by John Taylor

Netflix delivers a must-see documentary with Making a Murderer. Is it biased? Does it leave out evidence? Yes and yes, but comprehensive and neutral are not what make a great and compelling documentary. Making a Murderer highlights material flaws regarding how many police, prosecutors, and others in authority operate within our judicial system. It begs the question, is the system tilted too far in one direction?

Photo by Carolina Roepers on Pexels

On July 29, 1985, Penny Beernsten was jogging on the beach along Lake Michigan. A stranger grabbed her, dragged her to a nearby wooded area, and sexually assaulted her. When she described her assailant to a Manitowoc County [Wisconsin] Sheriff Deputy, he thought the description sounded like Steven Avery, a local man with a criminal record.

A police sketch artist drew a composite sketch of the perpetrator, but he likely drew the sketch from Steven Avery’s previous mug shot rather than from the victim’s description. Penny Beernsten was shown the sketch and then provided a photo array of possible perpetrators. She picked out Steven Avery and again identified Avery as her assailant during a live line-up. Beernsten’s identification was confident and emphatic.

There was no physical evidence tying Steven Avery to the crime scene or the sexual assault. Regardless, the police arrested Avery based on the victim’s eyewitness identification. At trial, Avery presented over 10 alibi witnesses, including a store clerk who stated Avery was at his store shortly after the attack occurred. For Avery to have been the perpetrator, he had to walk a mile to the nearest parking lot, drive home, load his family into their car [his family was also present at the store], and drive 45 minutes to the store in just over an hour’s time. However, the prosecution successfully refuted the alibi witnesses and demonstrated that Avery could have covered that distance in the allotted time. Based almost exclusively on eyewitness testimony, the jury found Steven Avery guilty of rape, and he was sentenced to 32 years in prison.

In 2003, DNA testing of 13 hairs that were recovered from Penny Beernsten’s assault linked the rape to Gregory Allen, thus exonerating Steven Avery. Avery was released from prison in September of 2003. During the time Avery was in prison, the actual perpetrator, Gregory Allen, raped another woman.

Photo by Andrey Grushnikov on Pexels

After serving 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Steven Avery initiated a civil lawsuit against Manitowoc County and several individuals. During the initial investigation, the police had another suspect in mind, but they chose not to show Beernsten his picture. The police worried it might confuse her. The alternative suspect was Gregory Allen, who was known to law enforcement because he had committed another sexual assault on the same strip of beach where the Penny Beernsten attack occurred.

Sergeant Andrew Colborn of the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office received a phone call in 1995 from a police officer in another county. During the call, the officer told Colborn that Gregory Allen confessed to Penny Beernsten’s rape. Sergeant Colborn told Lieutenant James Lenk, also of Manitowoc County, of the call, but no one acted on this information. There was no documentation of the call until September 12, 2003; the day after Steven Avery was released. On that day, Lenk instructed Colborn to write a report on the 1995 phone call. This information was not discovered until Avery’s civil lawsuit.

As initial depositions were taken for Avery’s $36 million wrongful-conviction, civil lawsuit against various Manitowoc County and several sheriff’s deputies, he became the prime suspect in a homicide. Teresa Halbach, a photographer for Auto Trader Magazine, went missing on October 31, 2005. Her last confirmed destination was the sprawling, 40 acre Avery Auto Salvage yard where she met Steven Avery to take a photograph of a vehicle for sale. After they were unable to locate her for several days, Teresa’s family reported her missing. On November 5, 2005, search volunteers found Teresa’s vehicle [Toyota Rav-4] hidden behind debris among thousands of cars in the salvage yard on the Avery property.

With Steven Avery’s pending $36 million civil lawsuit against Manitowoc County and several of its officers, there was a very clear and obvious conflict of interest. As a result, once Halbach’s Rav-4 was found on Avery’s property, Manitowoc County District Attorney, Mark Rohrer, requested that the investigation be turned over to the authorities in neighboring Calumet County. The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office was not to be involved in Teresa Halbach’s missing person investigation or any derivative thereof.

Based on the discovery of the Rav-4, the police obtained search warrants for the property and various buildings and houses located nearby. On November 6, 2005, Teresa Halbach’s remains were found in a fire pit on the Avery property. The police also found two weapons linked to Steven Avery; and as a result, arrested him on November 9, 2005 for possession of a firearm by a felon.

As the search of the Avery property continued, police collected additional circumstantial evidence against Steven Avery with regard to Teresa Halbach’s murder. Police discovered Steven Avery’s blood inside the Rav-4. While searching Steven Avery’s bedroom, police also found Teresa’s Rav-4 key, later determined to have Avery’s DNA on it. During a later search, police found a bullet casing in a garage on the Avery property with Teresa Halbach’s DNA on it.

Skitter Photo on Pexels

It is not clear how assurances that Manitowoc County would not be involved in the Halbach investigation were completely disregarded and ignored. Regardless, Manitowoc County Sheriff’s deputies were present on the day the Rav-4 was found and during all of the searches of the Avery property and buildings. Further, almost every critical and compelling piece of evidence against Steven Avery was found by a Manitowoc County Sheriff’s deputy. The appearance of impropriety emanated from the investigation. Why were individuals who had been deposed as part of Steven Avery’s civil lawsuit collecting evidence against him?

Investigative bodies are supposed to be disinterested in the outcome or direction of a criminal investigation. Even under the best of circumstances, police officers have engaged in dishonest activities that materially affected judicial outcomes. However, Manitowoc County’s blatant disregard for how their involvement would be perceived, significantly and adversely impacted the impartiality and credibility of the evidence collected.

To further muddy the waters, two men who were specifically named in Avery’s civil lawsuit, Sergeant Andrew Colborn and Lieutenant James Lenk, found key pieces of evidence. Both men had significant motivation to incriminate Steven Avery. Avery’s arrest for murder would impair his credibility in the lawsuit. However, Avery’s arrest resulted in a far better outcome: he was forced to settle the lawsuit for a fraction of what he was seeking [$400,000], in order for him to pay his legal defense.

Colborn and Lenk clearly recognized the perception issue and conflict of interest they were engaging in. So it begs the question, why were they searching Steven Avery’s house and property for evidence? Their involvement could have compromised the entire investigation and possibly allowed a killer to go free. Based on their role in preventing Avery from getting out of prison years earlier and their prominence in the civil lawsuit, their actions should be viewed skeptically, as they would benefit materially from Steven Avery’s undoing.

When the police initially searched a garage on the Avery property, eleven .22 shell casings were found. After several other searches and almost six months later, an additional .22 shell casing was located in the same garage containing trace amounts of Teresa Halbach’s DNA. Due to the small amount of DNA recovered, only one sample could be tested. During the testing process, the technician contaminated the sample with her own DNA. Though according to protocol, the technician should have reported the results as “inconclusive,” she ignored standard procedures and concluded the DNA sample matched Teresa Halbach.

Finding Teresa Halbach’s DNA on a bullet casing implied that Steven Avery shot her while in the garage. However, the police did not find a single drop of blood or even a hair follicle from Halbach in the garage. Further, there was no blood anywhere in the garage, including the cracks in the concrete floor, which would have been nearly impossible (certainly improbable) for Avery to clean up.

The Rav-4 key police found in Steven Avery’s bedroom was discovered in plain view. Yet, his small bedroom had been searched six times prior and no one saw the key. The officers present claimed the key fell from behind a desk after one of them shook it.

Police found Steven Avery’s blood in the Rav-4. Suspecting the police may have planted the blood evidence, Avery’s attorneys pulled Steven Avery’s blood evidence (vial) from his 1985 rape case file. When the county clerk presented the box containing the vial, the evidence tape had been cut and replaced with plain tape. No one had signed the evidence form indicating they opened it. An unknown person had opened the box containing Avery’s vial of blood. When the attorneys viewed the vial, they noticed a pin hole in the top of the vial, which the testing agency claimed they would not have done. It was also later determined that Manitowoc County officers had access to the evidence room.

Initially, Steven Avery had a partial alibi in his 16 year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey. The investigators who talked to Dassey, Tom Fassbender and Mark Wiegert, were not Manitowoc County Sheriff’s deputies. Fassbender worked as an investigator for Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation and Wiegert was a sergeant with Calumet County Sheriff’s Department. These two investigators interviewed Dassey several times. Dassy was reported to have a 70 I.Q. and his reading proficiency was well below average. [Steven Avery was also reported to have a 70 I.Q.] From viewing interviews and reading transcripts, it is quite evident that Dassey lacked basic intelligence and social skills, though he mainly came across as shy and lacking in confidence. Regardless, the investigators guided him through numerous confessions involving Teresa Halbach’s murder.

The investigators bullied and lied to Dassy. [It is acceptable for police to lie to witnesses and suspects.] Dassey’s incriminating statements appeared to be nothing more than a regurgitation of information provided by the detectives. Many of Dassey’s statements to police implicate Steven Avery in the murder of Teresa Halbach. However, at one point during the documentary Dassey is seen asking him mom what the word “inconsistent” means and then admitted his answers were guesses at what the police were trying to uncover.

The interviews of Brendan Dassey consisted of two adults in positions of authority leading a young boy with low-intelligence to their desired outcome. He was helpless to their persuasion. At one point during an interview, Dassey described how he and Steven Avery raped and stabbed Teresa Halbach on his uncle’s bed and then killed her in the garage. Yet, there is zero forensic evidence to substantiate these assertions. As one of Avery’s attorneys stated, “It simply could not have happened the way Dassey described it.” Though many of Dassey’s statements are incriminating for both him and Avery, it is hard to place much emphasis on his “confessions.” With the deliberate leading of Dassey by the investigators, his low IQ, and his ever-changing stories, there is little reliable information to be gleaned from his hours of interviews. However, the police perceived these interviews as additional proof of Avery’s guilt, though ultimately the prosecution decided not to use any of Dassey’s statements against Steven Avery.

Based on his incriminating statements, the detectives arrested Dassey on March 3, 2006. At that point, he was assigned a public defender by the name of Len Kachinsky. Prior to even talking to his client, Kachinsky held a press conference where he essentially acknowledged that Dassey was guilty. Kachinsky’s next step was to allow this minor, with below average intelligence, to be interrogated again by police detectives outside of his presence. It is hard to conjure up any justification for allowing this “interview” to take place. As if Kachinsky had not violated enough of his client’s rights, he hired an investigator, Michael O’Kelly, to also interrogate Dassey.

During the interrogation, O’Kelly directed Dassey to confess to killing Teresa Halbach; ordered him to draw pictures of the killing, and then called Kachinsky to boast about the confession. As if his professional judgment (and that of Kachinsky’s) could not diminish any further, O’Kelly video-taped the entire interview session. It has never been made clear why Dassey’s own investigator strong-armed him into a taped murder confession.

Due to the conflicts of interest between Steven Avery and Manitowoc County, Ken Kratz, a special prosecutor, was brought in from Calumet County. After one of Brendan Dassey’s confessions, Kratz held a press conference detailing how Teresa Halbach was tortured, sexually assaulted and raped by Dassey and Avery. Kratz’ statements seemed to rob both Avery and Dassey of the presumption of innocence and potentially corrupted the pool of jurors. Kratz’s statements were inflammatory and prejudicial. Further, none of the information he provided to the public was presented during Steven Avery’s trial.

Steven Avery’s trial was moved to neighboring Calumet County. However, other than the prosecutor who was from Calumet County, everyone else came from Manitowoc County. The presiding judge, Patrick Willis, was a Manitowoc County Circuit Court Judge and the jurors were Manitowoc County residents. On March 18, 2007, Steven Avery was found guilty of murder and illegally possessing a firearm, but not guilty of mutilating a corpse.

After Avery’s conviction, Ken Kratz set his sights on Brendan Dassey. Aside from Dassey’s own words, and depending on which of his statements were believed, there was no forensic evidence linking Brendan Dassey to Teresa Halbach’s murder. This is not to say he is innocent; however, if you remove the forced confessions, there is no evidence pointing towards his guilt. Regardless, Brendan Dassey was found guilty of first-degree murder, mutilation of a corpse, and sexual assault on April 25, 2007.

Recent investigations by various news outlets have uncovered information about the Avery jury. Allegedly, one of the jurors was the father of a Manitowoc County Sheriff’s deputy and another was married to a Manitowoc County clerk. One juror claimed that jurors feared reprisal by the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department if they returned a not guilty verdict. Most troubling about the jury, when one juror was asked why he voted guilty, he cited evidence that was excluded from the trial, but was present in Kratz’s televised press conference.

Manitowoc public officials ignored the obvious appearance of impropriety when they pursued Steven Avery as a murder suspect. When Teresa Halbach’s Rav-4 was found, Lieutenant Lenk of Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department arrived at the Avery property before there was even a sign-in sheet for the crime scene. He had access to the vehicle, which was later found to contain Steven Avery’s blood. Lieutenant Lenk found the Rav-4 key in Steven Avery’s bedroom. Further, Lenk was in the garage when the police found the bullet casing with Halbach’s DNA on it, after numerous other searches failed to uncover the casing.

Lieutenant Lenk had the means, motive, and opportunity to plant evidence incriminating Steven Avery. However, there is no clear or direct evidence indicating he or anyone else from the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department tampered with evidence. Yet, due to their conscious decision to be directly involved in Steven Avery’s investigation, they left themselves justifiably open to the accusation. The cloud of suspicion grows with the coincidental facts that almost all of the compelling forensic evidence collected on the Avery property was discovered by Lieutenant Lenk.

Though there is considerable evidence against Steven Avery, much of the evidence ties to the 40 acre property itself, rather than specifically to Steven Avery. The location where Teresa’s car and remains were found and her DNA on a bullet casing in a garage do not point directly to Steven Avery, but rather someone living or working on the property. Numerous other family members lived on the property and several had reputations and histories that should have warranted closer law enforcement scrutiny. Regardless of the fact that the initial evidence pointed toward a location rather than a specific person, Manitowoc County exhibited tunnel vision with regard to Steven Avery.

By providing compelling evidence that Manitowoc County deputies likely planted evidence, Steven Avery’s attorneys may well have sealed his guilt. Jurors may have realized exactly how far the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department was willing to go in order to administer retribution. They had already helped put Steven Avery in prison for 18 years for a crime he did not commit. With the support of The Innocence Project, considerable favorable media coverage, and two of the best lawyers in Wisconsin, Steven Avery was still facing murder charges. When Manitowoc County’s Sheriff was asked about the accusations of planting evidence, he responded that, “it would have been easier to kill Steven Avery.” Jurors had to be thinking about what would happen to them if they made Manitowoc County look bad again.

Photo by Eberhard Grossgasteiger from Pexels

Though Steven Avery’s innocence is far from certain, through actions and poor decision-making by individuals in the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department, there is clearly reasonable doubt. It is reasonable to think Manitowoc County may have done something unprincipled. It is reasonable to believe Manitowoc County may have sought vengeance against Steven Avery, even if only to ensure his guilt.

Brendan Dassey was not a victim of Manitowoc County, but of over-aggressive police tactics. Dassey is not a credible witness, not even against himself. Without corroborating evidence, there is significant doubt regarding his guilt. However, just because there is doubt does not mean he is innocent. It just does not meet the legal standard. The detectives who interviewed him twisted and turned his mind so much that he probably does not know or remember what he actually did on the night Teresa Halbach went missing.

The real injustice falls upon Teresa Halbach’s family and friends. They must cling to the belief that the persons responsible for Teresa’s murder were held accountable, but they too must have doubts, due to the highly questionable decisions and actions by the authorities in this case. Judgments regarding Avery and Dassey’s guilt or innocence are far from a certainty, but the means which law enforcement utilized to achieve their convictions can and should be judged negatively and suggest a disturbing degree of impropriety that cannot be justified.
Works Cited:

Abad-Santos, Alex, and Lopez, German, “Netflix’s ‘Making a Murderer:’ the case of Steven Avery, explained,” Vox, http://www.vox.com/2016/1/8/10734268/netflix-making-a-murderer-avery, January 23, 2016.

Beernsten, Penny, The Forgiveness Project, http://theforgivenessproject.com/stories/penny-beernsten-usa/, March 29, 2010.

Cleasby, Sam, “The 12 WTF moments in ‘Making a Murderer,’” Metro, http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/05/the-12-most-wtf-moments-in-making-a-murderer-5600879/, January 5, 2016.

Grubbs, Jefferson, “This ‘Making a Murderer’ Timeline Shows Steven Avery’s Long History With Law Enforcement,” Bustle, http://www.bustle.com/articles/133321-this-making-a-murderer-timeline-shows-steven-averys-long-history-with-law-enforcement-infographic, January 21, 2016.

Kertscher, Tom, “’Making a Murder’ compelling, but is it a game-changer for Steven Avery?” Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/making-a-murderer-compelling-but-is-it-a-game-changer-in-steven-avery-case-b99647809z1-364794271.html, January 10, 2016.

Nededog, Jethro, “’Making a Murderer’ Prosecutor Admits 2 Crucial Mistakes in the Case Against Steven Avery,” Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/making-a-murderer-prosecutor-mistakes-2016-1, January 5, 2016.

Thomas, Michael, “Looking at the ‘Evidence’ in the Steven Avery case,” Exposing the Truth, http://www.exposingtruth.com/looking-at-the-evidence-in-the-steven-avery-case/, December 29, 2015.

Thompson, Christie, “Penny Beerntsen, the Rape Victim in ‘Making a Murderer,’ Speaks Out,” The Marshall Project, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/01/05/penny-beernsten-the-rape-victim-in-making-a-murderer-speaks-out#.7ENv3kVHF, January 5, 2016.

Innocence Project, Steven Avery, http://www.innocenceproject.org/cases-false-imprisonment/steven-avery.

Making a Murderer, Netflix, December 18, 2015, https://www.netflix.com/title/80000770.

Reddit Inc., https://www.reddit.com/r/MakingaMurderer/comments/41rre7/steven_avery_jury_trial_transcripts_are_now/accessed January 2016.

WSAW Staff, “Steven Avery case: What did the court documents say?” WSAW, http://www.wsaw.com/content/news/Steven-Avery-case-What-did-the-court-document-say-364171451.html, January 5, 2016.

Click below to view John W. Taylor’s previous intriguing posts:

The Deep Sleeper – Darlie Routier’s Plight for Innocence

Drew Peterson – A Legend in His Own Mind

Not How It Was Supposed To Go: Joanna Madonna and the Murder of Jose Perez

John W. Taylor writes in the true crime genre at www.truecrimewriting.com. He has written short pieces and articles on the death of Marilyn Monroe, JFK, and Martin Luther King, Jr., among others.  John wrote and published Umbrella of Suspicion: Investigating the Death of JonBénet Ramsey and Isolated Incident: Investigating the Death of Nancy Cooper in 2012 and 2014, respectively. 

John’s interest in the darker side of human nature has compelled him to conduct numerous research and writing projects on various unsolved crimes.  He currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

by Darcia Helle

August 15th of this year marks the 100th anniversary of the most gruesome mass murder Wisconsin has ever seen. The story has all the makings of a New York Times bestseller or blockbuster movie. We have the wealthy and world-famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who had the sense of entitlement that often accompanies being born into a respected and prestigious family. We have a torrid love affair, the ensuing scandal, and, of course, the crazed killer.

The roots of this tragedy go back to Chicago, circa 1909. By this time, 42-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright was already well-known as the leader of the “Prairie School” school of architecture. He’d been married to Catherine Tobin for 20 years and they had six children together. His life was, on the surface, idyllic. But Wright did the unthinkable; he fell in love with a client’s wife. Her name was Mamah Borthwick Cheney, and their affair rocked Chicago society.

Wright abandoned his wife and children, fleeing to Europe with his mistress and her two children, John and Martha. Not wanting to face the scandal back in Chicago, but wanting to return to the US, Wright decided to build a home on his maternal family’s land in Wisconsin. This new home was a sprawling one-story estate with multiple surrounding buildings, situated on 31.5 acres of land. And, like all proper estates, this one had a name. Because the estate sat on the brow of a hill, leaving the top of the hill unencumbered, Wright called it Taliesin, meaning “shining brow”.

In 1911, Wright, Borthwick — who by then had dropped her married name — and her two children quietly moved to Taliesin. Eventually the press discovered their presence, but the ensuing frenzy came and went. Wright and his new family then settled into a routine, with him back at work and Borthwick caring for the children and watching over the home. Their household staff included Julian and Gertrude Carlton, a married couple from Barbados. Gertrude did the cooking, while Julian filled a variety of roles from handyman to butler. Julian was considered well-educated and likable, though beneath that façade he apparently hid something dark and vicious.

On August 15, 1914, Frank Lloyd Wright was in Chicago on business. Mamah Borthwick had a house full of staff and workers, including a carpenter and his 13-year-old son. That afternoon, per family custom, Julian served dinner to the men in a separate room reserved for workers. Mamah and her two children ate on the veranda. As the men were eating, Julian entered the worker’s room and asked William Weston, the carpenter, for permission to get some gasoline in order to clean a rug. Weston gave his consent.

In retrospect, it was strange that Julian Carlton bothered to seek permission to get some gas. From this point on, the facts are fuzzy, but the order of events following his peculiar request seem to be as follows:

Julian, hatchet in hand, went to the veranda where Mamah and her two children were eating lunch. Catching them completely off guard, he first swung at Mamah Borthwick, killing her with a single blow to her face as she sat in her chair. Julian then turned to John, aged 11, quite literally hacking into the child before he had a chance to move. Martha, aged 9, tried to run, but Julian easily caught and killed her. He then poured the gasoline over their bodies and lit them on fire.

Julian took his hatchet and the rest of his gasoline back to where the men were dining. He poured the gasoline under the door and set the room ablaze. The room erupted in flames. One of the workers, Herbert Fritz, happened to be by the window, and was able to break it and dive out. This caught Julian unprepared and Fritz was able to escape. He broke his arm in the fall and his clothes were on fire, so he rolled down a hill to extinguish the flames which saved his life.

Emil Brodelle came next, but this time Julian was ready and he swung his hatchet taking his life. William Weston and his son Ernest then fled the flames straight into Julian’s bloody blade. Julian struck William as he launched himself through the window. William stumbled, then got to his feet and ran across the courtyard. Julian raced after him, striking him with the hatchet a second time. Weston crumbled to the ground and, likely thinking he was dead, Julian left him and returned to his carnage.

David Lindblom got past Julian with a nasty but non-fatal blow to the back of his head with the blunt edge of the hatchet. He was not so fortunate in escaping the fire. Despite Lindblom’s severe burns, he and William Weston managed to run to a neighboring farmhouse a half-mile down the road to call for help. Lindblom remained at the neighbor’s home, while Weston returned to the Wright’s estate to help the fire brigade extinguish the flames. The efforts, though, were futile. In less than three hours, most of Taliesin’s main house was reduced to ash.

In all, seven people lost their lives at Julian Carlton’s hands. They were: Mamah Borthwick, John and Martha Cheney, Emil Brodelle, Thomas Brunker, Ernest Weston, and David Lindblom, who later died as a result of the burns. Only William Weston and Herbert Fritz managed to survive the ordeal.

Hours after the fire, Julian Carlton was found hiding in the basement’s fireproof furnace. He’d swallowed muriatic acid (household name for hydrochloric acid) in a failed suicide attempt. An angry mob attempted to lynch him, but the police intervened and safely transferred him to county jail. Over the following two months, Julian starved himself to death. He refused to talk or explain his actions, and died without ever offering a reason for the brutal murders.

Gertrude Carlton was found in a nearby field that fateful day, apparently unaware of her husband’s intentions. She was taken into custody, but released shortly afterward with $7 and a train ticket to Chicago.

Survivors don’t offer us much in the way of insight. Later testimony stated Julian Carlton had once accused everyone in the Wright household of “picking on him”. One theory is that Julian’s primary intent was to murder Emil Brodelle, who had called him a “black son-of-a-bitch” just days before the massacre. Some claimed Julian had a disagreement with Mamah Borthwick and she’d fired him, giving him two weeks’ notice. Others said his wife Gertrude wanted to return to Chicago, and so he’d given notice on his own.

Whatever the truth is, we do know that Julian had been showing signs of psychological disarray. Gertrude stated that he’d been agitated and paranoid in the days leading up to the murders. He’d been acting strangely, staring out the window long into the night and sleeping with his hatchet beside the bed. Sadly, either no one tried or no one was able to intervene before his mind snapped and he went on his brief but gruesome rampage.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s grief struck deep. He could not bear to hold a funeral for Mamah Borthwick, but he did fund and attend services for all his employees. Angry about the hurtful gossip that had followed them throughout their relationship, Wright made a final tribute to the woman he loved in a letter he addressed “To My Neighbors”. It reads, in part:

Mamah and I have had our struggles, our differences, our moments of jealous fear for our ideals of each other—they are not lacking in any close human relationships—but they served only to bind us more closely together. We were more than merely happy even when momentarily miserable. And she was true as only a woman who loves know the meaning of the word. Her soul has entered me and it shall not be lost.

For months afterward, Wright suffered from conversion disorder, which is a psychological disorder thought to be brought on by severe stress. His symptoms included insomnia, weight loss, and temporary blindness. His sister, Jane Porter, took care of him during this time. As we know, Frank Lloyd Wright eventually recovered and continued on with his career, and came to be known as the most famous architect in American history. Julian Carlton, however, forever altered the course of his life, separating him forever from his dear Mamah.

Please click to below to view Darcia’s Helle’s many excellent posts:

Edward Elmore Rode the Legal Railroad to 30 Years on Death Row: His Crime? Simple! He Was Black and Poor

 “The Wrong Carlos”: Non-Violent Manchild Executed for Murder He Did Not Commit

The Electric Chair Nightmare: An Infamous and Agonizing History

Autopsies: Truth, Fiction and Maura Isles and Her 5-Inch-Heels

Don’t Crucify Me, Dude! Just Shoot Me Instead! Spartacus and Death by Crucifixion

To Burn or Not to Burn? Auto-Da-Fé Is Not Good for Women or Children!

The Disgraceful Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass: Keep the Narcs Out of Our Schools

Why Should I Believe You? The History of the Polygraph

“Don’t Behead Me, Dude!”: The Story of Beheading and the Invention of the Guillotine

Aileen Wuornos, America’s First High-Profile Female Serial Killer, Never Had a Chance

The Terror of ISO: A Descent into Madness

Al Capone Could Not Bribe the Rock: Alcatraz, Fortress of Doom

Cyberspace, Darknet, Murder-for-Hire and the Invisible Black Machine

Darcia Helle lives in a fictional world with a husband who is sometimes real. Their house is ruled by spoiled dogs and cats and the occasional dust bunny.

Suspense, random blood splatter and mismatched socks consume Darcia’s days. She writes because the characters trespassing through her mind leave her no alternative. Only then are the voices free to haunt someone else’s mind.

Join Darcia in her fictional world: www.QuietFuryBooks.com

Noted crime fiction writer and blogger, Suzanne Jenkins (author of the Pam of Babylon series and the Greektown Trilogy), asked me to write a post concerning the Making and Selling of Cicero’s Dead. It was posted today, along with a tremendous introduction by Suzanne, on her Blog.  http://suzannejenkins.net/patrick-h-moore-making-selling-ciceros-dead/

It’s once again time for Cicero’s Dead, Patrick H. Moore’s award-winning crime novel to be given away free (for 3 days — March 21 to March 23) to the deserving American (and international) readership. Enjoy!

Many thanks to my courageous publisher and editor, Max Myers, and my spiritual advisor, Chaplain Michael D. Sellers (try getting a cliche past this guy :-).

And a special thanks to everyone else who has helped with All Things Crime Blog and Cicero’s Dead including (but not limited to) Darcia Helle, Peter Prasad, John Nardizzi, Max Myers and my latest discovery, Suzanne Jenkins (great fiction writers I’ve been privileged to read); Lise LaSalle, BJW Nashe, Darcia Helle and the late Starks Shrink (fantastic past contributors to ATCB), and John W. Taylor, Bob Couttie and Jared Keever (esteemed past and current contributors).

I also want to thank everyone who has posted a review of Cicero’s Dead on either Amazon or Goodreads. The modicum of success we’ve enjoyed would not have been possible without your reviews.

This post was originally published on acclaimed indie novelist Suzanne Jenkins’ author website ( http://suzannejenkins.net/ ) on March 16, 2016. Suzanne has very kindly permitted us to re-post it here on All Things Crime Blog.

  Cicero’s Dead

Note from Suzanne: My reading time is limited because of my own writing schedule, but I know I must continue to read! It’s paramount as a writer to keep words dangling in front of my eyes at all times. If a book doesn’t catch me right away, I hate to admit, I’m one of those who won’t continue reading. But I continue buying. My TBR pile is about a year behind.

I waited for Cicero’s Dead to be published last year and grabbed it as soon as it came out, putting it in line to read. Finally, last weekend I earmarked hours to sit with it, savoring every word. I couldn’t put it down. I did my own work quickly, looking forward to digging in with Nick and his cartel of interesting characters. You can read my review here. The main thing that appealed to me about this work is it’s ability to transport me. I was there with Nick.

Did you watch Southland? It was probably the best cops series and it hooked me. There was something about the light, maybe because they filmed in the late afternoon with low sun illuminating, the Spanish architecture and the palm trees in the worst neighborhood…making it just beautiful. That’s they way this book made me feel.

Meet Patrick Moore, author of Cicero’s Dead.

A few words about myself and then we’ll delve into the making and selling of my first novel, Cicero’s Dead. First, although I’ve lived in California (currently L.A.) for more decades than I care to remember, I’m originally from the Heartland. I came of age in the tumultuous sixties, barely survived the hedonistic seventies; worked like a dog and got a damned good education in the eighties (I hold an M.A. in English and America Literature); taught school and worked in Silicon Valley in the nineties; and trumpets fanfare moved to L.A. in 2003 and went to work as a P.I. for the legendary Jack Snow, a private eye and Federal sentencing consultant.

Before moving to L.A., I felt like I’d already spent half my life on the streets, but once I was in harness with Crazy Jack, the streets were right back at me. L.A. produces every conceivable type of criminal (they come in all shapes, sizes, races, ethnicities, genders, personalities, degrees of underhandedness, degrees of righteousness, etc.) and over the last 13 years, I’ve defended hundreds of them.

The U.S. is a nation of cops. We have cops at every level: local cops, county sheriffs, D.A.s, federal prosecutors (known as AUSAs); FBI, DEA, Secret Service, IRS, ICE, etc. Cops commit crimes at more or less the same rate as the rest of the criminal population which means I’ve had the opportunity to defend plenty of cops who were fighting for their freedom (if a cop, or anyone else in this dark and bloody land, can ever truly be free).

What I’ve learned is that not only do cops and regular criminals commit enough crimes to keep those such as I employed; they also tell lies at about the same rate. By “lies” I mean untruths, half-truths, fibs, prevarications and outright whopper. Therefore, as the man in the middle, my job is to, sift through this writhing tissue of subterfuge and figure out how to get my clients shorter sentences. Because, make no mistake, most of these dudes and ladies, do end up in the slammer. The question is for how long?

Working in this milieu, part of my job was to write high-quality legal briefs. I became, in effect, a professional investigator and true crime writer, writing persuasive legal documents in the King’s (Queen’s?) English. From there, it was a natural progression to delve into crime writing. I read a couple of successful crime writers, Dennis Lehane and James Lee Burke, and went to works. Six years later, after countless edits, re-writes, permutations, commutations and resuscitations Cicero’s Dead was published by my courageous publisher and editor Max Myers of U.S. Indie Books. Max has been selling screenplays to Hollywood for many years and is the award winning author of Boysie Blake: Problem Solver, a suspense thriller set in Los Angeles.

Just to give you a flavor of Cicero’s Dead, here a couple of review snippets:

“Cicero’s dead under mysterious circumstances, and his wife has supposedly committed suicide. Their son Richard is missing and their distraught daughter Jade hires private detective Nick Crane to find her brother and unravel the troubling series of deaths. So Nick Crane goes to work. The pages turn quickly as he clashes with drug dealers, biker gangs, high powered lawyers and a psychotic murderer. At the same time, he must confront maybe his toughest adversary of all, temptation. There are so many twists and turns, and never a dull moment or a wasted page. Crane is brilliant as he uncovers the truth.” – Sanford Perliss, criminal defense lawyer.

“Jade wants to find her brother. Her dad, Cicero Lamont, has died mysteriously. She needs help. She calls LA’s newest hardboiled detective Nick Crane. Crane uncovers motive and opportunity like a surgeon wielding a Glock. His colorful sidekicks add accuracy and flavor to this hard-edge thriller. Prepare for lean, direct storytelling about tough, cynical characters that dance from LA to San Francisco. Author Patrick H. Moore, a seasoned private investigator and crime writer, crafts an elegant first novel, soon to be followed by another Nick Crane thriller. Five stars. It pays homage to the classics and turns up the heat on what you expect from a hardboiled who-done-it.” – Peter Prasad, author, Gut-Check Green.

Before publishing Cicero’s Dead in 2014, for two years I ran All Things Crime Blog, a true crime and crime fiction blog. I was blessed to have numerous talented writers writing for the Blog and I wrote a daily post. I built a Facebook following and a twitter following. In this process, I was instructed by Michael Sellers, an experienced blogger, chaplain and the author of John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood. I’ll never forget his words of advice. “You have to build your following brick by brick.”

I followed Chaplain Sellers’ advice to the “T” and in time the Blog became quite popular. It was a lot of work and a very tumultuous time because unlike crime fiction fans, who are largely a congenial lot, true crime fans love to get down and dirty at the drop of a hat. My ears are still burning from some of the cyber-attacks.

The purpose of the Blog was to use it a stepping-stone to selling books when I published Cicero’s Dead. You know what they say about “the best-laid plans” and I was to discover that it would generate, at most, meager book sales. It was incredibly helpful nonetheless because I met a lot of great people, many of whom were crime fiction writers. Thus, old Patrick H., a loner by inclination, found himself interacting in a group of readers and writers for the first time since he’d graduated from college 25 years ago.

Cicero’s Dead was published in November of 2014 and everything was hunky-dory, or was it? Yeah, it looked like we had a pretty decent book, but we still faced a major roadblock—how in the name of everything holy were we going to sell this rather unholy book?

Sixteen months later we have sold a lot of downloads. I don’t want to say how many but it’s a very respectable number. Close to half a million NORM pages of CICERO have been read by Amazon Premium customers. On good days, 5 or 10 Amazon premium readers read the whole damned thing on their kindles. So the book has done all right for a first indie novel.

The vast majority of the reader/reviewers are American women of all ages. Many of these highly literate ladies are voracious readers. For the most part, these women approve of CICERO and give it high rankings. But there are that thorny and persistent group of reviewers (male and female) who hate it and blast it with a “1” or a “2”.

In closing, what I want to share here are the simple steps that led to the book doing tolerably well. Please keep in mind that there is undoubtedly a strong element of luck in any book’s success. We authors are legion but some of us are luckier than others (as far as sales). I strongly believe that luck plays a key role in any book’s success.

But you will not get lucky unless you take certain steps. Here’s what we did:

My publisher, Max Myers of usIndieBooks entered CICERO in three or four contests. This costs money. CICERO was a top three Finalist in its category in the 2015 Beverly Hills Books Awards and a Finalist in the 2015 Readers Favorite Book Awards. A good showing in these contests probably does not generate many sales directly but is undoubtedly helpful in the long run. That sticker affixed to your book cover certainly can’t hurt.

Max Myers arranged for editorial reviews. This also cost money. God help you if your editorial reviews are not good. Fortunately, CICERO did fine on this account. I think having a few editorial reviews is a good idea. It looks good on your Amazon page or wherever you are promoting your book.

Reader Reviews: There’s little doubt that strong Reader Reviews are of utmost importance. Here I was lucky because (that little five letter word again) I have a big extended family, many of whom are readers, and I know numerous lawyers and criminal defense people who will gladly read a noir crime novel, especially if it takes place in and around L.A. Getting your first 20 Reader Reviews is like getting hired at that job you’d long coveted or seducing that delightful subject of your desire. Without those 20 strong Reviews, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for a first time author to sell books. Authors should definitely plan ahead in determining how they’re going to obtain those first precious reviews.

Once Cicero’s Dead had 20 Reader Reviews, at the advice of my friend and fellow crime novelist John Nardizzi, a Boston PI and the author of the well-received San Francisco crime novel, Telegraph Hill, I did an inexpensive promotion on Ereader News Today. They are one of the older sites that do this. Not a giant like BookBub, they are nevertheless an effective promotional tool and offer a one-day promotion to their loyal subscribers for less than $50.

Bingo! Cicero’s Dead sold 156 electronic downloads on the day of the promotion. After that, there were steady sales for a few weeks but then things started to slow down and it was time for:

The Amazon KDP Select Giveaway. As a first-time author I opted for KDP Select. Michael Sellers had told me that 80 per cent of all indie book sales stem from Amazon, and that the advantage of going with them exclusively is you can take advantage of the Giveaway. By all reports, it’s not as useful as it once was, but it’s FREE and available. Cicero’s Dead was free on KDP Select for three days in June of 2015. We gave away about 3,700 downloads, a modest figure but in this case enough to trigger steady sales in the aftermath of the Giveaway. For seven months, from June through December of last year, it sold steadily.

Truthfully, I could hardly believe it. For whatever reason, Lady Luck graciously decided to ride in my car for a while. I won’t resort to the cliché of saying I feel humbled, but I do feel extremely grateful. We ran a second KDP Select Giveaway in March of this year.

The reason that, among other things, I’ve focused on the process by which an indie novelist may be lucky enough to sell books is because I want to provide my thimbleful of wisdom in the hope that it might help other worthy authors succeed in this challenging and at times demoralizing arena. I feel very grateful for the modicum of success I’ve enjoyed.

I want to thank Suzanne Jenkins for graciously asking me to write something for her Blog and I hope that readers of this overly long post will not want to tar and feather me, and that a few may even wish to turn the pages, electronically or otherwise, of Cicero’s Dead.

I’m reading Reed Farrel Coleman’s “Colorblind”, part of the author’s Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone series. This is an interesting story about a tough but still idealistic police chief in a small town trying to stay sober while investigating a string of ugly incidents perpetrated by a white supremacist group. The pace is fast and steady and the writing is strong.
This writer was recommended to me by Charles Salzberg.

The time has come to alter our approach to All Things Crime Blog. We will be switching to a new format in which we mostly post about literature of all types. We welcome new contributors who want to talk about books they have read, are reading, or will be reading. We may rename our blog. The new name could be something like All Things Literary Workshop. We need to check with Go Daddy to see if we can change our domain name without tremendous hassle.

Book Review by Patrick H. Moore

March 1, 2022

I just finished Colorblind by Reed Farrel Coleman. It is the fifth entry in Mr. Coleman’s Robert C. Parker Jesse Stone series and I enjoyed it considerably. I had never read Mr. Coleman before and had no idea what to expect.

As the story begins, Jesse Stone is Chief of Police in the Boston bedroom community of Paradise. Jesse is in some ways a typical white male mystery/thriller protagonist. He keeps his emotions to himself and has never been in a successful long-term relationship with a female. He was apparently engaged to the woman of his dreams, Diana, shortly before Colorblind begins, but she was murdered. Jesse has had chronic problems “with the bottle” and as the story begins, he has just returned to work after spending two months in an alcohol rehab program.

The plot of Colorblind is not overly complex. A group of white supremacists called The Saviours of Society, led by a religious nutjob named Vandercamp, has infiltrated Paradise and has begun to systematically assault and/or terrify the black and brown-skinned female residents of the community. This is where we discover a most appealing side to Chief Jesse Stone’s nature. Despite his checkered past and tendency to suppress his own emotions, Chief Stone appears to be very comfortable with the changing demographics of America and is more than willing to not only accept black and brown people into Paradise; he has even added a black female police officer named Alisha to his small roster of dedicated officers. Although it is never fully explained, Jesse had to apparently overcome considerable resistance from City Hall in order to hire Alisha.

Another interesting and appealing side to Jesse’s nature is the fact that while serving as Chief of Police in Paradise, he has carefully trained his officers to NEVER brandish or fire their guns unless it is absolutely necessary. Jesse simply does not allow his officers to deviate from this policy. One can only imagine what a huge difference it would make for police work in general here in the United States if ALL police officers and deputy sheriffs in ALL communities were trained to NEVER brandish or fire their sidearms unless absolutely necessary. A sea-change of this magnitude could not fail to greatly improve police relations within their respective communities all across this nation.

Reading this story, I found myself wondering if the author, Reed Farrel Coleman, was sending a subtle, or perhaps not so subtle message, that police work in America, particularly with respect to gun policy, needs a thorough overhaul.

We do learn that Jesse Stone, despite all his good qualities, still possesses a dark side that could easily place him in danger of losing his badge and/or even going to prison. Being fresh out of rehab, Jesse begins attending AA meetings in Boston. There, he is attracted to a woman named Anya. After an AA meeting one night, he interrupts a rape in progress. It seems that an AA member is in the process of forcing himself on Anya in a parked car outside of the AA meeting. Jesse naturally breaks up the attempted rape and liberates Anya from the clutches of the would-be rapist. For her part, Anya makes it very clear that she does not want to press charges.

In response, Jesse takes the law into his own hands. He basically kicks the shit out of the wannabe rapist and, if memory serves, knees him twice in the balls. I found this to be disturbing. To me it suggests that Chief Jesse Stone’s suppressed demons are very dangerous indeed. By rights, based on him assaulting and injuring the rapist, Jesse should serve at least a year in jail and possibly more.

Oddly, the narrative flow of this story completely passes over this incident, almost like it didn’t happen. ‘Passing strange, if you ask me.

There is a subplot to the story that serves to undercut this image of violent, uncontrollable Jesse Stone taking the law into his own hands. Early on in the story, Jesse rubs elbows with a young, sullen vagrant who has just arrived in town. The young man is not without a certain charisma. Rather than locking the kid up or running him out of town, big-hearted Jesse finds him a job and a place to live.

At this juncture, rather than including any “spoilers”, I wish merely to provide my overall impression of this book. It is a fast-paced (in a relaxed sort of way) well-written, crime story in which the good guys (led by Chief Stone) lock horns with the bad guys (the white supremacists). The writing is solid but unspectacular and I did not find the other police officers, with the exception of Chief Jesse, to be terribly interesting. The leader of the bad guys, a portly religious nutjob named Vandercamp is quite an intriguing character who does not hesitate to sacrifice his own sons for the “good” of his execrable cause (suppressing people of color). One of the best parts of the story is the manner in which Jesse attempts to help Old Man Vandercamp’s alcoholic son James Earl escape from his father’s grisly clutches. It dawns on me that an entire novel could be written centered on the Vandercamp clan. As is so often the case in literature and, alas, our world in general, the bad guys are perhaps more interesting and entertaining than the good guys.

All in all, I heartily recommend Colorblind to any reader of crime fiction who enjoys a good uplifting story with some social relevance. It is a fast smooth read that left me wanting to read more of Reed Farrel Coleman’s Jesse Stone series.

Book Review by Patrick H. Moore

May 23, 2022

Matt Goldman, author of the Nils Shapiro PI series, is a very funny man. He started out doing stand-up comedy while a student at the University of Minnesota. He was apparently pretty darned good; before long he was opening for Jerry Seinfeld and other well-known comedians.

Friends suggested he move to LA to write for film and television. He gave it a shot and within a few years he was writing for various TV series including Seinfeld, Ellen and Love & War.

Somewhere along the line, Mr. Goldman, who has stated that he was originally a “literary fiction snob”, decided to take a crack at crime writing. Like countless other crime writers, he was inspired by Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe stories, which, among other things, he found to be quite humorous. It dawns on me that there may be something a bit Seinfeldian in Philip Marlowe’s sarcastic rejoinders.

I just read the fourth book in Mr. Goldman’s Nils Shapiro PI series, which is called Dead West. I’m not sure why he chose this title, possibly because in the course of the story, at least two characters “get dead” in LA and several others come close to their ultimate reckoning.

As the story begins, Nils is hired by a rather stiff old woman of some means named Beverly Mayer to fly out to LA to check up on her grandson Ebben, who is filthy rich with a huge trust fund and whose fiancee Juliana has just died mysteriously, perhaps the victim of foul play. The elderly Ms. Mayer is afraid that Ebben, whom she considers to be quite naive, is throwing away his fortune by investing foolishly in movies and generally allowing himself to be fleeced by unscrupulous operators.

Once in LA, Nils, who narrates the story in his own first person voice, discovers that Ebben, who is a decent, idealistic fellow intent on making quality movies, is skilled at finding investors for his film projects and is actually quite cautious with his own money. Ebben is hooked on energy drinks and it turns out that his deceased fiancee Juliana died from an overdose of stimulants. Decadent fellow that I am, I assumed that the stimulants were either coke or meth, which struck me as a bit odd because although it’s easy to overdose on these nefarious drugs, overdoses generally cause intense fear and paranoia but rarely result in death.

Aha! The joke was on me. The stimulant that took poor Juliana out of the game was caffeine. The poor woman died of a caffeine overdose, which is apparently possible. In fact, just a few days ago, a hapless Brit died from ingesting the equivalent of 200 cups of coffee.

(My own caffeine adventures pale in comparison. As a wet-behind-the-ears teen, I did once ingest 9 NoDoz tablets. Spent the night listening to the all night DJs on my AM radio. That was it. My heart did not burst though I vaguely recall having to pee a lot.)

Once Nils arrives in LA (Ebben actually lives in Hancock Park), he begins to build his plot and has a field day making fun of Los Angeles, Hollywood and the film industry in general. But lest this confuse you, gentle reader, Dead West is no Day of the Locusts. Rather, the film industry types in this story – Sebastiano, Bunion Brit, Debra, Thom Burke and others – are ribbed rather gently rather than cruelly, and in time, Nils becomes rather fond of Big LA and its cast of improbable types, not the least of which is the villain, a short squat Eastern European type named Vassily who goes around threatening people, speaks pigeon English, and wears a patch over one eye.

Although apparently not interested in planting his flag in the vast reservoir of neo-noir that is the turf of writers like Dennis Lehane, James Lee Burke, and Lee Child, Mr. Goldman is an extremely funny writer. At several junctures I found myself laughing uncontrollably. He is equally skilled at creating humor through descriptions and actual events. At one point, I was laughing so hard that I literally fell off my couch. And I should add, to get a grim old couch potato like yours truly to laugh so hard he falls off his couch is no mean feat.

The overall rendering of my beloved SoCal with special emphasis on Hollywood, West LA, the film industry in general, and Hollywood Hills, which I believe the author never actually mentions by name, is executed with verve and humor. “Traffic, thine name is Los Angeles.”

To avoid spoilers, let me only say that good-hearted, energy drink addicted Ebben ultimately finds himself in one helluva jam.

At a certain point it becomes clear that this book is, among other things, a human interest story about relationships cloaked in the trappings of a murder mystery. Nils Shapiro, like Ebben, is a kind-hearted person. He is engaged to Gabriella in Minnesota and can’t wait to get back to her. Nils’ partner at his agency is also very kind. In fact, everyone in Minnesota except Beverly Mayer seems to be pretty cool. LA fares poorly in contrast. The LAPD cops are on the take and the majority of the circle of agents, producers, and writers that orbit around Ebben are either larcenous, conniving or both.

Halfway through the story, Nils, missing his recently found domestic bliss, joyfully returns to Minneapolis to reunite with Gabriella. He only returns to LA because, as the plot develops, Ebben needs him desperately, and Nils is too decent a person to ever abandon a client.

Something I found most endearing about this story is Nils’ deep friendship with Jameson, a black 6’ 7” former professional football player turned nurse practitioner. Jameson has been devastated by a medical emergency in which he was unable to save several severely injured children and watched them die on his watch. As Deep West progresses, Jameson slowly regains his mental equilibrium.

Without providing any clues, let me only say that the ultimate crisis in this story took me completely by surprise and is surely not your everyday crime novel crisis. In fact, it is most curious, ‘passing strange.

On balance, I am very glad to have read Dead West and I recommend it heartily to any readers who enjoy a good humorous mystery that is anchored in genuine human relationships but which does not choose to delve TOO deeply into the underbelly of human existence.

Hello Everyone: Patrick H. Moore’s political thriller “27 Days” will be published on February 6th by Down and Out Books. He is being interviewed by Alan Warren of NBC’s House of Mystery Radio Show in conjunction with the book’s release. The interview will be broadcast on NBC radio and will be streamed on February 7th at 9 p.m. If you’re interested, please tune in at that time to have a listen. Here is a link to the broadcast: https://www.alanrwarren.com/hom-where-to-listen

Patrick H. Moore’s new political thriller, “27 Days,” is being published by Down & Out Books on February 6th. Here is the Press Kit:

Private investigator’s neo-noir political thriller pits 

PI vs. alt-right terrorists in divided America 

A debut perfect for fans of Ross MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, Dennis Lehane & James Lee Burke 

LOS ANGELES, CA – Private investigator and author Patrick H. Moore is releasing his heart pounding political thriller debut “27 Days” (Feb 6, 2023, Down & Out Books), which follows private investigator Nick Crane as he races against the clock to save his best friend from the powerful alt-right terrorist group that will spare no one to “Make America Safe Again.”
27 Days is a taut, topical political thriller that blends noir with a dash of contemporary Western as it introduces us to veteran LA PI Nick Crane, “a throwback to the old-school, rough-and-tumble, tough-talking, quick-thinking, take-no-prisoners, PI,” (author Charles Salzberg). In the spring of 2019, Nick is on the run in the Pacific Northwest, pursued by a cabal of wealthy alt-right power brokers and domestic terrorists claiming to “Make America Safe Again”–at any cost. The terrorist group, “The Principles,” is led by Nick’s old enemy Marguerite Ferguson, who is out for his blood. When The Principles kidnap Nick’s friend and business partner Bobby Moore, Nick is informed that he has 27 days to surrender to Marguerite, and if he doesn’t, Bobby will be tortured and murdered. Help appears in the form of a young, idealistic female FBI agent named Carrie North who wants to arrest Marguerite for conspiring to commit domestic terrorist operations against the U.S.. Nick and Carrie join forces and the race against time to rescue Bobby Moore begins. And what a race it is!

“A blisteringly taut page turner with loads of engaging attitude plus blindside twists that Moore delivers with the authority of a pro investigator (he is) and the panache of a rock’n’roller (he is that too) who has spent years crawling through the brains of our top noirists from Hammett to Lehane and distilled the best they have to offer.”

–Michael D. Sellers, Award winning Director of Eye of the Dolphin

“27 Days”

Patrick Moore | February 6, 2023 | Down & Out Books | Political Thriller 

Paperback | 978-1-64396-298-6 | Ebook

Advance Praise for “27 Days”

“Locked in a life and death struggle with evil, Patrick H. Moore’s PI Nick Crane is a throwback to the old-school, rough-and-tumble, tough-talking, quick-thinking, take-no-prisoners, PI. In Moore’s new thriller “27 Days”, evil comes in the form of a well-organized gang of domestic terrorists called The Principals, whose slogan is Make America Safe Again, and who think that putting Nick six-feet under will do the job. Moore skillfully delivers in the rat-a-tat, take-no-prisoner style of Spillane and Hammett, daring you to turn the page and see what happens next.”

– Charles Salzberg, 2-time Shamus Award nominee for Swann’s Last Song and Second Story Man

“Haven’t enjoyed a detective novel this much in a long, long time.”

–Max Myers, Award winning author of Boysie Blake: Problem Solver

“Patrick H. Moore delivers a dark masterpiece here, a brawling, gunfire symphony dripping with ominous overtones. A contemporary western, a compelling and intricate mystery, a social allegory of the oldest sins of humankind–this book has it all.  Take note: Patrick H. Moore has entered the big leagues.”

— John Nardizzi, Shamus Award finalist for The Burden of Innocence

“In “27 Days”, L.A. Private Investigator Nick Crane goes mano a mano against a highly ambitious, ultra-violent network of domestic terrorists intent on eliminating their enemies–Nick chief among them… Readers looking for unrelenting suspense and fascinating well-developed characters will find it all here, as the bodies pile up and the action cascades in unanticipated twists that will keep you riveted until the final page.”

– John Brown, Los Angeles Private Investigator

 More about Patrick H. Moore

PATRICK H. MOORE is a Los Angeles based private investigator and sentencing mitigation specialist. Since 2003, he has worked on over 500 drug trafficking, sex crime, violent crime and white collar fraud cases. Patrick started the All Things Crime Blog in 2013. For several years it was one of the most popular crime blogs in America and currently has over 3 million views. Patrick studied English Literature and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University. While in college, Patrick published numerous short stories and novel excerpts. More recently, in 2014, he indie-published his first thriller, “Cicero’s Dead”, which sold well and was a finalist in the thriller category in the Beverly Hills Book Award Contest. “27 Days” is Patrick’s first traditionally published novel. 

Follow Patrick H. Moore on social media:

 Facebook: @allthingscrimeblog | Twitter: @PatrickHMoore1

Instagram: @patrickhmoore1 Blog: https://allthingscrimeblog.com/

In an interview, Patrick H. Moore can discuss:

• His career as a Los Angeles private investigator, and his knowledge of criminal defense and the court system 
• How his political thriller differs from the genre standard of modern-day thrillers, and why thrillers can and should be topical
• The real-life political events that influenced his writing, and the importance of the reality behind his fictional story
• The creation of his characters, how they were inspired by real life, and why he decided to create them how he did
• His past writing experiences as the owner of All Things Crime Blog 
• His plans to continue PI Nick Crane’s story

An Interview with

Patrick Moore

1. How does the social and political content in your book differ from the content of other modern-day thrillers? 

I think the big difference between 27 Days and most modern-day thrillers is fairly clear. Although there are exceptions, most contemporary thrillers do not address the social and political issues that have divided America into warring camps and that threaten to destroy our democracy. While 27 Days is undoubtedly a page turner, and is entirely fictitious, it tries to take on the alt-right domestic terrorists as directly as possible, within the context of a heart-pounding, fast-paced thriller. 

2. Your protagonist and his friends seem to be somewhat skeptical of law enforcement, even though one of them is a cop. Why, then, did you create the character Carrie North, who is an FBI agent?

Nick Crane and his friends are somewhat skeptical of cops because they know that far too many of them are brutal and vindictive. Despite this, I created Carrie North, the FBI agent, because I suddenly thought, ‘What if some young idealistic FBI agents do exist, and what if one of them, Ms. Carrie North, wants to go after Nick’s nemesis, the villainous Marguerite Ferguson, and what if she finds out that Nick has substantial evidence that Marguerite has been conspiring to commit acts of domestic terrorism? I then realized that they would be a natural fit because they need each other. I also wanted to create a strong female character to add interest and diversity to the story. And then I fell in love with Carrie, something Nick Crane for the most part resists.

3. Do you view Nick Crane as a reflection of yourself?

Nick Crane is not so much a reflection of myself, as he is my alter-ego. He is what I might be like if I was quite fearless and willing to risk my life on a regular basis for what I believe is right. As a young man “on the streets” and during my decades of work in criminal defense, I have rubbed elbows with a great many violent individuals/criminals and am fairly comfortable around them. Yet, personally, I have always been non-violent. Although Nick Crane would never hurt anyone unnecessarily (he does have a heart!), he was raised on the wrong side of the tracks and learned out of necessity to “throw down” at an early age.

4. What are some real-life political moments that inspired the writing of your novel?

During the time I was writing 27 Days and its prequel, Rogues and Patriots, I was furious over the burgeoning private prison industry and its nefarious relationship to mass incarceration in the United States. I was also thoroughly disgusted by the manner in which elements on the far right were making careers out of invoking the grim specter of racism, both subtly and overtly. I was also disgusted by the manner in which the legions of desperate immigrants trying to get into the United States, especially the families, were treated by our Border Patrol. Those of us who are comfortably secure here in the US need to walk in the other guy’s shoes and learn to empathize with the disadvantaged and the abandoned of this world. I was as shocked as everyone else by the January 6th Insurrection, but viewed retrospectively, 27 Days, which was completed before that dark day, seems eerily prophetic.

5. What is next for you and Nick Crane?

At the end of 27 Days, Nick Crane and his friends, although having reached temporary “safe harbor,” are hardly “out of the woods.” Nick’s enemy Marguerite Ferguson and “the Principals” will never give up their vendetta against him, and soon, he will once again be living the life of a fugitive. My challenge is to find a way for Nick to neutralize Marguerite and company once and for all so that he can go to other challenges/adventures where

Lo and Behold, Brother’s and Sisters, Patrick H. Moore’s new political thriller “27 Days,” was published this morning by Down & Out Books. I want to thank my friend, crime writer Charles Salzberg for recommending it to Down & Out Books and I want to thank Eric Campbell and Lance Wright and all the good folks at Down & Out for making it happen. If you want to pick up a copy of this spine-tingling story, here are some links to help you on your way: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=27%20days%20patrick%20moore…

or https://downandoutbooks.com/bookstore/moore-27-days/

Here is a short excerpt from the beginning of the story:

I was just about to settle down with The Zebra-Striped Hearse by Ross MacDonald when the brick shattered the cabin window. I ducked for cover and reached for the gun I did not have. Heart pounding. A sickness deep in my gut. It was a few days before Easter, but I wasn’t in the mood. The brick lay on the floor at the foot of the bed in a zip lock freezer bag. I got down on my hands and knees. The envelope inside was addressed to me in large letters. Mr. Nick Crane, I am your friend. You and your cabin will be bombed in five minutes. You must leave right now. My driver Mars, a tall black man with burn marks on his face, is next door at The Gourd waiting for you. Enter by the back door. Underneath it was signed in longhand, Yours faithfully, Willem Spahn.

Brothers and Sisters: Patrick H. Moore, author of “27 Days,” is being interviewed by Alan Warren and Michael Hawley of NBC’s House of Mystery Radio Show tonight, Feb. 7th, at 9 pm PST, on KCAA 106.5 fm Los Angeles/1050 am Palm Springs. Or you can stream the show from their website at https://live.kcaastreaming.com/ In the interview, Patrick will talk about his personal background and how that led to him writing “27 Days.”

by Patrick H. Moore

February 9, 2023

I had an article posted this week in Writer’s Digest called “Writing the Contemporary PI Thriller: A Roadmap,” in which I discuss the essential building blocks needed to write such a book. Here is the link to the article: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/writing-the-contemporary-pi-thriller-a-roadmap

Here are the areas the article discusses:

Wanted: Intimate Knowledge of the Subject Matter

Wanted: A Strong and Engaging Protagonist

Wanted: A Dangerous and Seemingly Intractable Situation

Wanted: An Intricate, Twisty, and Compelling Plot

The Hero Must Have Helpers

The Essential Je ne Sais Quoi

February 10, 2023

I want to thank crime novelist Dana King (author of “White Out”) for reading my new thriller, “27 Days,” and preparing a group of excellent interview questions! The interview appears on Dana’s author’s website, One Bite At A Time.

In his Introduction , Dana states: “Patrick H. Moore discusses his new novel, 27 DAYS, on today’s edition of OBAAT. The book is a blending on genres I can’t remember seeing before, so it’s worth hearing what Patrick has to say.” https://tinyurl.com/ycks2kzh

So please take a look at this informative interview.

February 14, 2023

Laudatory comments from a Review of 27 Days by Crimefictioncritic:

“27 Days takes off like a bullet train and by the time I reached the halfway point, I didn’t think Moore could sustain the blistering pace. But he proved me wrong…The technology savvy Crane seems an amalgamation of a modern-day Lew Wickersham (Mannix, S1), Jason Bourne, Jack Ryan, and James Reece. He has all the skills…”

“Strengths of this novel lie in the pacing and plotting, and how easily Moore keeps us guessing what Crane’s next move will be and what will happen next. There are twists and turns and surprises enough to keep the reader engaged throughout. I also enjoyed the neo-noir, first person style of the narrative, complete with short punchy sentences.”

Good Morning, Friends! Now is your chance! The Kindle version of “27 DAYS” is on sale this week only. BEST PRICE IN 30 DAYS! $.99.

Click on the Book Cover to read preview and to order…

“Moore’s fast-paced, exciting political thriller is full of action and intrigue.” —Kirkus Reviews

“..it offers deliciously wicked villains—particularly the sly Ferguson—who are shown to be tough as nails.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The timely plot will resonate with many readers as it digs deep into a depraved, shadowy underworld of manipulation and greed.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An up-to-the-minute thriller that ably tackles contemporary politics.” —Kirkus Reviews

April 18, 2023

Hello, Friends! Here is a new interview Patrick H. Moore did with Citywide Blackout Blogspot that just came out yesterday. Citywide Blackout is a Boston-based online publication that has been with us since 2008… Enjoy!

http://citywideblackout.blogspot.com/2023/04/patrick-h-moore-builds-on-success-of.html

April 27, 2023

Please check out Patrick H. Moore’s Interview with Amy Beth Arkawy on her podcast, Crime Stories! In this interview Patrick H. and Amy Beth discuss his transition from true crime blogger to crime fiction writer. Here is the link:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/amybetharkawyshow/2023/04/27/crime-stories?fbclid=IwAR174tWLanaAMEpdcUOzAEht4M8DlBvE_37q4e5JAYLY_KWTlN_itkhyHu8

July 1, 2023

“Setting the Record Straight,” Patrick H. Moore’s comic grifter tale about everyone’s favorite grifters, Sam and Rachel, is now available on Amazon for only $2.99. In this story, Sam and Rachel, attempt to hustle a couple of war veterans. Needless to say, things don’t go according to plan. This is a fun story that is guaranteed to make you smile. Here’s how it is described on Amazon:

“Sam and Rachel answer a cryptic ad for a ghost writer with discretion. They ingratiate themselves with a pair of veterans who want to write a military tell-all and are willing to pay for their services.

But Sam and Rachel quickly discover that working with dangerous people with trust issues can be a risky proposition…”

Here is the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Settin…/dp/B0C4R4NGR6/ref=sr_1_1.