Michael Raleigh – författare

In 1970s Chicago, a young man searches for the woman he lost—and finds a mystery: “Clever and surprising, a pleasure of a read” (Michael Allen Dymmoch, award-winning author of the Caleb & Thinnes novels).   Home from military service, Billy Fox leaves Michigan and gets on a Greyhound to Chicago, hoping to find his ex-girlfriend, Rita—now another man’s wife. Chicago isn’t a town that takes kindly to strangers, and Billy finds himself barely scraping by, working odd jobs and living in squalor among ex-cons and men that the city hasn’t spit out just yet.   Then a chance encounter lands him a job with Harry Strummer, the streetwise owner of the Peerless Detective Agency. At Harry’s oddball agency, Billy hones his skills, learning how to stake out a mark, find a bug, and spot a tail. His life begins to change in ways he didn’t expect—but as he continues to search for Rita, an even bigger mystery comes along, one that puts both men in the crosshairs.

A killer terrorizes a diverse Chicago neighborhood in this “impressive first mystery” (Publishers Weekly).   Private investigator Paul Whelan’s specialty is tracking down missing persons. But when his good friend is found slain in an alley, Whelan is steered down a path of violence as he searches for answers in a murder case.   His investigation is interrupted by the arrival of an attractive young woman who is on her own search for her missing kid brother. But as clues lead Whelan to believe the two cases may be connected, the body count rises quickly, and he finds himself racing to catch a killer before he strikes again . . .   “Raleigh seems to have gotten so deeply inside his hero and his seamy world that there may be nothing left for a sequel. But it would be great to be wrong about that.” —Kirkus Reviews  

Death on the Chicago waterfront pulls a PI into a twisting case: “An underappreciated, carefully crafted series” (Booklist).   Two years ago, a computer software specialist was found dead in Belmont Harbor, an apparent suicide. Now, the body of a low-rent bookie has been found very close to the same spot—and the businessman’s wealthy widow hires Paul Whelan to find out whether her husband really killed himself at all.   There are, in fact, connections between the two men—and as Whelan tries to sort them out with some unofficial help from a friend on the force, he’s drawn into a world of missing accountants, mysterious tough guys, and dirty deals . . .   “Sleek plotting . . . Raleigh, who delivered the goods in his debut novel, Death in Uptown, shows no signs of faltering.” —Publishers Weekly

A PI combs the seedy Chicago streets to untangle a web of old feuds that may have turned fatal: "This series is a small treasure" (Booklist). Chicago private eye Paul Whelan is hired by an elderly jazz musician to find a missing street hustler named Sam Burwell. As Whelan delves into Burwell''s past, in the world of sidewalk vendors and corner musicians, he uncovers old enmities and love affairs, but his search for Burwell comes up empty. That is, until Burwell is found murdered—and Whelan is swept up into a whirlwind of old feuds, dark pasts, unlikely romances . . . and a killer hiding in plain sight. "There is method as well as charm in the congenial manner of Mr. Raleigh''s detective, who manages to conduct a very thorough investigation by winning over grumpy bartenders, crabby waitresses and wary old men on benches. He likes these people—and that''s good enough reason to like him." —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times "The smells and the sounds are evocative: the greasy food that Whelan thrives on, the dank workingman''s bars and the ever-present rattle of the el overhead . . . Raleigh presents a genuine good guy in the luckless Whelan and offers a knockout supporting cast." —Publishers Weekly

“The mystery fiction that Sara Paretsky fashions from Chicago’s South Side is fully matched in Raleigh’s gritty North Side tales” (Publishers Weekly).   Margaret O’Mara’s brother disappeared decades ago. But now that his last known associate has just been found dead, O’Mara hires PI Paul Whelan to investigate.   Whelan makes the rounds through seedy bars and dilapidated apartment buildings, discovering connections to a long-gone Chicago amusement park that was once the site of another murder. Soon, Whelan is navigating his way through dark pasts, deep secrets, and a mystery that may cost him his life.   “What makes this riveting private-eye yarn work is a mixture of superior Chicago atmosphere, with the ghost of the legendary Riverview amusement park lurking in the shadows; great dialogue; and compassionately drawn characters.” —Booklist

"This series is a small treasure." —BOOKLISTA killer terrorizes Chicago's diverse Uptown neighborhood. Private investigator Paul Whelan's specialty is tracking down missing persons, but when his good friend is found slain in an alley, Whelan is steered down a path of violence as he searches for answers.His investigation is interrupted by the arrival of an attractive young woman, Jean Agee, who is on her own search for her missing brother. But as clues lead Whelan to believe the two cases may be connected, the body count rises quickly, and he finds himself racing to catch a killer before he strikes again.

"A shaggy, satisfying valentine to Chicago's seedy uptown." —KIRKUSThe body of a small-time drug dealer washes up in Belmont Harbor among the yachts of Chicago's wealthy. Convinced that this murder connects to her husband's suicide two years prior, wealthy widow Janice Fairs hires private eye Paul Whelan to investigate.Whelan's investigation takes him into the rarefied air of the wealthy, where he begins to discover unlikely connections between the two men in the harbor. But Whelan isn't the only one snooping, and he discovers himself an unwitting player in a game of cat-and-mouse, with deadly consequences.

"This series is a small treasure." —BOOKLISTChicago private eye Paul Whelan is hired by an elderly jazz musician to find a missing street hustler named Sam Burwell. As Whelan delves into Burwell's past, the world of street vendors and corner musicians, he uncovers old enmities and love affairs, but his search for Burwell comes up empty. That is, until Burwell is found murdered.Soon Whelan is swept up into a whirlwind of old feuds, dark pasts, unlikely romances...and a killer hiding in plain sight.

"This series is a small treasure." —BOOKLISTChicago Private Investigator Paul Whelan takes the case when an elderly woman asks him to look into the disappearance of Tony Blanchard, a young man she'd taken in after his parents died. Instead, Whelan discovers a string of murders, all tied to a car-theft ring.All the evidence suggests that Tony is dead as well, but Whelan keeps digging until he finds himself surrounded by a dangerous maze of silent witnesses, crooked cops, and people willing to kill to keep the truth from surfacing. When a friend from Whelan's past emerges—a friend Whelan thought long dead—his investigation takes a dangerous turn; one that brings him no closer to Tony, and a lot closer to his own demise.

"An underappreciated, carefully crafted series." —BOOKLISTMargaret O'Mara's brother disappeared thirty years earlier, so when his last known associate is found murdered, O'Mara hires Chicago PI Paul Whelan to investigate.Whelan makes the rounds through seedy bars and dilapidated apartment buildings, discovering connections to a long-gone Chicago amusement park where another murder took place forty years prior.Soon, Whelan finds himself navigating his way through dark pasts, deep secrets, and a mystery that may cost him his life.

Once Billy Fox starts looking for trouble, he discovers that—in Chicago—trouble's under every footstep.Home from the war, Billy Fox leaves Michigan for Chicago, hoping to find his ex-girlfriend, Rita—now another man’s wife. Chicago isn’t a town that takes kindly to strangers, and Billy finds himself barely scraping by, working odd jobs and living in squalor among convicts and other men that the city hasn’t spit out just yet.A chance encounter lands him a job with Harry Strummer, the streetwise owner of the Peerless Detective Agency. At Harry's oddball agency, Billy hones his skills, learning how to stake out a mark, find a bug, and spot a tail. Odd life lessons and unexpected romance come his way. But as he searches for Rita, an even bigger mystery comes along, one that puts Harry, and Billy with him, in the crosshairs.This punchy, spellbinding noir spins a web that will catch readers and hold them captive to the final page, when we learn that Billy’s Chicago is a town where nothing is ever truly left up to chance.