BOOKS BY MICHAEL D. MANLEY
SIDELINED: A DAVID WADE MYSTERY {1}
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO TAKE BACK WHAT IS YOURS?
Gwynns Falls Park is a sanctuary; an oasis of pristine nature and beauty that serves to transport its visitors away from the noise and chaos of Baltimore City. But when a gorgeous, young woman is found brutally stabbed to death along one of the park's trails the illusion of safety is shattered. The victim is quickly identified: Kelly Thompson. She left behind a loving mother, big dreams, and a violent past. Baltimore Police rally their best and brightest to quickly solve the crime and restore public trust. But despite their best efforts, the case quickly grows cold and the sadistic killer is free to work his twisted plan. Determined to get justice, Kelly's mother reaches out to David Wade He's a private investigator with a checkered past: a disgraced former Baltimore detective with his own demons to battle. As Wade investigates the murder, he himself becomes the target of the ruthless killer's terror campaign against the city.
VINDICATE: A DAVID WADE MYSTERY {2}
Like the weed, every time I start to show signs of growth somebody comes along and cuts me down. My life is without purpose; I’m merely taking up space and holding my place waiting to die." These are the words of Ronald Wilkinson who sits on Delaware's death row convicted of the brutal double murder of a wealthy, well-respected couple in their luxury home. He swears he's innocent and the real killer is still out there free to hunt. Will anyone believe him? Private Investigator David Wade has settled into a comfortable routine in Baltimore along with his new business partner, Clark Crenshaw. But when Clark gets a call from the Wilkinson family, David Wade must decide whether to gamble his business, his reputation, and his safety to work to free a man from death row even if that means going toe-to-toe with a two-time killer!
OUTCAST: A DAVID WADE MYSTERY {3}
Business is booming for Baltimore private investigator David Wade. Enjoying a sterling reputation and soaring profits, he and business partner, Clark Crenshaw, prepare to expand to a new posh office. Then there's the call. Wade's former partner, Detective Eddie Sinclair, is notified that a former Baltimore police officer is found shot to death in his home. It's bloody and brutal; somebody is sending a gruesome message. Once a rising star on the Baltimore police force, Wade is called back to help hunt down a cop killer. Not everyone welcomes him with open arms. And at least one ruthless killer wants to take David Wade down for good so he can be free to carry out his twisted plot!
GRUDGE: A DAVID WADE MYSTERY {4}
David Wade is about to take the reins as a homicide detective with the Baltimore police department. This is his shining moment; he's recaptured the life he's missed for so long. He stands triumphant, he stands fulfilled, he stands on shaky ground. Once a rising star on the police force, Wade suffered a very disgraceful and public fall. Emotions are raw; not everyone welcomes him back with open arms. And when a string of grizzly murders rocks Baltimore to its core, Wade finds himself put to the ultimate test. He is soon disturbed to learn that some around him, along with a very cunning and ruthless killer, are rooting for him to fail!
SLOW BURN: A DAVID WADE MYSTERY {5}
SLOW BURN: BOOK # 5 IN THE DAVID WADE MYSTERY SERIES. {THE SIXTH BOOK RELEASE BY MICHAEL MANLEY OVERALL.}
A young woman tragically perishes in a suspicious house fire. Her young daughter escapes the blaze but mysteriously vanishes without a trace. Months later a raging house fire claims the life of a Baltimore woman. Has an arsonist embarked upon a deadly spree? David Wade once again enjoys a sterling reputation as an ace homicide detective with the Baltimore police department. He's captured cunning criminals and solved cold cases. But emotions are still raw; not everyone welcomes him back on the force with open arms. And as the victim count rises, so too do the fear and public pressure. Can Detective David Wade, and his team, unravel the clues to stop a ruthless killer before his rage burns out of control?
INSIDE OUT: A DAVID WADE MYSTERY {6}
We never forget the KEY people in our lives... Detective David Wade can't forget how those close to him are dying: BRUTALLY MURDERED by a cunning and elusive killer who taunts the ace detective with disturbing and mocking notes left beside the victims.
Depression in police work is a furtive foe. Depression can be stealthy, even for the most resolute and tenacious officer, and can exact a physical and psychological toll. The cases that plague investigators are the ones which worm their way under a detective’s tough, rugged skin and keep him or her up at night. They’re the ones that make him cross the line from obligation to obsession. To stop the vicious killings, Detective David Wade is going to examine and interpret the facts, evidence, and victimology of notorious murder cases which grip Baltimore in fear.
He’s going to reach convincing and controversial conclusions by means of deconstructing the evidence and accepted facts surrounding each case and rebuilding them with intriguing, eye-opening, and disturbing results!
RELEASED: APRIL, 2022
MASKING MURDER: A DAVID WADE MYSTERY { # 7 }
Some of the most gut-wrenching news any family can get in modern times is that a loved one is stricken with a terrible case of coronavirus. From Delaware, the Sharpe family believes their beloved Pia is quarantined in Maryland. But when Pia's text messages become cryptic & bizarre, the family starts to worry. Then, the messages stop. Dissatisfied with law enforcement's lackluster response, the Sharpe family hires maverick private investigator Lenny Spears and his team to uncover the truth.
Spears soon believes Pia Sharpe is a victim not of a virus, but a vindictive killer. He reaches out to brilliant Baltimore Homicide Detective David Wade for help. But Wade is reluctant: his city is a beautiful, yet dangerous, place that keeps him more than busy.
But as Lenny Spears digs, Detective Wade soon grows concerned about the ominous clues being unearthed: too many coincidences. Patterns of deception. Facts end up being anything but. And as the two dynamite detectives soon realize, they must work TOGETHER to catch a faceless killer with an unspeakable motive!
BORDERLINE: A JENNY ACKERMAN MYSTERY {1}
Diamondback rattlesnakes and bark scorpions are endowed with a rugged skin that can cope with harsh conditions and extreme temperatures. Unlike humans. Jenny Ackerman is a U.S. Border Patrol agent assigned to Tucson, Arizona. Back home, in San Diego, California, her sister was viciously murdered; the killer remains on the loose. Jenny hoped the transfer to Tucson would be a fresh start. But when a beautiful, young woman is found dead in the desert, Jenny's troubled past collides with the current rampage of a cold-blooded killer. Can she unravel the clues to stop a ruthless murderer before his rage burns out of control?
PHANTOM PAIN: A LENNY SPEARS MYSTERY {1}
Former homicide detective Lenny Spears is a slave to his history; for him to have a bright future, he must learn to break those bonds. An ambush by an unknown gunman left Spears paralyzed and his rookie partner dead. Confined to a wheelchair, racked with pain and guilt, his past tempts him, his present frustrates him and his future frightens him.
But when his beloved young niece and her friend go missing from their small Delaware town, Spears realizes he must reawaken dormant skills and choose to get involved in the search... choose to make a difference before precious time runs out.
SECOND SHOT: A LENNY SPEARS MYSTERY {2}
Former homicide detective Lenny Spears barely survived an assassin's bullet.
While investigating the vicious stabbing of a young mother, an ambush by an unknown gunman {outside the mansion of Spears’ prime suspect} left Spears paralyzed and his rookie partner dead.
Confined to a wheelchair by the barrage of bullets, Spears succumbs to grief, guilt and a gnawing obsession to unmask the gunman and bring him to justice. He stubbornly believes all clues point to one of Delaware's most prominent citizens as the mastermind of the savage murder plot and relentlessly sets out to prove his unpopular theory correct.
He'll clash with old colleagues, friends and some of the locale's most influential and ruthless individuals. When new evidence comes to light, Spears begins to question his premises as well as the close-knit circle of people he's assembled around him.
Quickly becoming a target again, will Lenny Spears back off the tantalizing murder investigation or will he give a cold-blooded killer a SECOND SHOT at stopping his meddling for good?
A TASTE FOR THE AFTERLIFE: Macabre Menus of Death Row
HAVE YOU GOT A HEARTY APPETITE FOR KNOWLEDGE?
PICK UP THE KNIFE & FORK, FOLD YOUR NAPKIN IN YOUR LAP & DEVOUR THIS BOOK IN MASSIVE + FLAVORFUL BITES!
A TASTE FOR THE AFTERLIFE: MACABRE MENUS OF DEATH ROW is a milestone:
Michael Manley's 1st non-fiction book & 10th book in-print!
Mr. Manley has meticulously assembled the last meals of more than 60 notorious criminals from across time & the globe!
Death is inevitable; everybody eats and everybody dies. But few of us get to choose our last meal. Examining the last meals selected by death row inmates from a macabre prison menu allows a unique insight into a disturbed mind shortly before the body's deliberate death.
From gut-bustingly gargantuan feasts like the one measuring a whopping 29,000 calories in which a SUPREME PIZZA classifies as merely an appetizer to bizarre & baffling decisions such as a to-be-executed inmate saving his delicious PECAN PIE dessert for "LATER", this book will tantalize the reader's tastebuds and get him/her "digesting" the fascinating facts long after the back cover is flipped closed.
{IN}FAMOUS LAST WORDS { Book # 11 }
WHY ARE LAST WORDS SO EXTREMELY IMPORTANT?
BECAUSE THEY CAN'T BE TAKEN BACK.
FOLLOWING UP ON HIS FORAY INTO NON-FICTION, A TASTE FOR THE AFTERLIFE, CRIME AUTHOR MICHAEL MANLEY RETURNS TO EXAMINE THE HOSTILE & HEARTBREAKING "LAST WORDS" OF OVER 70 OF HISTORY'S MOST REPUGNANT & REPELLENT DEATH ROW CONVICTS!