Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of The Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries Books

Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries series by Tom Schreck

Author Tom Schreck writes the “Duffy Dombrowki” series of cozy mystery novels. The series began publication in the year 2007, when “On the Ropes” was released.

Duffy Dombrowski is a social worker who counsels drug users and sex addicts in a town just outside of New York City. He is Irish-Polish-American. When he’s off duty, he can be found getting “Schlitzed” with his offbeat friends, singing Elvis songs, or fighting former Olympians inside the boxing ring.

“On the Ropes” is the first novel in the “Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries” series, which was released in the year 2007. Duffy Dombrowski is no average social worker. Our less than perfect hero sometimes uses his mean left hook on pimps and other lowlifes. At least he cares about his clients.

Walanda, a crack addict and schizophrenic hooker, is killed Duffy pledges to take care of a basset hound named Allah King and locate her missing stepdaughter named Shony. He is horrified to find out the teen is ensnared in a web porn ring, which is a vile enterprise that enslaves crack addicted women and their kids.

Close to losing his job, as well as his life, Duffy gets mixed up with some creepy doctor with some ties to Pakistani extremists. Nothing is going to stop this conflicted Robin Hood from attempting to save Shony and stop a terrorist plot.

The novel features some great humor, excellent first person narration, and Allah-King is a likable character. The book is also a ton of fun for the reader. Each of the characters are unique, colorful, and are all special in their own way and has their own purpose.

“TKO” is the second novel in the “Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries” series, which was released in the year 2008. Howard “Hacker” Reinhart finally gets discharged after serving 25 years in prison for killing a quarterback, a couple cheerleaders, and the class president. His case gets assigned to Duffy. Quickly, local high school VIPs turn up dead and Howard is nowhere to be found.

Duffy has a few things on his mind at the moment, like a new hormonal girlfriend, a major upcoming boxing fight, and Allah-King’s misadventures. Despite these things, Duffy throws himself in the defense of Howard.

This is another excellent and fun read from a promising series. The detective, the boxing, and the dog are all lovable aspects of the novel. The book is as funny as can be. The mystery comes to a fulfilling and exciting conclusion as well, and the boxing has its moments, too.

“Out Cold” is the third novel in the “Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries” series, which was released in the year 2009. Karl, an ex-GI with post traumatic issues and a schizophrenic, winds up on Duffy’s caseload talking about governmental conspiracy predictions and Duff just takes it in stride. Karl’s terrorist predictions begin coming true and he rambles on about defense contractors’ motives, profits of war and security firms, Duff starts paying attention.

After Duff suffers a traumatic brain injury of his own after getting knocked out in the ring and Karl does not look as crazy anymore. With his own sanity on the line, Al, Karl, and Duffy travel around the country to foil the terrorists at the Notre Dame football opener as well as the Columbine type massacre. Oh and in the meantime, there is that evil basset hound puppy mill he must deal with.

This author is a genius, with the way he pulls the reader in with some irresistible humor and some endearing characters. And this is before he slips a plot in that is made up of different social issues the reader cannot help but attach themselves to.

“The Vegas Knockout” is the fourth novel in the “Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries” series, which was released in the year 2012. Duffy Dombrowski has just taken on his dream job: chief sparring partner for Boris Rusakov, a Russian heavyweight contender, in Vegas. Al, his obstinate basset hound, and some buddies join Duffy for the ride. Before he knows it, his trip winds up becoming a nightmare for him. Somebody is killing local Mexican workers, relatives, and friends of Duffy’s gym friends. Making things worse, Duffy has Boris’ Russian mobster buddies chasing after him with murder on their minds.

The book is entertaining and the action moves along quickly. The story line is easy to follow and moves with enough turns and twists to make this a superb read right until the end of the novel. The scenes taking place at the boxing gym make this one stand out, as Schreck’s work as a boxing referee make him know how fights work and he puts that to good use here. Duffy truly is an engaging character, and would make for a good friend.

“The Ten Count” is the fifth novel in the “Duffy Dombrowski Mysteries” series, which was released in the year 2014. The city is on edge due to the brutal throat slashing killing of Crawford Academy’s football coach. The mere fact his body was found in the gay part of Jefferson Park has created some whispers about the macho coach. It creeps Duffy out plenty, but not near as much as the fact the kid he is counseling said he wanted to slit the coach’s throat just the day before.

Duffy is assigned to the high school, serving as a grief counselor, and before he can confront his client, the kid is beaten into a coma by the football team’s captain. While the rumors of a high school sex club start to run rampant, killing becomes routine in Crawford. Until one of the victims is a person close to Duffy.

Everything starts pointing to the coach, his players, his sex life, and possibly to the coach leading the team into a different arena. Duffy is unsure.

Duffy is a character that is easy to like, once you get to know him. You soon find that there is more to him than just drinking and fighting. He has a strong moral compass, he has no need to impress anyone or be impressed by any superficial things, and a respect for people that are real.