-2023 Quill Award winner-
HILLIARD & HARRIS
Fine Books Since 2000
WESTERNS by CARTER SWART
THE DUNNIGANS-Patrick Dunnigan, a successful gentleman gambler running a regular table game in a grand hotel in Kansas City, receives a disturbing letter from his uncle, Ethan Brooke. Seems the old man is spooked about developments in the little town of Sundown, New Mexico. Two local business men in town, Race Keene and Emmett Culpepper, are after the timber on Ethan’s property and his neighbors’ land. According to Ethan, the men have hired a group of gunslingers and thugs to pressure the farmer’s to give up their land. The tough old man is afraid for the first time in his life. Patrick and his brother Shannon, a retired lawman and former gunslinger now married and expecting a baby with his wife Judith, are Ethan’s only relatives. When Patrick arrives in Sundown, he senses that the trouble there would be better served with Shannon’s skills than his own, but the gambler is reluctant to ask his brother to take up the gun again just when he has changed his life for the good. So Patrick sets out for Ethan’s farm and a ugly discovery that will put Patrick Dunnigan squarely in the middle of a ruthless and bloody turf war that could cost him his life.
NIGHTINGALE-Jim Nightingale is a law man used to chasing really bad men in the name of justice, but when he returns home from his posse after a long pursuit, his life is turned upside down. Nightingale is brought low, lower than he can live with so his answer is the pursuit of justice with a big dose of revenge. Nightingale’s soul hardens as his journey takes him from Colorado country criss-crossing through Kansas territory following the trail of a murderous pair of criminals. He travels through town after town and one rough situation after another until he lands in a new town on the cattle trail in southwestern Kansas. Nightingale’s lawman justice is needed in a town where citizens and rough drovers mix and often clash violently. The tough lawman is caught between a town council that is more interested in money than the security of its citizens and the townspeople who are desperate for protection from the rough men who threaten them. It is here that Jim Nightingale will find make his stand for the justice and redemption he has been searching for.
BITTER CREEK-
Jim Sutter, a diminutive, sad-eyed drifter with a hidden past, rides into the South Dakota cowtown of Bitter Creek in a time of savage drought. Set upon and beaten by toughs, he is rescued by widowed rancher,Jenny Olds,who he soon comes to love.
Jim decides to stay on with Jenny and soon finds himself in the middle of a blood feud between the powerful cattlemen's association and the sodbusters, led by fiery Lucas Brand.Hugh Tallant spearheads the fight for the ranchers, seeking to crush the sodbusters that control the vital Bitter Creek River.Tallant is ably aided by Gil Fetterman, a notorious gunfighter, and Milo Pitt,a sadistic bruiser. And before long, Sutter is torn between his desire to protect Jenny and the sodbusters and his own solemn oath to give up the gun.Into this brew rides a cast of lively characters including courageous Nell Vermillion, a local shopkeeper, George Armstead, a man uncertain of his own mettle, Red West, Jenny's dying foreman, Dottie Lister, a soiled dove, Randy Pinto, a boy who has to grow up in a hurry, and gunfighter Jack Counts who makes a bargain with the devil.
MYSTERIES by CARTER SWART
THE LOU CORSO MYSTERY SERIES:
DECEIVED BY DEATH-Deceived by Death introduces Lou Corso, a tough cop with a good heart whose rage at his sister’s brutal killing shapes his behavior in a defining moment that ends a long and successful career in the LAPD. He and his partner have tracked a pair of psychotic brothers, Lance and Todd Reno, to a cabin hideaway. Their private torture chamber is currently occupied by a young girl who is about to die a slow, painful death. Lou takes on the Reno brothers and Lou’s inner demons push him over the edge. Todd is hauled out in a body bag and Lance goes to jail. Now a partner in a successful security firm with Phoebe Peck, the widow of one of his best friends from the force, Lou is busy running the firm and doing his work with battered women-a tribute to his dead sister. He still drinks too much and drives like a maniac, but Lou is content with life, especially with his partnership with Phoebe. He respects her and knows that her intervention-an offer of trust when he was down and out-saved his life. So when Phoebe is killed, run down by a hit and run driver on her way to meet Lou for dinner, Lou’s world comes crashing down. Was it an accident or deliberate murder? The answer seems to come soon, Lance Reno is out and stalking Lou, determined to revenge his brother’s death at the former cop’s hands. Nothing though is that simple in Lou’s new Phoebe-less world and Lou’s journey from despair to revenge is a suspenseful and unpredictable ride.
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE-In the latest Lou Corso mystery, Lou Corso, a hard drinking, hard living ex-cop is confronted with a chance for a new life. When Lou's client, Connie Terwilliger is threatened by her vicious husband, Victor, Lou and the group of good Samaritans who help him shelter battered women rescue Connie and put her in a safe house. After Connie is murderously attacked, Lou finds himself pulled between his current commitments and a decade old list of cold cases involving murdered or missing women. One of those cases had cost him his career as a police detective when his frustration with a suspect had pushed him near the edge. When life couldn't seem to get more complicated, Lou meets Joan Queen, a pretty ex-cop from Miami who makes him feel like living again. In this fast paced drama, Lou Corso must outsmart a psychopath, redeem himself as a champion of battered and murdered women, and find the courage to commit to love.
THE END GAME-What is The End Game? It’s the final strategy of a vicious killer haunted by unfinished business. Unfortunately, that unfinished business is Lou Corso. Lou, the tough ex-LAPD cop with the heart of gold, is slowly drinking himself to death over the recent losses of Phoebe Peck (Deceived by Death)—his former partner and mentor—and Joan Queen (Insufficient Evidence)— his tormented lover and sweet companion. Lou feels betrayed by life—by the bad breaks and lost opportunities. But the real betrayal is about to begin as Lou attempts to pull himself up out of the dark depths of despair and personal heartache to run his security company. He is also determined to continue his work rescuing battered women. In the latest Lou Corso tale, betrayal seems to come disguised as a beautiful woman, and Lou is suddenly surrounded by beautiful women. For a guy who hasn’t particularly been lucky in love, Lou seems poised for a new start in life. But which beautiful woman holds the promise of a bright future and which one holds a swift and painful death? As if that were not enough, some old business turns up—a singularly brutish wife beater—a giant of a man who almost killed Lou in their last encounter—has been paroled for good behavior. He comes to tell Lou that he has seen the error of his ways, the error of beating his wife almost to death before Lou intervened five years ago. But Lou is uneasy—-he is sure that he is being stalked. When his car is vandalized and his old friend Abe Brown’s operatives start dying, Lou, knows that a confrontation is coming. a life and death confrontation with a killer determined to even the score in a game that will be The End Game.
APRIL EVIL-Carter Swart, a great American writer, brings Lou Corso-the tough ex-LAPD cop-back for a new mystery. In April Evil-the latest adventure in the series that began with Deceived by Death, and continued with Insufficent Evidence and The End Game-Lou is a changed man. He has a new love affair, he's quit drinking, and is trying to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter, Cordelia. Life would seem to be good, very good. But Lou lives in a dangerous world. So when bad things begin to happen, Lou must struggle to maintain his fragile hold on his new life while doing battle with an insidious serial killer who may be involved in the kidnaping of a young girl that Lou is searching for. Still, Lou always finds a way to mete out justice according to his own code and in April Evil, retribution is coming.
OLD SINS-Lou Corso is a tough ex-cop who runs a crack security firm, rescues battered women, and values his old friends. So when his former partner, Homer Daws asks for his help on a cold case they worked together, Lou agrees to review his case files. The case—the killing of a young man—still haunts Lou—the memory of his brutalized body tossed like garbage in an alley is one Lou will never forget. But re-opening the case becomes a deadly venture for Lou as long–buried secrets begin to spiral outward from the investigation. Lou finds himself saddled with a homicidal stalker shadowing his every move and the possible stalker suspect list is dark and dangerous.
LETHAL PURPOSE-Lou Corso, the tough ex-LAPD detective and owner of the busy Peck Security firm, is wrestling with the issue of turnover at work, a host of new employees and the need for new quarters. The whole office is stressed. So imagine how Lou feels late one evening when the plaintive cries of an animal in distress take him outside his home to find a kitten nailed to his front door. Lou is too late to save the poor creature, but as he is absorbing the threatening implications of the act, he receives a phone call. The voice is low and crazy. It is obvious that a seriously deranged person has targeted Lou for violence. Lou's work with battered women has made him a target of angry husbands in the past, but only a few seem psychotic enough to pull such a sick stunt. As Lou's family and friends become victims of violent attacks, Lou must figure out the real motive. Is it an abusive husband taking revenge or are the attacks connected to one of the cases his firm is handling? Lou knows that his life and the lives of his loved ones depend on finding the truth and finding it fast!
HUNTING EVIL-A chance encounter in a favorite restaurant sends a mild mannered man into a panic. Memories from his past, unspeakable memories, flood his mind as he recognizes a man he considers a devil—pure evil. What to do? He confronts the stranger, a tall, elegant man with a twisted ear, and follows him into the street but can’t keep up as the stranger drives away. He needs help and he knows who to go to. Lou Corso, ex LAPD police detective and current security company chief, is at home alone, dozing in his chair when a scratching at his door wakes him. Ever wary, Lou pauses at the door, a faint “help me” sends a cold chill up his spine. He opens the door to find a former colleague, a PI he worked on a case with, in a bloody heap on his doorstep. Lou carries the severely injured man inside and strains to listen as the victim whispers a few words to him before the EMTs carry him away. A man’s name. The client or the killer? Lou wants to find out who attacked his friend, and his instincts tell him he needs to hurry because he may be next.
MURDERVILLE-Once they moved ahead with this, there would be no turning back. They'd be murderers. But after an agonizing moment of fruitless appraisal, he sighed and curtly nodded his head. The men moved back toward the trunk of the car pushing with a mighty grunt. the car rocked and groaned then slipped partly over the lip of the cliff, its destination a six-hundred foot plunge straight down to the rocky lakeshore below. The car slid over the edge of the world and disappeared. He thought he heard a faint scream just as the car dropped from sight. In moments it was over. A long silence...followed by a shattering crunch...then the muffled whump of the explosion, and finally the fireball that followed. ...thus begins MURDERVILLE, the latest mystery featuring Lou Corso, the tough ex-LAPD cop, security expert, and champion of battered women.
DOUBLE TROUBLE-For Lou Corso, life is going well. His security firm has just moved into new offices and his relationship with his lady friend, Pauline is sweet. So when the phone rings late one night, he isn’t expecting bad news...or really bad news. The caller, Jenny, a cold-blooded killer to whom Lou owed his life, was calling to let him know that the woman she had saved him from was back to clean up. A gang of women known as the Widow Makers had targeted abusive men in the Los Angeles area, and Lou and the police had not managed to capture any of them. Lou was close as he moved on two of them, then Patty got the drop on him but Jenny shot him first—deliberately wounding him to save his life. But now Patty is back, intent on finishing their mission and to get revenge on Jenny and Lou. And she has not come alone. Patty has a partner—a young girl who looks like a sweet kid, but would cut your throat in a heart beat. Lou’s world is going to Hell and all he can do is to get ready for the fight of his life.
