Stanley Hastings Mysteries

The new Stanley Hastings mystery caper takes the ever-loquacious private detective on safari in Zambia-what could possibly go wrong?Stanley Hastings on safari? I don't think so. Neither did Stanley, until Alice's small inheritance-coupled with scrimping on a few luxuries like food and rent-allowed them to book a group trip to Zambia. Now the New York PI is hiking with lions, canoeing with hippos, and having close encounters with elephants and giraffes.It's a dangerous safari. The leader is a reckless, gung-ho great white hunter who delights in leaping from the jeep with a hearty, "Come on, gang, let's see where this lion is going!" And a series of bizarre accidents quickly dwindles the group's numbers. Why was the guide's young spotter foolish enough to walk under a sausage fruit tree just as one of the huge fruits fell? And how did the leaves of a poisonous plant wind up in a tourist's salad? Are these really accidents?A stabbing tips the scale. It's murder, and the only policeman in a hundred miles is a park ranger whose only murder case was that of an ivory poacher shot dead in plain sight.It's up to Stanley to crack the case-if he can just avoid being eaten by a lion.

A young woman found naked and stabbed to death in her apartment-it's the type of case that should be perfect for Stanley Hastings. Instead, it's his nightmare.It's a sensational murder trial. The woman was the girlfriend of Hasting's boss, Richard Rosenberg, and the hotshot lawyer is charged with killing her. Now Richard's in court fighting for his life, and Stanley's out on the firing line trying to dig up some evidence in his favor. It won't be easy. The murdered woman was a law clerk for a prominent judge, and everyone Stanley needs to question is currently tied up in a high-profile global banking trial.As Stanley races back and forth between two courtrooms, searching for the key to the mystery through investigative techniques that could easily get him charged as an accessory, every fact tends to point to Richard's guilt: DNA evidence proves he is the man who had sex with the victim just before she died, eyewitnesses put him at the scene of the crime, and his fingerprints are on the murder weapon.In desperation, Richard resorts to a series of courtroom tactics so outrageous they would make Perry Mason blush. Before the case is over, everyone in the courtroom will be convinced that not only does Richard Rosenberg have a fool for a client but the client has a fool for a lawyer.