Jimmy McSwain's Early Files Series

Word Count: Click here to reveal25,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: A recent graduate of the NYPD’s cadet academy, Jimmy McSwain dreams of anything except being a cop. He’s got bad history with them, and it’s not a rap sheet. Years ago, his police officer father was gunned down during an off-duty incident, leaving Jimmy bitter that his killer was never found. Now, grown-up, trained in the art of law, Jimmy decides to embark on a new career: that of private detective. But you just can’t get your own license, you need experience. What happens will lead Jimmy into a part of New York he doesn’t know, realizing he’s the stranger in a neighborhood that lives by its own rules. Skeptical about his job is his mother, Maggie McSwain, but there’s nothing she can do to stop her headstrong son from entering this shadowy new world. As a warm May settles over the city, a twist of fate has Jimmy taking on his first case, one that is a time bomb ready to explode. What he can’t leave behind is the memory of his father, and the silver shield which he earned only out of respect. Can he live with his decision?

Word Count: Click here to reveal25,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Jimmy McSwain is enjoying a relaxing holiday at his grandmother’s cottage, but it turns out to be a set-up. Hester Bryne has a favor to ask: to meet with her old friends, Franklin and Carolyn Hardy, who wish to hire the young private-eye-in-training to find their son. Seems he’s been gone for forty years. Jimmy, taken with the idea of reuniting a father with his son, wants to take the case. But he must get the all-clear from his new boss, Finn, the ex-cop who has taken Jimmy under his wing. A visit to Finn’s home proves to be yet another set-up, one that takes an unexpected twist in the name of a newcomer to the city, Aiden Garvey. As Jimmy immerses himself in the case of the missing son, his attention keeps getting distracted by the newfound presence of a man who makes his heart skip a beat. Juggling the promise of a new relationship with the complexities presented by this puzzling case, Jimmy realizes that he’s getting too close to one of them, and it could end with more broken hearts than lives. Can a remembrance of his father be both his motivation and the cause for the destruction lying in wait?  

Word Count: Click here to reveal30,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Summer is winding down. For Jimmy McSwain, it’s been a quiet couple of months, leaving this apprentice private investigator with little to do. Be careful what you wish for. Jimmy is asked by his boss to accompany his wife, Beatrice, to a fancy art gallery opening down in Manhattan’s Soho district. The drama begins when the artist who goes by the name Rico pulls a disappearing act on the night of his big debut, leaving the owners of the Barrister Gallery stunned—not to mention the hoity-toity snobs that are expecting to meet the man behind the “Beauty at Death” show. The owners, Jeremy Barrister and Kirkland Waters, claim that Rico has been kidnapped. Jimmy thinks their reaction is a bit extreme. Nevertheless, he agrees to take the case, even as he begins to suspect that he’s not been told the whole story. Especially when the Barrister owners say: no cops. With a growing sense of menace, Jimmy finds himself doubting his ability to solve the puzzling case. How does he find the truth when all he’s heard is lies? He fears that someone could end up hurt, or worse, dead, on his watch.