The Rick Walker
Detective Novel Series
BOOK 1: BACKLOT REQUIEM - circa 1954
Rick investigates a thirty-year-old murder case that involves a dying film director and his wild daughters, a legendary film star of the Silent Era, local gangsters, and a very discreet love affair.
click for excerpt | view larger cover
Castle Green Apts. [est 1899]
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published by iUniverse in March 2005
9x6 hardcover [3/2005] for $22.95 at Amazon 9x6 pb [3/2005] for $12.95 at Amazon Adobe Reader ebook [3/2005] for $5.40 at Amazon 9x6 pb [3/2005] for $12.95 thru Barnes & Noble 9x6 hardcover [3/2005] for $22.95 thru Barnes & Noble also on sale at Amazon Canada, U.K., France, Germany & Japan ... plus the novel is translated & published September 2005 in Croatia. BookWire Review [July 2005] |
BOOK 2: DESERT RIFF - circa 1954
A jazz loving short order cook, a young AWOL soldier, the beautiful owner of a honky tonk saloon on Route 66, and a crazy old desert rat lead Rick into danger from a gang of murdering thieves.
click for excerpt | view the cover
Route 66 Research page
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Roadside Diners & Coffee Shops
BOOK 3: VIPER SERENADE - circa 1955
After the double murder of a rookie Negro cop and Rick's saxophone teacher, Rick goes hunting in L.A.'s South Central colored district for a professional killer called 'The Spaniard'.
view the cover
BOOK 4: BALLAD OF THE TALL MAN - circa 1957
A nightclub singer and her corrupt lawyer husband draw Rick into the swirl of gambling and wild parties along the notorious Sunset Strip, and into involvement with a tall, reclusive billionaire aviator, the gangster Eddie Mars, and a series of murders.
view the cover
Howard R. Hughes minipage at Spirit of America
BOOK 5: GASHOUSE BEAT - circa 1959
A young beatnik chick turns up dead after opening night at an art gallery/jazz club on the beach in Venice, California, and Rick must save an artist friend put in jail for her murder.
view the cover
Venice of America
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'The Beat Generation' Page
Rick gets tangled up with the murder of an old rancher, and with the black sheep of an Italian wine-making dynasty, a hidden will, and the decades-old cover-up of a double murder.
view the cover
BOOK 7: SHASTA HOEDOWN - circa 1953
On a fishing trip in Northern California, Rick snags a murder case involving timber barons, local Native Americans, a school marm, and the State Park system.
Lake Shasta-Mt. Shasta area
BOOK 8: HOPPYLAND LULLABY - circa 1955
A ten-year-old kid is kidnapped for ransom and Rick is hired to find her. But first he must fend off the torrid advances of the girl's mother, solve the murder of the family's maid, and battle a smooth operator bent on revenge.
Hopalong Cassidy Page
Other planned titles include PIN-STRIPED SUITE,
WALTZING MICE,
TRIO FOR BLUNT INSTRUMENTS (a sequel to 'Backlot Requiem'),
RAGTIME,
ROMANOFF FANDANGO,
DOUBLE-BARREL POLKA
and CATALINA JAZZ.
All stories occur during the 1950's and in various parts of Los Angeles and California.
This material copyright 1999-2005 by Gary Edward Nordell, all rights reserved.
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