Barbara D’Amato Books In Order

Hardball

A bomb explodes, taking the life of Louise Sugarman and injuring reporter Cat Marsala. As a controversial advocate for the decriminalization of drugs and for treating addiction as a medical problem, Sugarman has many enemies. Outraged by the attack, Cat resolves to find the killer. The investigation forces Cat to confront the issue and the people on both sides of the debate. This Mystery Company edition restores to print the 1990 novel that marked the debut of the Cat Marsala series.

Hard Tack

Aboard the Easy Girl, a sixty two foot sloop, for a high society party, Cat Marsala is soon investigating a murder when one of the party’s high profile guests is found murdered. AB. PW.

Hard Luck

Chicago based journalist Cat Marsala investigates the mysterious suicide of a state lottery official and becomes a target of an odds obsessed killer. By the author of Hard Tack.

Hard Evidence

It starts with a soup bone. Chicago freelance journalist Cat Marsala, relaxing at home after a long week’s work reporting on the city’s best restaurants, looks forward to a quiet evening with her semi significant other, Dr. Sam Davidian; her parrot, Long John Silver; and her temporary houseguest, a Dalmatian named Dapper. As a special treat, Cat buys Dapper his very own soup bone at Chicago’s most elegant and exotic food emporium, Spenser and Angelotti. The Dalmatian is delighted with his bone, but his euphoria is short lived when Sam, a trauma surgeon, snatches the bone away. One close look tells Sam that he and Cat will not enjoy the romantic evening they’d planned. The bone is human, probably part of a large male’s leg, which suggests two immediate problems: a murder may have occurred at the Spenser and Angelotti store and a potential health hazard may exist in the store’s butcher shop and meat cases. Cat’s purchase was packaged in plastic, tucked in next to the beef, lamb, and pork. How much meat has been contaminated? How many other customers will face similar surprises? Cat gets on the phone to her longtime friend, Chicago’s chief of detectives, Harold McCoo, who with the mayor, the medical examiner, and other officials, agrees to a deal. The store will do a five times your money back recall on its meat, and Cat and the cops will have twenty four hours to find a killer before the story goes public and Spenser and Angelotti’s reputation is trashed. Co owner Bruno Angelotti, desperate to preserve his beloved store’s reputation, brings in Cat to work undercover in catering. If she has a good reason to be in the store, she can ask questions more easily and observe the employees in unguarded moments. Is one of them a killer? When Cat’s car windshield is broken as a warning, it’s clear that somebody, at least, does not want Cat nosing around Spenser and Angelotti. And that’s only the beginning in a dangerous case that takes Cat and the reader deep inside the intriguing worlds of specialty foods and funeral homes. Somebody will stop at nothing, even another murder, to obscure the evidence of one of the most bizarre crimes Cat has ever encountered. With all the ingredients that have made Barbara D’Amato’s mysteries such favorites the puzzle, the research, the ensemble characters, the rich Chicago setting, the police detail Hard Evidence is powerful, page turning entertainment from one of the very best of contemporary crime writers.

Hard Road

The Harry Potter of its time, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the forty or so other books in the Oz series have become perennial sellers. There are Oz festivals, Oz fan clubs, Oz newsletters, and, of course, Oz Web sites and chat rooms. And now there’s Hard Road, a Cat Marsala mystery in which author Barbara D’Amato shares her own love of Oz. D’Amato’s father knew Oz author L. Frank Baum and as a child played with Baum’s children. Five generations of D’Amato’s family have been Oz aficionados, including her novelist son, Brian D’Amato, who in his essay gives us special insight into Baum’s world. The story begins at a big centennial Oz festival in Chicago’s Grant Park. Investigative reporter Cat Marsala rediscovers the wonderful world of Oz when she takes her six year old nephew Jeremy to meet Dorothy and the Tin Man and to explore the Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City, and all the other Oz inspired creations to be found at the summer festival celebrating a century of Oz books. It’s opening day, and Cat is babysitting her brother Barry’s young son while Barry, a professional events organizer, confers with dignitaries. But suddenly a day of pure delight turns into a scene of horror. Cat and Jeremy witness a murder, and the chief suspect is a man they both love Barry. He can’t be the killer, but Cat also can’t deny what she saw with her own eyes. Cat’s first priority is to get Jeremy away from the devastation. They run to the merry go round, but as they circle on the brightly painted animals, a shot rings out. Someone is aiming at Cat, or perhaps at the boy. Could Barry be desperate enough to shoot at his own sister and child, the only witnesses to the killing? Desperate to save Jeremy, Cat grabs him and ducks into one of the tunnels that lead out to Michigan Avenue. As she and her nephew crawl for their lives, they know they are not in Kansas anymore. Someone far more evil than the Wicked Witch is in pursuit, and the magical world of Oz seems very far away. Anthony Award winning author Barbara D’Amato combines a fine mystery plot with engaging insights into the ongoing appeal of the Oz books in this memorable addition to her acclaimed series. For mystery and Oz fans alike, Hard Road is a special treat. Includes: Twenty Questions in Oz: An Oz Quiz The Wooden Gargoyles: Evil in Oz by Brian D’Amato

Killer.App

When her sister, a computer engineer, lapses into a coma after accessing a secret database at SJR Computer Systems, Chicago police officer Suze Figueroa finds herself confronting a mega corporation harboring some deadly secrets. AB. K.

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Based on actual events in Chicago’s history Chicago Police Superintendent Nick Bertolucci is a tough top cop. But he has a dangerous enemy on the force: his brother Aldo. Aldo is a beat copy who is eaten up by jealousy and resentment of Nick’s success. He gets his chance to sabotage his brother’s career when records turn up concerning an illegal raid on a Black Panther household back in 1969. When Aldo tries to connect Nick to the scandal, his scheme threatens to collapse the Chicago Police Department, and his own family, from the inside out.

Help Me Please

An hour and a half after three year old Danielle Gaston is kid napped from the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, a new Web site pops up on the World Wide Web featuring Danielle Gaston. She’s isolated in a room with no food and only water to drink. This live action Web page is available to all net users around the world and is soon rebroadcast on CNN and other television networks. Since Danielle is the only child of a popular country and western singer and a senator, her case is a high profile one and likely to end in heartbreak. Unless Deputy Chief of Detectives Polly Kelly can crack the case before the child is harmed.

Authorized Personnel Only

For Chicago cop Suze Figueroa, home is a sanctuary, a quiet refuge from the crime, corruption, and tragedy she encounters everyday on the job. The creaky old Victorian house she shares with her little boy, her invalid sister, and her sister’s family seems far removed from the threats and dangers of the mean city streets…
. or so she believes. The truth is far more terrifying, for, unknown to Suze, a stranger has moved into the house: an intruder who waits in the attic by day and prowls her home at night, spying on both the unsuspecting adults and the defenseless children. While Suze spends her work day tracking down an elusive serial killer, she has no idea that a much more personal danger lives under her own roof, eating her food, handling her gun, and watching her loved ones…
. Strips of yellow tape may keep curious bystanders away from crimes scenes, but nothing so simple can protect Suze and her family from the menace that has invaded the privacy and the safety of their own home.

Death of a Thousand Cuts

The Hawthorne House was once known for its remarkable success rate with autistic children. Now, fifteen years after it closed former residents have returned to Hawthorne House for their first ever reunion. But the gala event turns into a bloody nightmare when the House’s revered founder, Dr. Jay Schermerhorn, is found tortured to death in the mansion s baseme*nt.
Schermerhorn had enjoyed a worldwide reputation for his innovative methods and compassionate treatment of autistic children. How could anyone have hated him enough to kill him? As Chicago detectives probe deeply into the history of Hawthorne House, a troubling picture emerges of a man who inspired both fear and hatred in the children and families who came to him for help.

On My Honor

Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award winning Author

In On My Honor, Samantha Lawton, recently separated, is raising two sons by herself. Fortunately, they’re in Boy Scouts, and, with no father in the house, she is glad they have positive male role models. After a series of fatal accidents, however, she starts having second thoughts and these second thoughts grow stronger after a Scout is seen in the area of another ‘accident.’ Determined to protect her children by getting to the bottom of things, Samantha soon finds herself in trouble. But she is not the only one concerned. Henry Ax, the chief of police, has also noticed what’s been going on, but he’s not so worried about protecting the Boy Scouts he’s afraid that they might be the ones causing the accidents. Samantha has to learn who is doing this before her own sons end up as suspects or, worse, before they end up victims themselves.

Also includes the short story, ‘Steak Tartare.’

Barbara D’Amato lives in Chicago, Illinois.

White Male Infant

Surgical pathologist Dooley McSweeny and his wife dearly love the son they adopted from Russia four years ago. But when medical tests indicate that their little boy could not possibly have come from Russia, the couple is plunged into the dark, complex, and emotionally fraught world of international adoption. Who is their son? Where did he come from? How did he come to them? The answers to these questions threaten to destroy their marriage, their happiness and their lives as they explode a powder keg of political intrigue.

Foolproof (With: Jeanne M Dams,Mark Richard Zubro)

The morning of 9/11 Brenda Grant and Daniel Henderson met for coffee before going to their software firm in the World Trade Center. That casual act saved them from the Twin Towers’ collapse, even as their friends and Brenda’s fianc were killed and their company obliterated. Founding their own software security firm, they never forgot that morning of horror. Grant and Henderson then establish a clandestine division inside their company committed to covertly tracking down global terrorists. In a search involving Washington DC, Egypt, Italy and Turkey, they expose a plot to hijack a US presidential election, rig voting machines, and topple democracies worldwide. Foolproof is a global thriller in the tradition of Tess Gerritson, Catherine Coulter, and Linda Howard.

Other Eyes

Blue Eriksen is a famous forensic archaeologist based at Northwestern University. She and her team are traveling the globe, testing mummies to research the use of hallucinogens in the development of ancient religions. Armed with evidence from ancient peoples, Blue has become convinced that psilocybin a hallucinogen derived from mushrooms can prevent or cure drug addiction. She hopes to develop testing and treatment centers. Leeuwarden Ltd. is the cover name for a deeply secret international organization that facilitates the production, delivery, and sale of illegal drugs worldwide, much as OPEC facilitates the sale of oil. Leeuwarden considers Blue a long term threat and sends Felix Hacker one of their enforcers to kill her. Blue has no idea she’s being stalked and prepares for a dig high in the Peruvian mountains…

The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery

In 1968, Dr. John Branion was found guilty of murdering his wife in their posh Chicago home. After exhausting his appeals, he evaded authorites by fleeing to Africa. He was finally captured in 1983 but his case was far from over. It would take another seven years for Dr. Branion to prove that he was innoent and that those who prosecuted him had known it all along.

Murder on Route 66

Today’s best mystery writers take to the road with a brand new collection of stories featuring the great American highway, Route 66. Take a ride on the wild side with: David August Eleanor Taylor Bland Barbara D’Amato Michael Allen Dymmoch Earlene Fowler Carolyn Hart J.A. Jance Charles Knief John Lutz Doris R. Meredith Gary Phillips Les Roberts Lillian M. Roberts Judith Van Gieson Carolyn Wheat All new stories by Earlene Fowler, Carolyn Hart, J.A. Jance, John Lutz and others

Sisters on the Case

The latest: an anniversary anthology of 25 short stories by today’s best women mystery writers: Sara Paretsky Sue Henry Sue Dunlap P.M. Carlson Rochelle Krich Linda Grant Carolyn Hart Libby Fischer Hellman Nancy Pickard Kate Grilley Medora Sale Barbara D’Amato Claire Carmichael McNab Charlotte MacLeod Annette Meyers Kate Flora Eve K. Sandstrom Patricia Sprinkle Margaret Maron Dorothy Salisbury Davis And more!

Chicago Blues

Nobody does Blues like Chicago. This collection of dark stories, from today’s best Chicago crime fiction authors, captures the depths to which people sink when they run out of options. The emptiness and pain spawned by greed. The violence or occasionally, the bittersweet redemption that springs from a broken heart.

The writers who live and breathe in Chicago make Chicago live and breathe in this stunning collection. Contributors include Sara Paretsky, Stuart Kaminsky, Barbara D’Amato, Max Allan Collins, Marcus Sakey, Sean Chercover, Michael Black, JA Konrath, Libby Fischer Hellmann, and others. With an introduction by Rick Kogan.