Howard County Mysteries

"I start with zero. Nobody dies today."The strange note delivered to Howard County, Maryland Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller proves to be a warning shot. Soon Peller and his protégés Detective Sergeants Corina Montufar and Eric Dumas are pursuing a cunning killer basing murders on the Fibonacci series, a mathematical sequence in which each number is the sum of the preceding two. And the only thing Peller knows for sure is that the series never ends.As the murderer switches up methods, locations, and even the meanings of the numbers, questions multipy. Are the murders random, or do they have a purpose? Why is the Pentagon eager to keep a lid on the investigation? Does the killer know Peller? Can the detectives stop him before he commits his final, terrible crime?A thrilling, fast-paced crime drama, The Fibonacci Murders is the first novel in Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mystery series.

Accident? Or Murder?Four years ago, Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller's wife Sandra died on a country road. The driver who rammed her car vanished without a trace, leaving police stunned and baffled. But it wasn't murder. It was a freak accident, and the statute of limitations has run out. Now a bungled robbery raises new questions. As Detective Sergeants Corina Montufar and Eric Dumas investigate, Peller's memories awaken, triggering a series of insights that shine new light on Sandra's death.The trail leads police to a meddlesome writer, a hot-blooded enforcer, and a cold-hearted criminal mastermind. Yet mysteries remain. Who could possibly have wanted Sandra dead? Was she targeted for murder, or did she just get in the way? And what became of the detective who originally investigated the accident?A thrilling crime drama, True Death is the second novel in Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mystery series.

The forecast: Record cold. The crimes: Colder still.Case #1:Hardworking veterinary technician Jayvon Fletcher was honest, friendly, and without an enemy in the world. But two Christmas Eves ago, while covering the night shift, he vanished, leaving behind only a broken window and smears of blood on the clinic's back steps. Neither police nor the private detectives hired by Jayvon's grandmother could find him. Now Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller is asked to take another look at the case, although he doubts he can shed light on the young man's fate.Case #2: Detective Sergeant Corina Montufar puzzles over a fire in an exclusive area. The details are familiar-two other houses burned the previous year in exactly the same way. But police had nabbed the arsonist. He was already in prison when this new crime occurred. Is this a copycat crime, or is the real culprit still at large and this the next in a series of attacks?Case #3: It's only mid-January, and already Detective Sergeant Eric Dumas is staring at Howard County's first murder victim of the year. Michio Tamai kept an address book overflowing with criminal cohorts. But even his friends were his victims. Not one of them is sorry he's dead. Any might be his murderer.While temperatures plummet, cold cases collide with new crimes, and somewhere a killer with blood as icy as the waters of the bay watches and waits.A thrilling crime drama, Ice on the Bay is the third novel in Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mystery series.

Bones litter the street...A catastrophic flood in Ellicott City leaves more than damaged buildings in its wake: a human skeleton now lies scattered along Main Street. Did a colonial settler wash out of his grave? Or is it murder? As Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller and his team investigate, the descendants of James Ferring, a local business icon from a bygone era, become the focus, and Peller is sure they're hiding something.There are clues aplenty. The gun shop owned by Chuck Ferring is a magnet for vandals and thieves. Art Ferring's horse was gunned down by an unknown assailant. And the Colonial Bakery, the jewel in the Ferring crown, is the only possible source of the bones. The family has explanations for everything, until a double murder threatens to unravel their secrets. And now, someone lurking in the shadows will stop at nothing to prevent Peller from uncovering the truth.A thrilling crime drama, A Day for Bones is the fourth novel in Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mysteries.

Who's the target?When Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller discovers a Bible verse spray painted on a Catholic church, he fears it's a death threat. But aimed at who? The reticent pastor seeking to cover it up? The retired priest who everyone insists is the most harmless man in the world? The nervous housekeeper with a troubled past? As Peller and his team investigate, the incidents multiply, drawing a second church into a tangled web of deceit obscured by the seal of the confessional.Soon, seemingly unrelated crimes tie in, and the mystery deepens. What could a bored teenager shooting off a gun in the woods, an angry grandmother ramming badly-parked vehicles, and an unsolved homicide have to do with the messages? But the graffiti isn't what it seems, and behind everything lurks a villain who has no qualms about murdering priests. Or meddling detectives.The Wages of Sin is the fifth novel in Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mystery series.