Showing results by author "Robert W. Stephens" in All Categories

Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford is used to weathering difficult cases. And since one of the victims is his sister-in-law’s abusive ex, Poe hopes nobody looks too hard at his own compelling motive. Ignoring the sound advice to keep his nose out, Poe spars with the island’s newest police detective who seems to have her own hidden motivations, especially when she asks Poe to help with another case.

Lights. Camera. Murder. When lies become reality, can Poe find the truth before a killer strikes again? The Last Kill is the tenth standalone novel in the Murder on Maui series. If you enjoy colorful characters, a touch of humor, and plots that bend and twist like a palm tree on a windy beach, then you’ll love Robert W Stephens’ mysteries.

Edgar Allan "Poe" Rutherford is Maui's best unlicensed private investigator. When a client asks Poe to look into a decade-old death on the beach, he can't help but be intrigued. The police ruled it a suicide, but it's up to him to prove otherwise. As soon as Poe takes the case, people related to the victim start turning up dead - a sure sign that he's on the right track. But can Poe identify the killer...before he becomes the next victim?

Imagine Monty Python writes horror...Welcome to the wonderfully horrific world of Bizarro - that dark, forbidding corner of the horror genre where absolutely anything goes and one may delve into the farthest recesses of the authors' warped imaginations. Prepare yourself, dear listener, for a journey into the unknown reaches of terror, from which you can only hope you will return with your sanity intact...

Edgar Allan "Poe" Rutherford didn't think twice when he took his fiancé's case. After all, Detective Alana Hu had known the victim since childhood. Besides, the evidence is easy to decode: all signs point to the victim's estranged husband. As Poe works to get the killer behind bars, he can't help but be distracted by his fast-approaching wedding. But Maui beaches have a knack for luring people into a false sense of security, and Poe's error could extract the highest cost imaginable. After all, you can't have a wedding without the bride.

Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford is nervously facing his newest challenge: fatherhood. With his expectant wife insisting he take on work and quit pacing the room, the expert private investigator is relieved to pick up a call from an attorney in need of his expertise. But with the lawyer’s client up for murder after his missing-for-years spouse shows up dead in a freezer, Poe dives into a cold case now running hot. Discovering a long line of suspects eager to testify to the accused’s evil ways, Poe fears he may be representing a man capable of homicide.

Maui, Hawaii. PI Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford has the perfect gift for his wife’s birthday. Arranging a Zoom call with her favorite childhood actor, Poe is thrilled when his surprise is a hit. But when the well-loved celebrity is discovered dead in his home a few days later, the private eye travels to LA to find the truth. With the grieving daughter suspicious of her famous father’s death, the detective dives deep into the star’s life to investigate possible foul play.

A dying partner. An otherworldly healer. A race against time. To save his terminally ill psychic partner, private investigator Alex Penfield is on the trail of a mysterious man with healing abilities…but so is a clandestine organization of cutthroat assassins. In a run-in with the assassins, Penfield learns of the mystery man’s harrowing fate and determines to help him. Can Penfield track down the man before the professional killers? And just who - or what - is this healer?

He’s used to catching crooks, not proving their innocence. Can this Hawaiian investigator say aloha to the real killer? Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford knows his personal connection to a crime boss is wrong. But when she needs his PI expertise to solve a reopened cold case, he can’t refuse the woman who feels like family. The only catch...the police are convinced she’s the murderer.

The murders scarred him for life. Can he face it again when a copycat resumes the butchery? Detective Alex Penfield’s hope for humanity hangs by a slender thread of justice. But even slamming the darkly disturbing serial killer behind bars can’t make up for the brutal loss of his dear friend 10 years ago. And he vows she won’t have died in vain when he’s recruited by the FBI to catch a vicious predator with the same blood-soaked calling card. Can the determined detective trap the mystery killer and put his demons to rest?

Texas Hold ’em in paradise. A table full of suspects. The minimum bet could cost him his life. PI Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford is tired of taking down murderers. So when a detective comes to him with a suspicious case of a millionaire who drove off a Maui cliff, he declines her request for help. But when the victim’s scorned lover demands money in exchange for information, Poe is pulled back into the game. Demanding answers from the selfish vulture, the relentless private eye uncovers a connection to a high-seas, high-stakes illicit poker ring.

Alex Penfield's gunshot wounds have healed, but the shock remains raw. Working the beat could be just what the detective needs to clear his head. But when a corpse washes up on the Chesapeake Bay, Alex's first case back could send him spiraling.... As Penfield and his partner examine the dead man's fortress of a house, an army of surveillance cameras takes the mystery to another level. When the detective sees gruesome visions that the cameras fail to capture, he begins to wonder if his past has caught up with him.

Detective Alex Penfield is no stranger to crime scenes. But when he tracks down a gruesome killer, he discovers she’s in a whole different league. And this assassin is far from alone.... It turns out that Penfield’s detective skills have uncovered a secret government program that’s better left buried. And the men and women of that program have put a target on his back. To survive the day, Penfield’s only chance is to trust a ruthless killer. He hopes his risky choice won’t be the last one he ever makes....

A deadly fall. A dodgy past. Can Poe uncover the truth before a match made in paradise ends in disaster? Edgar Allan “Poe” Rutherford has the luxury of picking and choosing the cases that spark his curiosity. So when his love-struck mother-in-law demands he trail her latest squeeze, he thinks he’s wasting his time. Until a mysterious woman from the boyfriend’s past falls off his balcony to her death. As he digs deeper, he discovers a chain of underground connections starting with a rising tide of corruption in Miami and washing up on Maui’s white sandy beaches.

Edgar Allan "Poe" Rutherford is ready to dive back into his work as Maui’s top private investigator. But before he can unpack his suitcase, his sister-in-law begs him to photograph her client’s extravagant, nautical wedding. Poe is confident he can handle the wedding party from hell, until he finds the bride’s dead body on the top deck.... Poe searches for signs of guilt among the spoiled partygoers and the fed-up staffers who serve their every whim. Just when he pegs the unfaithful groom as the probable culprit, the case takes a sharp turn to starboard.

A murdered mistress. A wrongful arrest. Can Poe and Alana take down a killer from both sides of the law? Edgar Allan "Poe" Rutherford is out of the private investigator game. He couldn't stand to take another case after his last one nearly killed his wife. When he's accused of murdering his supposed mistress, he's forced back into a familiar role to prove his innocence. But can he do it from behind bars? Alana Hu knows she's too skilled of a detective for Poe to cheat and kill behind her back. But when her department forbids her from finding out who set him up, she decides to go rogue. After all, nobody messes with her man without answering to her.

Detective Alex Penfield has to solve a murder case before it happens. His own. Retirement never suited Detective Alex Penfield, but there's nothing like a death omen to get you back in the saddle. A psychic colleague warns the detective that his own murder is coming. When a local death bears an eerie resemblance to the psychic's vision, he can't help but get involved.

Edgar Allan "Poe" Rutherford's life has never been better. He's just relocated to Maui and moved in with his best friend, Foxx. And he's dating the beautiful and sexy Detective, Alana Hu. Then Poe gets dragged back into another murder investigation. This time, though, he's one of the prime suspects. Can Poe discover the identity of the killer before he gets arrested?

Jon Drayton has no idea of the power lying dormant inside him. He had lived an ordinary life, but everything changes the night of the accident. His sister's car is demolished by a drunk driver, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down. But with simply the touch of his hand, Drayton heals her. He has no idea how he did it, and soon everyone is calling it a miracle. Less than a week later, someone attempts to murder Drayton.

Rome, 1948. Twenty women are brutally murdered, their throats slit and their faces removed with surgical precision. Then the murders stop as abruptly as they started, and the horrifying crimes and their victims are lost to history. Now over 60 years later, the killings have begun again. This time in America. It's up to homicide detectives Marcus Carter and Angela Darden to stop the murders, but how can they catch a serial killer who leaves no traces of evidence and no apparent motive?