Smiley & McBlythe Mystery Series

He thought his detecting days were over—until murder surfaced.

When Steve Smiley's friend is found dead at the bottom of his exercise pool, police quickly rule it an accident. But something doesn't add up, and Smiley's instincts are screaming murder.

There are a lot of things a blind man can do, but solve a murder alone isn’t one of them. He needs a partner… one who knows their way around a crime scene. Enter Heather McBlythe, a rookie homicide detective with ...
Read More...

'Tis the season for miracles... and murder.

A rifle crack shatters the holiday bustle. Christmas shoppers scatter as a renowned big-game hunter drops to the sidewalk. Blind detective Steve Smiley and his partner Heather McBlythe rush to the scene—and to the teen who'd been locked in a heated argument with her adoptive father moments before.

The teen's first plea isn't to find the killer—it's to find her birth parents. What begins as a straightforward adoption ...
Read More...

Steve isn’t celebrating Christmas… he’s trying to survive it.

For blind PI Steve Smiley, Christmas means painful memories, not celebration. When his partner scores them a teaching gig at a Miami mystery writers' conference, the early December getaway seems like the perfect escape. Until it turns into a tidal wave of mysteries to solve.

The conference is a battlefield, with rival factions of writers locked in a vicious power struggle. When the organization's pr ...
Read More...

An inheritance worth millions. A killer with a list… and Smiley’s on it.

Blind PI Steve Smiley inherits an unwanted headache when he's named executor of a sprawling Texas ranch. The owner's death—ruled suspicious and under investigation by the local sheriff—has his four children at each other's throats.

When the ranch foreman is murdered, any illusion of a simple estate settlement is shattered. Hired by the victim's family to investigate, Smiley finds himself ...
Read More...

A detective’s perfect vacation: sun, sand, surf… and murder.

When blind PI Steve Smiley visits his friend and writing mentor, Kate Bridges, he anticipates an idyllic South Padre Island getaway. The island's tranquil spell shatters when Kate's abusive ex-husband appears with violent threats. Two days later, his body is discovered half-buried in the windswept dunes, and Kate becomes the prime suspect.

As local authorities rush to close the case and arrest Kate, ...
Read More...

The name game has a new player… a detective who refuses to lose.

For blind PI Steve Smiley, the tedium between cases is worse than the danger within them. When an insurance investigator enlists his help to track down a vanished millionaire, Smiley eagerly joins the hunt.

The trail leads to multiple passports and false identities, convincing Smiley the millionaire staged his own disappearance. Suddenly the case heats up when a man’s body is discovered in a burn ...
Read More...

Some cases never close. Some debts never die.

When his former homicide partner reaches out, blind PI Steve Smiley knows it's bad. Leo's been handed an eighty-year-old murder—no living witnesses, no fresh evidence, no leads—solve it or face forced retirement. For a cop who's given everything to the job, it's a death sentence.

Smiley builds the case the only way he knows how: working sources, cross-checking old testimony, and trusting instincts sharpened on Hous ...
Read More...

Liars at every turn… but which one is the killer?

Time for the blind detective to expose the truth.

When blind private detective Steve Smiley accompanies his anxious partner to her first eye exam, bloodcurdling screams from the examination room signal trouble. Someone has tampered with the dilating drops—a calculated act of sabotage that turns Smiley and McBlythe's routine visit into a criminal investigation.

But who would want to dest ...
Read More...

A family fortune. A family feud. A killer among them.

An oil baron embroiled in a generations-long family feud is convinced he'll be murdered soon. When blind PI Steve Smiley is hired to investigate the threat, it seems like the perfect excuse to avoid another lonely Christmas.

Then a body is discovered in the tycoon's home, but the baron's still alive. Now he's certain someone's picking off his family one by one, saving him for last. With time running out and ...
Read More...

An island paradise… and a killer on the loose.

Paradise turns deadly when blind detective Steve Smiley arrives at a Caribbean resort for his friend’s destination wedding. The pristine beaches and gentle waves promise relaxation—until the prospective buyer of the family property is found murdered.

When a terrified guest begs for his help, claiming she's being framed, Smiley's vacation becomes an investigation. Each suspect has their own designs on this slice of ...
Read More...

It was the perfect murder… until the truth refused to stay buried.

Blind private investigator Steve Smiley was looking forward to a rare week of tranquility until human remains are unearthed at his partner's real estate development project, bringing everything to a grinding halt. When suspicion immediately falls on a young construction worker, his desperate lawyer hires Smiley to prove the boy's innocence.

As Smiley delves into the case, he discovers the victi ...
Read More...

Palms swaying, tensions rising… and a killer’s footprints in the sand.

Blind private investigator Steve Smiley is pulled into another case when his partner's father suspects corporate espionage. But after an employee is left battered and comatose, it's evident that more sinister forces are at play. To lure out the culprit, Smiley and his partner orchestrate an elaborate ruse—a high-stakes leadership retreat on a private Caribbean island.

The game takes a letha ...
Read More...

Tinsel, treachery and toxins… the perfect Christmas cocktail.

When blind private investigator Steve Smiley's partner becomes immersed in a high-stakes real estate deal, he finds himself at loose ends – until fate pairs him with an unlikely ally: a washout from the police K9 program.

In their first case together, what appears to be a simple matter of proving a pharmacist's innocence in a poisoning death quickly unravels into something far more sinister. Ea ...
Read More...

A blind detective. A mysterious drowning. A tangled web of secrets.

When the body of an oil magnate's son is found in the reflecting pool at a famous Texas monument, the police are quick to call it an accident or suicide. But blind former homicide detective Steve Smiley senses something more sinister at play.

Despite his blindness, Smiley hasn't lost his investigative instincts. As he delves into the case, he uncovers a dangerous web of deception where politic ...
Read More...

A blind detective. A masked killer. One deadly Christmas.

Blind private investigator Steve Smiley expects a quiet Christmas—until Branson entertainer Candy Caine arrives with an unusual problem. Someone claiming to be Krampus, the demonic folklore figure who punishes the wicked, is demanding money.

What started as threatening letters dismissed as a sick joke has escalated to a deadly promise: pay up for her sin of greed, or face the consequences. When Ca ...
Read More...

A missing husband. A murdered journalist. A city where everyone has something to hide.

Blind former Houston homicide detective Steve Smiley and his partner Heather McBlythe take on what looks like a straightforward case: track down a missing husband so his estranged wife can finally file for divorce.

The simple case turns deadly when the body of the woman the husband has been living with is found in a Miami canal. She wasn't just the missing man's companion — ...
Read More...

Volume 1 of the Smiley and McBlythe Mysteries collects the series prequel plus books one and two, following blind former homicide detective Steve Smiley's return to investigation with rookie partner Heather McBlythe at his side. This traditional, clean whodunit series finds Smiley solving murders he can't see, relying on decades of detective instinct and his partner's eyes in the field to close cases no one else can crack.

The truth doesn't need to be seen. It needs to be found.

Volume 2 of the Smiley and McBlythe Mysteries collects books three through five, following blind PI Steve Smiley and his now-seasoned partner Heather McBlythe as they take on three new stand-alone investigations. This traditional, clean whodunit series finds Smiley solving murders he can't see, relying on decades of detective instinct and his partner's eyes in the field to close cases no one else can crack.

Secrets don't stay buried. They just wait to be dug up.

Volume 3 of the Smiley and McBlythe Mysteries collects books six through eight, following blind PI Steve Smiley and his trusted partner Heather McBlythe as they take on three new investigations. This traditional, clean whodunit series finds Smiley solving murders he can't see, relying on decades of detective instinct and his partner's eyes in the field to close cases no one else can crack.

Family, fortune, and lies—the deadliest combination.

Smiley and McBlyth ...
Read More...

Volume 4 of the Smiley and McBlythe Mysteries collects books nine through eleven, following blind PI Steve Smiley and his trusted partner Heather McBlythe as they take on three new investigations. This traditional, clean whodunit series finds Smiley solving murders he can't see, relying on decades of detective instinct and his partner's eyes in the field to close cases no one else can crack.

The closer the circle, the sharper the betrayal.

Smiley and McBlythe ...
Read More...