“The budget may have been tight, but Michael W. Sherer cuts no corners with Death On A Budget. Buy this book. It’s worth every penny.” —Reed Farrel Coleman, three-time Shamus Award-winning co-author of Tower.
There’s nothing like having kids to change your outlook on life. A toddler has Chicago freelance writer Emerson Ward thinking twice about his habit of tilting at windmills and riding a white charger to people’s rescue. It’s no wonder he turns down his friend Brandt’s pleas to find out why a banker they both knew was shotgunned to death in the park near Montrose Harbor.
But when the love of Emerson’s life leaves for Seattle with their daughter to care for her ailing mother, Emerson has no reason to turn down a cry for help from a childhood friend. It means climbing back in the saddle of his old GMC motor home and returning to the small town where he grew up and swore he’d never return to confront old demons, family, friends and foes he hasn’t seen for 25 years.
Soon he’s up to his eyeballs in a high-stakes commercial real estate scam and a decades-old family secret that threaten everything he holds dear. The deeper he digs, the less he likes what he learns, about his old hometown, the people in it, and even himself. When he links the dead banker to the real estate scam and a group of fundamentalist Muslim businessmen raising funds for terrorists, the FBI steps in to let him know he stands to lose even more—his life.
"Think Travis McGee in Chicago with an Alfa Romeo coupe instead of a moored houseboat,” says author Jeremiah Healy (Rescue, Spiral), “and you have a terrific series."
Find out how to get an autographed copy of the latest Emerson Ward mystery at more than half off the cover price--including shipping! Click on "Events" for details.
Death Is No Bargain A Finalist In ReaderViews.com Literary Contest
In addition to giving
Death Is No Bargain a rave review (calling it "brilliant"), ReaderViews.com has voted the book a finalist in its 2006 literary awards. They also interviewed me to find out more about how the book was written. Wander on over to
ReaderViews.com.
Death Is No Bargain, the fifth book in the Emerson Ward series, is now out in hardcover from Five Star Publishing. To order your copy, visit your favorite local bookstore, or find it online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com and other online retailers.
Here's what people are already saying about it:
"Brilliant ... brings more to the reader than the thrill of a good mystery." - Regan Windsor, Reader Views (readerviews.com)
"… quite amazing storytelling that kept me turning the pages." – Mystery News
"… never slows down as the sleuth follows a meandering trail that climaxes with a fabulous final spin. Fans will appreciate this solid murder mystery." – Harriet Klausner
"Sherer is a great storyteller." – Cynthia Lea Clark, Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine
"The fifth Emerson Ward caper is an unusual mix of straight-ahead and thoughtful discourse on hot-button social issues. The characters are as complex as the issues with which they wrestle, and the mystery is cleverly presented and resolved." – Wes Lukowsky, Booklist
"Think Travis McGee in Chicago, with an Alfa Romeo coupe instead of a moored houseboat, and you have a terrific series." - Jeremiah Healy, author of Spiral and The Only Good Lawyer
"Michael Sherer gets better with each book. I hope he continues the trend for as long as I keep reading. Top drawer." - John Lutz, author of The Night Spider
"Get ready to turn some pages, fast." - Sam Reaves, author of Dooley’s Back
Chicago freelance writer Emerson Ward is minding his own business on a sweltering July day when Larry Forrester tries to kill him. A week later, when Larry's ex-wife Audra asks Emerson to look for their missing daughter Ellen, Emerson learns that his girlfriend Nell is pregnant. While Nell and Emerson confront the difficult decision of whether or not to keep the baby, Emerson learns that Ellen may have been facing the same dilemma. But when Ellen turns up dead 250 miles away, Emerson drops everything to find out why.
Emerson traces Ellen to a religious order in northern Wisconsin. Wangling a job as the convent's handyman, he uncovers a deadly plot to sell babies on the black market.
An exciting mystery, Death Is No Bargain also is a topical look at the abortion debate and the sex scandals rocking the Catholic Church.
For an exciting preview, click on the title in the column to the right.
My new stand-alone suspense novel, Island Life, is out now in hardcover from Five Star. Island Life is the story of an ordinary suburban father's race to solve the mystery of what happened to his missing wife before he loses his children, his freedom and possibly his life.
Early reviews are coming in. Check them out.
“Sherer takes a break from his Emerson Ward series with this solid stand-alone … an unrelenting tale of personal calamity that ends on a gratifying note of hope.” —Publishers Weekly
Island Life is a genuine page-turner … a portrait of a family in free fall…” —Adam Woog, Seattle Times
“In a shift from his Emerson Ward mysteries (Death is No Bargain, 2006, etc.), Sherer creates a suspenseful tale of a family stressed by the conflicts murder reveals.” —Kirkus Review
“Beautifully written and richly nuanced, Island Life by Michael W. Sherer transcends the usual suspense tale. No one will be able to resist rooting for Jack Holm as he fights for his son, his daughter, and ultimately his own soul when his wife is found dead and he's arrested for the crime. Full of insider details and psychological insight, this taut tale takes the reader into the darkest recesses of the human heart. Sherer is an artist, and his work is powerful.” —Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Spymaster
“Island Life is a terrific novel of a tortured husband doing his best to deal with a missing wife and his therefore motherless children. Michael W. Sherer is a seasoned pro who adopts a fascinating narrative voice: While the plot is developed through the first-person voice of Jack Holm, the reader is provided back-story through short prelude scenes of Jack with his psychotherapist, trying to work through why his wife might have left her family. A truly different and fascinating story.” —Jeremiah Healy, author of Turnabout and The Only Good Lawyer
Within a week or two of first appearing on amazon.com, the short story
A Primer On Death featuring Emerson Ward topped the site's "Amazon Shorts" bestseller list.
Amazon Shorts are short fiction and nonfiction pieces that you can download for only 49 cents! Check it out by clicking the amazon.com link on the right. Or click here on
Amazon Shorts.
Here's what the critics are saying about the fourth in the Emerson Ward mystery series.
"A slick narrative, quirky suspects, a fast-moving plot, and likable protagonist combine in this winner for series fans." --
Library Journal
"Sherer's novel succeeds … capably written and perfectly enjoyable." —
Booklist On the page devoted to each Emerson Ward mystery (click on title at right) is an exciting preview from the book. For a complete chapter, send me an e-mail, and I'll return a Word file of the opening chapter for that book. When I get more sophisticated, I'll make samples available in .pdf format for Adobe Acrobat Reader. (Give me a little time and I may get the hang of this web stuff yet.)
