A DEVIOUS DAME (book #4 in the Max Dexter Mystery Series)
Chris Laing (eBook) 2019
It’s early spring in 1948 when private eye, Max Dexter, attempts to help a young boy abandoned by his mother. Her name is Ida Lucas and she’s a doozy: sleek and ambitious, Ida is a hostess at the classy Royal Connaught Hotel where she’s often seen in the company of Hamilton’s well-to-do gents who are anxious to show their appreciation for her attention.
After Ida’s abrupt disappearance, Max and his partner, Isabel O’Brien, make arrangements for Ida’s neglected young son to live with friends while they attempt to find his mother. At the same time they’re investigating a divorce case involving a prominent Hamilton businessman and race-horse owner whom they learn is leading a secret, after-hours life that brings them all into contact with the city’s new mob boss, Vincenzo Belcastro.
Post-war Hamilton is in the grip of Spring Fever while Max and Isabel are on the case of this Devious Dame.
READ PROLOGUE to “A Devious Dame“
REVIEWS of “A Devious Dame”
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A FAMILY MATTER (book #3 in the Max Dexter Mystery Series)
Seraphim Editions (print edition, now out of print) 2017
Chris Laing (eBook edition) 2019
“The last person I wanted to see again was my mother. But she turned up anyway.”
Max Dexter’s mother is apparently in town to meet with Hamilton Mob bosses. But she abandoned Max as a child almost twenty-five years ago. So why in hell should he meet her now?
It’s a week before Christmas in 1947 and Max and Isabel are feeling the heat from those dark forces who don’t believe in “Peace on Earth”.
READ CHAPTER ONE of A Family Matter
REVIEWS of A Family Matter
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A DEADLY VENTURE (book #2 in the Max Dexter Mystery Series)
Seraphim Editions (print edition, now out of print) 2014
Chris Laing (eBook edition) 2019
“Roger Bruce was hanging against the bars of his jail cell like a shirt on a doorknob, desperation in his eyes.”
Max Dexter and his easy-on-the-eyes assistant Isabel O’Brien are back in the second book of this post WWII historical mystery series set in Hamilton, Ontario.
When Max’s artist friend, Roger Bruce, is arrested for murdering one of his clients, Hamilton mobsters attempt to discourage the duo in their efforts to track down the real killer.
As in the first novel, “A Private Man”, the city itself continues to be a vital part of the action. And readers wondering if Max and Isabel might get together will be watching closely as the pair high-step their way through this quick-paced yarn.
“A Deadly Venture” won the Kerry Schooley Award 2015 presented by the Hamilton Arts Council.
READ CHAPTER ONE of A Deadly Venture
SEE REVIEWS of A Deadly Venture
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A PRIVATE MAN (Book #1 in the Max Dexter Mystery Series)
Seraphim Editions (print edition, now out of print) 2012
Chris Laing (eBook edition) 2019
“July, 1947. And hotter than hell in Hamilton.”
So begins Chris Laing’s debut novel featuring Max Dexter, an army veteran recently discharged and limping from a war injury, who returns to his hometown to open his own private detective agency. His first case involves arson, art theft, money laundering and murder building to its rip-roaring climax.
A Private Man was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award, Best First Crime Novel. It was also a finalist for the Bloody Words Bony Blithe Award.
READ CHAPTER ONE of A Private Man
SEE REVIEWS of A Private Man
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All the books are available on-line at
and perhaps at your local public library.