Showing results by author "Gregory Ashe" in All Categories

What would you do to get everything you wanted? Life is good for Dashiell Dawson Dane (just Dash). Things with his boyfriend, Bobby, are better than ever. Teaching at a local college has provided routine and stability. And to his complete surprise, his self-published novel is doing well. Really well. So, when a mystery writers’ conference comes to Hastings Rock, Dash is thrilled to attend.

You don’t have to die to get a second line, but it’s easier than getting married. Second Line is a collection of short stories connected to The DuPage Parish Mysteries.

Emery Hazard and his husband, John-Henry Somerset, are settling into their new normal - at home, with the latest addition to their family, and at work, as Somers adapts to his new role and Hazard manages his expanding agency. The only thing Hazard is worried about is getting through dinner with his in-laws. When his father-in-law requests that Hazard and Somers join him for a weekend deer hunting, it sounds simple enough: Spend a night camping, give their foster son a chance to spend time with his friend, and prevent a parental kidnapping. But nothing is ever as simple as it sounds.

They say the show must go on. Thank goodness for intermission. Dashiell Dawson Dane isn’t thrilled that a new play at the community theater is based (however loosely) on his life. But when Dash’s friend Fox asks him to attend opening night, things take a strange turn: the actor playing Dash’s role seems to have been given a different script. Even stranger, the new lines trigger a bizarre response from the rest of the cast and crew—right before the lights go out and the box office is robbed.

Somers enters a charity bachelor’s auction without telling his boyfriend. This story takes place before The Rational Faculty.

After Emery Hazard loses his job as a detective in Saint Louis, he heads back to his hometown - and to the local police force there. Home, though, brings no happy memories. Hazard's new partner, John-Henry Somerset, had been one of the worst tormentors, and Hazard still wonders what Somerset's role was in the death of Jeff Langham, Hazard's first boyfriend. When a severely burned body is discovered, Hazard finds himself drawn deeper into the case than he expects. Determining the identity of the dead man proves impossible, and solving the murder grows more and more unlikely.

After almost 20 years, Emery Hazard finally has the man he loves. But things with his boyfriend and fellow detective, John-Henry Somerset, are never easy, and they’ve been more complicated lately for two reasons: Somers’s ex-wife and daughter. No matter what Hazard does, he can’t seem to get away from the most important women in his boyfriend’s life. While Hazard struggles with his new reality (changing dirty diapers, just to start), a bizarre murder offers a distraction.

They say love makes fools of us all. It certainly makes idiots out of some of us. It’s Dash’s second Halloween in Hastings Rock, and this year, he’s determined to have a normal spooky season—he’s going to hang out with his friends, hand out lots of candy, and seize every available opportunity for snuggles with a certain deputy. Fate, though, has other things in store. When Dash’s friend Keme is arrested for murder, Dash assumes it’s a misunderstanding—after all, this is Keme we’re talking about. But it turns out, not everyone in Hastings Rock trusts Keme. Or likes him.

When an upscale restaurant opens in Hastings Rock, Dashiell Dawson Dane (just Dash) and his friends are excited to get reservations for the soft open. After all, winter on the Oregon Coast is the quiet season, and Dash is looking forward to a little excitement. (And, of course, dessert.) Instead, their arrival at the restaurant brings them face to face with Indira’s ex-husband, Mal. And when Mal ends up dead, Indira is the chief suspect.

Emery Hazard and his partner, John-Henry Somerset, have solved their first case together. The brutal murders that rocked the quiet town of Wahredua have been put to rest. Hazard, however, finds his life has only grown more complicated as he adjusts to his new home. Living with Somers, whom he has been drawn to since high school, makes "complicated" the understatement of the year.

After several months (and a few murders), Dash is finally starting to feel at home in Hastings Rock. He’s enjoying the quiet after the end of tourist season, he’s comfortable at Hemlock House (the jury is still out on whether it’s haunted), and most importantly, he has friends.

Rufus O’Callaghan has eked out a living on the streets of New York City by helping the police put away criminals as a confidential informant. But when Rufus shows up for an arranged meeting and finds his handler dead, his already-uncertain life is thrown into a tailspin. Now someone is trying to kill Rufus too, and he’s determined to find out why.

Sam Yarmark is going to be a detective. He’s done everything right—the trainings, the homework, the performance evaluations. He’s even got a mentor. So, when the chief of police tells him his lack of community involvement might cost him the promotion, there’s only one thing to do: get involved. Fast.

Life happens when you’re not looking. Unfortunately, so do a lot of other things. Hazard and Somerset: Off Duty Volume 3 is a collection of short stories.

When a former colleague, Walter Hoffmeister, comes to Hazard and hires him to look into a series of anonymous death threats, Hazard eagerly jumps on the distraction. Hoffmeister might be a jerk, but he’s a paying jerk, and Hazard isn’t convinced the threats are serious. Until, that is, Hoffmeister is almost gunned down on Hazard’s doorstep. As Hazard investigates more deeply, he learns that more than one person in Wahredua has a reason to wish Hoffmeister dead.

You can’t hide from the truth. And apparently, you can’t hide from your ex either. Dashiell Dawson Dane wants the simple things in life: to live in a (possibly) haunted mansion, to avoid socializing at all costs, and to write, and possibly finish, a book. Unfortunately, the real world has a way of intruding. And since unfinished manuscripts don’t pay the bills, he finds himself persuaded—against his better judgment—to rent out Hemlock House for a wedding. Having his ex-boyfriend, Hugo, arrive unexpectedly during the preparations is bad enough.

Off Duty is a collection of short stories. It includes the following: Tickets to the Gun Show, When the Road Rises Up, Little Stoics, and Off Duty.

Hunting a killer is scary. Talking about your feelings is scarier. Dashiell Dawson Dane is certain the universe is conspiring against him. After all, things have been good—almost too good—for way too long. He’s got a great group of friends. He’s writing regularly. And things with Bobby seem like they might, maybe, possibly be moving beyond friend territory. It’s all so good, in fact, that it feels like the setup for something truly catastrophic. Not to mention, it’s the weekend before Valentine’s Day.

It’s winter in New York City, and Rufus O’Callaghan is trying to make things work. He’s still got his job as a confidential informant, and he’s still got Sam Auden. The ex-Army drifter has moved in with Rufus, and the two men are trying to build a lasting relationship as Sam struggles to find his footing in the city.

The only thing worse than murder is… no murder? It’s Christmastime, and Dashiell Dawson Dane (just Dash) is looking forward to a quiet holiday season—no unexpected visitors, no relationship drama, and absolutely no murders. But when his friend Millie asks for help, Dash says yes. Because that’s what friends do. Millie’s brother, he learns, has been accused of stealing packages from his job as a delivery driver. Worse, he’s been fired. So, Millie’s request is simple: clear her brother’s name—and, in the process, save Christmas.