Jimmy McSwain Files

All the world's a stage, but in Stage Fright, Hell's Kitchen private detective Jimmy McSwain learns that life upon its wicked boards can be a killer. The Harold Calloway Theatre on West 47th Street is home to the new play Triskaidekaphobia, and its playwright has been receiving threatening messages. Theater owner and lead producer Wellington Calloway has hired Jimmy to investigate, but it's a case not without its complications. His mother is the head usher there, and Jimmy grew up on its aisles. His ex, Remy, is also the costume designer for the show, a man he hasn't seen in years. Further making his life difficult is the mysterious Seetha Assan, who is connected-albeit tentatively-to the case that forever haunts Jimmy-his own father's murder. She may just have the clue to help him finally solve the cold case. As Opening Night for the play looms, Jimmy finds himself involved in a nest of egos and personalities, all while seeking to find the missing Seetha. Toss in his on-again, off-again relationship with Captain Francis X. Frisano, and suddenly Jimmy's life is edging toward tragedy. That's when a murderer strikes, and suddenly nothing is pretend anymore. Life on the stage has turned all too real, and all too deadly. Just like on the mean streets of Manhattan.

The dual forces of good and evil take center stage in the fourth installment in the Jimmy McSwain Files, one that finds the tortured, sexy detective battling an unforeseen enemy: happiness. Yet murder will soon rear its desperate chill, hurtling Jimmy into the highest society and the lowest of lives. Winter is nearly upon Manhattan, the holidays right around the corner. Jimmy is hired to escort the infamous tabloid favorite Serena Carson to a charity benefit, intent on guarding her from an abusive ex. Yet the job takes a brutal turn as lothario Henderson Carlyle is found sliced to death outside of Serena's brownstone. The cops warn Jimmy away from the case, including his former lover, Captain Francis X. Frisano. Jimmy has his hands full anyway, as his visiting cousin Kellan was found beaten by one-time family friend, Mickey Dean, a Hell's Kitchen thug with a dark past. As the snow falls and answers remain buried, Jimmy finds himself thrown into the midst of two conflicting cases, one of which will expose a dormant clue to the long-unsolved murder of his father, NYPD cop Joseph McSwain. Complicating matters is a new man in Jimmy's life, who promises Jimmy security and safety, neither word easy for him to accept. When fate sends Jimmy's world into turmoil, he realizes there's a devil at work in a season usually owned by angels.

Fifteen years ago, NYPD officer Joseph McSwain was gunned down while trying to stop a robbery. His murder was never solved. Until now. For his son, Hell's Kitchen private detective Jimmy McSwain, his father's death has defined him, defied him, and denied him his chance at happiness. But the shooting death of a young officer named Denson Luke has reignited the investigation into the mysterious Blue Death conspiracy. Jimmy still must earn a living, so he cannot ignore a family in distress. New neighbors Carmen Ramirez and her young son, Sonny, are clearly running from danger. Overnight, their case becomes one involving a missing father, a Chinese crime syndicate, and an abduction which threatens to overwhelm Jimmy's mission of solving his father's case. His relationship status with Frank Frisano on and off again, Jimmy tries to do double duty, jeopardizing his own safety. It's only when another murder occurs that Jimmy finally finds the path that has eluded him. His investigation finally leads him back home, where a devastating family secret overshadows all he's learned, and the cost to the McSwain family may never be repaid. Jimmy realizes the blood on his hands will forever haunt him.

Jimmy McSwain returns, but the question lingers, now that he has finally solved the fifteen-year-old murder of his NYPD cop-father, Joseph, who has he become? Busy concentrating on family issues, Jimmy hasn't taken a new case in nearly three months, and when a call comes in from Philip Connelly, who wants proof of his wife, Myra's, cheating, Jimmy is torn. Take the case, or say no. He rejects it, only to learn a week later that Philip has been found dead in a park on Staten Island. The police believe it was suicide, but Myra-a self-admitted adulteress-is convinced he was murdered. Jimmy agrees to take the case. But it seems his decision to rejoin the world has also affected the other areas of his life: his sister is facing a health crisis, an old friend from his father's past has resurfaced, and his lover, Captain Francis X. Frisano, is working a difficult case in Chelsea where gay men are being attacked. If that wasn't enough, Jimmy is on the hunt to bring down his new nemesis, the criminal mastermind Mr. Wu-Tin. A fire at one of his warehouses stirs fear in Jimmy that the man is trying to destroy evidence of his crimes. That's when life throws him a twist, and suddenly Jimmy feels that just as he's hoping to find answers, new mysteries emerge about whether the path he's on leads to a fresh start, or a fresh kill.

A long summer has kept Jimmy McSwain away from the city he loves, uncertain of what the future holds. But upon his return, tomorrow quickly becomes a deadly today. Jimmy has often done work for his sister Mallory's law firm, and this time the new partner and his handsome associate want to hire Jimmy to solve the mystery of twin brothers. One of the twins lies in a coma, while the other has gone missing. Aiding Jimmy in this confusing case is Brenden Hendricks, the young lawyer who just happens to have a strong attraction to Jimmy. Meanwhile, there's Jimmy's lingering obsession with the criminal mastermind Mr. Wu-Tin. Jimmy is determined to bring him down, and the NYPD knows that. Brought in to assist the Special Task Force, Jimmy feels he's being manipulated, but this is his best lead yet. The problem is his partner assigned to the case: his ex, Francis X. Frisano. Soon Jimmy and Frisano are setting traps for Wu-Tin, even as the cornered man is setting his empire ablaze. Complex, confounding, the duality in his life will test more than Jimmy's loyalty, it could rock his very foundation. Deep down he knows that by solving both cases, he's got a second shot at a new life.