City Of Whispering Stone

A circus-performer-turned-PI takes on “murder and intrigue from New York to Iran” in this “well done, suspenseful” unconventional mystery (Newsday). With a genius IQ, a past career as a circus acrobat, and a black belt in karate, criminology professor Dr. Robert Frederickson—better known as “Mongo the Magnificent”—has a decidedly unusual background for a private investigator. He also just so happens to be a dwarf. When his former big-top boss asks him to find a missing Iranian strongman, Mongo is plunged into a three-ring circus of murder, espionage, and international intrigue. And when Mongo’s own brother—police officer Garth Frederickson—gets involved, the detective must fly to Iran, a country on the brink of a revolution. Now he’s searching for two missing men, from Tehran to the ancient city of Persepolis, playing a game of a cat-and-mouse with forces far beyond his control. And unlike his days as an acrobat, this time, if he slips up, there’s no net . . . With a fearless sense of fun, author George C. Chesbro continues the adventures of “one of the most appealing creations in the detective world” (Publishers Weekly). City of Whispering Stone is the 2nd book in the Mongo Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Tori just got a gargoyle for her birthday, only she doesn't know it yet. No one knows when the Whispers arrived. They are invisible spirits with the power to move stone, and no one knows why they are here. They can be the stone angel in your yard or the supporting pillar of your home. Shattered pieces of their statues have revealed nothing, for their souls simply move to another hiding place. Hers whispers a terrible warning. Time is running out.

In his latest adventure, Mongo travels to Iran in the days preceding the fall of the Shah. Amidst the land's political intrigue and mayhem, Mongo must locate a missing circus star and learns that the violent madness ruling this timeless land can turn the simplest search into a game of life and death.

A bibliography of various mystery novels published between November 1976 and Fall 1992.

An ex-spy struggles to dismantle a dangerous conspiracy in this explosive suspense thriller from the author of the Mongo Mysteries. As a Naval intelligence officer stationed in the Middle East, Jade Aden was trusted with secrets that would leave most people shaking in their boots. But after the fallout from an incident during Desert Storm forced her into early retirement, Jade made a new, more pedestrian life for herself and her two children in the picturesque town of Cairn-on-the-Hudson, New York. Employed as a river keeper, Jade monitors pollution created by weekend boaters and commercial tankers. But when something strange surfaces in the river, Jade’s dangerous past is dredged up once more. She knows the object strapped to a dead sea lion is a mine from a top-secret weapons system supposedly canceled years ago. Because it was highly classified, Jade is forced to feign ignorance, but her silence soon leads to death and destruction. Determined to do the right thing, Jade must face off against forces willing to kill to protect their own despicable interests.

This collection of short stories includes "Strange Prey," the novella that was the basis for the Mongo mystery, "Shadow Of A Broken Man."

Originally published: New York: Mysterious Press, c1990.