Master Detective is a crime thriller that nods to the great film noirs of the past but also forges new ground in the genre with a spiritual element.
Art Crockett judges the world the same way he does the perps in the true crime stories he writes: with total cynicism and without mercy. But when his magazine stops the presses for good, Crockett is forced to seek out his own stories. He gets involved in an attempted murder case, but the beautiful suspect is no one like he has seen before. And she only answers to a higher power.
synopsis
Chicago, 1985. When True Detective magazine is bought by a new media company, writer Art Crockett is out of a job—unless he can prove himself to the new management by landing a killer true crime story. Crockett soon finds his Hungarian-born neighbor, Elisabeth, with a smoking gun and a bleeding husband. He’s found his story.
Elisabeth’s husband, son of wealthy media mogul, remains in a coma and she is the only suspect. In tailing Elisabeth, Crockett witnesses her compassionate nature as she continues her tireless works for the less fortunate. Would she really have shot her husband? Apparent miracles happen all around Elisabeth, yet evidence continues to mount against her. Crockett can’t decide whether to turn her in or try to prove her innocence.
His investigation leads him to a wayward uncle, a martyred bishop, a local gang and a Hungarian crime ring. As Crockett’s pressures mount, Elisabeth is hunted by powerful and dangerous people determined to retrieve a priceless family heirloom—a pendant containing a relic from a Hungarian saint. Crocket slowly puts the pieces of the puzzle together, but is he too late to save her?
A sampling of Art Crockett's writing for true crime magazine, Master Detective.