Bunco Couture

by George Bixley

📚 book 25 in The Slater Ibáñez Books series

Don’t mess with the hothead—or he might just mess with you. Slater Ibáñez is only interested in two kinds of guys: the ones he wants to punch, and the ones he sleeps with. Things get interesting when they start to overlap.

Hired by a self-involved pop star to dig into a leak of confidential material from her high-end clothing company, Slater goes undercover in the fashion business, infiltrating industry events and getting entangled with Shaula, a smoking-hot fabric salesman who claims to be a time traveler. Proximity to the pop icon leads to Slater being stalked by the paparazzi, and things get more complicated when Shaula infiltrates Slater’s sex life, with Pike increasingly concerned that the guy is becoming a regular feature. As he starts to unravel the grift, with help from his office neighbor Cassidy, the pushback heats up, with gun-toting goons, randy fashionistas, and a hermeneutic metaphysician getting up in his grill. And who sent the knucklehead with the hatchet? Straddling the world of pool parties in Hollywood Hills mansions and grunt work in the gritty Fashion District, Slater uses his fists and his illicit Russian tech to sort out the grifters from the dupes, and might just be able to burn down the whole racket.

Freelance investigator Slater trolls the dark side of Los Angeles, rooting out insurance fraud, not afraid to use whatever means necessary to get things done, and not about to hold back with his fists. A queer antihero for a new age, Slater walks the line between ordinary life and the frayed fringes of society, keeping his balance with the back-channel support he gets from main squeeze Pike, business partner Max, and operatives Andy and Etta.

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The Landers Mystique

by Christopher Church

📚 book 13 in The Mason Braithwaite Paranormal Mystery Series

On a weekend break in the Mojave, psychic investigator Mason stumbles across the story of a bygone journalist, Geraldine, who expired in the desert on her way to one of the early flying saucer meet-ups. Unable to shake the pointlessness of the tragic tale, Mason trades a favor with his psychic-world mentor, Hanh, who sends him to the East Coast to attend a wedding where he doesn’t know anyone. Wracked with guilt about his role in disrupting the event, Mason grapples with the cost of intervening in Geraldine’s life, and gains new resolve to change the outcome.

With help from his mid-century friends Billy and Flattop, and with the unflagging support of his boyfriend, Ned, and their roommate, Peggy, Mason shifts to Geraldine’s era, and on a long road trip to Landers, manages to rearrange things enough to shake the foundations of his own timeline.

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Selected praise:

“Every foray by Church’s wonderful psychic detective Mason Braithwaite is a truly suspenseful page-turner in the most unusual crime series ever, and certainly one that no aficionado of crime fiction should miss.”

—David Osborn, author of the best-selling thrillers The French Decision and Love and Treason

“Another fast-paced ride through Los Angeles by Church, who continues to reinvent and reinvigorate Mason Braithwaite. Church’s writing is vivid, the worlds he creates believable, and his characters have a breadth of humanity, strength, and vulnerability that makes the series a fun-filled, page-turning adventure.”

—Jeremy Randolph, author of The Mural

The Mythical Blond

by Christopher Church

📚 book 9 in The Mason Braithwaite Paranormal Mystery Series

Strange things happen in the desert Southwest. Hired to work a contract job at a remote military base in Nevada, psychic investigator Mason soon finds the Navy’s real motivation for luring him there involves an old friend and her ratty jalopy. On the way back to Los Angeles he gets entangled with Effie, who has an intensely dysfunctional relationship with her husband, and Iris, who recruits him to do an episode of reality TV. His understanding of the world begins to warp as Effie and Iris act out ancient mythologies in their own lives, dragging Mason into exploits that include safecracking, a séance, and a time-travel excursion.

This latest installment in the Mason Braithwaite Paranormal Mystery Series sees the disheveled redhead honing his psychic chops while digging deeper into paranormal phenomena. His boyfriend, Ned, and their roommate, Peggy, try to be stabilizing forces in Mason’s life, but the echoes of the past make him start to question the nature of reality itself.

Selected praise:

“A whole new exciting slant on private eye-ing.… May we see more of Mason, his unabashedly psychic detective, and a lot more of Church’s no-nonsense plotting. I loved it—couldn’t put it down.”

—David Osborn, best-selling author of Open Season, Murder On Martha’s Vineyard, and The French Decision

“Want variety? This one has it all … and all of this surrounded by an interesting story line. This is a fun read!”

—an Amazon reader

“Church vividly constructs a world peopled with characters I did not want to leave behind when I finished the book.”

—an Amazon reader

The Desert Rats

by Christopher Church

📚 book 2 in The Mason Braithwaite Paranormal Mystery Series

Strange things start to happen as soon as psychic investigator Mason and his boyfriend, Ned, and their roommate, Peggy, arrive in the high desert. An old friend sends him on a quest to identify an artifact found hidden among his dead father’s possessions, and the journey brings him into contact with a series of odd characters—not least the enigmatic Laura, who’s camping out on the desert but seems to be up to something else. With the help of a manicurist, a librarian, and a revealing side-trip back to Los Angeles, Mason manages to sharpen his psychic skills and gain insights into Gilbert’s artifact—and perhaps even the hidden structure of the world.

Selected praise:

“A whole new exciting slant on private eye-ing … may we see more of Mason, his unabashedly psychic detective and a lot more of Church’s no-nonsense plotting. I loved it—couldn’t put it down.”

—David Osborn, best-selling author of Open Season, Murder On Martha’s Vineyard, and The French Decision

“Another exciting and well-written adventure with one of my new heroes.”

—Amos Lassen

The Invisible Arrow

by Christopher Church

📚 book 6 in The Mason Braithwaite Paranormal Mystery Series

When an old client sends psychic investigator Mason on a ghost hunt, he stumbles onto a research lab populated by strangely passive scientists with some remarkably advanced tech. Ingratiating himself with Annette, the director, by participating in the local town’s folk festival as the Hunter, Mason scores a gig—to find Qualtrough, a scientist gone missing under mysterious circumstances. Equipped by the researchers with a new suit and a fat wad of cash, and using his burgeoning psychic powers, Mason sets out on his own to hunt for Qualtrough in the shadowy underworld of Los Angeles nightlife, tangling with drag queens, cops, and con artists and finding his voice in an unfamiliar world.

Honorable mention in the 2017 Rainbow Awards

Selected praise:

“Mason is a hero like none who have come before him: a sensitive, queer P.I. whose only weapon is his intuition. This book turns the detective genre on its head and makes you think about the ninety percent of your brain you’re not using.”

—Teja Watson, author of Attic.doc

“Another fast-paced ride through Los Angeles by Church, who continues to reinvent and reinvigorate Mason Braithwaite, keeping the Paranormal Mystery Series relevant and entertaining. Church’s writing is vivid, the worlds he creates believable, and his characters have a breadth of humanity, strength, and vulnerability that makes the series a fun-filled, page-turning adventure.”

—Jeremy Randolph, author of The Mural

“Every foray by Church’s wonderful psychic detective Mason Braithwaite is a truly suspenseful page-turner in the most unusual crime series ever, and certainly one that no aficionado of crime fiction should miss.”

—David Osborn, author of the best-selling Cold War thrillers The French Decision and Love and Treason

“Thanks to Christopher Church for giving us another exciting and well written adventure with one of my new heroes.”

—Amos Lassen

“Church vividly constructs a world peopled with characters I did not want to leave behind when I finished the book.”

—an Amazon reader

The Melted Pineapple

by Christopher Church

📚 book 11 in The Mason Braithwaite Paranormal Mystery Series

Confronted with a hidden space in the walls of his new office, Mason tracks down Astrid Luna, the architect who renovated the building, and with the help of his boyfriend, Ned, and their roommate, Peggy, soon gets inside the void—but their discovery only raises more questions. Researching the original architect, Mason asks the ever-inscrutable paranormal overseer Hanh to help him bleed through to the past, where he can ask the guy to explain what’s going on. Connecting with some old friends, including a drag queen that he doesn’t recognize without a dress on, Mason manages to figure out the purpose of the space and the mystical object within, eventually returning to the building and maybe even putting the final piece of the puzzle in place

Selected praise:

“Here we go again—a terrific psychic detective novel. Church doesn’t miss in this page-turning winner.”

—David Osborn, best-selling author of Murder on Martha’s Vineyard, Love and Tresason, and others

“My favorite Mason Braithwaite books are the ones with a time-travel element, and The Melted Pineapple doesn’t disappoint. I covet the plucky redhead’s paranormal chops!”

—Chester Henry, author of When the Contralto Sings

“I wish there were more hawt gay guys with good manners, guys like Mason, floating around LA. Part of the fun in this book is that he gets deeply immersed in occult architecture—and yes, that’s a thing.”

—George Bixley, author of the Slater Ibáñez books