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John Lutz

The second set of crime thrillers starring a tough Florida PI from the New York Times–bestselling author of Single White Female and “one of the masters” (Ridley Pearson).
 
New York Times– and USA Today–bestselling author John Lutz has been hailed as “a major talent” by John Lescroart, and he “just keeps getting better and better” (Tony Hillerman). “Lutz offers up a heart-pounding roller coaster” (Jeffery Deaver) in his thrillers and “knows how to make you shiver” (Harlan Coben).
 
 “The Carver series is the finest work yet by this prolific author” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). After a criminal’s bullet shattered not only his knee but also his career as an Orlando cop and his marriage, Fred Carver starts over as a private detective. In this award-winning ten-book series, Lutz’s “dogged Carver is a believably heroic guy, tough, scarred and able to exhibit fear and courage at the same time” (Publishers Weekly).
 
Flame: When his newest client is killed in a car explosion only minutes after hiring him, Carver learns the man may not have been whom he claimed.
 
 “Stunning . . . a brilliant writer, here at the peak of his abilities.” —The Plain Dealer
 
Bloodfire: Carver is hired by a distraught husband to find his missing wife—a heroin addict who fled with nearly $10,000. But when the terrified woman begs Carver for protection, the truth about his client’s motives comes out, and now both of them must go on the run.
 
 “Another satisfying thriller . . . Lutz carefully and caustically captures the heat and amorality of the faces and fixtures of the Florida drug scene.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
 
Hot: After an old man tells Carver a tale of his wealthy neighbor in the Florida Keys using a yacht to smuggle cocaine, he turns up dead, the victim of a suspicious hit-and-run, and it’s up to the PI to bring his killers to justice.
 
 “A fast-paced and well-plotted mystery . . . stays hot until the very last page.” —San Francisco Chronicle

Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller

The Fred Carver Mysteries

The Fred Carver Mysteries Volume Two: Flame, Bloodfire, and Hot

The first three crime thrillers in an award-winning series starring a tough Florida PI—from the New York Times–bestselling author of Single White Female.
 
New York Times– and USA Today–bestselling author John Lutz has been hailed as “a major talent” by John Lescroart and “one of the masters” by Ridley Pearson. “Lutz offers up a heart-pounding roller coaster” (Jeffery Deaver) in his thrillers and “knows how to make you shiver” (Harlan Coben).
 
 “The Carver series is the finest work yet by this prolific author” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). After a criminal’s bullet shattered not only his knee but also his career as an Orlando cop and his marriage, Fred Carver starts over as a private detective. In this award-winning ten-book series, Lutz’s “dogged Carver is a believably heroic guy, tough, scarred and able to exhibit fear and courage at the same time” (Publishers Weekly).
 
Tropical Heat: The police think Willis Davis committed suicide, but beautiful real-estate broker Edwina Talbot is convinced her missing lover is alive and hires Carver to find him. Following a twisted trail from luxurious beach resorts to the swamps of the Everglades, Carver runs afoul of violent Cubans, a DEA agent, and assorted criminals, all while falling hard for his lovely client.
 
 “Lutz has never written leaner prose, and the novel’s ending, especially the last sentence, is a delight.” —USA Today
 
Scorcher: When Carver’s young son becomes the third victim of a serial killer with a homemade flamethrower, the tortured private eye won’t rest until he’s avenged the boy’s death.
 
 “The prose is lean, the action fast-paced, the suspense unrelenting . . . superior entertainment.” —The San Diego Union
 
Kiss: After his elderly uncle’s suspicious death at Sunhaven Retirement Home, Lt. Alfonso Desoto hires Carver to find out what’s going on behind the closed doors of the facility. Soon he’s tangling with everyone from a rough head nurse to a brutally sadistic thug. Winner of the Shamus Award.
 
 “The grip on the reader is relentless until the final, entirely unforeseen shocker rings down the curtain on Lutz’s best novel so far.” —Publishers Weekly

The Fred Carver Mysteries Volume One: Tropical Heat, Scorcher, and Kiss

Florida PI Fred Carver is back—in the final set of crime thrillers from the New York Times–bestselling author who “just keeps getting better and better” (Tony Hillerman).
 
New York Times– and USA Today–bestselling author John Lutz has been hailed as “a major talent” by John Lescroart and “one of the masters” by Ridley Pearson. “Lutz offers up a heart-pounding roller coaster” (Jeffery Deaver) in his thrillers and “knows how to make you shiver” (Harlan Coben).
 
 “The Carver series is the finest work yet by this prolific author” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). After a criminal’s bullet shattered not only his knee but also his career as an Orlando cop and his marriage, Fred Carver starts over as a private detective. In this award-winning ten-book series, Lutz’s “dogged Carver is a believably heroic guy, tough, scarred and able to exhibit fear and courage at the same time” (Publishers Weekly).
 
Spark: A retired schoolteacher turns to Carver after receiving an anonymous note that her husband was murdered. Her case takes the PI into the depths of Solartown: a stately Florida retirement community where seventy is the new forty, golf carts are the only way to get around, and death from natural causes is nowhere to be found.
 
 “Down and dirty . . . a good, fast read.” —The Houston Post
 
Torch: Carver has to approach his latest case from every angle—as members of a love triangle start suddenly dying and disappearing, beginning with the woman who hired him minutes before her death.
 
 “For a long-running series, this one is still hot . . . with lots of nice noir touches to give it texture. The dialogue is brisk and brittle, the action gets nasty when it must, and the characters are as shady as the sunny climate allows.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
Burn: When he is accused of stalking a woman he swears he’s never met, building contractor and recent widower Joel Brant asks Carver for help clearing his name. But as the PI digs into the case, he begins to wonder who’s stalking whom?
 
 “Riveting . . . Lutz’s eye for Florida noir is impeccable . . . Top of the line.” —Publishers Weekly
 
Lightning: An explosion at a Florida clinic causes Carver’s lover, Beth, to miscarry. The police arrest an anti-abortion fanatic, but when the violence continues, Carver pursues the bomber on his own.
 
 “Lutz is an expert—he’ll have you glued to the page.” —The Denver Post

The Fred Carver Mysteries Volume Three: Spark, Torch, Burn, and Lightning

When a serial killer takes PI Fred Carver’s son, the ex-cop goes hunting for vengeance in this “classic page-turner” by the New York Times–bestselling author (The Houston Post).

A year ago, Fred Carver was nothing but a disabled ex-cop whose career, marriage, and family were all little more than fading memories. But then, while working as a private detective, he met Edwina Talbot, and ten months of life together has made him happier than he has been in years. But fate does not let men like Fred Carver stay happy for long. On the eve of a visit from his ex-wife and their two children, tragedy upends his new life. As if Florida in July weren’t hot enough, a madman is on a killing spree with a homemade flamethrower. After Fred’s eight-year-old son becomes the third victim, a man who has spent his life trying to catch murderers now has some killing to do of his own. This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Lutz including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Scorcher is the 2nd book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Scorcher

Ex-cop Fred Carver investigates a death at a Florida funeral home whose residents don’t always die of natural causes

Retirement is a word that has always frightened Fred Carver. One of Orlando’s finest, he retired early—when a criminal’s bullet shattered his kneecap and made him unfit for beat work. Since then he hasn’t been able to relax, and fills his days and nights investigating cases the local police aren’t willing to touch. Now one of those cops has come to him with a problem that only a private detective can solve.

It takes Fred into the heart of Florida’s retirement community: a spacious estate called Sunhaven where the elderly can finish their lives in luxury. But it seems that some of them are dying before their time. When the residents speak of murder, are they telling the truth, or are they simply confused? Unraveling the mystery will take Fred Carver into a place where death is seldom the result of natural causes.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Lutz including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Kiss

When a nervous husband asks him to track down his heroin addict wife, Fred Carver learns that not every client can be trusted When he meets Bob Ghostly, it’s hardly the first time that Fred Carver has been asked to find a missing spouse. But Ghostly’s tale about a beautiful woman who fled for no apparent reason doesn’t quite convince Carver, who presses for more detail. Finally Ghostly admits it. His wife was beautiful, intelligent, and kind, but she was also a heroin addict. She fled their Florida home with half their savings—nearly $10,000—and he’s afraid she’s going to put it straight into her veins. Carver goes looking for the troubled young bride, but when she shows up on her own—terrified and looking for protection—a routine case becomes one that could prove lethal for the well-meaning PI. This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Lutz including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

Bloodfire is the 5th book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Bloodfire

Investigating cocaine smuggling in the Florida Keys, Fred Carver stumbles on a crime far worse than drug pushing When Henry Tiller barges into Fred Carver’s office, the old man seems crazy. He tells a paranoid story about one of his neighbors on the sunny Florida Key where he makes his home—a wealthy man whom he suspects of using his yacht to run drugs. A young boy recently washed up on the beach, Tiller says, and he’s certain it was murder. Carver is uninterested until he learns that the old man’s grandson died a few years earlier: another casualty of cocaine addiction. It’s only been three years since Carver’s own son was murdered, and he’s too sentimental to turn down the case. When Tiller turns up dead himself, a victim of a suspicious hit-and-run, a little smuggled cocaine becomes the least of Carver’s troubles. This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Lutz including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

Hot is the 6th book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

When a client dies in an apparent suicide, Florida detective Frank Carver suspects murder Donna Winship is an ordinary woman with a typical problem. No longer in love with her husband, she has taken to spending evenings and long afternoons with a new man. Fearful that her husband will learn the truth and be overwhelmed with jealousy, she contacts Fred Carver, an ex-cop turned PI, and asks him to tail her. Minutes after he agrees, Donna drives her car into a speeding tractor trailer. Dead on impact. The local police are happy to call it a suicide, but Carver is determined to serve his client, even in death. More bloodshed follows, as Donna’s husband kills himself and her lover disappears without a trace. No love triangle is simple, but this one could cost Fred Carver his life. This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Lutz including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

Torch is the 8th book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Torch

When he is accused of stalking a woman he swears he’s never met, a local businessman asks Fred Carver for help clearing his name Joel Brandt swears he’s never met the woman before. His wife dead six months before, the small-time businessman is perplexed when Del Moray police inform him that a local woman, Marla Cloy, has accused him of harassing her. According to her, Joel has been lurking outside of her house, following her car, even assaulting her at the grocery store. Brandt says it’s all a lie, but the police don’t believe him. He goes to Fred Carver, an ex-cop turned PI, for help clearing his name. The harder Carver looks, the less he understands. There is no apparent connection between the two people, and yet one of them is trying to destroy the other’s life. When this game turns deadly, who will be the first to go? This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Lutz including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

Burn is the 9th book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Burn

After an explosion causes his lover to miscarry, Fred Carver hunts for the man who planted the bomb Fred Carver’s lover, Beth, is not a woman who wants to be tied down. When she learns that she is pregnant with the detective’s child, she resists his attempts to marry her and initially wants to have an abortion. Finally, love wins out, and they decide to raise the child together. Stopping by the abortion clinic to cancel her appointment, Beth is caught in an explosion that spares her life but takes her unborn child. The police are content to lock up a local anti-abortion fanatic whose house is full of explosives, but Fred Carver isn’t convinced. When he and Beth start receiving death threats, he takes the matter into his own hands—seeking revenge against the man who took his child and nearly murdered the woman he loves. This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Lutz including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection. 

Lightning is the 10th book in the Fred Carver Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.