The Grey Pilgrim (1990)

Mike's first novel, a historical standalone

It's 1940, and J.D. Fitzpatrick, Deputy U.S. Marshall and Spanish Civil War veteran, arrives in Tucson, a shell-shock case. His job should have been a sinecure, but the insensitive local Bureau of Indian Affairs agent provokes a gunfight and riles the Papago. Fitzpatrick is sent to the reservation to arrest the ringleader, Jujul, and his band of renegades, but they have disappeared into the desert.

History and imagination blend to create an unusual thriller based on the last American Indian uprising in Arizona--a 1940 struggle for civil rights.

Mad Dog & Englishman (2000)

The first in the Mad Dog & Englishman series

Summer in hot, sleepy Benteen County, Kansas, is a time when the living is easy for some. But not all.

An early walk through the park for Reverend Peter Simms turns deadly when his mutilated corpse shows up, the apparent victim of someone counting coup.

It's not so great for Sheriff English, either -- the prime suspect is his own part-Cheyenne brother, Mad Dog, who was performing a vision quest in the same park and was the one who discovered the body.

Prairie Gothic (2003)

The second in the Mad Dog & Englishman series

As a howling blizzard blows down on the sparsely populated county seat of Buffalo Springs, Sheriff English has to confront both a doll and a dead baby who have apparently been switched, but by whom? And why?

Meanwhile, the sheriff's half-brother Mad Dog is struggling with a corpse of his own: a naked dead body from the Sunshine Towers retirement home that's he's hauling towards a treetop burial, if the coming storm doesn't thwart his plans.

Plains Crazy (2004)

The third in the Mad Dog & Englishman series

Nothing much ever happens in Benteen County. And then Spring bursts into bloom -- and a whole lot more -- as a murder-by-arrow rattles the small Kansas town.

And Sheriff English's brother, Mad Dog, a newly born-again Cheyenne, is the prime suspect.

Broken Heartland (2007)

The fourth in the Mad Dog & Englishman series

Sleepy Benteen County, Kansas turns frantic on election day.

Sheriff English, better known as Englishman, faces his toughest re-election challenge yet. The radical religious right is out to unseat him, their candidate an Iraq war hero. A student smuggles a gun into the school and begins shooting and taking hostages. Then there's the private army that's seized a nearby farm and holds citizens against their will.

It's enough to make a sheriff wonder why he wants to serve another term.

Server Down (2009)

The fifth in the Mad Dog & Englishman series

A dream-come-true trip to the Yaqui tribe's Easter Ceremonies in Tucson goes horribly awry when Cheyenne wannabe shaman Mad Dog is accused of murder -- and his claims that the real killer is a vampire wizard from a massive online computer game don't help his case very much.

It falls to Sheriff English's daughter and part-time deputy, Heather, to bring in her eccentric uncle.

English Lessons (2011)

The sixth in the Mad Dog & Englishman series

It's Christmas morning, and the newly-elected governor has been murdered, Mad Dog has just received a severed human hand as a present and Sheriff English finds himself going up against a militia that's convinced he's out to take away their guns.

Sometimes all you need is some careful police work, a little Cheyenne magic, and maybe a miracle...

The Spirit and the Skull (2014)

Bringing murder to America... in 13000 BC.

Murder is unthinkable to The People -- a Paleolithic tribe crossing Alaska. For them, it isn't merely tragic, it's forbidden. Murder poisons the tribe and puts it at odds with nature, the Spirits, and the mighty Earth Mother.

Raven is the aging Spirit Man to a band where a member has been garroted. Witchcraft is involved -- another appalling violation of The People's beliefs. A woman claiming to be The Earth Mother declares only Raven can solve the crimes. But Raven is an agnostic -- his band needed a Spirit Man and so he became one, securing his place in the band. Raven has dreams of being a skull held by a stranger wearing odd goggles--like clear, thin ice.

How will a man who doubts the authenticity of this Goddess satisfy her? What if she and the skull dreams are both real and solving the crimes must lead to Raven's death? An impossible situation becomes more terrible as Raven realizes he's falling in love with the young woman he suspects is guilty.