by Bob Liter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Romantic Mystery/Suspense
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
IN
THIS "GRIPPING" MYSTERY THRILLER SOMEONE TRIES TO BURN NICK BANCROFT
ALIVE, BEATS HIM SENSELESS, USES HIM FOR TARGET PRACTICE AND WORST OF ALL HIS
BELOVED CHICAGO CUBS DISAPPOINT HIM AGAIN! SOMETIMES A PI JUST CAN'T CATCH A
BREAK! BUT WHEN HIS CLIENT IS A SEXY NUDIST, NICK BANCROFT WILL PUT UP WITH
JUST ABOUT ANYTHING!
When a sexy nudist
hires him to protect her from whoever is threatening her life, Nick Bancroft
becomes the target. Someone tries to burn him alive, beats the hell out of him
and, since that didn't run him off, uses him for target practice. Meanwhile,
two people are murdered, Nick's true love, Maggie Atley, is more than somewhat
perturbed by his relationship with his client, and a mysterious club seems to
hold the answer. Nick survives an exciting but still losing season by his
beloved Chicago Cubs, a vicious attack by a couple of huge dogs and eventually
puts the finger on the bad guys.
Nick Bancroft
Mysteries, written by Bob Liter
I'm an ex-newspaper
reporter who inherited a run-down, one-man detective agency. My name is Nick
Bancroft. I used to do investigation work occasionally for a friend Jimmy
Jackson, who left me the business and stuck me with an office on the top floor
of an old building in the wrong end of town.
I would have refused the inheritance, but I was sick of working where news had been converted to entertainment. And, besides, Jimmy had paid six months’ rent in advance for the office with a small apartment attached. Since I inherited the business I have helped solve a murder and got some press as a result.
In a small town like Centrel City, you can find bribery, graft, kickbacks, political influence peddling, criminal cover-ups, and sometimes murder. Now when I get involved in a case, there usually is a story I can sell to the upstate Chicago Times. I didn't expect to make a living as a private investigator and freelance reporter, but I was wrong ... sort of. It beats making money for someone else and it leaves time for my almost favorite sport of bowling and my passion for the Chicago Cubs.
It’s all in a day’s
work; I can be tough enough when I have to be. On the other hand, I can be soft
for the ladies, especially for an on-again off-again lover, Maggie Atley.
Nothing is ever as it seems and I don’t quit until I find the answers. My name
is Nick Bancroft.
Blurb #1 – Book One
Murder by the Book,
written by Bob Liter
Nick Bancroft inherits
a rundown detective agency and embarks on a new career as a hard-boiled
detective. When date rape drugs show up in Centrel City, so does reporter Nick
Bancroft. The drugs are discovered at two different murders with sex etiquette
books left at the scenes. Nick is hired by the first victim’s father, Ramsey
Sinclair, to find the killer. A Chicago detective, Miss Faustine, is also hired
by Mr. Sinclair to work “closely” with Bancroft. His focus is interrupted when
he begins a love affair with receptionist, Maggie Atley, from a neighboring
office.
Bancroft is banking on
solving the murders and selling the story to the Chicago Times. As the case
unfolds there is enough danger, drama, and deception to fill a book. Nick finds
few things are as they seem and in his enthusiasm he becomes the target of a
shooter and also the target of charming Maggie Atley’s affections.
Blurb #2 - Book 2
August is Murder,
written by Bob Liter
A sexy nudist hires
Nick Bancroft to defend her from threats on her life; Nick volunteers to provide
24-hour protection. Now, he is the target and August becomes even hotter when
someone tries to burn him alive. Nick is not one to turn tail and run,
especially now with two murders and Lady Godiva to protect. Nick's true love,
second only to the Cubs and bowling, Maggie Atley, is more than somewhat
perturbed by the arrangement with his beautiful client.
After weeks of
investigation there are still unanswered questions. Who are the bad guys? What
does a mysterious club have to do with the murders? Can Nick survive another
losing season by his beloved Chicago Cubs? Is this the last inning for Nick and
Maggie?
Death Sting, written by
Bob Liter
After an intimate
breakfast together, while reading the paper to Maggie, Nick is baffled by a headline:
Female Body Found Covered with Stings: The Sheriff Calls the Death an Accident.
Free-lance reporter and private detective, Nick Bancroft, doesn’t believe it
and is drawn to the case like a bee to honey. He learns the victim lived in a
home for young unwed mothers who work as waitresses and hookers at a nightclub.
Murder suspects include an alcoholic handy
man, the man and wife who operate the home, a nightclub operator and his
henchman, and a sheriff's deputy. Everyone is trying to stop Nick’s investigation,
including federal agents.
Even when he and his
earthy lover Maggie survive being dumped in a deep lake with weights tied to
their ankles, Bancroft is unwavering in his pursuit of the truth. Will Maggie
and Nick’s romance sink or swim before the case is solved?
Point of Murder,
written by Bob Liter
Nick Bancroft, a former
investigative reporter, enjoys a mundane existence in Centrel City operating a
one-man detective agency. He supplements his pauper’s wages selling news stories
to the Chicago Times. In a small apartment, Nick and his roommate Maggie, share
frivolous romantic lovemaking and the responsibility of feeding a stray cat
that adopted them. On the surface it seems picture-perfect.
The bed of roses ends
abruptly when Nick’s destitute young friend, Bobby Scalf, is found murdered
with a blunt six inch spike in his head. Nick becomes a suspect when the second
murder victim is discovered in the abandoned building where the boy lived.
While Nick tries to
find out who killed the boy, he uncovers a web of corruption involving the town
council, the school board, the police chief and the local newspaper publisher.
Nick survives several attempts on his life, and that of his stormy lover,
before nailing the killer and exposing the town's secrets. Solving the town’s
problems may not be enough to solve the problems festering between Maggie and
Nick. Is it really over?
And the Band Played On,
written by Bob Liter
Freelance reporter and
sometime private detective, Nick Bancroft, is tough enough when he has to be.
On the other hand, he can be soft for the ladies. That's how he ends up at an
outdoor band concert, with Maggie, a librarian, divorcee, and his very talented
lover. Nick is front row center to witness the murder of a well-connected
private secretary of an important political figure.
It doesn't earn him any
points with the cops that he is on the scene before them, and it doesn't earn
him any points with certain influential politicians that he won't get off the
case. Not only is Nick drawn into the dirty details of the crime, someone is
trying to kill him. During the investigation, Maggie and Nick come face to face
with the events surrounding 9-11. Will the final case break their spirits and crumble
their love, or will they emerge stronger and committed to life together?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPTS (Please choose only ONE to use
with your post):
Excerpt One:
August is Murder, A Nick Bancroft Mystery - Book 2
The first time they tried to kill me I was asleep. My office
and apartment were on the third floor of a nearly abandoned building. My own
coughing jarred me awake. I rolled to a sitting position from the sweat-wet
bedding and continued choking on hot, acrid air. The sweat was no surprise. My
air conditioner had quit. But this was more than August heat in Centrel City,
Illinois.
A flip of the light switch near my bed did nothing to
alleviate the darkness. I went to hands and knees and felt around until I found
my pants and shoes, sat against the bed, squirmed into the jeans. Heat from the
floor threatened to roast my rump.
"Don't panic, Nick," I said aloud. Should I try to
save anything or just get the hell out? My files, I had to save my case files.
I crawled into the office, stood, and pulled out the top drawer. I felt my way
to the office door and opened it. A swish of even hotter air swept against my
face.
What about Maggie? She might be in the office on the second
floor. It was well past midnight. Why would she be there? I assured myself she
was not. She was the reason why I now had a stray cat and a cracked heart. What
about the cat? Any cat that came and went when the office door was locked
wouldn't be trapped in that old building.
Excerpt
Two:
Death Sting, A Nick Bancroft Mystery - Book 3
She marked her place in the magazine with one of my latest
past due bills, put the magazine down, lifted her coffee cup and sipped.
"Yes. Don't you find it intriguing that a woman was
found dead practically outside our door with bee stings all over her body?"
Maggie pushed light brown hair from her forehead and sighed.
"Intriguing, yes, and I know what you're
thinking," she said.
"You always think you know what I'm thinking."
She put her elbows on the table, held the cup in both hands
and smiled that knowing smile I loved.
"You're thinking there's a story in this you can sell
to the Chicago Times. You're planning right now to start an investigation into
this bee-sting thing and neglect the work that brings in steady money, work
that pays the bills. Right, Nick? It's your business, of course, but you need
money."
When we first met I was thinking I would like to get in her
pants – to coin a phrase – and her heavenly blue eyes, sparkling with
amusement, told me she read my thoughts. Instead of pretending to be offended,
she smiled.
Now I admired her freshly scrubbed face. She was a knockout
when her hair was teased into a semblance of obedience, and she wore that eye
shadow stuff. But at breakfast, with tousled hair and freckles on her checks
unhidden by makeup, she was woman.
She was right about my plans to pursue the story.
"Well, why not?" I said. "There surely is more to the story than
what they've printed here."
Excerpt
Three:
And the Band Played On, A Nick Bancroft Mystery - Book 5
A whip-crack sound bit into the air. A scream followed. The
director's baton remained frozen in space. An instant of silence was shattered
by, "Somebody help. She's bleeding. I think she's been shot."
The screamer stood in the third row to our left on the far side
of the amphitheater. I dodged benches and people and raced to the scene. I put
my hands on the screamer's shoulders and assured her it would be all right to
rest her lungs. She collapsed and edged away from the body of a young woman
sprawled on the bench. Blood dripped from the young woman's forehead.
I pressed a finger into her neck. No pulse. She was dead.
"Who is she? Is she really dead? Did anyone call the
police?"
I stood on the bench beside the body, ignored the questions,
and announced in my best imitation of authority, "Stay back. Don't disturb
the scene."
Big Ed, breathing deeply, the cigar clamped at the edge of
his mouth, said, "Who put you in charge, Bancroft?"
"Nobody's in charge until the police get here. I'm just
trying to preserve the integrity of the scene."
A police siren grew louder and groaned to silence while the
patrol car skidded to a stop on the edge of the parking lot. Two cops trotted
down into the crowd and muscled their way to the death scene. One of them,
Thomas something, a young guy with a square jaw, a big nose and brown eyes,
said, "What's going on Mister Bancroft? The caller said someone was shot.
We were just a block away."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Robert T “Bob”
Liter (1923-2008) was born in Hartley, IA to Charles and Hazel Liter and grew
up in Des Moines, IA. His sisters June
and JoAnn, joined the family before the decade was over. Bob was a U.S. Navy
veteran, and was honorably discharged after two tours of duty, one tour in
World War II and the other tour in the Korean War. A Graduate from Drake
University in Des Moines, IA, he earned his degree in journalism, and married
Lillian in 1950.
What Happened
Next
I came along 9
months later; my name is Martie. I was soon followed by my sister Jeannie and
two brothers, Jeff and Ron.
Later in Dad's
journalism career he worked as a copy editor for the Peoria Journal Star,
Peoria, IL until his retirement. Through the years he was also a writer. Early
in his sideline career he was published in various True Confession magazines.
When Dad retired to take care of Mom he continued to pursue his passion for
writing. Much of his work has been available since 2002 in EBook format.
First Five
Novels Available On Amazon NOW
It is my honor
to introduce new readers to the Bancroft Mysteries where the character Nick
Bancroft has an uncanny resemblance to my Dad, Bob Liter with his wit and
bodacious gutsy approach to life. Then
there is Nick’s on-again off-again lady, Maggie Atley, who is just like Mom,
Lillian Liter, in the way she deals with a self-proclaimed “male chauvinist
piggy.”
While Nick
solves mysteries in the fictitious, but very real, community of Central City, IL
he still finds time for his love-hate relationship with bowling, and his avid
undying passion for the Chicago Cubs and Bears.
Website: http://www.BancroftMysteries.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BancroftMysteries
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BancroftMyster1
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/bancroftmysteries/
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/BancroftMysteries/
Author Page on
Amazon: http://www.bit.ly/BobLiter (This sends a reader to where all the Buy
Links Are)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your great book and for the giveaway too.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I enjoyed reading it!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great series.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you love about writing this series?
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