Shelley Singer Books In Order

Publication Order of Barrett Lake Mystery Books

Publication Order of Blackjack Books

Publication Order of Jake Samson Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Anthologies

Shelley Singer is an American mystery author with many published novels and short stories. One of her mysteries was nominated for the prestigious Shamus Award of the Private Eye Writers of America.

She began working as a reporter with UPI in Chicago. In her journalism career, she met people like Xavier Cugat, Martin Luther King Jr, Mrs. Billy Graham, and Nikita Khrushchev. Singer is a teacher of fiction writing classes, and she is also a manuscript consultant.

Samson’s Deal
Samson’s Deal is the first installment in the Jake Samson series. Jake is a guy with enough savings, so he doesn’t have to work so hard to make ends meet, though he’s forced sometimes. The savings can sustain him for quite sometime.Additionally, he’s a laid back kind of a guy, and he likes lying out on his patio to pass time.

Jake’s an ex-Chicago cop though he doesn’t admit it. Earlier, when he was a cop, he fought some people at the Democratic Convention in 1968, then resigned from the job where he later moved to Northern California in the East Bay. He was tired of the rat race In his job, so he goes back to California to live with his cats

Jake lives in Berkeley and rents a little house in his home to Rosie, a lesbian carpenter who later becomes his sidekick.

One day Jake receives a phone call from a friend requesting him to help someone clear his name for the murder of his wife. The client is a professor from Berkeley who is currently a target by a radical group. The professor wants to find out who killed his wife as she was found dead and her body hidden at the bottom of the steep rocky hill on their deck.

At first, it was thought to be suicide and but later treated as a homicide. The professor is the prime suspect since he’s the husband. The police had already picked the normal leads, including dirty politics, an estate worth killing for and jealousy to charge the professor. Additionally, he’s been cheating on her for many years. His wife also happens to have been involved with the group of people running after him.

Earlier, She was a known artist on the East Coast before relocating and giving up her art because of her husband, and later she secretly picked up her artwork again. It was at that point that their marriage became more complicated.

Jake accepts the case even though he isn’t a PI. He takes an active role in the case while risking his life to make things happen and uncover the truth.
Even though it may seem like the story has some clues, they are not enough for the reader to fully figure out what happens at the end.

Each character in the book and each of them is slowly revealed as Jake gets close to uncovering the truth and almost gets killed for it. The professor’s office is set on fire by some radical group activist who later turns out that the wife was a devoted member.

Jake is conducting the investigation solely with no PI license, and the police, together with the radical group, are looking for him. The only cover he got is that he has been writing something for the crime magazine named probe, which is run by one of his poker friends.

With the help of his friend Rosie, Jake follows a trail of leads in the Bay area bizarre cultural labyrinth ranging from the pop meditation ashrams to the neo-Nazi rallies.

In the course of the books, you’ll learn about Jake’s family, beliefs, where he began and where he’s headed. As evident in the book, he loves ladies, and Rosie is a lesbian who has gone through so many lovers.

There are many details of cafes, streets, bars, ethnic restaurants, types of homes, and nightclubs. The characters feel so real and make sense while the writing is easy to follow, and the tension is enough to keep you reading through pages all night long.

It’s impressive to watch Jake and Rosie work together, assisting as good friends to do.

Free Draw
Free Draw is the second novel in the Jake Samson Mystery series. In this second installment, the courageous, unlicensed and unofficial PI Jake Samson and Rose, a carpenter and sidekick, are ready to help clear a friend’s nephew charger of murder.

One night Jake receives a call from an old poker guy named Artie Perrine, who convinces Jake to come to his house. Alan, Artie’s nephew, found a body and was arrested and charged with murder. He was arrested for running away screaming, and the police thought he was responsible for the murder.

As the story unfolds, it turns out that Alan knows a lot more information than he is giving and Artie gets caught up in the case. There are more reasons why Alan ran after seeing the body. Jake assignement is to investigate the businessman’s death, whose body was discovered by Alan and got him arrested. Together with the help of his buddies’ starts investigating, and with the use of a thought–out investigation, he’s able to solve the case.

What was going on with the Bright Future company? Was Jake compensated for his time?

Rosie and Jake are good friends using any resource available to solve crime cases. Shelley Singer uses dry humor in her lead characters with a twist on the sassy gay friend. Their friendship is easy and breezy, and the reader can’t help but wish they had a friend like either of them

This is a light read with some clues to help the keen reader solve the mystery before the book ends. It’s up to them to do everything in their power to find the real killer, and so far, they have some suspects.

This is a perfect book for readers who love stories with clues of who the real suspect is. The characters and storyline of the book are interesting, making the book hard to put down. The twists, dead ends, ironic humor and romantic episodes made the book fascinating and amusing.