Les Roberts

The stately homes of Pepper Pike house some of Cleveland's biggest movers and shakers. And one of them--an advertising exec named Richard Amber--is missing. Private eye Milan Jacovich follows a trail that leads from posh private gun clubs to sleek corporate offices--and into the terror of murder. Reissue.

A Milan Jacovich Mystery (#1)

Pepper Pike

Julia Hallam

Leading scholars in the interdisciplinary field of geo-spatial visual studies examine the social experience of cinema and the different ways in which film production developed as a commercial enterprise, as a leisure activity, and as modes of expression and communication. Their research charts new pathways in mapping the relationship between film production and local film practices, theatrical exhibition circuits and cinema going, creating new forms of spatial anthropology. Topics include cinematic practices in rural and urban communities, development of cinema by amateur filmmakers, and use of GIS in mapping the spatial development of film production and cinema going as social practices.

New Approaches to Film and Place

Locating the Moving Image

Snake Oil

#4 in the Saxon mystery series. Wealthy and unlikable real-estate developer George Amptman hires Saxon to determine whether his young wife, Nanette, is having an affair. Saxon hates domestic cases, but the client seems so pathetic—and offers so much money—that Saxon agrees. And when her lover, a petroleum engineer, is found strangled with a silk scarf, Saxon finds himself hip-deep in the oil business. Saxon’s nemesis, Lieutenant Joe Di Mattia of the LAPD, thinks Nanette Amptman murdered her lover. But there’s no shortage suspects: The crusty old wildcatter who’s made and lost fortunes. The mysterious East Indian with a nasty pet cobra. The powerful oil baron who fired the victim because of his womanizing. And the exquisite movie actress more famous for her private performances than her on-screen ones. And there’s no shortage of motives, either—thirty-two million of them, all with dollar signs. Saxon ranges up and own the oil-rich beach areas of Los Angeles’s South Bay, facing a second murder, an attempt on his own life, and a wrenching examination of his own courage. A tender love affair with a strong, independent woman brightens his life, and his teenaged adopted son, Marvel, provides some much-needed moral support when the going gets toughest.

A Saxon Mystery (#4)

Former Irish mafia hitman Brock Sheehan lives quietly on a boat fifty miles from Cleveland. His “retirement” angered the mob boss and his former job caused the Sheehan family to disown him. But when his long-lost nephew, Linus Callahan, tracks him down and asks him for assistance, he agrees to help. A few days earlier, the nephew got into a push-and-shove bar argument with a multimillion-dollar basketball player just released from prison for running a high-level dog-fighting ring. Then the athlete is murdered, and Linus becomes the Cleveland police department’s “person of interest.” So while Brock Sheehan asks questions regarding the illegal dogfight community, the athlete’s crazed fans subject him and his live-in girlfriend to a beating, and rapes one of his co-workers at the local animal shelter. In his travels all over NE Ohio, Brock finds himself in Youngstown where he discovers the woman he’s loved all his life, Arizona Skye, who walked out on him years ago and disappeared because of his violent profession. Now she works as a TV news reporter in Youngstown and he hopes to somehow rekindle that love from ten years ago. Investigating the athlete’s former dogfight ring, Brock gets most unpleasant with the remaining partner—and winds up with a pit bull of his own, which he names Conor, after an Irish saint. And eventually, with Conor’s instincts, he discovers and turns over to the police the real killer of the dog-killer turned sports legend.

Sheehan's Dog

Slovenian-American Jericho Paich finds himself under arrest by snarling Cleveland police cop Keenan Mayo and forced to be a non-paid confidential informant, setting up friends and strangers to be hauled in for illegal drug use. He turns for help to his mother’s live-in lover, ex-marine officer Laird Janiver. The two have never gotten along, but Jerry has nowhere else to turn. Janiver, a studious African American major who recalls how to kill, decides to help. That brings the two men into contact with a cruelly efficient albino drug lord, the suicidal memory of a lovely young college girl at OSU, and a beautiful woman with what might be a very dangerous past.

A Crime Thriller

The C.I.

Dominick Candiotti is a paid assassin employed by the shadowy Brownstone Agency. After one too many assignments, weary of the violence and a life of temporary identities, he wants to leave the profession. His anonymous boss, code-named "Og," isn't happy with the decision; he turns the tables on his employee and assigns fellow agents to eliminate him. Now on the run, Candiotti fights for his life, trying to stay one step ahead of deadly pursuers while he tracks down his nemesis boss and uncovers secrets from his own past. It's a gripping tale about the struggle for power and a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse that leads through several U.S. cities. This is the second suspense novel featuring Domninick Candiotti by Les Roberts. He first appeared in "The Strange Death of Father Candy."

A Dominick Candiotti Suspense Novel

Wet Work

#7 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series . . . Private investigator Milan Jacovich (it’s pronounced MY-lan YOCK-ovich) goes behind the scenes to uncover scandal, ambition, and intrigue at one of Cleveland’s top TV stations as he hunts down the stalker and murderer of a beautiful local television anchor. Milan has just moved his offices to an old building on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in an area called the Flats. There, he receives a surprise visit from a former love interest, Mary Soderberg, who left him for her influential boss, TV executive Steve Cirini. One of their newscasters, the beautiful Virginia Carville, has been murdered, and Cirini, who was having an affair with her, is the chief suspect. Mary wants Milan to bail her cheating boyfriend out of the jam—for old times’ sake. Milan doesn’t like Cirini at all, but takes the case even though he’s unsure of the man’s innocence. Or is the culprit the obsessive station-manager Nicky Scandalios, the longtime anchorwoman Vivian Truscott, or a survivor of child abuse named Violet Grba? For that matter, could it be Milan’s old flame Mary Soderberg herself?

A Milan Jacovich Mystery (#7)

Collision Bend

#6 in the Saxon mystery series. Saxon is hired to find the missing wife of an aging Borscht Belt comedian. Nappy Kane is a dinosaur, telling stale jokes about women drivers. His career is on the rocks, his bank balance is dwindling—even his agent is turning his back on him. But what broke the old comic’s heart was when his wife of less than a year disappeared—along with her clothes, her jewelry, and her new car. Saxon, hired to find her, learns that Doll Kane was a mail-order bride, chosen from a selection offered to him by a rather mysterious “agency.” Following a lead provided by a Chinese-American cabaret singer, Saxon tracks down the mail-order agency in a small town in northern California. Accompanied by his adopted son, Marvel, he finds the agency, run from a massage parlor, not only suspicious but dangerous. When he uncovers a murder, Saxon has to protect himself—and Marvel. But he’s surprised to discover that though Marvel is still a teenager, when the chips are down, he’s a good man to have around.

A Saxon Mystery (#6)

The Lemon Chicken Jones

When hot shot Cleveland real estate attorney Joel Kerner, Jr., is killed on a Caribbean holiday, only his angry sister Patrice thinks it's more than a botched robbery. But when burly ex-football player-turned-investigator Milan Jacovich is hired to investigate the case, he gets stabbed, beaten, and almost burned to death, before he's led to the right door. Unfortunately there's a catch, and Milan is dangerously close to getting tangled in a barbed-wire net. Martin's Press.

A Milan Jacovich Mystery (#6)

The Duke of Cleveland

Hired by a no-nonsense Common Pleas judge to track down a con man who has been stealing from local residents, Milan Jacovich and his client become suspects when the man is found dead with Jacovich's name on a paper at his side. 15,000 first printing.

A Milan Jacovich Mystery

The Irish Sports Pages

While vacationing on the island of San Carlos, Cleveland P.I. Milan Jacovich investigates the death of a bright young attorney, Joel Kerner, but when Milan becomes involved with organized crime on an international scale along the way, he begins the fight for his own life. Reprint.

The Cleveland Local

Milan Jacovich searches Cleveland's artists' quarter for a pottery maker and con man with a beautiful girlfriend and a talent for mayhem

Dan S. Kennedy

#17 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series. The sudden death of a former client leads Milan and his young assistant K.O. O'Bannion to look behind the scenes at a harness racing track. Investigating the backstretch (as insiders call the working side of the track) they find no shortage of colorful characters and suspicious activities.

A Milan Jacovich / K.O. O’Bannion Mystery (#17)

Win, Place, Or Die

Dan Kennedy

When a celebrity-packed motivational event turns deadly, Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich (MY-lan YOCK-ovitch) finds himself caught up in the mess. Milan and his associate Kevin "K.O." O'Bannion are hired as extra security for several high-profile inspirational speakers at a convention in downtown Cleveland, where they get off to a rocky start. Each special guest seems more unpleasant than the last--particularly Tommy Triller, the main draw for the weekend, with an ego to match his bank account. Tensions run high, but Milan thinks they have things covered . . . until Triller's dead body is found in his hotel room, a bullet hole between his eyes and a motivational CD jammed in his mouth. Among the suspects are fellow speakers, including southern psychologist Dr. Ben, who resented earning less than Triller; hip hop artist and convicted killer Hy Jinx; and former big-league baseball manager Tony Nardoianni, who might be willing to do almost anything for the right price. Milan figures he and K.O. are out of work when his significant other, Cleveland homicide detective Tobe Blaine, takes charge of the murder case. But to Milan's surprise, his old nemesis and local mob boss Victor Gaimari asks Milan to work for him. Nardoianni owes Victor, who wants to make sure the debt is paid--and that the aging athlete's gambling past stays under wraps as the murder investigation continues. Tobe's not happy to have Milan and K.O. operating on her turf. But a job is a job, and Milan is determined to clear his new client of murder . . . by finding the real killer.

Speaking of Murder

When moisture gathers over a large lake, the snow seems to cover every sin and crime. Milan Jacovich knows better. He's off to the Cleveland suburb of Lake Erie Shores to guard mayoral candidate Barbara Corns. When her opponent's wife is killed, Jacovich is led into a stew of organized crime, a child porno ring, a vengeful cop, and a jealous lover. Martin's Press.

A Milan Jacovich Mystery (#5)

The Lake Effect

#2 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series. Milan hunts for a con man who scammed the Mob. He's shadowed by mob flunky Buddy Bustamente, who sports a polyester leisure suit, white patent leather shoes, and matching white belt—that 1970s fashion statement once unkindly dubbed the “full Cleveland.”

A Milan Jacovich Mystery (#2)

Full Cleveland

#10 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series. Private investigator Milan Jacovich takes the case of a college student falsely accused of rape by campus feminists. His investigation raises questions that stir up the real culprit and cast a harsh light on campus political correctness.

The Best-kept Secret

A simple missing-person case gets complicated when Cleveland private eye Milan Jacovich discovers that 28-year-old Earl Dacey left behind a strange collection of voyeuristic videos in his mother's West Side house. Was Earl just a pervert shadowing Catholic schoolgirls in Northeast Ohio shopping malls with his hidden camera...or had he become entangled with unsavory characters in the local adult film business? When Milan uncovers a possible link to organized crime, the FBI gets interested- and Milan's "well connected" friend Victor Gaimari gets angry. After a dead body turns up, the Cleveland Police take over, and Milan figures he's off the case. So why does crusty Lieutenant McHargue ask him to lend a hand?--From inside front jacket flap.

A Milan Jacovich Mystery (#15)

The Cleveland Creep

#11 in a series of 13 Cleveland-based mysteries by Les Roberts. First time in trade paperback. Entire series now back in print, in a uniform edition with new covers. In this book, a corporate espionage case becomes more complicated when private detective Milan Jacovich also investigates the murder of an elderly Native American man and the kidnapping of the man's grandson by a local mobster.

Les Roberts

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