When a famous black musician is shot down at his eightieth birthday celebration in a small settlement in Arkansas, no one can imagine why and there is intense political pressure to find his killer. To solve the case, the sheriff calls in Jazz Phillips, renowned former head of the Arkansas CID. The governor calls in the FBI, whose bumbling Senior Agent almost blows the case.

Despite the incompetence of the FBI, Jazz quickly discovers a dark side of Smiley Jones that yields a wide field of suspects. Narrowing the list down, Jazz discovers this is no simple murder and he finds himself plunged into the shadow world of national security. He also discovers he's on the trail of an international assassin, a professional who leaves no loose ends. And Jazz finds himself no longer the hunter, but the prey of a man never seen. By Joel B. Reed.

2005 USABookNews Mystery Finalist.

When an old friend calls in a favor, Jazz Phillips, former head of the Arkansas CID, agrees to help catch a cat thief. Known for breaking tough cases as a consultant to the FBI, Jazz doesn't take the case too seriously. Then a personal journal recovered from the thief outlines the most unusual series of murders Jazz has ever seen.

Yet, Jazz is not certain a serial killer is at work. The journal is vague and the writer is unknown. Nor are the victims clearly identified. While there are details that match suspicious deaths in the area, the pattern does not fit the normal profile of a serial killer. Only when he digs deep into the past does Jazz discover he is not on the trail of not one murderer, but two, working as a team to extract revenge. One is a violent slasher, the other, a cold mastermind. By Joel B Reed.

Jazz Phillips wrote the book on serial murder, Busting the Beast. When he agrees to do a seminar for the Ft. Worth police, he has no idea he'll be thrown onto a bizarre trail of death leading from California to New Hampshire. The murder of an Episcopal bishop looks like a simple homicide and the chief asks him to supervise the two new detectives in charge.

Within minutes at the crime scene, Jazz knows the case is not simple. A very intelligent psychopath is at work, making the killing look like accidental homicide. The chief of police is anxious to close the case. When he does, Jazz decides to pursue it on his own and turns up more than twenty murders by the same killer. Even more chilling is his discovery that the killer is a vigilante, an assassin who has a network of proteges. By Joel B Reed

When a bomb goes off in Portland, it looks like a mob hit. The victim is a well known underworld go-between. He sets up deals for death and it looks like he arranged the wrong fatal accident. So when Jazz Phillips, former head of the Arkansas state CID is called in, he wonders why. His specialty is tracking down serial killers.

Then a second bomb explodes in Seattle, soon followed by another in San Francisco and a rash of explosions in LA and Phoenix. What ties these together is the chemical signature of the explosives, the unique way the bomber works, and the fact the targets are all criminals. When everything points to a single suspect, an assassin long dead, Jazz realizes he is on the trail of a copycat, a professional bomber who is deteriorating mentally and is now killing for sport.
By Joel B Reed.

Who is the Queen of Spades? Is it a woman or a man? And why does this stalker kill? The evidence makes no sense. The victims are slain first and then mutilated, and the way it is done varies. The only tie is a calling card, the queen of spades. Then DNA evidence turns up a startling result. The latest victim is an unknown serial killer tied to at least five brutal murders. When a mysterious package arrives pointing to five more serial killers, all dead, Jazz Phillips realizes he is dealing with a killer who knows more than the police.

Then a copycat strikes with three savage slashings, leaving a queen of spades on each victim. To stop this second killer, Jazz makes a strange alliance and finds himself working with a multiple killer to catch a serial killer. Doing so leads him into a twilight zone where nothing is quite what it seems, and the alliance will cost him what he treasures most. By Joel B Reed.

Jazz Phillips is in deep trouble. He has no partner, three million dollars is missing from the public till, the reporter covering the story is dead, and his boss is part of a state-wide scam that goes to the top. Nor are the feds willing to act.

With nowhere to turn, Jazz heads for the local paper. The result is an editorial that shames the CID into giving Jazz what he needs. A second editorial spurs the feds into action. Yet the deeper they dig, the dirtier the case gets. Jazz soon discovers he is on the trail of a serial killer, and that hunter can become prey in this deadly game of cat and mouse. By Joel B Reed.

When Jazz heads for North Padre, the last thing on his mind is murder. Then he finds a young woman washed up on shore and it's apparent she's been viciously murdered. Jazz is glad it's not his case and he's happy to hand it over to the FBI.

Even so, the case is not done with Jazz. The FBI discovers the victim is from Arkansas and asks his help. As head of the state CID, Jazz can scarcely refuse and he finds himself on the strangest case of his career. What looks like a savage murder is only the tip of the iceberg. A ruthless killer is at work, leaving bodies strewn from South Texas to Florida, and the investigation threatens to destroy Jazz and everything he holds dear. By Joel B Reed.

What Jazz loves is catching the perfect shot of a train crossing a bridge on a perfect October day. Yet when he shows a friend his results weeks later, they discover that Jazz has somehow taken four clear pictures of a murder taking place.

Jazz tries to investigate but the county sheriff balks. Except for his images, there is no evidence a crime has taken place. So Jazz brings in a CID team. They quickly discover this is no simple homicide. Two dozen bodies are found at the killing ground, all of African descent. This spells genocide and Jazz calls in the FBI.

Then a suspect is killed and Jazz is thrown into the middle of a mountain blood feud. He finds himself in the cross-hair of a stone cold assassin determined to put him down. By Joel B Reed

New Orleans. They call it the City Care Forgot and Jazz is there to enjoy it. The police chief has a different agenda. He asks Jazz to look over some cold cases. Reading these, Jazz becomes convinced that a serial killer is at work in the city.

When the killer strikes again, the chief hires Jazz to lead the team. The victim is a heavy hitter in New Orleans, one close to the chief. Yet, the deeper the team digs, the more confusing the case becomes. Then the killer picks the wrong victim and ends up dead in the street. It is a friend of the chief, who refuses to accept the evidence. Fed up with the Big Easy, Jazz files his final report. When he figures out who killed the killer, Jazz finds a strange and unsettling vindication.
By Joel B Reed.