Manhattan Series

“Detective Jane Bauer is a most welcome addition to the ranks of fictional cops.”
–Peter Robinson

When NYPD detective Jane Bauer and her team check in for their new assignment, they reopen a cold case that’s a real killer. Ten years earlier, police responding to a spate of late-night 911 calls from Greenwich Village discovered a young African American undercover cop, Micah Anthony, shot dead on Waverly Place. The killer left no clues, and the murder remains an inscrutable mystery . . . except for two things: Anthony had infiltrated a lucrative gun-trading operation in the city, and it seemed likely that he knew and trusted the killer.

So begins an investigation that leads Jane from Village brownstones to middle-class Queens, from wealthy Sutton Place to sinister subway tunnels, as a mastermind of murder resumes operations–and every path is mined with menace.

“Harris knows a lot about cops and a lot about women and she knows how to plot a good mystery.”
–Stephen Greenleaf

Newly promoted to detective first-grade with the NYPD, Jane Bauer, is back to work after a nearly fatal run-in with a killer. But while she’s happy to be back on the job, her new assignment–another cold case–seems to hold little promise of being solved.

Eight years ago, Anderson Stratton, a schizophrenic, was found dead of starvation in his apartment. Nothing on the scene indicated foul play, and although he left no note, the death was ultimately ruled a suicide. Stratton’s well-connected sister, Flavia Constantine, never accepted that conclusion, and has insisted that the case be reopened. But in their investigation, Jane and her team stumble upon another grisly suicide–and realize that the two may very well be connected. As her inquiry intensifies, Jane is led to a shocking and horrible truth–and once again finds herself on the threshold of death.

“Lee Harris, author of the beloved Christine Bennett holiday mystery series, gives us a new detective and a grittier neighborhood in Murder in Hell’s Kitchen, but her storytelling skill remains top quality.”—Tony Hillerman

After twenty years of loyal service, Detective Jane Bauer is just two months and one case away from leaving the NYPD for a cushy desk job. Her last assignment: working for a special unit that tackles unsolved crimes. At a crossroads in her personal life, Jane relishes the chance to lose herself in a challenging investigation.

Four years ago, Arlen Quill was found dead in the entryway to his apartment building—leaving no clues, no witnesses, and no leads. When Jane decides to interview Quill’s old neighbors, she makes a startling discovery: Every single occupant at the time of the murder subsequently disappeared. Like any seasoned New Yorker, Jane knows that mere homicide isn’t enough to drive people from their rent-controlled apartments. In Hell’s Kitchen—where a cold case suddenly heats up—Jane soon finds herself face-to-face with a killer. . . .

“Lee Harris heads off in an exciting new direction with Murder in Hell’s Kitchen—a page-turner of a police procedural, in which a cold case turns hot and the suspense builds and builds. Detective Jane Bauer is a most welcome addition to the ranks of fictional cops.”—Peter Robinson