The Nick Bancroft Mysteries

A young woman with a sex etiquette book in her lap is found dead at a high school football stadium. Freelance reporter and novice PI Nick Bancroft is hired by the girl’s father Ramsey Sinclair to find the killer and gets kicked around by various suspects as he pursues the killer and the story. His work is interrupted when he begins a love affair with receptionist Maggie Atley.

When a sexy nudist hires him to protect her from whoever is threatening her life, Nick Bancroft becomes the target. Someone tries to burn him alive, beats the hell out of him, and, since that didn't run him off, uses him for target practice. Meanwhile, two people are murdered, Nick's true love, Maggie Atley, is more than somewhat perturbed by his relationship with his client, and a mysterious club seems to hold the answer. Nick survives another losing season by his beloved Chicago Cubs, a vicious attack by a couple of huge dogs, and eventually puts the finger on the bad guys.  

When Vicki Fowler's body is found covered with bee stings in a Central Illinois pasture, the sheriff calls her death an accident. Freelance reporter and private detective Nick Bancroft doesn't believe it. He learns the victim lived in a home for young unwed mothers who work as waitresses and whores at a local nightclub.

When reporter Nick Bancroft's protégé, Bobby Scalf, is found murdered with a large spike in his head, Nick, while trying to find out who killed the boy and the reason why, discovers a conspiracy that includes the town council, the school board, the police chief, and the local newspaper publisher. He survives several attempts on his life and that of his stormy lover to nail the killer and expose the town's secrets. 

Freelance reporter and sometime private detective Nick Bancroft is tough enough when he has to be. But he can be soft for the ladies. That's how he ends up at an outdoor band concert with Maggie - a librarian, divorcee, and his very talented lover - and is on hand to witness the murder of the very well-connected private secretary of a very important political figure.