Private Cities

A robber is dead, and a young woman stands accused. Not only a witness, Nick is a victim, and he'll need help to keep his assignment on track. His girlfriend Sandra answers the call, but a personal interest draws her into the investigation when the thief’s death turns out to be an overdose. A Satanic Preist faces off with a televangelist, and both may even be suspects. Was this an accident? Where did the drugs come from? How did the victim get them? The questions point to one answer, but there is something missing. The key lies in Nick's memory and a single photo.

Rushmore McKenzie, former St. Paul police detective and unexpected millionaire, does the occasional, unofficial private detective work - mostly favors for friends. He’s faced kidnappers, domestic terrorists, art thieves, among others, and had a hand in solving some of the most perplexing mysteries of the Twin Cities. But this time, his prodigious luck and intuition may have finally failed him: He was shot in the back by an unknown assailant and lies in a coma.

Several years ago, Rushmore McKenzie became an unexpected millionaire and set about doing not much of anything. Now, showing up at his doorstep is the insurance company that paid the settlement that made him rich - and they want a favor. Someone has stolen a very expensive gem from a local art museum and is willing to ransom it back. The only condition is that McKenzie has to be the go between. And this is no ordinary gem - it is a jade sculpture with a history going back to the Qing Dynasty and a reputed curse that stories claim has ruined or killed everyone who has ever owned it.

Rushmore “Mac” McKenzie has a lot of old girlfriends, but only one went on to marry the current governor of the state of Minnesota. And only one is calling him with a desperate request to meet in secret. First Lady Lindsay Barrett is carrying an anonymous e-mail that contains the makings of an ugly rumor about her husband, the man about to run for higher office - perhaps even the highest office. Someone says they have evidence that Jack Barrett killed his high school sweetheart. Lindsay says it’s an outright lie, but the truth lies buried decades in the past.

Right up until they put him in jail, McKenzie thought the cops were kidding. After all, he did them a favor by stopping a rookie cop from roughing up a distraught woman at a murder scene. But the next thing he knows, he’s in jail, missing an important date with his girlfriend and reliving nightmares he thought he had left far behind him - and vowing payback for all of it. If that means sticking his nose into an ongoing murder investigation, well, he’s done it before.

Louise Wykoff is arguably the most recognizable woman living in Minnesota, known for her presence in over 100 paintings by the late and brilliant Randolph McInnis. Louise, known better as “That Wykoff Woman”, was just a young apprentice when her intimate representation and the fact of the McInnis’ marriage caused rumors to fly - and Louise to hide away for decades. All of McInnis’ paintings are in museums or known private collections, until Louise confesses to having three more that no one has ever heard of - and now they’ve been stolen.

Once a police detective in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rushmore McKenzie has become an unlikely millionaire and an occasional unlicensed private investigator, doing favors for friends. The favor, this time, is for a friend of a friend - Erin Peterson, a local business person and owner of a growing food company called Salsa Girl. Someone seems to have a beef with her: The outside locks on her factory having been systematically filled with superglue. But for some reason, Erin doesn’t want to report this harassment to the police.

Once a police detective in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rushmore McKenzie has become not only an unlikely millionaire, but an occasional unlicensed private investigator, doing favors for friends and people in need. When his stepdaughter Erica asks him for just such a favor, McKenzie doesn’t have it in him to refuse. Even though it sounds like a very bad idea right from the start. The father of Malcolm Harris, a college friend of Erica’s, was found murdered a year ago in a park in New Brighton, a town just outside the Twin Cities.

During one of the first heavy snows of the winter, on the interstate outside the Twin Cities, Rushmore McKenzie is behind a truck behaving erratically when the man in the truck bed dumps a body out onto the road, right in front of McKenzie’s car. McKenzie avoids hitting the body, a bound woman who is just barely alive, but his stopped car in the middle of the road starts a chain of accidents, resulting in a 37-car pile-up. By the time the police arrive, and the EMTs and ambulances have taken care of the immediate injuries, the truck is long gone.

Ex-St. Paul cop Rushmore McKenzie has more time, and more money, than he knows what to do with. In fact, when he’s willing to admit it to himself (and he usually isn’t), Mac is downright bored. Until he decides to do a favor for a friend facing a family tragedy: Nine-year-old Stacy Carlson has been diagnosed with leukemia, and the only one with the matching bone marrow that can save her is her older sister, Jamie. Trouble is, Jamie ran away from home years ago.

"Und ich sagte noch: Das wird blutig. Verdammt, er wollte nicht hören." Patsy und Milo wollen an das große Geld. Doch nicht nur der rechtmäßige Besitzer hat was dagegen, sondern auch ein Mörder, der seit Wochen seine blutige Spur durch die Stadt zieht. Pearl, Ermittler wider Willen, muss indes eine Broadway-Diva aufspüren. Doch weder die Cops noch die Familie der Sängerin hegen daran großes Interesse. Schon bald gerät er selbst ins Visier. Welcome to FREAK CITY. Noch härter. Noch abgründiger. Die neue Serie von Martin Krist. Jede Episode in sich abgeschlossen.

A recipe for murder, romance, lies, and mystery is on the menu. In the first episode in the series, in the upscaled suburbs of Bay City, a wealthy man is found murdered in his own bedroom. His wife is missing, and he is the prime suspect. Enter private investigator Johnny Blake, a former homicide detective for the BCPD. Leads become more entangled, and not everything is as it seems. John enlists aid from street-smart kid Jimmy McNeil to help solve the case.

When a twin-engine Beechcraft crashes into one of Richmond’s watering holes and turns happy hour into Hell, theories run rampant. Was it terrorists who, for some reason, decided to vent their spleens on unsuspecting Richmond? Was it a statement by homegrown killers less-than-thrilled that the city still, in the 21st century, chooses to honor Confederate leaders on its most prominent avenue? The obvious answers, though, just don’t pan out. Hard-charging reporter Willie Black’s search for the truth eventually leads him to a small town on the Chesapeake....

Luke Mbeki has never been a fan of politics. His family knows this about him. As well as his friends. Even his colleagues are privy to this fact. He is therefore left bewildered when he finds himself in the middle of not one, but two cases that involve opposing political parties. When he is coerced into pledging his allegiance to one political campaign after the murder of a prominent person on their team, he knows he's definitely bitten off more than he can chew.

Erma Johnson lives in a rough part of Baltimore. Gangs are a fact of life. She lost her daughter and grandson to their violence. She's convinced, however, that her grandson wasn't in a gang. Hacker turned private investigator C.T. Ferguson takes her case. The more he looks around, the more he thinks she's right.

Laurie Montgomery is the owner of the Mystic Journey Gift Shop, a Wiccan, Pagan, and occult supply store. She also runs a local death café in the back of her shop. Now, the members of her group are dropping one by one. Is she to blame? Where does she turn? Who does she turn to? Ride along with Cole and friends in this action-packed tale of lies and betrayal.

Herb Bean watches a lot of television, mostly cop shows and Forensic Files. Now his wife has disappeared without a trace. Herb knows the husband is always the prime suspect. Where do you turn when you are afraid to turn to the police?

The Austin music scene is just the ticket, and throwing in a little recreation seems like a good idea. But a local musician has been killed, and a new friend of Nick's wants his help. However, the police have warned him off the case, and he really doesn't want to be involved.

Luke Mbeki thought he had everything in life. A successful business. A dependable business partner. A loyal team who were committed to his business goals. Yes, his business was the main priority in his life, and everything else had to play second fiddle. When his business partner is found dead and his business is closed while the police investigate, it seems his ideal life as he knew it is over. Matters take a turn for the worse when the police identify him as a prime suspect. He's confused, afraid, and angry that they would imagine he would ever commit such a heinous crime.

Nick O’Flannigan and Sandra Watson, freelance photographers on assignment for Travel USA magazine, stumble upon a mystery when they visit a local brewery. A bartender reveals that her ex-girlfriend, a journalist, was recently murdered and that she is the prime suspect.