Like most soldiers, Declan Colette lost his fair share in the war—in his case a sailor, drowned off Iwo Jima. Since then he’s been scratching out a living as a cut-rate PI, drinking too much, and flirting with danger. Then a girl arranges to consult him, only to be murdered en route, and the cops tag Colette as their prime suspect. To save his neck he’ll need to find the real killer, a quest that pits him against a rival detective firm, a dangerously rich family, and a desperate foe whose murdering ways started back during the war. Could this be the case he’s been waiting for? Catching the killer could make his reputation. Failing, could cost him his life. Either way: win-win. [Cheap as Beasts was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, Best Gay Mystery 2015.]

Gay PI Declan Colette finds himself in the middle of a gang war between resurgent Japanese mobsters and the black gangsters who expanded operations during World War II. Complicating matters is crime boss Max Harrold. Whether he's stoking the fires of racial hostility or not, Harrold is definitely making things difficult for Colette, shanghaiing the detective and planting the body of a murdered Japanese gangster in Colette's office. Now Colette's only hope is to find the kidnapped daughter of a powerful Japanese businessman and return her home safely. And he has to do it with criminals standing in his way and police hot on his tail.