Walter Satterthwait Books In Order

Publication Order of Escapade Books

Publication Order of Joshua Croft Books

Publication Order of Miss Lizzie Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

Walter Satterthwait
Walter Satterthwait, born in 1946, was a writer of historical fiction and mysteries. Having been a fan of mystery novels from a young age, he spent his high school years immersed in the works of Mickey Spillane and Dashiell Hammett.

As he worked as a bartender in the late seventies in New York, he wrote his very first book, called “Cocaine Blues” (an adventure novel, released in 1980), that was about a drug dealer on the run from a couple of killers.

After “The Aegean Affair”, which was his second thriller, Satterthwait created Joshua Croft, a Santa Fe private detective. Starting with “Wall of Glass”, he wrote a total of five Croft books, concluding with “Accustomed to the Dark”, which was released in 1996.

Walter also wrote about historical figures, including a novel on Lizzie Borden, and a western mystery that starred Oscar Wilde. His final novel, called “Dead Horse” (released in 2007), was the account of the mysterious death of Raoul Whitfield, a Depression-era pulp author.

“Escapade” was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Novel in the year 1995.

Walter wrote the “Miss Lizzie” books, the “Joshua Croft” series, and the “Escapade” series.

He died February 26, 2020.

“Escapade” is the first novel in the “Escapade” series and was released in the year 1995. Summer of 1921, thirteen distinguished guests gather together for a weekend party and a séance at a stately manor house in Devon. The Earl of Axminster, their host, is found murdered in a locked room.

Two of the guests, the Great Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle (the mystery author), apply their own unique talents to solving this cunningly executed and ingeniously crafted crime.

“Masquerade” is the second novel in the “Escapade” series and was released in the year 1998. The year is 1923, in Paris. The city is a mecca for the painters and writers from all over the world, and the Lost Generation is just now beginning to find itself. The resourceful Pinkerton, named Phil Beaumont, and Jane Turner, who is now a Pinkerton ‘op’ undercover posing as a governess, are investigating the demise of a rich American publisher, named Richard Forsythe.

Paris police say that it was a suicide pact, Forsythe as well as his German mistress, Sabine, were discovered dead inside a locked room, but they won’t reveal a single thing they know. Phil and Jane, in their quest for the truth, move from salon to saloon, from the catacombs and sewers of the city and into elegant night spots and cafes.

Through their travels, they meet local expatriate luminaries such as Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway, and a young Englishwoman that writes mysteries. There’s also the pipe-smoking and stolid French police inspector that knows one great recipe for coq au vin. Their relationship grows even stronger, however, they find it, and themselves, in such peril while learning about the mysterious Forsythe as well as the even more mysterious Sabine. Dark forces are aligned against the both of them, enemies close in on all sides, and it seems as though they might never leave the City of Lights alive.

“Cavalcade” is the third novel in the “Escapade” series and was released in the year 2005. Jane and Philip have just wrapped up another tough assignment abroad. Now the office sends them off to Germany. Their job is to find the hitman that almost succeeded in killing Hitler while he was in Berlin.

Their first surprise is quite a pleasant one. The Nazi big shot that is assigned to be their guide is a huge and jovial guy (named Ernst “Putzi” Hanfstaegnl) that amazes his guests immediately. His English almost has no accent to it. He learned American ways during his time as a student at Harvard. The guy is as friendly as a puppy and quite the talented pianist. Phil and Jane have zero reason to believe his fellow Nazis aren’t all going to be so personable. This won’t be too bad.

Everything begins going downhill after that, even though a handsome Nazi comes close to turning Jane’s head with his attentions. Their job gets to be a questionable on while the agents being to see an increasing amount of this new party’s dreadful face. A woman that provides them with information is found murdered. There are some other deaths, all are linked to the Nazi party. By the time Jane and Phil finally meet Hitler, they are not just horrified and puzzled about why the Agency accepted this job, they are highly aware they are in danger themselves.

“Perfection” is a stand alone novel and was released in the year 2005. In a tiny Florida city, the most confounding murderer insists that his victims meet a very specific set of criteria. The reader is teased, as are detectives Jim Fallon and Sophia Tregaskis. The killer sits in his own home, as he relives the satisfaction of his latest killing. We see as he scouts his neighboring supermarket for the next person that is going to require “perfection”.

Even childhood episodes that made him the monster he became don’t help the reader, nor the two detectives, learn where and who he is. The pair is finally able to track him down through his past, and chance, possibly the devil, stacks the odds against them with a rather vicious hurricane and the thrill of uncertainty until the finish.

“Dead Horse” is a stand alone novel and was released in the year 2007. Emily Whitfield married Mr. Raoul Whitfield, the popular American mystery author, on July 19, 1933 in New York City. Together they moved to the American southwest, where they built their luxurious ranch close to Las Vegas, New Mexico. They hosted some elaborate parties, with guests showing up from Los Angeles, New York, as well as other European capitals.

Early in 1935, to the surprise of all of their friends, they separated. Mr. Whitfield moved out to Los Angeles, while Mrs. Whitfield filed for divorce, which hadn’t become final at the time of her death.

She was found dead on her bed the morning of May 24, with her outstretched hand holding a Colt .45. she was shot in her left side. The coroner’s jury brought in a verdict of suicide. Was it, though? Sheriff Tom Delgado believes otherwise. Now, he must prove it.