Lawrence De Maria Books in Order

Private investigator Jake Scarne probes a reporter's violent death and uncovers financial fraud, political corruption, and organized crime. Falling for the woman behind a rogue billionaire complicates his loyalties and brings dangerous consequences for them both.

A dying hit man's confession sets off a reckoning over a murdered girl. Jake Scarne's world collides with a financial mastermind hidden among New York's elite, drawing criminals and investigators into an international conspiracy involving billions.

A secret CIA unit trades assassinations of protected mob informants for money and intelligence. When its leading killer eliminates the wrong man, the arrangement unravels amid an enormous Ponzi scheme and an approaching Category Five hurricane.

Alton Rhode searches for a bank embezzler missing for fourteen years after a woman says his bone marrow could save her daughter. A murderous pursuer and an armed protector complicate a case entangled with organized crime.

Jake Scarne protects bestselling novelist Sebastian Quimper at a crowded publishing conference after threats and a coauthor's murder. Investigating the killing reveals competing interests surrounding Quimper's work, a major publishing merger, and the danger facing him.

Alton Rhode is hired to clear Elizabeth Olsen, caught fleeing her banker lover's murder with a gun. An apparently straightforward prosecution becomes a journey into a Southern town's buried past, where a dangerous secret changes the case.

A questionable priest asks Alton Rhode for help as apparently unconnected murders spread across Canada and the United States. Encouraged by an underworld ally, Rhode pursues the killer across thousands of miles and becomes a target himself.

The murder of Sister Veronica brings Massachusetts detectives to Alton Rhode, whose past includes the respected educator. Cleared of suspicion but troubled by old memories, he follows a national trail seeking a motive and the killer.

Jake Scarne investigates a business executive's death in Hawaii for a widow who once abandoned him at the altar. The emotionally charged assignment expands into an international biological-terrorism conspiracy threatening far more than his client.

A hired assassin discovers that the elderly man he killed was a Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient. Feeling deceived by his employers, he turns to a trusted investigator to identify them and pursue revenge.

A Nazi doctor's wartime discovery leads two CIA agents to the Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Ordered to investigate and kill if necessary, they confront a mystery involving aliens, advanced physics, and a possible threat to the world.

When a crime boss's daughter is kidnapped from her Ivy League college, her mother hires Jake Scarne rather than involve the FBI. Scarne works alongside a veteran mob enforcer, confronting dangers that reach beyond their initial suspicions.

A media company seeks proof that two sports stars committed a murder blamed on another man. When the inquiry stalls, the freelancer who exposed the injustice refuses to abandon it, uncovering a larger and more dangerous plot.

Laurene Robillard returns to Alton Rhode's office seeking answers about her grandfather's murder. Though she once helped endanger him, Rhode investigates, traveling to a secretive Southern town where killers threaten to silence a financial conspiracy.

Newly settled in St. Louis, Lucy and Kentucky hear Cowboy Bob’s frontier stories at his ranch. His first tale follows the theft of children’s pet ponies near Fort Lincoln, turning a mystery in Wyoming Territory into an adventure for young listeners.

While attending a wedding on Bald Head Island, Alton Rhode and Alice Watts meet a reclusive literary celebrity. The encounter draws Rhode into murders, publishing intrigue, and danger that transforms the island celebration into another investigation.

A Russian researcher revives a virus frozen in Siberia for thirty thousand years. As terrorists plan to exploit it, CIA assassins Cole Sudden and Rebecca Soul join a race spanning several countries to avert a biological catastrophe.

Alton Rhode investigates the shooting of a detective friend, only to find the apparent gunman is dead. When a child killer begins a nationwide spree, Rhode discovers connections between the cases and pursues a baffling suspect.

Jake Scarne exposes a Caribbean lottery fraud with help from a talented local woman. The apparent success provokes corrupt politicians, a Colombian cartel, and an American financier, drawing him into a deadly struggle where loyalties become uncertain.

A forgotten Nazi atomic device surfaces in the Louvre after the Notre Dame fire. An American journalist, an Italian priest, and a French policewoman stand between Paris and extremists who intend to detonate the long-hidden weapon.

Alton Rhode travels to San Francisco to investigate an apparent suicide and encounters a cryptocurrency conspiracy. A resourceful young woman helps him navigate bitcoin while Russian and Chinese players bring murder and international intrigue into the case.

A death in a nursing home prompts Alton Rhode to undertake an insurance investigation. The inquiry expands into murder and betrayal, exposing a conspiracy involving radioactive isotopes, military honor, and a Southern military academy's financial affairs.

Jake Scarne confronts a serial killer whose fortune and political connections provide protection. This installment in his investigations centers on the challenge of pursuing a murderer with the power to shield himself from the consequences of his crimes.

CIA assassin Cole Sudden considers retirement while on enforced leave, but a terrorist nuclear plot draws him back. Intelligence agencies hunt a hydrogen bomb intended to ignite a world war, forcing Sudden into another urgent operation.

Scientist Vera Hope develops an artificial kidney that threatens a dialysis empire, making her a target for assassins. When she encounters Jake Scarne in the Caribbean, his search for peace becomes a fight to keep her alive.

An elderly Holocaust survivor dies in her rent-controlled Manhattan apartment, exposing a conspiracy among property developers impatient for her to leave. Jake Scarne and Noah Sealth investigate the forces that made her more valuable dead than alive.

A scientist creates a deadly plague in his basement, and horrific illnesses strike an American fishing village and a Canadian monastery. As governments struggle to contain panic, Jake Scarne faces a threat whose next destination remains unknown.

Twin brothers running nursing homes recruit a killer into an insurance scheme concealed by pandemic deaths. An idealistic young woman grows suspicious, threatening a murderous arrangement that has brought three serial killers together in one college town.

A dying mobster asks Jake Scarne to investigate the man his estranged daughter plans to marry. What begins as a troubling family matter turns deadly, forcing Scarne to confront enemies whose violence reaches far beyond the couple.

A routine takeout stop pulls private investigator Alton Rhode into a conflict between rival Tongs. When arson and assassination bring the violence close to home, his pursuit of revenge threatens his alliances and his life.

Disgraced journalist Ellen Shaw returns to Iowa for her mother’s funeral and takes a job at a local newspaper. Pursuing a cold case her mother investigated draws her and a policewoman into a conspiracy involving Las Vegas criminals.

Lucy and Kentucky return to Cowboy Bob’s ranch and experience something strange in a medicine man’s teepee. Encounters involving a young Teddy Roosevelt, rattlesnakes, and a tornado leave them questioning whether their adventure truly happened outside their bodies.

Alton Rhode travels to Oregon for his aunt’s funeral and inherits valuable property. A sheriff asks him to investigate a suspicious death, and an unexpected discovery leads toward a case that challenges his understanding of justice.

Lucy and Kentucky move from Philadelphia to St. Louis in 1904, fearing the dangers of the West. Their encounters with Cowboy Bob and the excitement of a new city transform their apprehension into adventures they would not exchange for their old lives.

Alana Beck escapes a brutal past in Argentina to become a wealthy pharmaceutical executive and a fixture of Manhattan society. This original screenplay follows her privileged new life against the backdrop of a city terrorized by a serial killer.

A gunman attacks Alton Rhode’s office and warns him away from a case he has never heard of. When a nun arrives seeking answers about her murdered brother and his missing body, the warning begins to make sense.

Retired detective Jake Scarne expects a quiet life until hijackers seize the Staten Island Ferry carrying him. Their claimed terrorist motives conceal a different scheme, and Scarne must draw on old skills and an unlikely ally.

A female serial killer uses beauty, intelligence, and an ability to blend in to punish people who wronged her. Her revenge exposes government corruption, leaving an FBI agent and a journalist to choose where their loyalties lie.

After her research team is murdered, Dr. Lena Caldwell needs protection from executives threatened by her potential medical breakthrough. Jake Scarne takes the case, facing an assassin determined to silence her before her discoveries threaten corporate profits.

CIA assassin Cole Sudden promises a dying man that he will stop a rogue killer whose actions he privately finds justifiable. Keeping that promise requires seeking help from a dangerous source, testing the loyalties behind his professional mission.

Ten crime stories follow murder, revenge, betrayal, and thwarted violence across settings including Miami Beach, a coastal island, a nursing home, and snowy terrain. Assassins, a judge, and innocent victims feature in encounters that turn ordinary situations toward danger.