Colin Conway Books in Order

Fifteen crime stories follow people drawn into violent encounters and dangerous choices. Teenagers turn against a friend, a pickpocket uncovers a secret, and a betrayed husband plots revenge in a collection concerned with human weakness and its consequences.

Detective Wade Kellmer investigates the murder of a seemingly well-liked schoolteacher and uncovers affairs with several married women. A discovery connecting the case to his own past forces him to choose between protecting a friendship and fulfilling his duty.

Drummer Bill Bancroft recalls life on the American music circuit before MTV and the internet reshaped it. Encounters with major performers, unruly touring experiences and a changing personal life trace the attractions and costs of years spent on the road.

Sheriff Tom Jessup follows a suspicious death beyond his county and into a Spokane double murder. Four investigators pursue overlapping cases while mistrust, departmental politics and distance threaten their ability to connect the killings before the murderer acts again.

Returning to work after a personal loss, Detective Dallas Nash receives an old murder case with a connection to his youth. A fresh body found in the snow adds another investigation, leaving him to pursue two killers while struggling with grief.

Detectives Quinn Delaney and Marci Burkett investigate a finance blogger's death and uncover deception beneath an apparent accident. A helpful friend interferes with their work, while Quinn's own concealed weakness threatens his career and the search for the killer.

Random attacks on men wearing business suits spread fear through a city, leaving police uncertain how to respond. Beneath the apparent campaign against privilege lies a more specific target, a man whose hidden past may determine how he fights back.

Fleeing a vengeful motorcycle gang, Murray Lee reaches an Oregon island just before its bridge washes away. A vampire festival and a series of biting robberies attract police suspicion, trapping him between investigators and enemies who have finally located him.

Placed in a Maine town under a protected identity, Brody Steele inherits a mystery bookstore despite knowing little about books or business. A visitor asking about the previous owner threatens his fragile safety as enemies seek to uncover his whereabouts.

Starting over as a California record-store owner, Owen Hunter hopes to build a successful business without exposing his past. A local murder makes him the chief suspect, forcing him to clear his name before police attention compromises his protected identity.

Detective James Morgan leads a task force against a California gang expanding into eastern Washington. Respected by colleagues and feared by criminals, he is willing to bend the law, creating a conflict between protecting the community and the methods he uses.

An assortment of Spokane residents face violence and dangerous decisions in this short-story collection. A failed drug theft, a missing daughter, a risky neighborhood game and a police officer's unlawful search reveal different corners of the city's criminal life.

Hiding as a mall Santa, Ed Belmont hopes to survive the Christmas season without attracting attention. A criminal using the same disguise draws police toward his carefully concealed background, threatening both his freedom and the government protection keeping his enemies away.

Working at a retirement tower under a protected identity, Skeeter Dursky is unsettled by a visitor from his past. A celebrity resident’s murder locks down the building, leaving him to find the killer before police and reporters expose who he really is.

John Cutler investigates a friend's murder despite resistance from police, drug traffickers and a fugitive who has avoided capture for years. As bodies accumulate around his search, he must find the killer before another carefully concealed escape becomes possible.

An old love offers John Cutler money to return to Seattle and help her. Revived feelings and fresh lies complicate the job, while powerful people surrounding her appear willing to protect a dangerous secret through intimidation and murder.

Stories set in eastern Washington follow people caught in murder, concealment and violent consequences. A husband protecting his wife, contract killers, prisoners and a traveling serial murderer reveal the region through the choices of those confronting its darkest moments.

Former deputy Sam Strait returns home for a carefree summer and finds a stranger dead in his boat. His investigation attracts people demanding something he never knew he possessed, threatening the easygoing independence his carefully written rules were designed to protect.

Seeking warmth and a fresh start in Phoenix, Sam Strait becomes involved in a new friend’s violent death. Choosing to investigate rather than flee sends him across the California desert with outlaws in pursuit and his usual rules increasingly difficult to follow.

Detective Dallas Nash investigates the killing of a violent pimp despite weak evidence and widespread pressure to stop. With few people interested in justice for the victim, he must decide how firmly his duty applies to a man who harmed others.

Ned Delahanty prefers his quiet convenience-store job in Wyoming, until a blizzard traps travelers inside with a wanted robbery crew. Protecting the customers forces him into a dangerous contest that could reveal the past the government has helped him conceal.

A quiet afternoon at his favorite bar ends when a woman offers John Cutler a lucrative job. Drawn into gang rivalries, drugs and betrayal, the investigator must rely on judgment rather than violence if he hopes to prevent further bloodshed.

Five short stories follow former police officer John Cutler as he opens a private investigation business in Spokane. Gangsters, suspicious spouses and elusive killers quickly undermine any expectation that working for himself will make his life simpler.

John Cutler has rebuilt his life when an old friend asks him to clear an ex-wife accused of murder. Searching for the real killer threatens his relationship, business and fragile peace as police and criminals alike resist his investigation.

Sam Strait intends to stop interfering in other people’s problems until a woman claims she killed her friend but cannot remember how. Despite compelling evidence against her, his memories of being wrongly accused draw him into another dangerous investigation.

Retired soldier and police volunteer Ray Christy collects a lost wallet belonging to a woman who drowned the previous day. Its unexplained journey makes him suspect murder, and official reluctance to reopen the case pushes him toward investigating for himself.

Custodian Doyle Flanders is unexpectedly assigned a theme park’s popular Yeti costume. The unwanted attention becomes dangerous when mobsters pursue its usual wearer, leaving Doyle to evade criminals while protecting the secret identity that has kept his own enemies away.

A fatal shooting at an illegal club leads Detective Shane McAfee toward a similar case across jurisdictional lines. Competing police teams withhold information while more people die, forcing him to seek cooperation before departmental rivalry lets a murderer escape.

Detective Dallas Nash investigates a murder victim whose past includes an accusation of a serious crime. The killing may be delayed revenge or an unrelated encounter, and separating those possibilities forces him to examine the lasting consequences of earlier conduct.

Gang leader Tremaine Brown survives an ambush that throws his criminal world into chaos. With unidentified attackers and pursuing police closing in, he searches for an ally who can help him discover what happened before the night becomes his last.

A hotel flu outbreak leaves porter Asher Reed struggling through a mystery readers’ conference with minimal staff. After an employee is murdered, he enlists guests to investigate before police inquiries uncover the protected identity linking him to a dangerous past.

John Cutler has never understood why his father disappeared shortly after his birth. A mysterious woman seeking help finding her missing boyfriend interrupts his newly stable life, and the man's identity draws Cutler toward answers he can no longer avoid.

An online performer witnesses a distant client's murder during a private session, then fears the killer will find her. Property Crimes detective Damien Truscott takes her account seriously, uncovering fraud and betrayal while trying to protect a witness others dismiss.

A homeless encampment obstructing a planned freeway becomes the center of neighborhood anger and political pressure. Nearby burglaries and a business owner's murder intensify the conflict, leaving Spokane detectives to find the culprits before suspicion turns into wider violence.

A thief discovers a disturbing secret, a father and son carry suspicious cargo and an employee's betrayal brings unexpected consequences. These eastern Washington crime stories follow people whose efforts to profit, escape or start over place them in dangerous circumstances.

Sterling Carter has learned to appreciate his quiet bakery job in a Washington border town. Criminal visitors searching for an informant threaten that new life, forcing him to outwit would-be abductors without exposing the identity government protection was meant to conceal.

Former deputy Sam Strait follows warm weather and rules designed to keep his life comfortable. A plea from an old love sends him instead toward snow and trouble, where helping her current boyfriend threatens both his plans and his carefully maintained boundaries.

A former apartment handyman is murdered while covering graffiti, reopening years of resentment toward his conduct. Detectives Quinn Delaney and Marci Burkett follow competing grudges and uncertain connections, seeking justice for a victim whose neighbors have little reason to mourn.

Rodney McCready wants membership in a powerful crime family and commits a terrible act to prove his loyalty. Protecting that secret draws him among treacherous allies, hostile enemies and federal investigators, leaving him unsure whether he is valued or expendable.

A murder in a gated community is overshadowed by another major crime, leaving detectives Andrew Parker and Jessie Johnson short of support. Neighborhood rumors and old resentments complicate their effort to discover who killed a man few residents appear to miss.

Gianna Rucker's murder follows a meeting with a stranger, but her own secrets may hold the explanation. Detective Heather Newberry finds no forced entry or obvious struggle and must determine who gained access to a home where the killer took time.

A missing woman's body exposes fractures beneath the image of her successful marriage. Quinn Delaney and fellow detectives navigate contradictory accounts and hidden motives while political officials compete to protect their reputations, threatening to overshadow the investigation itself.

Thirteen stories bring together crime, grief and efforts to escape troubled lives. Teenage violence, dishonest schemes and dangerous secrets appear alongside quieter accounts of bereavement and friendship, following people whose choices place them between personal pain and criminal consequences.

After seventeen years in prison, Joseph Messer wins parole, but the warden demands one final piece of information before letting him go. Release offers no clean beginning as the secrets that kept him useful inside continue to endanger him outside.