By Larry Darter

Ben Malone, is the street-wise protagonist of the "Malone Mystery Novels" series. In the first novel, he is a maverick L.A.P.D. detective temporarily detailed to the Cold Case Homicide unit while undergoing department-mandated psychiatric evaluation after a spate of fatal on-duty shootings. At the end of the book, he resigns from the L.A.P.D. due to his disenchantment with the rule-bound and politically correct environment he believed the L.A.P.D. had become. He returns in Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair, as a P.I. in LA, having taken over the agency of a late friend and mentor. He continues in that capacity throughout the remainder of the series. Malone is known for his own personal and often unorthodox code of ethics and his habit of skirting the law and accepted professional procedure when he feels it is necessary to move a case forward. Malone is a loner for the most part who works with a small circle of capable associates, including friends at the L.A.P.D. and occasionally, some LA organized crime figures who have befriended him. The third book in the series is scheduled for publication in Nov. 2017.