Books by James Hartman

"Things like this don't happen here." Except they do. Saturday mornings are usually quiet in St. Tammany Parish, but before Chief Nicole "Nick" Brooks' children are even awake, she starts getting calls. A fisher has reeled in a gruesome catch that crosses jurisdictional lines and yields few clues as to its origin. An anonymous caller leads deputies and detectives to an upscale neighborhood where a man appears to have died from autoerotic asphyxia - but the house reveals secrets that disturb even the most seasoned investigators. With police stretched thin, shots are fired through the doors of a church, barely missing a pastor preparing for the next day's worship. Nick struggles to manage her resources - and her temper - as the challenges mount and the cases converge. To make matters worse, Margaret Karikas and her team of reporters keep popping up, but with so many crime scenes it's hard to know what - and where - matters most.

When three bodies turn up in only three weeks - all on Sunday mornings - it becomes clear a serial killer is at work. With half the police force out sick and the sheriff mysteriously absent, it falls to a handful of investigators to solve the case as the killer claims more victims and the violence hits close to home. As the murderer's motive becomes clearer, so does the secret the victims all had in common. A group of detectives, patrol cops, death inspectors, reporters and even a pastor form a haphazard team to find out what's driving the killer and track down the monster as the death toll continues to mount. Examining sin and redemption, touching on LGBT issues, exploring the breadth of modern Christianity and offering a subtle critique of suburban isolation, The Cleansing is a page-turning thriller of suspense, violence and mystery, with a fast-paced style that will appeal to fans of police fiction, LGBT readers, and those willing to experience the darker side of suburban life.

When a faceless body is found in a car at a remote boat launch, investigators are faced with parallel mysteries: Who is he? Who killed him? And why can't they find out who owns the car? Major Nicole Brooks juggles surprising conflicts of interest to conduct an already-difficult investigation in what could be the most confounding of her career. As detectives chase clues, Dr. Leslie Wilson's autopsy finds even more mysteries on the dead man's skin. But are the strange markings mere curiosities, or vital clues? Margaret Karikas leads a group of journalists and a young intern to pursue the news, sending her own team into more danger. Two mysterious buildings a few miles from the crime scene hide the clues, but are they also hiding the killer? They are determined to find what lies behind the walls. A strange visitor at Rev. Roxanne Clement's church may be the key, but even what Roxanne knows won't break the barriers of silence or completely unveil the complexity of secret, sacred oaths.