Mystery Monday: Michael McGarrity
--by Hanje Richards
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Because I am a huge mystery fan, "Mystery Monday" was born. Because I like to read mysteries in order, I'm going to list and talk about them in chronological, rather than alphabetical, order. And, because we were closed on Monday in observance of Columbus Day, "Mystery Monday" is appearing on Tuesday (mystery solved!).
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If an author has written more than one series (and many authors have), I'll talk about different series in different posts to keep things as clear as possible. For those interested in reading some of the featured titles, I've noted at the end of each book's summary whether it's available at the Copper Queen Library or at another library in Cochise County through Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
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Michael Mc
Garrity (born 1939) is a New Mexican author and former law enforcement officer. He has written a dozen crime-suspense novels about New Mexico. As deputy sheriff of Santa Fe County, he founded their Sex Crimes Unit.
Michael Mc
Garrity (born 1939) is a New Mexican author and former law enforcement officer. He has written a dozen crime-suspense novels about New Mexico. As deputy sheriff of Santa Fe County, he founded their Sex Crimes Unit..
McGarrity has a bachelor's degree in English and Psychology from the University of New Mexico and a master's degree in clinical social work, from the University of Iowa, and is a graduate of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy. In addition to law enforcement work, he has been an investigator and caseworker for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office. He worked on rehabilitating prison programs after the New Mexico State Penitentiary riot in 1980. McGarrity has taught at several colleges and universities as well as the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy. As a social worker, he published a number of articles in professional journals on a wide range of topics, ranging from therapy programs for children, to program assessment and evaluation, and drug treatment interventions.
McGarrity has a bachelor's degree in English and Psychology from the University of New Mexico and a master's degree in clinical social work, from the University of Iowa, and is a graduate of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy. In addition to law enforcement work, he has been an investigator and caseworker for the New Mexico Public Defender's Office. He worked on rehabilitating prison programs after the New Mexico State Penitentiary riot in 1980. McGarrity has taught at several colleges and universities as well as the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy. As a social worker, he published a number of articles in professional journals on a wide range of topics, ranging from therapy programs for children, to program assessment and evaluation, and drug treatment interventions.
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All of McGarrity's western novels take place in modern New Mexico, with law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney as the protagonist. The settings are vividly evoked and range from the Tularosa Basin and Lincoln County to Hermit's Peak, although many take place in Santa Fe.
All of McGarrity's western novels take place in modern New Mexico, with law enforcement officer Kevin Kerney as the protagonist. The settings are vividly evoked and range from the Tularosa Basin and Lincoln County to Hermit's Peak, although many take place in Santa Fe.
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Tula
rosa (1996) It's been two years since an on-the-job shooting forced ex-Santa Fe chief of detectives Kevin Kerney to retire. He is drawn back into action when Terry Yazzi, his former partner and the man responsible for his wounds, pleads for Kerney's help. Yazzi's son, a soldier, has disappeared in the barren desert surrounding the White Sands Missile Range.
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Kerney's investigation resurrects the long-forgotten thrill of the hunt — and other emotions surface after meeting the tough-but-beautiful Capt. Sara Brannon, the Army's investigating officer. Together, they uncover a crime far greater than an AWOL soldier: a conspiracy of death that snakes from the secretive world of military operations, to the cutthroat alleys of a Mexican border town, leading them to a final, shocking revelation that may cost them both their lives. (available at CQL)
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Mexican Hat (1997) Taking a job as a seasonal forest ranger in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, Kevin Kerney is looking forward to a quiet summer high in the mountains. But the murder of a Mexican tourist, and the discovery of a disoriented old man in the wild, thrust Kerney into an investigation that will carry him back in time to a sixty-year-old feud between two land-rich brothers, Edgar and Eugene Cox.
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Enlisting young state game and fish officer Jim Stiles to help solve the crimes, Kerney slowly uncovers evidence connecting the ruthless Cox feud with another suspicious death — and the radical actions of New Mexico's present-day county militia. But, new assistant district attorney Karen Cox—Edgar's alluring daughter—is torn between hiding her father's long-buried secret and helping Kerney find the truth. Now someone wants Kerney dead — and the deeper he investigates, the more he may be digging his own grave. (available through ILL)
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Serpent Gate (1998) After receiving a call from the newly appointed chief of the New Mexico State Police, ex-Santa Fe chief of detectives Kevin Kerney is thrown into an investigation of a small-town cop-killing noone has been able to solve. His only lead: a homeless schizophrenic's ramblings about rape and an uncharted place called Serpent Gate.
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Meanwhile, back in Santa Fe, priceless art is stolen from the governor's offices and a beautiful young blonde is murdered in a millionaire's mansion. Kerney follows a trail of clues to Mexico, where he faces off against an old nemesis with powerful government connections. Unwilling to back down, Kerney must use all of his tenacity, raw courage, and knowledge of the criminal mind in a bloody showdown that may cost him his life. (available at CQL)
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Hermit’s Pe
ak (1999) When Kevin Kerney, deputy chief of the New Mexico State Police, inherits an unexpected windfall of 6,400 acres of high-county land, the last thing he wants to think about is work. But while visiting his new property, he comes across an ailing stray dog that leads him to the butchered bones of a murder victim near the rugged mountain of Hermit's Peak.
Tula
rosa (1996) It's been two years since an on-the-job shooting forced ex-Santa Fe chief of detectives Kevin Kerney to retire. He is drawn back into action when Terry Yazzi, his former partner and the man responsible for his wounds, pleads for Kerney's help. Yazzi's son, a soldier, has disappeared in the barren desert surrounding the White Sands Missile Range..
Kerney's investigation resurrects the long-forgotten thrill of the hunt — and other emotions surface after meeting the tough-but-beautiful Capt. Sara Brannon, the Army's investigating officer. Together, they uncover a crime far greater than an AWOL soldier: a conspiracy of death that snakes from the secretive world of military operations, to the cutthroat alleys of a Mexican border town, leading them to a final, shocking revelation that may cost them both their lives. (available at CQL)
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Mexican Hat (1997) Taking a job as a seasonal forest ranger in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness, Kevin Kerney is looking forward to a quiet summer high in the mountains. But the murder of a Mexican tourist, and the discovery of a disoriented old man in the wild, thrust Kerney into an investigation that will carry him back in time to a sixty-year-old feud between two land-rich brothers, Edgar and Eugene Cox.
.
Enlisting young state game and fish officer Jim Stiles to help solve the crimes, Kerney slowly uncovers evidence connecting the ruthless Cox feud with another suspicious death — and the radical actions of New Mexico's present-day county militia. But, new assistant district attorney Karen Cox—Edgar's alluring daughter—is torn between hiding her father's long-buried secret and helping Kerney find the truth. Now someone wants Kerney dead — and the deeper he investigates, the more he may be digging his own grave. (available through ILL)
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Serpent Gate (1998) After receiving a call from the newly appointed chief of the New Mexico State Police, ex-Santa Fe chief of detectives Kevin Kerney is thrown into an investigation of a small-town cop-killing noone has been able to solve. His only lead: a homeless schizophrenic's ramblings about rape and an uncharted place called Serpent Gate.
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Meanwhile, back in Santa Fe, priceless art is stolen from the governor's offices and a beautiful young blonde is murdered in a millionaire's mansion. Kerney follows a trail of clues to Mexico, where he faces off against an old nemesis with powerful government connections. Unwilling to back down, Kerney must use all of his tenacity, raw courage, and knowledge of the criminal mind in a bloody showdown that may cost him his life. (available at CQL)
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Hermit’s Pe
ak (1999) When Kevin Kerney, deputy chief of the New Mexico State Police, inherits an unexpected windfall of 6,400 acres of high-county land, the last thing he wants to think about is work. But while visiting his new property, he comes across an ailing stray dog that leads him to the butchered bones of a murder victim near the rugged mountain of Hermit's Peak. .
After assigning the case to his subordinates, Kerney returns to Santa Fe to spend time with a woman he cares about, Sara Brannon, a career army officer who is visiting him on holiday. But his time with Sara must wait, as he is called back to Hermit's Peak when another body is found at a remote cabin. Now, Kerney must unearth the shattering truth about his new land and follow a twisting trail of blood through the majestic landscape of the American Southwest. (available at CQL)
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Judas Judge (2000) Kerney returns to his childhood home near Tularosa to investigate the murder of six people found at various campgrounds along one stretch of road in southern New Mexico. The trail leads to a retired judge and his disaffected children, all of whom have skeletons aplenty in their dysfunctional closets. Meanwhile, Kerney contemplates retirement from the New Mexico State Police, struggles with his long-distance marriage, and faces some startling news from a woman in his past. (available through ILL)
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After assigning the case to his subordinates, Kerney returns to Santa Fe to spend time with a woman he cares about, Sara Brannon, a career army officer who is visiting him on holiday. But his time with Sara must wait, as he is called back to Hermit's Peak when another body is found at a remote cabin. Now, Kerney must unearth the shattering truth about his new land and follow a twisting trail of blood through the majestic landscape of the American Southwest. (available at CQL)
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Judas Judge (2000) Kerney returns to his childhood home near Tularosa to investigate the murder of six people found at various campgrounds along one stretch of road in southern New Mexico. The trail leads to a retired judge and his disaffected children, all of whom have skeletons aplenty in their dysfunctional closets. Meanwhile, Kerney contemplates retirement from the New Mexico State Police, struggles with his long-distance marriage, and faces some startling news from a woman in his past. (available through ILL)
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Under the Color of Law (2001) Newly-installed Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney receives a deadly welcome when a U.S. ambassador's ex-wife is brutally stabbed to death in her home. But before Kerney can begin to investigate, the FBI closes the case with trumped-up evidence. And the harder Kerney hunts for the truth, the more he knows that he may not survive the chase. (available at CQL)
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Under the Color of Law (2001) Newly-installed Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney receives a deadly welcome when a U.S. ambassador's ex-wife is brutally stabbed to death in her home. But before Kerney can begin to investigate, the FBI closes the case with trumped-up evidence. And the harder Kerney hunts for the truth, the more he knows that he may not survive the chase. (available at CQL)
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.Big Gamble (2002) Michael McGarrity's acclaimed Santa Fe police chief, Kevin Kerney is back-with his estranged son. Two bodies have been found in a burned building. One is a missing person from Kerney's cold case files. The other is a more recent homicide. Both will lead father and son into a vast network of crime...and the darkest places of the soul. (available at CQL)
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Everyone
Dies (2003) Kerney, chief of the Santa Fe police force, and his wife, Sara Brannon, pregnant and due to give birth at any moment, have just begun a much needed vacation. Sara is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Military Police and will be assigned to the Pentagon just six weeks after the baby is born-a career move that Kerney opposes. A vicious killer slashes his way into the midst of this family crisis, beginning by shooting a Santa Fe lawyer, and in quick succession murdering Kerney's beloved horse, a forensic psychologist and a probation officer. It doesn't take long for Kerney to realize that his entire family has been targeted, especially after the killer begins leaving messages that say, "Everyone Dies." Area law enforcement personnel rally around the chief and begin a massive investigation (available at CQL)
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Slow
Kill( 2004) Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney travels to a California ranch looking to buy some prime quarter horse breeding stock. Instead, he finds himself the prime suspect in a possible homicide when a guest at the ranch, Clifford Spalding, is found dead. Confronted by a determined cop unwilling to let him off the hook, Kerney decides to conduct his own investigation. As he digs into the victim’s background, he learns that Spalding’s ex-wife refuses to believe that her son, a soldier killed in Vietnam some thirty years ago, is dead.
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Kerney digs deeper and soon finds himself sharing the woman’s doubts: Did Spalding’s current wife, a much younger woman, orchestrate his murder with the help of a lover? Did a California cop collude with Spalding to keep his ex-wife from learning the truth about her son? (available through ILL)
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Slow Kill races from West Coast to East Coast as Kerney attempts to find the answers to a thirty-year-old mystery and extricate himself from a situation that could ruin his career. (available at CQL)
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Nothing But Trouble (2005) At the urging of an old friend, Kerney takes a job as a technical advisor on a contemporary Western being filmed near the Mexican border-and becomes embroiled in circumstances that will change his and his family's lives forever. (available through ILL)
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Death S
ong (2007) The bushwhack killing of a deputy sheriff in Lincoln County and the brutal murder of the deputy’s wife in Santa Fe bring Police Chief Kevin Kerney and his Mescalero Apache son, Sergeant Clayton Istee, back together in a double homicide investigation—an investigation that is soon linked to a major drug trafficking scheme and the cold-blooded slaughter of two women in Albuquerque. With few clues, no known motives, and no suspects, the investigation turns into a search for the son of the slain officer, eighteen-year-old Brian Riley, who left Santa Fe under suspicious circumstances before his father’s death.
Everyone
Dies (2003) Kerney, chief of the Santa Fe police force, and his wife, Sara Brannon, pregnant and due to give birth at any moment, have just begun a much needed vacation. Sara is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Military Police and will be assigned to the Pentagon just six weeks after the baby is born-a career move that Kerney opposes. A vicious killer slashes his way into the midst of this family crisis, beginning by shooting a Santa Fe lawyer, and in quick succession murdering Kerney's beloved horse, a forensic psychologist and a probation officer. It doesn't take long for Kerney to realize that his entire family has been targeted, especially after the killer begins leaving messages that say, "Everyone Dies." Area law enforcement personnel rally around the chief and begin a massive investigation (available at CQL).
Slow
Kill( 2004) Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney travels to a California ranch looking to buy some prime quarter horse breeding stock. Instead, he finds himself the prime suspect in a possible homicide when a guest at the ranch, Clifford Spalding, is found dead. Confronted by a determined cop unwilling to let him off the hook, Kerney decides to conduct his own investigation. As he digs into the victim’s background, he learns that Spalding’s ex-wife refuses to believe that her son, a soldier killed in Vietnam some thirty years ago, is dead..
Kerney digs deeper and soon finds himself sharing the woman’s doubts: Did Spalding’s current wife, a much younger woman, orchestrate his murder with the help of a lover? Did a California cop collude with Spalding to keep his ex-wife from learning the truth about her son? (available through ILL)
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Slow Kill races from West Coast to East Coast as Kerney attempts to find the answers to a thirty-year-old mystery and extricate himself from a situation that could ruin his career. (available at CQL)
.
Nothing But Trouble (2005) At the urging of an old friend, Kerney takes a job as a technical advisor on a contemporary Western being filmed near the Mexican border-and becomes embroiled in circumstances that will change his and his family's lives forever. (available through ILL)
.
Death S
ong (2007) The bushwhack killing of a deputy sheriff in Lincoln County and the brutal murder of the deputy’s wife in Santa Fe bring Police Chief Kevin Kerney and his Mescalero Apache son, Sergeant Clayton Istee, back together in a double homicide investigation—an investigation that is soon linked to a major drug trafficking scheme and the cold-blooded slaughter of two women in Albuquerque. With few clues, no known motives, and no suspects, the investigation turns into a search for the son of the slain officer, eighteen-year-old Brian Riley, who left Santa Fe under suspicious circumstances before his father’s death..
Due to retire at the end of the month, Kevin Kerney isn’t about to let the murder of a police officer’s wife go unsolved on his watch, especially since the dead woman was the sister of a dear friend; and crime scene facts strongly suggest that the killer may have also ambushed the deputy sheriff. Kerney assumes command of the combined investigation and calls upon Clayton to find Brian Riley, discover what triggered the murders, and give him the ammunition he needs to bring a multiple murderer to justice. (available through ILL)
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Dead or Alive (
2008) Living in London while his wife serves as a military attaché at the American Embassy, recently retired Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney gets an early morning phone call that changes everything and sends him hurrying home to his New Mexico ranch. Riley Burke, his partner in a horse-training enterprise, has been mowed down on Kerney's doorstep by an escaped prisoner cutting a murderous swath through New Mexico.
Due to retire at the end of the month, Kevin Kerney isn’t about to let the murder of a police officer’s wife go unsolved on his watch, especially since the dead woman was the sister of a dear friend; and crime scene facts strongly suggest that the killer may have also ambushed the deputy sheriff. Kerney assumes command of the combined investigation and calls upon Clayton to find Brian Riley, discover what triggered the murders, and give him the ammunition he needs to bring a multiple murderer to justice. (available through ILL)
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Dead or Alive (
2008) Living in London while his wife serves as a military attaché at the American Embassy, recently retired Santa Fe police chief Kevin Kerney gets an early morning phone call that changes everything and sends him hurrying home to his New Mexico ranch. Riley Burke, his partner in a horse-training enterprise, has been mowed down on Kerney's doorstep by an escaped prisoner cutting a murderous swath through New Mexico..
As the killings mount, Kerney teams up with his half-Apache son, Lieutenant Clayton Istee of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, to hunt for a psychotic murderer with a growing appetite for blood-who has no intention of being taken alive. (available at CQL)
As the killings mount, Kerney teams up with his half-Apache son, Lieutenant Clayton Istee of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, to hunt for a psychotic murderer with a growing appetite for blood-who has no intention of being taken alive. (available at CQL)
posted by msbw @ 10:07 AM
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