About the book
Solving murders isn’t part of Devin Cleary’s job description. As a security guard at Lincoln Court, a small boutique shopping mall in Urbana, Illinois, he has busted shoplifters, prevented the homeless from making the mall their home, and even rousted a few bathroom dope-smokers. When the mall becomes the site of multiple murders, Cleary is caught up in a web of intrigue that may involve a contractor’s ambitions for redeveloping Lincoln Court into a megamall. He is positioned to sniff out clues that the police miss. By the world’s standards, Devin Cleary is a loser. He’s a college dropout. His lawyer wife left him for a colleague in her law firm. He has spent the last fifteen years in a minimum-wage, dead-end job that barely keeps him afloat. With no college degree, virtually no marketable skills, and the mall on the brink of closing for lack of business, Cleary wonders if he faces a future of sleeping outdoors in cardboard boxes and rummaging in dumpsters for meals. The only hope for Lincoln Court’s survival lies with that contractor’s plans, which the owners of the mall oppose, and on support for them, if elected, of a candidate for governor who sets up campaign headquarters there—until those murders cast a pall over that hope. As he tries to solve them, Cleary finds himself increasingly at risk. He survives encounters with a mobster and his former mother-in-law, a knockout punch, frenzied Black Friday bargain hunters, a shooting spree, painful self-discovery, and, after unraveling a tangled skein of means, motive, and opportunity, a face-to-face encounter with the murderer. More than a mystery, \"Murder Happens\" is about a man out to prove, if only to himself, that his life has value in ways that the prevailing standards of the world don’t take into account.
Editions of Murder Happens
- EBook
- ISBN 9781592114924
Read an Excerpt
Solving murders isn’t part of Devin Cleary’s job description. As a security guard at Lincoln Court, a small boutique shopping mall in Urbana, Illinois, he has busted shoplifters, prevented the homeless from making the mall their home, and even rousted a few bathroom dope-smokers. When the mall becomes the site of multiple murders, Cleary is caught up in a web of intrigue that may involve a contractor’s ambitions for redeveloping Lincoln Court into a megamall. He is positioned to sniff out clues that the police miss. By the world’s standards, Devin Cleary is a loser. He’s a college dropout. His lawyer wife left him for a colleague in her law firm. He has spent the last fifteen years in a minimum-wage, dead-end job that barely keeps him afloat. With no college degree, virtually no marketable skills, and the mall on the brink of closing for lack of business, Cleary wonders if he faces a future of sleeping outdoors in cardboard boxes and rummaging in dumpsters for meals. The only hope for Lincoln Court’s survival lies with that contractor’s plans, which the owners of the mall oppose, and on support for them, if elected, of a candidate for governor who sets up campaign headquarters there—until those murders cast a pall over that hope. As he tries to solve them, Cleary finds himself increasingly at risk. He survives encounters with a mobster and his former mother-in-law, a knockout punch, frenzied Black Friday bargain hunters, a shooting spree, painful self-discovery, and, after unraveling a tangled skein of means, motive, and opportunity, a face-to-face encounter with the murderer. More than a mystery, \"Murder Happens\" is about a man out to prove, if only to himself, that his life has value in ways that the prevailing standards of the world don’t take into account.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Murder Happens about?
Solving murders isn’t part of Devin Cleary’s job description. As a security guard at Lincoln Court, a small boutique shopping mall in Urbana, Illinois, he has busted shoplifters, prevented the homeless from making the mall their home, and even rousted a few bathroom dope-smokers. When the mall becomes the site of multiple murders, Cleary is caught up in a web of intrigue that may involve a contractor’s ambitions for redeveloping Lincoln Court into a megamall. He is positioned to sniff out clues that the police miss. By the world’s standards, Devin Cleary is a loser. He’s a college dropout. His lawyer wife left him for a colleague in her law firm. He has spent the last fifteen years in a minimum-wage, dead-end job that barely keeps him afloat. With no college degree, virtually no marketable skills, and the mall on the brink of closing for lack of business, Cleary wonders if he faces a future of sleeping outdoors in cardboard boxes and rummaging in dumpsters for meals. The only hope for Lincoln Court’s survival lies with that contractor’s plans, which the owners of the mall oppose, and on support for them, if elected, of a candidate for governor who sets up campaign headquarters there—until those murders cast a pall over that hope. As he tries to solve them, Cleary finds himself increasingly at risk. He survives encounters with a mobster and his former mother-in-law, a knockout punch, frenzied Black Friday bargain hunters, a shooting spree, painful self-discovery, and, after unraveling a tangled skein of means, motive, and opportunity, a face-to-face encounter with the murderer. More than a mystery, \"Murder Happens\" is about a man out to prove, if only to himself, that his life has value in ways that the prevailing standards of the world don’t take into account.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Murder Happens?
Fiction > Crime and / or mystery fiction > Crime and mystery: private investigator / amateur detectives
Where can I read a sample of Murder Happens?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781592114924
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Murder Happens?
Jim Courter
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Murder Happens is available as ebook(ISBN 9781592114924)
Where can I buy Murder Happens online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Murder Happens from below
Where can I buy Murder Happens?