Brett Halliday: 74 books

A mysterious woman draws Mike Shayne into a twisted murder plot The call comes just as Mike Shayne is pouring a much-needed cognac. A gangster’s voice warns, “Stay away from Wanda Weatherby.” Simple enough—except that Shayne has never heard of any woman by that name. A few minutes later,...

On the trail to New Mexico, Pat Stevens and his friends Sam and Ezra risk their lives to fulfill a dying man’s last wish Two men ride across the desert. One is young, nearly mad with thirst and fear. The other is stalwart—a blue-eyed legend who doesn’t panic at the sight of a hanging...

For the sake of cheated settlers, Sheriff Pat Stevens takes on a Powder Valley conman On a weather-beaten stretch of the Kansas prairie, a family fights to survive. Molly Hartsell is only twenty-seven, but years of barely scraping by have made her old before her time. Her children are frail,...

When a crime wave grips Miami, Mike Shayne comes home to fight In the city room of the Courier, a reporter blocks out the clatter of typewriters to tell Miami the truth. In the past week, three murders have been committed in Miami Beach, and Timothy Rourke is the only person who sees the connection....

A chance encounter at the airport leads Mike Shayne into a ring of counterfeiters   Mike Shayne has been trying to leave Miami for weeks, but something keeps stopping him from returning to New Orleans. He’s about to board the midnight flight to Louisiana when his secretary calls and tells him not...

Mike Shayne has 2 hours to solve a murder—or else watch his lover die It’s 2 hours before midnight when the woman in room 360 calls the front desk to report a murder. The house detective sprints upstairs, but finds room 360 totally empty: no killer, no victim, and no woman begging for help....

Mike Shayne finds himself caught up in a strange conspiracy when he’s invited to Los Angeles by a terrified woman It’s the end of summer and Miami is as quiet as the grave. To Mike Shayne, the city’s most notorious private detective, it seems as though he’ll never have another case...

Three years after he was run out of town, the Rio Kid returns home to find a community in desperate need of his gunslinging skills Three years ago, the sheriff of Chapparell, Arizona, was shot dead. Eighteen-year-old Hugh Aiken was falsely accused of the murder and forced to ride south with...

In a cutthroat border town, the Rio Kid must fight or die After being run out of Arizona on a trumped-up murder charge, the Rio Kid spent three years in Mexico, learning how to shoot quicker than any man on the range. Now he’s headed home to clear his name. But before he reaches Arizona,...

The Rio Kid saves a young boy’s life in this thrilling tale of the Wild West After three years in exile in Mexico, the Rio Kid slipped back into the United States, evading the clutches of a Texas Ranger, a crooked rancher, and a gang of desperadoes. Now he’s ready to press on to Arizona...

To save his wife’s closest friend, Sheriff Pat Stevens—with the help of his trusty friends Sam and Ezra—pursues a gang of masked gunmen Sheriff Pat Stevens should be the happiest man in Powder Valley. He has a thriving ranch, a healthy son, and the prettiest wife in Colorado. After a...

An all-star gang of villains descends on peaceful Powder Valley On a tawdry street in the heart of Denver, men crowd into the saloon for two reasons: cheap whiskey and Connie Dawson. The loveliest singer in Colorado, Connie has a golden voice and a brassy personality, but along with a crooked...

Mike Shayne leaps into danger after a fugitive collapses on his secretary’s floor Before she met Mike Shayne, Lucy Hamilton was just another young woman living in New Orleans. She shared an apartment with her best friend, Arlene, a vivacious young thing with a thousand gentleman callers,...

A reporter anticipates her own death, and Mike Shayne hunts the killer   Sara Morton is one of the toughest reporters in Miami. She made a name for herself in the twenties when she lied her way into Al Capone’s mob to get an exclusive, and she has been making headlines—and enemies—ever since....