Cold Copper Tears

She was tall, blonde, and offering Garrett an irresistible fee to take a case that seemed open and shut. But in a town of elves and humans, thugs and swindlers—a place where magic and religion could prove an all-too potent mix—Garrett had learned to take a long, hard look before saying yes. Garrett’s doubts are confirmed when the Grand Inquisitor comes looking for his help in the lovely lady’s wake. But even a hard-boiled detective like Garrett, with a Dead Man for an ally and the toughest half-elf in town guarding his back, can find that it’s too late to say no. Turns out Garrett’s been fingered as the latest sacrifice to a long-dead god—and his only chance to save his neck is to solve the case.

It should have been a simple job. But for Garrett, a human detective in a world of gnomes, tracking down the woman to whom his dead pal Danny left a fortune in silver is no slight task. Even with the aid of Morley, the toughest half-elf around, Garrett isn't sure he'll make it out alive from a land where magic can be murder, the dead still talk, and vampires are always hungry for human blood.

A guide to series fiction lists popular series, identifies novels by character, and offers guidance on the order in which to read unnumbered series.

A damsel in a dress was Garrett’s weakness, especially when she had equipment in all the right places. Still, Garrett wasn’t sure it was worth his life to take on Maggie Jenn, the ex-king’s ex-mistress, as his client. Not in a kingdom where the biggest con artists weren’t human, magic could beat any weapon, and the local killers were built like tanks. It seemed like a simple missing person’s case: a vanished teenage daughter, a distraught mother trying to track her down. But when a guy as well-connected as the Rainmaker was gunning to see Garrett permanently removed from the case, he knew he’d have to call in some big favors just to keep his head on his shoulders, let alone to find a kid who probably didn’t want to be found.

When his old friend Blake Peters calls in some overdue favors. Garrett feels like he’s committed himself to a corps of corpses. Someone is trying to kill Blake's wealthy, retired General Stantnor, in a most lingering, painful, and maybe poisonous way. Can Garrett keep the general above ground? But Stantnor's mansion holds a host of surprises for a human detective who thought he'd seen it all. For while the general is dying slowly, his employees are losing their lives at a far speedier rate. And when some of the not-long-departed try to enlist their comrades in the growing legions of the dead, Garrett knows it's time to call in his own troops—in the person of Morley Dotes, the toughest half-elf around. With Morley guarding his back, Garrett's got to handle—or gets his hands on—both the killer and the mansion's two elusive beauties, who seem invisible to everyone but Garrett!

Keeping track of prolific authors who write fiction series was quite challenging for even the most ardent fan until To Be Continueddebuted in 1995. Noew, readers will be happy that the soon-to-be-released second edition has added 1,600 new books and 400 new series. To Be Continued, Second Edition, maintians the first volume's successful formula that featured concise A-to-Z entries packed with useful information, including titles, publishers, publication dates, genre categories, annotations, and subject terms. Among the genre categories that can be found in To Be Continued are romance, science fiction, crime novel, horror, adventure, fantasy, humor, western, war, Christian fiction, and others.

Blood-soaked blades have been taking their toll among the luscious lovelies in Garrett’s home city of TunFaire. And though Garrett can be as civic-minded as the next guy—unless the next guy is Captain Block of the Watch—the private eye isn’t sure he really wants to take on a serial killer psycho who does too good a carving job and never leaves any of the blood behind. Still, having Block pay him for his services with lots of ill-gotten government funds, and having his own partner, the Dead Man, strenuously urge him to take the case, prove an irresistible combination for Garrett. And so he begins a search that would take him from the lowest slums to the highest estates, from confrontations with magic-spitting enemies to run-ins with the king of crime’s wayward daughter, to a final encounter with an ancient evil that has once again been loosed on his unsuspecting town.