Cape Weathers Investigation

Series · 5 books · 2007-2023

By Tim Maleeny

Books in series

Stealing the Dragon

2007

Soon after an ancient talisman is smuggled out of Hong Kong, a container ship filled with Chinese refugees runs aground on Alcatraz, the crew murdered. The Chinese Triads suspect one of their own, a female assassin named Sally known to have a complex relationship with a San Francisco detective named Cape Weathers. But when Sally goes missing, Cape becomes the focus of the Triads’ attention, and soon the police and FBI have him on their radar. Cape quickly realizes he’s screwed if he doesn’t find out what really happened on board the ship. He soon seeks the aid of two neurotic cops, a drug lord, an autistic computer genius, a mayoral candidate, and a reporter with sentient hair. From there, it all goes to Hell.

Beating the Babushka

2007

A movie producer hurtles to his death from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge, an apparent suicide that shocks the film community and puts a two hundred million dollar production in jeopardy. His colleague, Grace, doesn't believe it was suicide and turns to private detec-tive Cape Weathers to find the truth. To solve the case, Cape and his friend Sally–an assassin raised by the Triads–take on the Russian mob, a major movie studio, and a recalcitrant police department by enlisting the help of rogue cops, computer hackers, and an investigative journalist who just doesn't give a damn. But with a sniper on their trail, the challenge will be staying alive long enough to find out the truth. Praise for "Stealing the Dragon" " . . . Maleeny gives readers a fresh and fast take that enthralls." "–Crimespree" "Tough, original, compelling–a perfect thriller debut."–Lee Child, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Hard Way"

Greasing the Piñata

2008

A former U.S. Senator vanishes days after his son goes missing. When theyare both found dead on a golf course, body parts missing, in Mexico, the Senatoras estranged daughter Rebecca resolves to discover what happened. Private investigator Cape Weathers doesnat really want the case. He canat stand politicians and doesnat know the terrain. But when it looks like the daughter may become the next victim, Cape crosses the border looking for answers. Cape asks his deadly companion Sally, trained by the Hong Kong Triads, to watch his back as he stumbles onto a conspiracy that leads from corporate boardrooms in San Francisco to strongholds in Mexico. Together they confront a killer determined to bury the past along with anyone trying to dig it up. Miles away from home and nowhere near finding the answers, Cape manages to get kidnapped, steal from the mob, piss off the DEA, alienate the local police, confound a computer genius, and somehow lose the client heas been protecting all along. Greasing the PiAata is a novel about family, politics, and the devastating effects of tequila on a private detectiveas investigative abilities. It is the third novel in the Cape Weathers series, and the first to be published in hardcover by Poisoned Pen Press.

Boxing the Octopus

2019

Fourth book in the Cape Weather Mystery Series! If you're gonna box an octopus, best bring some extra arms… At the height of tourist season, an armored car drives off a crowded pier and sinks to the bottom of San Francisco Bay. By the time divers find the wreck, the cash is gone and the driver has vanished. The police are convinced it's an inside job, but local merchant Vera Young, whose boyfriend drove the armored car, claims it was much more than a simple heist. Vera swears the missing driver is innocent and wants him found before the police can throw him in jail. San Francisco detective Cape Weathers reluctantly takes the case but warns Vera that her boyfriend is likely guilty―or dead. What starts as a manhunt uncovers a criminal conspiracy of money laundering, illegal drug testing, and a network of corporations willing to do anything to protect their stock price. It's a case that Cape, the witty PI, can't get his arms around. And while his relationship with Vera is getting complicated, the list of people who want him dead is getting longer. Boxing the Octopus is a runaway tour of San Francisco's underworld which reminds us that when things get out of hand, having eight arms is always better than two. These quick-paced, often humorous San Francisco mysteries

Hanging the Devil

2023

"A caper stuffed with comedy and crime...equal parts adrenaline and heart. A completely delightful read." ―Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author "Smart, sassy, and sizzling with action." ―Deborah Crombie, New York Times bestselling author It was supposed to be a simple steal the paintings, leave the forgeries... When a helicopter crashes through the skylight of the Asian Art Museum, an audacious heist turns into a tragedy. The only witness to the crash is eleven-year-old Grace, who watches in horror as her uncle is killed and a priceless statue stolen by two men and a―ghost? At least that's how the eerie, smoke-like figure with parchment skin and floating hair appears to Grace. Scared almost to death, she flees into the night and seeks refuge in the back alleys of San Francisco's Chinatown. Grace is found by Sally Mei, self-appointed guardian of Chinatown. While Sally trains Grace in basic survival skills, her erstwhile partner Cape Weathers, private detective and public nuisance, searches for the mysterious crew behind the robbery before they strike the museum a second time. As the clock winds down, Cape enlists aid from some unlikely allies to lay a trap for a ghost who has no intention of being caught―nor of leaving any witnesses alive to tell the tale.

Author

Tim Maleeny

Author · 8 books

Tim Maleeny is the award-winning author of STEALING THE DRAGON, a thriller about the Chinese Triads that was named a Killer Book of the Year by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. Publishers Weekly said his series featuring private detective Cape Weathers “engages the reader without insisting that it be taken too seriously, with writing that will resonate with Elmore Leonard fans.” His novel BEATING THE BABUSHKA was called “the second coming of Travis McGee," and the third book in the series, a novel with the unlikely title GREASING THE PIÑATA, is "just right for readers who like a gritty crime novel with a labyrinth of plot twists," according to Library Journal. Tim's standalone comedic thriller JUMP was described as "a perfectly blended cocktail of escapism" by Publishers Weekly and was named Best Mystery of the Year by Foreword Magazine. Tim has won the prestigious Macavity Award for his short fiction, which appears in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen, and several major anthologies, including Thriller 2, Uncage Me, Fear, and Death Do Us Part. Crimespree Magazine said “Maleeny gives readers a fresh and fast take that enthralls,” and Bookreporter called him “one of the new princes of detective fiction.” A member of the International Thriller Writers, Sisters In Crime, and Mystery Writers of America, Tim currently lives and writes in New York City.