Where Phantoms Tread: A Detective Lyle Odell Novel - Paperback

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by Paul John Hausleben (Author)

Hard-boiled New York police detective novel! Murder mystery! Whodunit?

Homicide Detective Lyle Odell subsists by eating pizza from Frank's West Pizza shop, he sucks down endless cups of black coffee, chain smokes cigarettes, has such a short-term memory for things that he must remind his own mind where he places things, and to top it all off, he consumes gallons upon gallons of Irish whiskey. Odell is disheveled, eccentric, and seemingly absent-minded. Often, he is stumble-drunk, haunted by his enemies and by the horror of homicide; but he is a super-genius. Beyond brilliant. Odell is a modern-day Sherlock Holmes who does not miss a trick. His enemies dismiss him as a has-been-an alcoholic shadow of his former self. That is their second mistake. Their first mistake is committing what seems to be the perfect crime in Odell's city. A city where Odell treads along with the phantoms that continually haunt him.

In Mohawk City in upstate New York, there has been yet another death. A wealthy and beautiful young socialite, who is from one of the richest families in Mohawk City, turns up dead on a weekday night in a hotel room in the fanciest hotel in the old city. It seems as if she is the victim of her hard partying-lifestyle and her promiscuous and risky past and present. Outwardly, her sad passing is a cut and dry case of mixing drugs and alcohol . . . a terrible tragedy. Adding to the tragedy and the intrigue, the young woman works in Washington, D.C. for the popular federal state senator from New York. A senator who is a rising star in politics with his goals set upon the White House. Yet, is it cut and dry? Or is there more to it? Homicide Detective Lyle Odell knows all too well the horrors of Mohawk City, and he knows how and why it earned the nickname of "Sin City." The phantoms of crime, evil and death haunt him, and even gallons of whiskey cannot end their constant invasion into his heart, soul, and mind. As the case unfolds, Odell digs in and finds there is nothing cut and dried about this case. At all. As the good detective unravels the mystery and the case deepens in evil and in tragedy, he dives in where phantoms tread to solve much more than just the young woman's tragic death. This is an exciting novel of crime-drama, a little taste of "who-done-it," a cast of interesting characters, such as the pompous senator, a grizzled police sergeant, a rookie police officer, an evil attorney, and as is typical with the author, a wide selection of other amazing characters all packed into the pages of the novel.

Plucked out of the pages of the novel O'Malley by his creator, Homicide Detective Lyle Odell proved to be a hugely popular character with readers. In O'Malley, the good detective helps the principal character solve the mysteries of his past and the brutal homicide of a fellow police officer. The character proved so popular with readers that Paul John Hausleben decided to write a novel starring Homicide Detective Lyle Odell. Here in his first solo adventure, the eccentric, systematic, teetering on alcoholism gumshoe detective proves why his creator earns the title of "The Master Storyteller" as the author weaves a masterpiece of murder mystery and crime-drama and creates another amazing character to add to a line-up of unforgettable characters in his many pages of written lore.

Number of Pages: 230

Dimensions: 0.58 x 9 x 6 IN

Publication Date: August 15, 2021