Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case (UK 2016)

From the Publisher:
Publisher Bryce Chatterton receives a manuscript that has all the makings of a bestseller; brimming with sex, money and scandal, it's his last hope of keeping Periwinkle Press afloat. But there's one small problem - nobody knows who wrote it.

P.I. John Marshall Tanner is called in to discover the author of the mysterious manuscript, but it soon becomes clear that he is in possession of an exposé that will blow the lid off some of San Francisco's most sordid secrets.

In a race against the clock, Tanner must dig up past crimes, scandals and cover-ups to expose the vengeful author before it's too late.

Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case. A John Marshall Tanner Mystery. Mulholland Books, ISBN: 9781473624085 (May, 2016), eBook, 0.64 MB (ca. 352 p.), £8.99.

Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case (USA 2016)

From the Publisher:
To save a small publishing company, John Marshall Tanner searches for an anonymous scribe
John Marshall Tanner has spent most of his life avoiding parties -- an easy feat for San Francisco's most introspective private detective. Nevertheless, when one of his closest friends, publisher Bryce Chatterton, finds himself in desperate need of a private eye, Tanner joins him at the party thrown to announce Periwinkle Press's latest publication -- but there's little reason to celebrate.

The publisher's financial backer has decided to pull the plug on Periwinkle unless Chatterton can come up with a bestseller fast. Chatterton thinks he has his hands on a surefire hit -- but he's not sure if he can print it. The book is an anonymous tell-all, implicating some of the city's most powerful in a chilling miscarriage of justice, and Chatterton needs the author to corroborate the story. Only Tanner can track down the mysterious writer, but are the secrets between the pages of this manuscript worth dying for?

Book Case is the 7th book in the John Marshall Tanner Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

"Refreshing... Greenleaf has once again delivered a book with intriguing plot twists about the causes of moral bankruptcy." -- Publishers Weekly
"A superior writer." -- The New York Times on Fatal Obsession
"The legitimate heir to the mantle of the late Ross MacDonald." -- Chicago Tribune

Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case. A John Marshall Tanner Mystery. MysteriousPress.com / Open Road Media, ISBN: 9781504027373 (February, 2016), eBook, 3.5 MB (ca. 379 p.), $7.99.

Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
Brimming with sex, money, and scandal, the manuscript had all the makings of a blockbuster bestseller. And publisher Bryce Chatterton knew it, just as he knew that publishing the book was his last and only hope of keeping Periwinkle Press afloat. But there was one small problem standing in Bryce's way. Who in the world wrote it?

Detective John Marshall Tanner thought it was a weird assignment, but after he read the book, it seemed even more bizarre. Because suddenly what was purportedly fiction was most probably a roman à clef -- which meant that Tanner had his hands on an exposé that could blow the lid off some of San Francisco's nastiest secrets. Now he must follow an elusive paper trail into the past to unbury a crime, a scam, and a cover-up... and do it before the vengeful author writes his final chapter -- in blood.

BOOK CASE

"MOVING, RIVETING AND WONDERFULLY AND APPROPRIATELY BOOKISH IN JUST THE RIGHT SENSE OF THAT MUCH MALIGNED WORD." -- The Boston Globe
"INTRIGUING." -- Publishers Weekly
"TWISTY AND ABSORBING." -- Kirkus Reviews

Cover art by Nicholas Rozsa.

Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case. A John Marshall Tanner Mystery. Bantam Books, ISBN: 0553290614 (January, 1992), 342 p., $4.99.

Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case (USA 1991)

From the Publisher:
The critics have been calling Stephen Greenleaf's books "enthralling" (The New Yorker), "expertly wrought" (Newsweek), "first-rate" (The Christian Science Monitor), "pungent... witty... very satisfying indeed" (Cleveland Plain Dealer), and "superior" (The New York Times Book Review).

Book Case is Stephen Greenleaf's new mystery novel featuring private eye John Marshall Tanner, "a worthy successor to Marlow, Spade & Co." (San Diego Union) and "the most interesting and intelligent private eye/narrator of the day" (Minneapolis Tribune).

Tanner's new case is a fiendishly literate adventure that starts when a sensational manuscript shows up at the offices of a small San Francisco publisher. Unfortunately, no one knows who wrote it, or whether it's fiction or fact. Tanner's attempts to find out land him squarely in the middle of an ancient scandal that some people will do anything to keep covered up -- including murder.

As New York magazine has noted of Greenleaf's previous books: "All the right components are here -- violence and sex, intellectual deduction and good guesses, wit and cynicism -- plus lots of real surprises." Here is the superior writing that readers have come to expect of Greenleaf: "His every sentence seems to contain just the right amount of words, all making for a pleasurable style, and his one liners are worth the price of the book" (Fort Worth Star Telegram). "His prose crackles with new insights. His dialogue rings with smart authority and reverberates in the memory long after the reader has closed the book" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

As The Washington Post observed, "From the very first sentence readers will know they're in very good hands."

Stephen Greenleaf is the author of the acclaimed John Marshall Tanner mystery series, which includes Grave Error, Death Bed, State's Evidence, Fatal Obsession, Beyond Blame, and Toll Call. He is also the author of The Ditto List and Impact. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and Ashland, Oregon.

Jacket design by Wendel Minor

Stephen Greenleaf: Book Case. A John Marshall Tanner Mystery. William Morrow, ISBN: 0688076696 (January [?], 1991), 332 p., $19.95.