Ross H. Spencer's Books

The Devereaux File

By: Ross H. Spencer

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Wisecracking Chicago PI Lacey Lockington gets caught in a dangerous game of international espionage in this gritty, “truly hilarious” mystery (Kirkus Reviews). Former Chicago police detective Lacey Lockington isn’t much for small talk. But when he hears ex-CIA agent Rufe Devereaux is coming to town, he looks forward to arguing baseball with his old drinking buddy. Unfortunately, Rufe is involved in a more sinister kind of game—one that gets him killed shortly after his arrival. And as Lacey is about to find out, the other players aren’t playing around. The moment Lacey start investigating, he finds himself chased by the Mafia, the CIA, and a homicidal politician-turned-evangelist. And “help” arrives in the sultry form of a KGB agent named Natasha. He knows he’s in over his head. Because what starts as a search for the truth quickly becomes a desperate race for survival taking him from the gritty bars of Chicago to Miami’s cocaine-filled underbelly and culminating in “a slam-bang ending” (Publishers Weekly). “Spencer keeps the plot racing with amusing dialogue.” —Publishers Weekly

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Page Count

320

Publisher

Diversion Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816484

ISBN 13

9781626816480

The Reggis Arms Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Reggis Arms Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

In the fast and funny sequel to The Dada Caper, former Chicago PI Chance Purdue comes out from behind the bar to get back in the game. Try as he may, Chance Purdue can’t seem to escape the world of private investigation. The now tavern owner returns to action to protect Princess Sonia of Kaleski, who claims to be the wife of an old army buddy. Convinced he’ll get to the bottom of things at his army battalion’s reunion, Chance indulges in the entertainment while leaving the more serious detective work to his new colleague, the scintillating Brandy Alexander. For Chance, the case provides more fun than intrigue, and yet its solution is a surprise for everyone involved. Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

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189

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816514

ISBN 13

9781626816510

The Radish River Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Radish River Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

From the author of The Dada Caper: Even an anti-American conspiracy can’t keep Chicago PI Chance Purdue from falling prey to his personal femme fatale. Private Investigator Chance Purdue and Brandy Alexander work in tandem on a case that finds them traveling to the Illinois town of Radish River. The CIA continues to need help putting a stop to the DADA (Destroy America, Destroy America) Conspiracy, a terrorist organization whose latest plot is completely under wraps, except that it promises immense destruction. Things prove difficult for Chance and Brandy as they do what they can to remain focused on the task at hand. But it’s hard when distractions from football-playing gorillas, chariot races, copious booze—and especially each other—weave in and out of their lives and keep this case on the back burner. Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

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159

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816549

ISBN 13

9781626816541

Death Wore Gloves

By: Ross H. Spencer

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Death Wore Gloves

By: Ross H. Spencer

A Chicago PI faces a deadly world of femme fatales and not-so-saintly nuns in this crime novel from a “wild, shrewd, mad, and unexpectedly funny” author (The New York Times). When Sister Rosetta’s niece goes missing, the nun (whose favorite poison is anything bottle-bound and boozy) hires shifty PI Tut Willow to find dear Gladys. But as Tut pulls back the curtain on Gladys’ checkered past—which includes a few racy pictures that’d make a sailor blush—he also discovers that someone doesn’t want her found. And soon bodies start piling up. Is Sister Rosetta behind the deaths of those out to harm her niece . . . or are Tut and Gladys just pawns in a much darker game? Full of laugh-out-loud comedy and the darkest of intrigue, Death Wore Gloves is “a lively story, both in and out of bed” from an author with “a keen sense of humor and a sharp writing style . . . Top of the line, this one is” (The New York Times). “This book could have played well at Minsky’s.” —Publishers Weekly “There is something of Donald E. Westlake in Mr. Spencer’s makeup. Like Mr. Westlake, he revels in absurdities that perhaps turn out to be not so absurd after all.” —The New York Times

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Page Count

267

Publisher

Diversion Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816468

ISBN 13

9781626816466

Kirby's Last Circus

By: Ross H. Spencer

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Kirby's Last Circus

By: Ross H. Spencer

The author of the Chance Purdue series introduces a Chicago detective who goes under the big top to take down the ringmaster of a Russian conspiracy. When the CIA chooses Birch Kirby, a mediocre detective with a personal life even less thrilling than his professional one, no one is more surprised by the selection than Birch himself. But the agency needs someone for a secret mission, and Birch may be just the clown for the job. Going undercover as a circus performer, he travels to Grizzly Gulch to investigate the source of daily, un-decodable secret messages that are being transmitted to the KGB. Birch interacts with wildly colorful characters while stumbling through performances as well as his assignment. With the clock ticking, Birch must hurry to take a right step toward bringing the curtain down on this very important case. Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

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Page Count

249

Publisher

Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816131

ISBN 13

9781626816138

The Fedorovich File

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Fedorovich File

By: Ross H. Spencer

The Chicago PI is out to find a Russian defector with dangerous Soviet secrets in this hardboiled mystery from the author of Death Wore Gloves. When business gets too hot in the Windy City, private detective Lacey Lockington hangs out his shingle in refreshingly boring Youngstown, Ohio. Of course, it’s not all boring thanks to Natasha, the former KGB agent who saved his life, stole his heart, and currently shares his bed. But their brief idyll ends when Lacey is offered big bucks to find a man who may well be hiding out in Youngstown. Alexi Fedorovich was one of Russia’s greatest military minds before he defected to the States—and then disappeared entirely. Before going underground, he published a book exposing the end of the Cold War as a Russian hoax. Now Lacey’s out to find a man who doesn’t want to be found, up against Russian spies, federal agents, and leads that keep dying on him. With a little help from Natasha, he might just get to the bottom of it all before Fedorovich finds himself on the wrong end of a firing squad. “Ross is wild, shrewd, mad, and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

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Page Count

300

Publisher

Diversion Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816492

ISBN 13

9781626816497

The Stranger City Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Stranger City Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

From the author of The Dada Caper: Chicago private detective Chance Purdue learns that nothing good comes from working for the mob—except cold hard cash. A quick and easy buck sounds good to PI Chance Purdue. But the paycheck seems to be a bit harder to earn when the job entails more than just looking into a minor league baseball team in southern Illinois. His new client, the gangster Cool Lips Chericola, is definitely leaving out details. Enter Brandy Alexander, whose unexpected appearance in Stranger City, Illinois, complicates things. Then throw in the Bobby Crackers Blitzkrieg for Christ religious crusade, and you’ve got a super-charged powder keg of a caper, with Chance holding both the match and the barrel. Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

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187

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816522

ISBN 13

9781626816527

The Fifth Script

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Fifth Script

By: Ross H. Spencer

In this “pugnacious, feisty” mystery series debut from the author of Death Wore Gloves, a devious killer has it in for a poison penned beauty (Kirkus Reviews). Chicago Detective Lacey Lockington has never been squeamish about taking out a few low lives in the pursuit of justice. But when tabloid columnist Stella Starbright calls him a “kill-crazy cop,” he suddenly needs to find a new line of work. Taking a job as a private investigator is a step down, for sure, but his first few cases certainly pique his interest: former “Stella Starbrights” are turning up dead on the streets of Chicago, and the current one—the very same Stella who ruined his reputation—is coming to him for protection. Going against his gut, Lacey agrees to keep Stella from sharing the grisly fate of her former namesakes. In the midst of all the madness, Lacey hunts the real killer, someone looking to silence gossip columnists for good. But can Lacey crack the case before another victim gets a headline in the obituaries? “Ross Spencer is wild, shrewd, mad, and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

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268

Publisher

Diversion Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816476

ISBN 13

9781626816473

The Abu Wahab Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Abu Wahab Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

All bets are off when Chicago detective Chance Purdue protects a gambler with a target on his head in this PI parody from the author of The Dada Caper. “Bet-a-Bunch” Dugan is being hunted by International DADA (Destroy America, Destroy America) conspirators, a terrorist organization out for control of the world’s oil market. Dugan needs more than a little luck to walk away unscathed. He needs a Chance, and though he knows that half of Purdue’s reputation is that of a guy you are aching to punch, the other half is that he’s a dogged, if occasionally doomed, investigator. No matter where Purdue’s leads take him, though, he always seems to be one step behind DADA. As the hapless Chance watches DADA’s deadly scheme move forward, a siren named Brandy Alexander enters the picture and things finally fall into place, or so Chance hopes . . . Praise for Ross H. Spencer’s The Dada Caper “Parodies of the private‐eye novel come and go. Here is The Dada Caper by Ross H. Spencer. It has every cliché down pat, including rat-tat-tat writing in which paragraphs are seldom more than one sentence. . . . The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny.” —The New York Times

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168

Publisher

Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816530

ISBN 13

9781626816534

The Dada Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Dada Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

“The hero is a private eye who is always tailing the wrong people and hitting the wrong guys. The Dada Caper is wild, shrewd, mad and unexpectedly funny” (The New York Times). Chance Purdue may be better at a lot of things than he is at detecting, but he’s the only man for the job when the FBI comes looking for someone to take on the Soviet-inspired DADA (Destroy America, Destroy America) conspiracy. Plus, he needs a paycheck. Chance gets off to a rough start as he’s led on a merry chase through Chicago’s underbelly and drawn into a case of deception that can only be solved with the help of a mysterious femme fatale who’s as beautiful as she is cunning.

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201

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816506

ISBN 13

9781626816503

The Abu Wahab Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Abu Wahab Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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168

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816530

ISBN 13

9781626816534

The Reggis Arms Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Reggis Arms Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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189

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816514

ISBN 13

9781626816510

The Radish River Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Radish River Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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159

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816549

ISBN 13

9781626816541

The Dada Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Dada Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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201

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

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ISBN 10

1626816506

ISBN 13

9781626816503

The Stranger City Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Stranger City Caper

By: Ross H. Spencer

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187

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Diversion Publishing Corp.

Published Date

ISBN 10

1626816522

ISBN 13

9781626816527

The Fifth Script

By: Ross H. Spencer

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The Fifth Script

By: Ross H. Spencer

Lacy Lockington is “one thoroughly bewildered six-foot-one, 205-pound, 48-year-old ex-police detective with the damnedest case of snakebite he’d ever heard of.” He cruises the lower depths of Chicago in his weathered Pontiac, seeking some comfort from healthy dollops of Martell’s and from Edna Garson, the part-time cashier at Easheski’s Liquor Emporium. Lockington is entitled to a mild case of paranoia: he’s still trying to make sense of the knifing-murder of his true girlfriend, Julie Masters, when in the space of about a week, he tangles with four viscious miscreants and shoots them dead_pretty much in self defense. Stella Starbright, hard-hitting columnist for the Morning Sentinel, takes vigorous exception to Lockington’s action_in bold print. Then she walks into his life in person. “She was five-six or so, dark-haired, dark-eyed, and cuter than a termite’s night shirt...” Like that. Erika Elwood, nom de plume, Stella Starbright. Despite taking him to task, she presents the possibility of pleasant distraction for Lockington_until some of the other ladies who have written the column start turning up dead, and Lockington is quickly considered numero uno suspect... “Spencer’s Chicago crime novels [are] rather like Chandler filtered through Perelman.” —Booklist “Spencer delivers an earthy, hard-to-put-down yarn... combines humor and suspense until the last page.” —Sacramento Union Ross H. Spencer was born in Hughart, West Virginia and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. During World War II, he served with the 37th Infantry Division on New Georgia, on Bougainville, and in the Philippines. Following the war, he moved to Chicago to be near the Chicago Cubs, the ball club of his choice since 1932. He served again, this time with the Air Force during the Korean Emergency or “whatever it was.” Ross H. Spencer was the father of three wonderful daughters and the proud husband of Shirley, “the most beautiful lady on earth.” In 1987, he returned to Youngstown, Ohio, where he spent the remaining 11 years of his life.

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268

Publisher

iUniverse

Published Date

ISBN 10

0595006566

ISBN 13

9780595006564

Alex. Ross' Personal Appearance Journal, Ed. [and Written] by A. Ross

By: Alexander Ross (Perfumer ).

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Alex. Ross' Personal Appearance Journal, Ed. [and Written] by A. Ross

By: Alexander Ross (Perfumer ).

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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Publisher

Franklin Classics Trade Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

035362375X

ISBN 13

9780353623750

Book's by Ross H. Spencer

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