterested in writing her memoir Vivian was widely believed to have murdered her husband but was never charged with the crime, and now she promises to tell all.

FAULT TREE
“Placing blame” thinks Marina Robinson, “is my life’s work. And why?” There’s a lot in her past to account for—nightmares and terrors, crimes and betrayals that happened half a world away, ten years go. Now she’s an engineer with a great job. She’s a failure analyst, an investigator who figures out what causes accidents, and she’s working on her most fascinating case--the fatal crash of a roller coaster--when suddenly the phone rings…

VENETIAN MASK
The surreal splendor of Venice glitters and mesmerizes as six so-called friends who, it turns out, barely know each other meet at Carnival to play a malignant game that quickly turns murderous.

PAPER PHOENIX
First comes divorce, then comes murder…or at least sweet thoughts of murder. Maggie Longstreet has plenty of them after slimy, ambitious Richard trades her in for a more recent model. She’s so depressed she can barely get out of bed when Larry Hawkins, a seemingly not-at-all depressed acquaintance, commits suicide out of the blue. Suddenly Maggie goes on high alert, remembering something her evil ex said about Larry—something highly suspicious.

HURRICANE SEASON
The 1950s fairly leap off the page in this classic cozy mystery set in northern Florida in the Eisenhower era, complete with Johnny Ray on the jukebox and a Womanless Wedding—this one interrupted by an explosion at a moonshine still. Lily Trulock, owner of Trulock’s Grocery Marine Supply, leads a pretty quiet life until a stranger comes to town.

RIPTIDE
As intricate as a fisherman’s net, Riptide fairly writhes with sinister delights—family secrets, family feuds, lost family fortunes, betrayals, puzzles, sunken treasure… and murder, of course. With a bit of illicit romance and treachery thrown in for seasoning.

HEAT LIGHTNING
In all the years of their marriage, Clara Trent’s husband failed to mention his involvement in a murder—and now he’s not only dead himself, but accused of committing it.

On his return from South Africa, Charles Knox is invited to spend the weekend at the country home of Sir Neville Strickland, whose beautiful wife Rosamund was once Knox's fiancée. But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery. This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.

An international manhunt sets the scene for an explosive thriller in the second Brit in the FBI novel featuring Special Agent Nicholas Drummond.

After working with Special Agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, Nicholas Drummond has joined the FBI. Now, he and partner Mike Caine are in an eleventh-hour race to stop a madman from finding a cache of lost World War I gold—and a weapon unlike anything the world has ever seen...

“A thriller packed with nonstop action, real-life name-dropping and enough cutting-edge science to make you wonder how much of it could be true.”—Kirkus Reviews

After years of hard work, Kendra Falstaff’s dream of attending law school is on the cusp of becoming reality. But when her troubled teenaged brother Jimmy gets arrested, she has to use her savings to help him.

After learning of the hardship he’s inadvertently put on Kendra, arresting officer Max Nolan’s guilt has him offering to help with Jimmy’s legal bills. Kendra turns down the offer, but the persistent and charming Max convinces her to at least let him take her on a date. Kendra’s walls begin to crumble and she finally accepts Max’s offer of help with the caveat that she pay back every dime.

For a while, all is well for the pair. They have much more in common than Kendra first thought and her dreams come alive again. But when Kendra’s abusive ex-boyfriend Coop returns after a year away—having been chased out of town by a baseball bat wielding Jimmy—he’s got revenge on his mind.

The first five volumes of the Joey Mancuso & Father O’Brian Mystery Series are now available at a killer bargain.

This rare crime mystery series has something for everyone—a tough guy, three awesome women, and a classic Golden Age gentleman-detective clergyman. The twist? The cop and the cleric are half-brothers who operate a PI firm out of their bar.

It’s a made-to-order for lovers of traditional mysteries, with the kinds of twists and scams and puzzles that warm a mystery fan’s heart like a shot of Jameson. Think Matt Scudder meets Father Brown. Also recommended for fans of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer mystery series, and, of course, the Sherlock Holmes adventures.

A MURDER ON WALL STREET

When one of Joey and Father Dom’s best customers dies in an apparent suicide —a Wall Street guy celebrating a new client the night before-- they're just not feeling it. They know he wasn’t a guy who wanted to die; and they quickly find out he was someone a lot of people wanted dead.

A MURDER ON LONG ISLAND

Just in time for Christmas, a wealthy real estate developer named Harold Longworth is on trial for the murder of his wife in the bedroom of their Long Island mansion, and the Manhattan elite are glued to their seats. Things are looking pretty grim when his team asks Joey to investigate the case, but better when he discovers that Mrs. Longworth’s personal and professional lives were a sticky web of secrets and lies, populated by a rogues' gallery of jealous lovers and corporate conspirators.
 
THE MANHATTAN RED RIBBON KILLER
 
Joey is called in to help the Midtown South precinct solve a series of brutal murders targeting young professional women. Case #1 at first seems to be an eve of kinky sex gone wrong. But when second and third bodies turn up—this time with the sign of the cross carved into their breasts—New York’s finest think they have a serial killer on their hands.

THE CASE OF THE ANTIQUITIES DEALER

From the beginning, there’s just something funny about parents who didn’t report a missing student right away, and days later still want no police. Hold it here! This is their beloved daughter, last seen leaving for a date. Why wouldn’t they want as much firepower as they can get? Because they know too much, that’s why—and Owen Parr’s clever detective senses that. Joey’s first job’s to save the girl, but no way he’s going to stop there. The scrappy PI and ex-cop’s going to get answers if it kills him.

THE MURDER OF PAOLO MANCUSO

Joey Mancuso was just a kid when he watched a stranger walk into a Little Italy bar, shoot his mobster dad in the chest, and calmly walk back out, disappearing into the Manhattan din. The murder was never solved. And the old mob adage “an eye for an eye” went unfulfilled. But now, at death’s door, infamous mobster Tony the Hammer summons Joey and utters three mysterious words: “Wetherly Stevens, Barcelona.” Joey has no doubt he’s just been told how to find his father’s killer.

Divorce a husband, lose a career … grapple with a murder.

TV journalist Elizabeth “E.M.” Danniher will tell you she committed two sins — she didn’t stay young, and she made an enemy of a powerful news executive — her ex. She used to break national news. Now her top story as the “Helping Out!” reporter at dinky KWMT-TV in Sherman, Wyoming is getting a defective toaster repaired.

Tough, funny and determined, Elizabeth wrestles with isolation, keeping a professional edge, and an evolving self-image. Is Wyoming — the land of cattle, cowboys, tumbleweeds, and fewer than six people per square mile — her new home or a road to permanent obscurity?

Soon she’s in a battle of wills with ex-football player turned journalist Mike Paycik, who might see her as a handy rung on his career ladder or a romantic partner or both. And there’s the matter of a deputy sheriff—missing or murdered? Elizabeth finds herself investigating at the insistence of a girl who’s set on proving her father’s innocence. Not that enigmatic rancher Thomas Burrell makes investigating easy for an amateur detective.

But Elizabeth won’t fade to black without a fight, no matter how final some might want to make her SIGN OFF.

Don’t miss any of the Caught Dead in Wyoming series by USA Today bestselling author Patricia McLinn
Murder, Mysteries, Humor, a Hint of Romance

Sign Off (Book 1)
Left Hanging (Book 2)
Shoot First (Book 3)
Last Ditch (Book 4)
Look Live (Book 5)
Back Story (Book 6), coming in 2017

What readers are saying about SIGN OFF:
“This is one of those books that you want to stop everything to read while hoping it never ends.”

“Sign Off is a brisk, enthralling page-turner” – P.B. Ryan, bestselling author

"That was fun"

“Colorful characters, intriguing, intelligent mystery, plus the state of Wyoming leaping off every page.” – Emilie Richards, USA Today Bestselling Author

“Be prepared for lots of twist and turns.”

“I read it in one sitting. I hadn't planned it that way, but just couldn't stop.”

“The characters were a mix of funny, sad, and quirky and were totally believable. There was just enough humor to lighten the story, but not to disrespect the seriousness of crime.”

Cuba - a land of classic cars, beautiful beaches, salsa music, and the best cigars in the world. As diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States starts to improve, everyone wants a piece of the action. When Mike’s friend, Jack Trout, asks Kelly and Mike to join his wife and him on an exploratory trip to a Cuban island, it’s an invitation they can’t resist. Mike’s dream of fly fishing the saltwater flats on the exotic island is quickly replaced when he’s asked by the local constable to help solve the murder of a British fly fishing guide, Dudley Samms. Jack becomes a suspect and his wife, Carola, asks Kelly to help solve the crime.

Plenty of quirky characters have reasons to wish Dudley dead, but who killed him? The Englishman who is the head of one of the largest international banks in the world? The American with no visible means of support, but who has plenty of money to fish all around the world? The victim’s wife? One of the Cuban fishing guides? Or was it Jack?
 

THE SECRET LOVES OF SENIOR SLEUTHS--AND A MOST UNTIMELY MURDER…

Skeletons clatter merrily out of closets, in the third witty murder mystery of the delightfully cozy Hubbert and Lil mystery series—not the least of which is the disclosure of 84-year-old Lil’s twenty-year secret love affair.

In this one, everybody’s favorite elderly amateur sleuth and her doting nephew—an unlikely but veritable dynamic duo—take on New York City’s fashionistas and, quite unfortunately, the mob.

At the tender age of 84, Aunt Lil has no shortage of gentlemen callers. So it’s not exactly a surprise when she interrupts her favorite nephew and sleuthing partner-in-crime T.S. (at yet another failed attempt at making Crème Brulee) to beg for help. This time she needs a hand tidying up her Flushing apartment—which was once likened to Times Square just moments after midnight on New Year’s Eve—in anticipation of a male visitor.

What is surprising is the fact that T.S. has never heard of the guy—a man named Max Rosenbloom, fabled multimillionaire owner of Max Rose Fashions. And it’s a downright shock that Max and Lil been secretly seeing each other—for over twenty years.

But when Max is an hour late, Aunt Lil falls into an uncharacteristic daze. And after she asks T.S. to “leave her alone”—a phrase thus far absent from her vocabulary, a radio bulletin breaks the news of the quarter-century: Max has been killed in a car bomb explosion in Manhattan.

Lil is overtaken with a private grief—which worries T.S., because, quite frankly, she’s never been private about much of anything—until she snaps out of it with the realization that her planned meeting with Max and his untimely death must be connected.Convinced the love of her life has been murdered in cold blood, she resolves to solve the puzzling crime—with trusty T.S. by her side.

Together, Aunt Lil and T.S. investigate the sophisticated trappings of the world of Manhattan fashion—including the lethal underbelly of the mob-controlled rag trade, white collar corporate embezzlement, and family secrets so chilling they leave even Aunt Lil speechless.

Because Max was filthy rich and in proverbial bed with the mob, there's no end to the list of suspects. But the list becomes one less when Max's own favorite nephew turns up dead. Could it be murder has become fashionable in the garment district?

A delectable treat for cozy fans, especially if you love Miss Marple, Miss Silver, Miss Seeton, Mrs. Pollifax, Jessica Fletcher, Agatha Raisin, Henrie O, and Hercule Poirot.

"A racing climax and a fully satisfying ending" – Kate Quinn
1960s Roma Nova. Retrained as an undercover agent, ex-Praetorian officer Aurelia Mitela is sent to Berlin to investigate silver smuggling, but barely escapes a near-lethal trap. Her lifelong nemesis, Caius Tellus, is determined to eliminate her. When Aurelia is closing in on him, he strikes at her most vulnerable point – her young daughter.

A former military commander, Aurelia is one of Roma Nova’s strong women, but she doubts in her heart and mind that she can overcome her implacable enemy. And what part does the mysterious and attractive Miklós play – a smuggler who knows too much? If you enjoy a good read with plenty of twists and a female protagonist driving the action, this is for you!

First in the Aurelia Mitela adventures, where Roman fiction is brought into the 20th century through an alternative history lens. INSURRECTIO, NEXUS (novella) and RETALIO follow on.

– Historical Novel Society’s indie Editor’s Choice for Autumn 2015
– B.R.A.G. Medallion
– Finalist, 2016 HNS Indie Award

Best Thrillers "18 Best FBI Thrillers Books" of All-Time

The biggest story of Francine Vega's career could end her life...or start World War III. Francine is a rising TV news reporter in New York City. Despite her brains, beauty and a growing following, she is stuck covering local interest stories. That is until her career literally hits the jackpot when the winner of a $450 million dollar lottery tells Francine that he is committed to using his new fortune to avenge his brother's killing at the Pentagon on 9/11. His seemingly crazy plan is backed by more than just money-he is in league with a ruthless and powerful Army Colonel gone rogue, religious extremists and co-conspirators in the highest levels of government. Francine teams with FBI Special Agent Will Allen, one of the few people who believe the threat is real, in a desperate race across three continents to stop the plot before it's too late.

Mean Woman Blues is the NINTH book in Edgar-winner Julie Smith’s Skip Langdon mystery series

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN THE WORLD IS TRYING TO KILL HER…

That would be the Rev. Errol Jacomine, crazy as a fox that just ate a loon, and more dangerous than a cell full of serial killers. She’s Detective Skip Langdon, the New Orleans cop who’s twice smashed his criminal endeavors, yet each time he’s managed to slip away. Now he’s mad. In both senses of the word. And he has the connections to have her killed—or worse, those she loves.

After one near-miss and several nasty threats, Skip is driven by fear that she’ll lose the people dearest to her. Despite finding herself disgraced in her own home town (Jacomine knows how to frame as well as kill), she goes on the hunt for a maniac with a gift for conning people and the extreme makeover to make it work.

THREE ANGRY WOMEN, EACH ONE DISSED, SCORNED, AND HELL-BENT...

But by now Jacomine’s madness has escalated to the point that he’s finally gone too far with too many people. Before it's over, more than one person’s stalking him, and some are women feeling as mean as their quarry. If Langdon doesn't get there first, there’ll be a bloodbath. If she does, only one person will walk away—and Jacomine’s as lucky as he’s ruthless.

"Smith combines a powerful heroine, creepily believable villain, and rich New Orleans setting." -Booklist

Fans of Nevada Barr, Ace Atkins, Laura Lippman, and Karin Slaughter will love Detective Skip Langdon’s pluck and charm in this action-packed psychological thriller.

In THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2), rookie criminal profiler Jessie Hunt, 29, picks up the pieces of her broken life and leaves suburbia to start a new life in downtown Los Angeles. But when a wealthy socialite is murdered, Jessie, assigned the case, finds herself back in the world of picture-perfect suburbia, hunting a deranged killer amidst the false facades of normalcy and sociopathic women.

Jessie, thriving again in downtown LA, is sure she’s moved on from her suburban nightmare. Ready to put her failed marriage behind her, she lands a job with the local police department, deferring her acceptance to the FBI’s Academy.

She is assigned a straightforward murder in a wealthy neighborhood, a simple case to start her career. But little do her bosses know, there's more to the case than anyone suspected. Nothing can prepare her for her first case, one that will force her to probe the minds of the wealthy, suburban couples she’d thought she’d left behind. Behind their polished family pictures and manicured hedges, Jessie realizes, perfection is not what it seems.

A fast-paced psychological suspense thriller with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding suspense, THE PERFECT BLOCK is book #2 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

Book #3 in the Jessie Hunt series—THE PERFECT HOUSE—is now also available!

USA Today bestselling author Robert Swartwood brings us his most page-turning psychological thriller yet — with a twist you won't see coming.

"Scream and I'll cut your throat."

In an instant, Ashley's life changes forever.

Two dangerous criminals have escaped from maximum-security prison.  Taken as their hostage, Ashley has to play their game if she wants to save her family — and herself.

But they've underestimated Ashley.

She'll do anything to survive.

Praise for Abducted: 

"Abducted is a quick, tight thriller that moves like the wind and keeps you guessing. Just when you think you know the score, you don't." —Joseph D'Agnese, Derringer Award-winning author of The Mesmerist

★★★★★ "Fun, fast, fresh!" - Word Junkie
★★★★★ "This stand-alone is easy to read and hard to put down." -BookZilla

Imagine your favorite teachers from high school are dying, mysteriously murdered one by one soon after the arrival of the new English instructor...

Mackenzie August is starting a new life. After a successful but destructive career as a high-profile California homicide detective, and then a less successful and even more destructive stint working for a church, he has moved to Virginia to start over as an instructor. The only thing he's bringing with him is Kix, his infant baby boy. He plans for peaceful living with his son, but trouble soon finds him as his new co-workers begin showing up dead outside of his classroom...