John Scherber Books in Order

Painter Paul Zacher is pulled from the Yucatán into the murder of a San Miguel antiques dealer, found with a twenty-centavo coin in his mouth. With Maya and retired detective Cody, Paul searches for the killer.

A nonfiction account of expatriate life in San Miguel de Allende, told with an eye for its people and daily rhythms. Scherber explores what draws newcomers to the old colonial city.

Paul Zacher is asked to authenticate and transfer a possible fifth Maya codex, an astonishing find with an inflammatory message. Collectors, rebels, and the government all want it, leaving Paul trapped between violent rivals.

Vampire Monty Townshend is unearthed after 77 years in his coffin and returns to his ancestral mansion. Modern women, a watchful maid, and a tempting neighbor make his comeback far more complicated than planned.

After only five months back in his coffin, vampire Monty Townshend returns furious and ready to settle scores. His second attempt at modern life brings fresh trouble for everyone caught in his orbit.

A bioterror crisis threatens to overwhelm ordinary systems and expose the limits of government response. Rather than a simple spy thriller, the story focuses on how people endure catastrophe through their relationships.

A portrait commission goes wrong when a former vice president is murdered after a single sitting. Paul Zacher investigates, only to find the evidence increasingly points toward him and Maya as the killers.

Paul Zacher and his partners take on a new Murder in Mexico investigation shaped by family ties and dangerous secrets. The case tests what people will do to protect the ones they claim to love.

Jack arranges the murder of his wife, Jill, only for the supposedly perfect plan to turn against him. The Zacher Agency must determine whether he is victim, killer, or both.

The Zacher Agency arrives in Oaxaca during a violent teachers' strike to recover a lost cast of an Aztec gold skull. Their rival is a ruthless heir with a family connection to Nazi power.

Deaths in St. Paul, Houston, and Santa Fe seem unrelated until a painter living underground in Mexico links them. Detective Ken Abrams and writer Rebecca Stuart uncover a revenge plot rooted in the sixteenth century.

The Zacher Agency heads north to the United States to find Cody Williams's missing nephew. What they uncover may not be the man they seek, but it is more dangerous than any of them expected.

A suspense novel about a promised refuge that proves less safe than it first appears. As hidden pressures build, the people searching for a new beginning must confront the threat within their own paradise.

Paul Zacher faces a backward kind of case, where identifying the culprit is easy but identifying the crime is not. The trail leads to a crooked Guanajuato governor and puts the agency itself in danger.

An international mystery writers' conference brings trouble to San Miguel de Allende. Paul Zacher is drawn into a case where literary personalities, public reputations, and murder make a dangerous combination.

Paul Zacher finds a genuine old-master painting while Mexico's image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is stolen for a private collection. Recovering it means facing powerful people and unsettling questions about authenticity.

A plainspoken guide for writers at the beginning of the road. Drawing on his own long return to fiction, Scherber shares practical lessons about craft, persistence, and learning through the work itself.

A nonfiction look at expatriates finding unexpected lives beyond Mexico's familiar tourist routes. Scherber gathers stories of people who settled in the country and learned to navigate its places, communities, and changes.

Archaeology students and their professor discover an intact royal tomb near the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna. A sinister brotherhood pursues them across the desert, determined to bury the tomb's explosive secret.

The Zacher Agency is summoned to the Yucatán for a case that becomes more threatening than expected. Paul, Maya, and Cody must track a predator while staying alert to the dangers around them.

Scherber offers a practical, personal view of everyday life in San Miguel de Allende. The book considers the people, routines, culture, and small complications that shape an expatriate's experience.

When San Miguel police are stalled by a brutal case, Paul Zacher and his partners are pulled into the search for answers. Their investigation leads toward Veracruz and a danger no one wants to name.

Religion comes calling at the Paul Zacher Agency, bringing a case with personal beliefs and hidden motives at its core. Paul and his partners must decide who is seeking help and who is setting a trap.

The Zacher Agency enters a world of spirited horses, wealthy owners, and high-stakes competition. Paul Zacher soon finds that the people around the stable may be more unpredictable than the animals.

A young woman from Minnesota travels into Chiapas and becomes entangled with a deadly Mexican cult. Paul Zacher and his partners must find her amid unfamiliar terrain and people who guard their secrets fiercely.

A Northern California winery family rents a grand San Miguel house while exploring new properties, then its patriarch is murdered. Paul Zacher faces a crowded suspect list full of family money and buried resentments.

An eccentric San Miguel figure leaves behind journals that draw Paul Zacher into a new mystery. As the past comes into focus, the agency finds that private obsessions can have public and dangerous consequences.

A young actress is murdered onstage on opening night, turning a theatrical production into a crime scene. Paul Zacher must untangle backstage rivalries before the killer gets a chance at a final act.

Paul Zacher faces a case that asks whether old friends or new enemies are more dangerous. The investigation leads him into uncertain loyalties, where every helpful connection may come with a price.

A personal look at making a home in San Miguel de Allende. Scherber reflects on expatriate life, daily adjustments, friendships, and the surprises that come with choosing Mexico as home.

The ancient cultures of central Mexico push into the present when Paul Zacher's latest case takes a dangerous historical turn. He must follow clues through competing interests before the past claims another victim.

A decades-old pool involving Hollywood players resurfaces with deadly consequences. Paul Zacher is drawn into a mystery where old bets, old names, and a buried past prove far from finished.

After a Mexican cathedral collapses, a hidden network beneath it is destroyed and a small band of survivors heads north. A renegade priest and his girlfriend face a desperate question, where can these refugees safely disappear?

Paul Zacher is hired by the owner of a missing Matisse, a job that should suit his art-world expertise. Instead, the search uncovers competing claims and dangers that extend far beyond one painting.

An earthship-style colony arrives in Moon Valley with its own ideals and tensions. When murder disrupts the community, Paul Zacher must look past its hopeful surface to find the person with the most to hide.

A wealthy Boston lawyer's family gathers, bringing old grievances and questions of inheritance with them. Paul Zacher's investigation turns a family reckoning into a case where the promised payoff may be deadly.

A collection of five suspenseful tales featuring murder, mystery, strange threats, and dark humor. These shorter works offer a quick tour through Scherber's interest in crime, the paranormal, and dangerous secrets.

A ruined hacienda begins to yield its secrets, and the promise of gold brings old tensions to the surface. Paul Zacher and his partners face a case where a valuable discovery makes everyone a suspect.

Tired of Mexican beach life, Ken joins friends at an isolated farmhouse near the Canadian border. When a deep blizzard cuts off power and communication, the winter forces difficult truths into the open.

Nazi-looted art surfaces in San Miguel de Allende, putting Paul Zacher's knowledge of paintings to use. The search for its history and rightful ownership leads the Zacher Agency into a dangerous conflict.

Jessica Lain's attraction to much older men draws the Zacher Agency into a case where desire, money, and murder overlap. Paul Zacher must sort out who is exploiting whom before the danger closes in.

Paul Zacher and the Zacher Agency take on another San Miguel case where danger closes in fast. With loyalties shifting and the truth hard to reach, escape may depend on solving the mystery first.

A Chinese spy ring reaches south of the border, placing American expatriates in danger. Paul Zacher is caught between protecting the targets and convincing them they are victims before it is too late.

A valuable emerald and the story behind it bring Paul Zacher into another case of art, history, and dangerous ownership. The Zacher Agency must separate a genuine lead from the people using it as bait.

A case hiding in full view tests Paul Zacher's talent for noticing what others dismiss. As the agency revisits familiar people and places, the obvious answer proves to be the most dangerous one.

Murder disrupts life at Raven Ranch, where private lives and property interests are tightly tangled. Paul Zacher and his partners must uncover what lies beneath the ranch's carefully managed appearance.

Paul Zacher confronts a mystery tied to a Templar relic and the people determined to possess it. Historical legend becomes present danger as the Zacher Agency follows a trail with increasingly high stakes.

A bronze work becomes the center of a troubling new mystery for Paul Zacher. Art, memory, and a growing sense of danger pull the agency toward a truth that someone is determined to keep hidden.

Paul Zacher's latest investigation asks what people will risk to preserve a dream of a better life. As appearances crack, the Zacher Agency finds that hope can be used as a weapon.