Mark De Castrique

"Iraq War veteran Sam Blackman with his prosthetic leg and his no-nonsense private eye partner Nakayla Robertson love their investigations which always carry a thread from the past - and they love each other. An interracial couple in the new South, the Asheville, NC, pair has surrounded themselves with a terrific support team including an unorthodox lawyer and a veteran cop. They deploy humor both to bind them together and to deflect insults. Plus,...

Once the most polluted waterway in Western North Carolina, the toxic Pigeon River now runs pure, thanks to environmental activism. But when a water analyst is found murdered in the river, and a local festival is rocked by death threats, fire, and beatings, it is clear that someone wants to disrupt the progress of the peaceful town and its future environmental efforts. Detective Sam Blackman, an Iraqi war vet, and his partner and love interest, Nakalya...

"When Cherokee burial remains are unearthed on the site of a local cemetery's expansion, Barry Clayton, part-time deputy and full-time undertaker, finds his dual occupations collide. Then, during the interment of the wife of one of Gainesboro's most prominent citizens, Cherokee activist Jimmy Panther leads a protest. Words and fists fly. When Panther turns up executed on the grave of the deceased woman, Barry is forced to confront her family as the...

"A simple assignment for private investigator Sam Blackman and his partner Nakayla Robertson: follow Professor Janice Wainwright, who's suing a surgeon for malpractice, and catch her in activities that undercut her claim. When Wainwright visits Connemara, Carl Sandburg's home in Flat Rock, N.C., and climbs the arduous trail to the top of Glassy Mountain, Sam believes he has the evidence needed to expose her--until he finds the woman semi-conscious...