When a prominent leader of St. Paul’s close-knit Hispanic community is murdered, Detective John Santana promises the widow he will bring down the killer. Despite the snow and bitter cold, the case heats up quickly―suspects are killed before they can be questioned; his alcoholic partner’s trigger finger draws the attention of Internal Affairs; a sexually explicit photo of a murder victim surfaces in an unlikely place; a snow plow becomes a deadly weapon; and police brass threaten to pull Santana off the case. Hunted by an assassin out for revenge and haunted by his violent Colombian past and the younger sister he left behind, Santana’s simple vow to a dead man’s wife becomes an oath that could cost him his life.

White Tombs: A John Santana Mystery

Literature & Fiction

Valen, Christopher

United States

Conquill Press

When a blood spattered Mercedes belonging to the daughter of a prominent psychologist is found abandoned, there are few clues to her whereabouts but a million dollars’ worth of reasons why someone might want her dead.Confronted with a list of suspects––a philandering boyfriend with a checkered past, the victim’s estranged sister who has a penchant for mysteries and drugs, an angry man whose adopted Colombian son committed suicide, and a shady lawyer who can’t be trusted––Santana’s search for answers leads him to the photo of a mysterious woman who may hold the key to solving the crime. But to find her he must return to Colombia and face the ghosts of his past and the man who has vowed to kill him.

Bad Weeds Never Die: A John Santana Mystery

When the body of a young, Hmong woman is found on Harriet Island near the Mississippi River, it appears to be a simple case of murder and revenge. But what begins as a routine investigation soon becomes something far more sinister. Paired with a Hmong partner he’s not sure he can trust, and attracted to a beautiful woman with dark secrets, Santana is drawn into a maze of political intrigue and broken promises made during the Vietnam War. Trusting his instincts and determined to find justice, Santana uncovers a web of lies and a terrifying plot that could lead to a national disaster––and to his own death.

The Black Minute: A John Santana Mystery

The bodies of young men have been turning up in the Mississippi River for years, their deaths attributed to excessive drinking. But when an Iraq war vet suffering from PTSD is found in the river, St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana must decide if the young man’s death was accidental or the result of something far more sinister.
Caught between a reporter trying to resurrect his flagging career, an FBI agent with a troubled past, and a beautiful private investigator on the trail of a serial killer, Santana is pulled into a whirlpool of greed, seduction, and death. Determined to find the truth no matter what the cost, he must first face his own dark memories and a killer intent on stopping him.

Bone Shadows: A John Santana Mystery

The death of a beautiful escort in a downtown hotel room appears to be a case of autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong. But when a woman brings her young daughter to the police department with a strange story about a similar death six years before, Homicide Detective John Santana is drawn into a dangerous web of drugs, sex, and deceit, and toward a shocking secret that lies buried in the past; a secret that could not only destroy the lives of some well-connected and powerful men, but one that raises questions about the very meaning of life and death––and the boundary between the living and the dead.

Death's Way: A John Santana Mystery

When St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana is assigned a cold case involving the murder of an environmental engineer, he begins to see connections to anothercase he once investigated––the murder of a young Native American woman.
But in seeking justice for the victims, it soon becomes clear that someone wants to keep their deaths buried, someone very cunning . . . and very deadly. In his quest to hunt down the killer before he strikes again, Santana must deal with his own darkness and a conspiracy that threatens his life––and the life of the woman he loves.

The Darkness Hunter: A John Santana Mystery

The brutal murders of two young women in the caves along the Mississippi River pull St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana into a case with all the telltale signs of a serial killer. Except that one of the victims doesn’t fit. Santana’s search for answers unearths connections between the first victim, an NTSB accident investigator, and the crash of an airliner off the California coast. He soon finds himself embroiled in a complex investigation that takes him from St. Paul, Minnesota to Washington DC and ultimately to Colombia in a race to thwart a dangerous technology that could cause a global economic meltdown. In a case fraught with internal and external politics, Santana must speak for the dead, while trying to finally make peace with the past.

Speak For The Dead: A John Santana Mystery

American troops are fighting the Communists in Korea. McCarthyism is on the rise. The Kefauver Commission is investigating organized crime. In the midst of this turbulent time, the murder of a MPD police officer and the two young Jewish men accused of killing him sets off an explosive investigation that ultimately encompasses mobsters, police corruption, political blackmail, and the ethnic biases that existed in 1950 Minneapolis. Known as the most anti-Semitic city in the country, the Minneapolis depicted in City of Stones is a deceitful place, a fact that each character seems intent on using to his or her advantage. Veteran Homicide Detective Jake Cafferty is battling the bottle and a guilty conscience. Given one last chance at redemption, Jake has a choice to make––one that could cost him everything.
Nick Cole is a war hero looking for a fast-track promotion into Homicide. Determined to impress the woman he loves, he’ll let nothing stand in his way, especially a past that haunts his nights and threatens his career
Kate Dawson is on a mission to make a name for herself as the first woman attorney hired by the DA’s office. But in trying to take down a crooked cop she’s risking her career––and ultimately her life.

City Of Stones

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Cohen, Dan

Mystery

Christopher Valen, award-winning author of the John Santana Mystery Series, presents a moving stand-alone novel. In a narrative that moves seamlessly between the present and the past, All The Fields is a powerful tale of love, loss, and redemption. Set in Virginia and Minnesota, the novel tells the story of Michael Collins, a professional baseball player who, out of love for a beautiful but tormented woman, makes a decision that shatters his relationship with his father and forever changes the course of his life. It is the story of one young man’s struggle to find his place in the world and, by unlocking the past, to overcome betrayal and the darkest of personal demons.

All The Fields

Genre Fiction

Independently published

The death of a DEA agent pulls Santana off the cold case investigation of a young woman's murder and into the dark and lethal world of drug smuggling and sex-trafficking. Soon, he suspects there is a link between the two cases and a group of wealthy and highly influential men belonging to a secretive club.\nWorking with the DEA agent's partner and hunted by a deadly sicario searching for the cartel's missing half-million dollars and the young woman who stole it, Santana is in a race against time to solve two murders and save the young woman's life.

The Price Of Life: A John Santana Mystery

Santa Rita Press

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