Complex characters.
Shocking twists.
A debut crime thriller readers can't put down.
When Maria Varela first made detective, more than a few cops called her a nepo-baby behind her back. Sure, having a legendary detective for a father hadn’t hurt her career, but he was retired, and the one closing cases was her, not him. Eventually all the arrests silenced even the loudest of the doubters.
Then a long dormant serial killer murders her brother.
Last seen in 1983, the Desert Saint killed five people. All shot twice in the head with the same gun. All with a token placed on the left hand. The best efforts of law enforcement to solve the murders had failed, and when the killings stopped, Las Vegas moved on. Now, only retired cops and the family members of the victims even remember who the Desert Saint was.
So why return now? And why kill her brother?
Capturing a killer no one else could is a hard enough task.
Figuring out why the Desert Saint came for her brother might tear Maria's life apart.
Some crimes are best left unsolved.
★★★★★ “As much of a page-turner as anything I've read in recent memory. I raced through this book in two days."
★★★★★ “Non-stop action, tight pacing, and great characters."
★★★★★ "First surprise from this genre in a long time"
Maria Varela Mysteries #1:
"Noirish, hard-edged, and memorable Las Vegas procedural." -Booklife.com
"An emotionally charged, brilliantly-written debut crime thriller." - BestThrillers.com
Maria Varela Mysteries #2
Who would want to kill a star long past his prime?
Detective Maria Varela is back on the job—and her first case could destroy her career.
Benny Alvarez, a once-famous comedian, is found murdered in the penthouse suite of the Revelation Casino. With airtight security footage and key card records, the case should be simple. Open-and-shut.
It isn’t.
The casino owner—Benny’s closest friend—wants the investigation wrapped up fast to protect a lucrative sale. The evidence points neatly to a suspect, but Maria’s instincts tell her the truth is being buried. When anonymous leaks begin questioning her fitness as a detective and her new sergeant refuses to back her, Maria realizes someone powerful is manipulating the case from behind the scenes.
As she digs deeper, Maria uncovers secrets no one wants exposed—and a motive worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Now she must decide whether solving the case is worth the professional and personal fallout, especially when even those closest to the victim seem determined to keep the truth hidden.
Fast-paced, sharp, and layered with moral tension, The Family Man is the gripping second novel in the Maria Varela Mysteries—perfect for fans of modern crime fiction with edge.
★★★★★ “Fast paced and great dialogue”
★★★★★ “A likable character with a definite edge”
Maria Varela Mysteries #3
Fame made her untouchable. It also made her a target.
Jasmine Olivera built an empire online as the Queen of Crypto. Then someone shot her twice through the window of her white Porsche and left her bleeding on the Vegas asphalt.
With no witnesses and no physical evidence, Detective Maria Varela is left with Jasmine’s curated digital life—and a circle of friends eager to move on before anyone starts asking real questions. As Maria digs deeper, she discovers that behind the filters and carefully staged posts was a woman surrounded by greed, betrayal, and people willing to kill to protect their secrets.
Solving the murder is difficult enough. Doing it before Jasmine’s recently released father exacts his own justice may be impossible.
As the clock ticks down, Maria must navigate influencer culture, crypto fortunes, and a web of deception where everyone is performing—and no one is telling the truth.
Sharp, timely, and relentlessly suspenseful, The Queen delivers a modern mystery that explores the deadly cost of manufactured lives and the lies we sell to the world
Maria Varela Mysteries #4
Some people deserve enemies. Few deserve this ending.
Les Hilton called himself a reporter. Detective Maria Varela knew better. He was a hired blade, digging up dirt for Las Vegas’s rich and powerful and publishing just enough truth to ruin lives without crossing the line into libel—including Maria’s.
Then someone tied him to a chair and beat him to death.
Assigned to the case, Maria quickly learns that beneath Les’s reputation was a real investigation—one dangerous enough to get him killed. At the center of it is Ariella Matos, a missing woman no one wants found. Not the FBI, who have her father in witness protection. Not the political campaign she worked for. And definitely not the people with the most to lose.
What begins as the murder of a man who made plenty of enemies becomes something far more dangerous. To solve the case, Maria will have to find Ariella—and doing that could put everyone she loves in the crosshairs.
Dark, tense, and deeply personal, The Reporter launches a two-part Maria Varela mystery that pulls back the curtain on power, politics, and the price of telling the truth.
Maria Varela Mysteries #5
Detective Maria Varela has chased corruption before. She’s stood up to powerful people and paid the price. But when her investigation leads her enemies straight to Carla, the woman she loves, the rules stop mattering.
With Carla targeted and time running out, Maria follows the trail deeper into a political campaign fronted by a decorated special forces hero—and into a web of influence that reaches far beyond Las Vegas. Her own department wants her sidelined, the evidence keeps disappearing, and every step forward makes the danger more immediate.
Maria has never been willing to look the other way. Now she’s discovering there may be no line she won’t cross.
Because if she doesn’t find the people behind this—fast—she may lose the one person who matters most.
Relentless, emotional, and explosive, Carla is the gripping conclusion to the two-part Maria Varela storyline that began in The Reporter—and the most personal case of her career.