Former underwear model Danny Black has produced several best selling crime novels, but there is only one problem. Danny Black doesn’t exist. Danny Black is, in reality, anthropology professor Luke Littlefield. After moving to West Hollywood to teach, Luke realizes that no one takes pretty boys seriously. As Luke says, no one has ever asked him how many college degrees he has when he’s standing shirtless at a photo shoot. Luke puts on thick glasses and baggy clothing to appear more professional. Life seems routine and safe, that is until he meets British film star Ian Stoddard. Luke admits that he has no idea who Ian is, and Ian finds that fact appealing.

When a decades old murder is uncovered at the college, Luke and his anthropology students take the opportunity to construct a case study. Can Luke maintain his two separate identities and solve a decades old murder, or will it all blow up in his face?

High school English teacher Jesse Ashworth is in the midst of a career crisis. Should he take early retirement or continue teaching? When his best friend, Rhonda Shepard, retires and moves to the coast of Maine to open a gift shop, Jesse offers to help her set up her business.

Much to Jesse's surprise, Rhonda's gift shop in located in the town where Jesse grew up. Jesse must not only deal with relocation, but he must also reestablish ties that he had severed thirty-some years ago.

Jesse purchases a run-down 1920's bungalow called Eagles' Nest. The house was the site of a 1960's commune and has been more or less neglected in recent years. While digging a garden in the isolated back yard, Jesse and his pug dog, Argus, make a gruesome discover

Retired teacher Jesse Ashworth has been looking forward to a quiet retirement in the small town of Bath, Maine but for Jesse, retirement has been anything but quiet. After church trustee Jack Riley is found murdered in the choir room of All Saints Church, Jesse and his companion Police Chief Tim Mallory, begin a search for the killer. Soon it becomes apparent that almost everyone Jack knew had a motive for murder.

Set in a small town on the picturesque coast of Maine, this story has just the right amount of intrigue and humor, including a cast of quirky and colorful characters that help to round out the story.

When Jesse Ashworth and Tim Mallory buy the B. G. Boyce Security Company, interesting cases begin to to cross their desks. Known locally as the "Big Boys' Detective Agency" Tim and Jesse begin new careers.

The Turner Art Gallery seems to be the epicenter of some strange happenings. When the Big Boys' Detective Agency is contacted to investigate a haunting in the museum, Tim and Jesse embark on an adventure that turns up more than one body.

Jesse is attending cooking school in Montreal when the head chef of the school is found murdered in Mt Royal park. Jesse is inadvertently dragged into the investigation when he becomes a potential witness to the crime. Hired as a consultant for the chief investigator, Hugh Cartier, Jesse begins to suspect that Hugh has more than just a professional interest in him.

When another murder occurs, Jesse, Tim and Hugh look for a psychopath who might just be someone they know

As if a murder investigation is not enough, Jesse suspects that someone has been following him. When Jesse and his partner Tim Mallory confront the stalker, Jess gets the shock of his life and nothing will ever be the same again.

The Christmas season gets off to a rocky start in the sleepy coastal town of Bath, Maine, when a local shop keeper finds a body dressed as Santa Claus in the doorway of the shop. To make matters worse, a valuable Christmas treasure is stolen from All Souls Church. The identity of the dead man stumps the local police, and it falls to private detectives Jesse Ashworth and Tim Mallory to look for clues the police may have missed.

The season becomes more exciting when the network television show, Ghost Detectives, rolls into town to investigate reported haunting at All Souls Church. Jesse is asked to keep an eye on the investigations at the church in addition to his already busy caseload.

The wealthy families of Boston’s Beacon Hill like to keep their affairs private. When art objects disappear, when family members go missing, or when bodies turn up in unexpected places, they all turn to Jeremy Dance for damage control.

On New Year’s Day 1936, Jeremy Dance is having a quiet dinner with this assistant Roscoe and his best friend Judy Hogarth, when Jeremy is called in to investigate an “unpleasantness” at an exclusive Boston men’s club.

Jeremy Dance is young, rich, and tough as nails. In an age of intolerance and conformity, Jeremy has the courage to stand up against racism, classism, injustice and the audacity to be subversively gay.

In the sweltering summer of 1936, investigator Jeremy Dance is looking forward to spending some time at his mountain retreat in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Little does Jeremy realize that when he takes on a case for the lovely Nora Wilde that before the end of summer, Jeremy will find himself standing in a depression breadline, singing on a Vaudeville stage, and searching for an arsonist at the summer resort of Bar Harbor. If Jeremy can’t solve the cases he has taken on, he’s afraid that his whole summer will go up in flames

                     

At the height of the Great Depression in 1932, three strangers arrive on Maine’s Jigsaw Island. Artist Ben Turner has fled the desperation of New York City to wait out the hard times and find inspiration. 

Muriel Peters and her son Andrew come to Jigsaw Island to seek a new start. For each, Jigsaw Island will be a place of new beginnings and discoveries. In the midst of the worst economic disaster of the twentieth century, the people of Jigsaw Island will find the strength of community not only to survive, but to thrive.

A companion piece to the Jesse Ashworth Mysteries, Coastal Maine Cooking includes over seventy recipes gathered from the author’s research and experience living in coastal New England. 

Gathered from various sources, some of the recipes date back to the early 1700’s, but thankfully have been updated. These are the recipes that have been passed from person to person, but rarely written about.

About the author

Stephen E. Stanley has been an educator for over thirty years, first as a high school English instructor and then as a full-time teacher mentor for secondary education in a large New Hampshire school district. He grew up in Bath, Maine and currently resides in New Hampshire.