"I start with zero. Nobody dies today."

The strange note was just the beginning. Soon Howard County, Maryland Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller is in pursuit of a cunning killer basing murders on the Fibonacci series, a mathematical sequence in which each number is the sum of the preceding two. And all Peller knows for sure is that the series never ends.

As the murders pile up, Peller, his protégés Detective Sergeants Corina Montufar and Eric Dumas, and consulting mathematician Tomio Kaneko race against time to identify and capture the killer. Nor is murder their only problem. Simultaneously, a golf-club wielding mugger is terrorizing their community. Both crime sprees are wrapped in impenetrable mystery. Are mugger and murderer one and the same? Why does the murderer seem to know Peller? Why is the Pentagon eager to keep a lid on the investigation? Can the detectives find the killer before he commits his final, terrible crime?

A thrilling, fast-paced crime drama, The Fibonacci Murders is the first novel in Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mysteries.

Four years ago, Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller's wife Sandra died on a country road. The driver who rammed her car vanished without a trace, leaving police stunned and baffled. But it wasn't murder, just a freak accident, and the statute of limitations has run out. Now a bungled robbery raises new questions. As Detective Sergeants Corina Montufar and Eric Dumas investigate, Peller's memories awaken, triggering a series of insights that shine new light on Sandra's death.

The trail leads police to a meddlesome writer, a hot-blooded enforcer, and a cold-hearted criminal mastermind. Yet questions remain. Who could possibly have wanted Sandra dead? Was she targeted for murder, or did she just get in the way? And what became of the detective who originally investigated the accident? As Peller delves deeper into the mystery, he discovers that he and Sandra still have a long road to travel.

A thrilling crime drama, "True Death" is the second novel in Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mysteries.

The forecast: Record cold. The crimes: Colder still.

Case #1:Hardworking veterinary technician Jayvon Fletcher was honest, friendly, and without an enemy in the world. But two Christmas Eves ago, while covering the night shift, he vanished, leaving behind only a broken window and smears of blood on the clinic's back steps. Neither police nor the private detectives hired by Jayvon's grandmother could find him. Now Detective Lieutenant Rick Peller is asked to take another look at the case, although he doubts he can shed light on the young man's fate.

Case #2: Detective Sergeant Corina Montufar puzzles over a fire in an exclusive area. The details are familiar—two other houses burned the previous year in exactly the same way. But police had nabbed the arsonist. He was already in prison when this new crime occurred. Is this a copycat crime, or is the real culprit still at large and this the next in a series of attacks?

Case #3: It's only mid-January, and already Detective Sergeant Eric Dumas is staring at Howard County's first murder victim of the year. Michio Tamai kept an address book overflowing with criminal cohorts. But even his friends were his victims. Not one of them is sorry he's dead. Any might be his murderer.

While temperatures plummet, cold cases collide with new crimes, and somewhere a killer with blood as icy as the waters of the bay watches and waits.

A thrilling crime drama, Ice on the Bay is the third of Dale E. Lehman's Howard County Mysteries. For more drama and thrills, check out the rest of the series: The Fibonacci Murders (Howard County Mystery #1) and True Death (Howard County Mystery #2).

Eternal fame or eternal shame?

Hopeless optimist Roberto Maccarone has staked his fortunes on a bold move: he's brought grand opera to the Oort Territories, where there isn't enough culture to fill a petri dish. But it's a tough sell here in the cold dark of the next to last circle of hell, and soon Maccarone is up to his mephistophelean eyebrows in corporate greed, rebellious miners, bloodthirsty mercenaries, outrageous lies, intense loathing, inane conversations, and more unintended consequences than you can shake a baton at. Really, how hard can it be to stage a performance?

One thing alone can save Maccarone and his company: the most fabulous theater in the solar system slumbers nearby, mysteriously shuttered without having once been used. But the keys are held in the icy grip of the local Culture Minister, and nothing–not Maccarone, not obscene amounts of money, not even that guy who juggles flaming kabobs while singing an ancient song about how great America was–can pry them loose. Will it be fame for Maccarone and his troupe? Or unemployment in Beelzebub’s outhouse?

Those weasels are up to something...

Between them, Bernard and Melody Earls have looks, charm, brains . . . everything but money. That's why they steal from the rich and give to themselves. So when Alexander Hamilton Plaskett hires them to nick a silver statuette of a pine marten from his brother Paul Revere Plaskett, they're happy to oblige. But it won't be as easy as it looks. For one thing, the little beast is guarded by Fitzroy Fortresses, the best security system money can buy. For another, the five Plaskett siblings are obnoxious buffoons. Still, a job is a job, and this one may offer more than it appears.

At least, that's Bernard's theory. The pine marten isn't particularly valuable, so why do the Plasketts contest its ownership so fiercely? To find out, he and Melody insinuate themselves into the Plasketts' world and enlist a college geek to hack the unhackable Fitzroy system. Failure means poverty. Discovery means prison. And the biggest obstacle to Bernard's brilliant schemes? Melody's penchant for running off-script!

Tales of mirth, imagination, and mayhem.

Nothing is quite what it seems in this realm. Partners cross each other, intentionally or otherwise. Late-night visitors appear from nowhere and linger long after they're gone. Mountain lakes, forests, and caves harbor secrets best not revealed. And every day, curious encounters change lives.

In this eclectic gathering of thirty-one short tales, including award-winning flash fiction and longer stories, you'll encounter crimes gone wrong, one-way journeys to other worlds, and ordinary people entangled with extraordinary circumstance. Some will chill you, some will get you thinking, and some will have you laughing out loud.

Because in The Realm of Tiny Giants, something unexpected is always just around the bend.