The Elson Legacy

NEVER ONE TO HOLD A GRUDGE, ALTON RHODE DECIDES TO HELP A HOOKER WHO ALMOST GOT HIM KILLED. SHE WANTS TO KNOW WHO MURDERED HER GRANDFATHER IN A SMALL SOUTHERN TOWN WITH AN ICE PICK

"If you like strong characterizations, great dialogue and surprises, Pulitzer-nominee Lawrence De Maria's Alton Rhode mysteries are in a class by themselves." - JOHN CRUDELE (New York Post)"A master of thriller dialogue." (WASHINGTON INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF BOOKS); "While De Maria may have been an award-winning financial reporter, he's an awfully good fiction writer as well." (NAPLES DAILY NEWS); "What is really almost beyond belief is how easily De Maria has transitioned from the dry world of financial reporting to the wild and lavish world of novel writing." (COLLIER CITIZEN)***Alton Rhode is feeling a bit lonely - and depressed. Just about everyone he knows, including his girlfriend, is out of town. Then, Laurene Robillard walks into his office. At first, he does not recognize the beautiful, mature woman. She has changed dramatically since posing as a dying waif years earlier as part of a plot that almost cost Rhode his life. The former hooker is now respectable, very rich and soon to be married. But she needs Rhode's help. Someone has killed her grandfather, Colver Elson, a man with whom she has just reconnected after tracking down her birth mother in Atlas, Virginia. The private eye heads south, where he soon discovers that the murder of Elson, a prominent judge, is not the only evil lurking in the small Virginia town. With two brutish killers straight out of "Deliverance" on his tail, Rhode accepts help from someone even tougher than he is, and the bodies start to pile up. Winner of an Associated Press award for crime reporting, Lawrence De Maria later cut his teeth on financial corruption at The New York Times and Forbes.

INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM

GREAT BRITAIN
THE END OF US (Cole Sudden Thriller): "Great bunch of characters and fast paced. Enjoyable."
HOPE (Jake Scarne Thriller): "Another brilliant read in an ever-increasing catalogue of great stories."
SISTER (Alton Rhode Mystery): "Brilliant characters, a terrific storyline and would recommend this author without any misgivings. Kept me enthralled from beginning to the end."

GERMANY
ALAS, PARIS (Thriller): "I have read many of De Maria's books, and find them unfailingly entertaining. Engaging dialogue, venues with enough descriptive detail to interest experienced travelers, scenes played out with gastronomic expertise, all while partnering with attractive and attentive characters of both sexes. And finally, for me, the writing in Chapter 14 was perfection.

INDIA
THE VIRON CONSPIRACY (Jake Scarne Thriller): If you enjoy conspiracy theories, this is the book for you. Well written plot and characters, fast paced, detailed mystery.