“This book is a rare combination of chilling mystery and warm ‘coming home’ story.” Donna Ison, Author of The Miracle of Myrtle: Saint Gone Wild
Can Officer Callum Nowak face his childhood phobia of the woods in time to catch a killer and save a missing boy? Or will the ghosts of his past defeat him?
As soon as Callum “Cal” Nowak aged out of foster care at eighteen, he fled his small hometown in the Catskill Mountains, hoping to leave his traumatic childhood behind. He landed in New York City, where he joined the police force.
Fourteen years later, while placed on administrative leave for roughing up a suspect, Cal returns home because his aging foster mom needs help. Everywhere he turns, he’s reminded of his mother’s brutal murder, which he witnessed as a child.
When Cal’s best friend’s husband dies in his arms from a gunshot wound, he must catch the killer before she goes to prison for a crime she didn’t commit. Having no official jurisdiction in the town, though, he must be discreet, which proves no easy feat.
Guided by a handsome stranger who awakens feelings he didn’t know he could have, Cal ventures into the woods where he spent five of the worst days and nights of his life hiding from his mother’s killer, and together they uncover important evidence in the case.
But when a local boy goes missing, can Cal face his phobia alone and save the boy? Or will his childhood trauma defeat him?
Set in 2002, The Lost Boy is the first novel in the Nyes Landing Crime Mystery series. If you enjoy small town murder mysteries with a touch of gay romance, like Joseph Hansen’s Fadeout, Michael Nava’s Lay Your Sleeping Head, or Pretty Pretty Boys by Gregory Ashe, don’t miss this gripping and emotional read that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The Lost Boy releases on November 12th!
A Fatal Affair is in the works!
At the afterparty for the opening night of the Nyes Landing Players’s inaugural production, an outbreak of food poisoning disrupts the festivities. When a womanizing actor in the cast is rushed to the hospital and later dies, the corner rules his death an accidental overdose. But Officer Callum “Cal” Nowak suspects foul play.
A colorful cast of characters that includes a cheating wife, a jealous husband, feuding neighbors, and a housekeeper harboring a secret put Cal’s investigative skills to the test. Things heat up when the mayor pressures the police chief to close the case, leaving Cal with an ultimatum: back off or risk losing his badge. Refusing to let a killer walk free, Cal defies orders and puts his career on the line to uncover the truth.
But his relentless pursuit of justice comes at a cost. Cal’s relationship with Demetrius, already complicated, begins to show cracks. Demetrius, a divorced father navigating his first relationship with a man, struggles with Cal’s obsession with the case and his own doubts about their future. Can Cal solve the murder without losing the man he’s come to love?
Set in 2003, A Fatal Affair is the second book in the Nyes Landing Crime Mystery series. Fans of small-town murder mysteries with a gay romance twist—like Joseph Hansen’s Fadeout, Michael Nava’s Lay Your Sleeping Head, or Gregory Ashe’s Pretty Pretty Boys—will relish piecing together the clues in this gripping whodunit.
Coming March 2025!