The people of Queenstown, Ohio, don’t take kindly to strangers. But they have no choice in the matter after a man’s body is found in a local park, pants unzipped and stabbed through the heart—and a second man’s body turns up days later, his head bashed in. Local law enforcement needs help with the town’s first-ever murder investigation. Private investigator Milan Jacovich (pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovitch) tags along when his main squeeze, Cleveland homicide detective Tobe Blaine, is dispatched to rural Ashtabula County to handle the case. Word travels fast in the small town, and the mixed-race couple receives a cold welcome. The motel manager doesn’t like their looks, the coroner conveniently forgets key details, and patrons at the local watering hole flaunt their disrespect for Tobe’s out-of-town badge and her skin color. Milan enlists his young assistant, Kevin “K.O.” O’Bannion, to glean information from the town’s teens, who tell tales of their parents’ fervent devotion to their local pastor, an outspoken bigot. Did homophobia factor in the murders? Looming over the case is nearby Conneaut prison—privately run, overcrowded, and rumored to employ some questionable methods (as well as many local residents). Inside its walls, a powerful convict known as “The Prophet” just might have the information Tobe and Milan need to solve the case—if they can get him to talk. Queenstown might only be an hour’s drive from Cleveland, but Milan, Tobe, and K.O. find themselves strangers in a strange land. They also soon find themselves neck-deep in serious trouble.

#17 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series. The sudden death of a former client leads Milan and his young assistant K.O. O'Bannion to look behind the scenes at a harness racing track. Investigating the backstretch (as insiders call the working side of the track) they find no shortage of colorful characters and suspicious activities.

When a celebrity-packed motivational event turns deadly, Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich (MY-lan YOCK-ovitch) finds himself caught up in the mess. Milan and his associate Kevin "K.O." O'Bannion are hired as extra security for several high-profile inspirational speakers at a convention in downtown Cleveland, where they get off to a rocky start. Each special guest seems more unpleasant than the last--particularly Tommy Triller, the main draw for the weekend, with an ego to match his bank account. Tensions run high, but Milan thinks they have things covered . . . until Triller's dead body is found in his hotel room, a bullet hole between his eyes and a motivational CD jammed in his mouth. Among the suspects are fellow speakers, including southern psychologist Dr. Ben, who resented earning less than Triller; hip hop artist and convicted killer Hy Jinx; and former big-league baseball manager Tony Nardoianni, who might be willing to do almost anything for the right price. Milan figures he and K.O. are out of work when his significant other, Cleveland homicide detective Tobe Blaine, takes charge of the murder case. But to Milan's surprise, his old nemesis and local mob boss Victor Gaimari asks Milan to work for him. Nardoianni owes Victor, who wants to make sure the debt is paid--and that the aging athlete's gambling past stays under wraps as the murder investigation continues. Tobe's not happy to have Milan and K.O. operating on her turf. But a job is a job, and Milan is determined to clear his new client of murder . . . by finding the real killer.

The stately homes of Pepper Pike house some of Cleveland's biggest movers and shakers. And one of them--an advertising exec named Richard Amber--is missing. Private eye Milan Jacovich follows a trail that leads from posh private gun clubs to sleek corporate offices--and into the terror of murder. Reissue.

A simple missing-person case gets complicated when Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich discovers that 28-year-old Earl Dacey left behind a strange collection of voyeuristic videos in his mother's West Side house. Was Earl just a pervert shadowing Catholic schoolgirls in Northeast Ohio shopping malls with his hidden camera...or had he become entangled with unsavory characters in the local adult film business? When Milan uncovers a possible link to organized crime, the FBI gets interested- and Milan's "well connected" friend Victor Gaimari gets angry. After a dead body turns up, the Cleveland Police take over, and Milan figures he's off the case. So why does crusty Lieutenant McHargue ask him to lend a hand?--From inside front jacket flap.

Former Irish mafia hitman Brock Sheehan lives quietly on a boat fifty miles from Cleveland. His “retirement” angered the mob boss and his former job caused the Sheehan family to disown him. But when his long-lost nephew, Linus Callahan, tracks him down and asks him for assistance, he agrees to help. A few days earlier, the nephew got into a push-and-shove bar argument with a multimillion-dollar basketball player just released from prison for running a high-level dog-fighting ring. Then the athlete is murdered, and Linus becomes the Cleveland police department’s “person of interest.” So while Brock Sheehan asks questions regarding the illegal dogfight community, the athlete’s crazed fans subject him and his live-in girlfriend to a beating, and rapes one of his co-workers at the local animal shelter. In his travels all over NE Ohio, Brock finds himself in Youngstown where he discovers the woman he’s loved all his life, Arizona Skye, who walked out on him years ago and disappeared because of his violent profession. Now she works as a TV news reporter in Youngstown and he hopes to somehow rekindle that love from ten years ago. Investigating the athlete’s former dogfight ring, Brock gets most unpleasant with the remaining partner—and winds up with a pit bull of his own, which he names Conor, after an Irish saint. And eventually, with Conor’s instincts, he discovers and turns over to the police the real killer of the dog-killer turned sports legend.