Murder Happens

Jim Courter, James Courter

$51.95

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Addison & Highsmith Publishers
05 March 2025

Crime & Mystery; Political & legal thriller

Solving murders isn't part of Devin Cleary's job description. As a security guard at Lincoln Court, a small boutique shopping mall in Urbana, Illinois, he has busted shoplifters, prevented the homeless from making the mall their home, and even rousted a few bathroom dope-smokers. When the mall becomes the site of multiple murders, Cleary is caught up in a web of intrigue that may involve a contractor's ambitions for redeveloping Lincoln Court into a megamall. He is positioned to sniff out clues that the police miss.

By the world's standards, Devin Cleary is a loser. He's a college dropout. His lawyer wife left him for a colleague in her law firm. He has spent the last fifteen years in a minimum-wage, dead-end job that barely keeps him afloat. With no college degree, virtually no marketable skills, and the mall on the brink of closing for lack of business, Cleary wonders if he faces a future of sleeping outdoors in cardboard boxes and rummaging in dumpsters for meals.

The only hope for Lincoln Court's survival lies with that contractor's plans, which the owners of the mall oppose, and on support for them, if elected, of a candidate for governor who sets up campaign headquarters there-until those murders cast a pall over that hope.

As he tries to solve them, Cleary finds himself increasingly at risk. He survives encounters with a mobster and his former mother-in-law, a knockout punch, frenzied Black Friday bargain hunters, a shooting spree, painful self-discovery, and, after unraveling a tangled skein of means, motive, and opportunity, a face-to-face encounter with the murderer.

More than a mystery, ""Murder Happens"" is about a man out to prove, if only to himself, that his life has value in ways that the prevailing standards of the world don't take into account.

By: Jim Courter, James Courter
Imprint: Addison & Highsmith Publishers
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 7mm
Weight: 167g
ISBN: 9781592114795
ISBN 10: 1592114792
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 05 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jim Courter is a writer and emeritus writing instructor at Western Illinois University. His short stories have appeared in the United States, Canada, and England. He won an Illinois Arts Council award for short fiction. His essays have appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Smithsonian, and on the op-ed pages of the Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. His mystery novel, Rhymes with Fool, was published in 2018 by Peasantry Press. Its sequel is forthcoming. His mystery novel, Spinning Around the Sun, has been accepted for publication by Histria Books.

Reviews for Murder Happens

Skillfully crafted, impressively original, and a simply fun read from start to finish for dedicated mystery fans, ""Murder Happens"" is a suspense thriller of a mystery impressively elevated by author Jim Courter to an impressive level of literary excellence. ""Murder Happens"" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library Mystery/Suspense collections.--Midwest Book Review

SALE ON NOW! PROMOTIONS

Murder Happens

Jim Courter, James Courter

$51.95

Paperback

Reviews for Murder Happens

See Inside

See Also

Contact Abbeys

Contact Galaxy

Contact Language

Contact Us

About ABBEY'S