Stan Turner Mystery

11 primary works • 12 total works

Undaunted

by William Manchee

Published 1 July 1998

This is the story of Stan Turner's childhood and how he becomes an attorney. One year while he was growing up Southern California in the late fifties he goes to the county fair and they have an old Univac computer there programmed to tell fortunes. He has his fortune told and it forewarns him that his life will be difficult and fraught with danger. About this time he has a brush with the law, gets interested in the legal system, and decides to become an attorney. This sets the stage for the Stan Turner Mystery series as his fortune becomes a prophecy and at every turn Stan is confronted with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet he pushes forward, undaunted by the unknown forces that seek to derail him.

In this first episode Stan is forced into the United States Marine Corps by a vicious twist of fate, must leave his wife, and family and report for duty. On his first day he unwittingly befriends a serial killer and soon finds himself charged with the murder of his drill sergeant. Aided by a lustful nurse who wants him and a journalist who wants his story, Stan desperately searches for the actual killer to prove his innocence

Shroud of Doom

by William Manchee

Published 1 September 2011

Cash Call

by William Manchee

Published 22 July 2017

Stan and Rebekah’s good friends, Don and Pam Blaylock, are in deep trouble. An imprudent investment in a Golden Dragon franchise and their son’s arrest for DWI trigger an avalanche of misfortune culminating with the murder of Luther Bell, the smooth talking, restaurant promoter responsible for their impending demise. While Stan conducts a preemptive investigation to prove his clients are innocent, he is inundated with lawsuits and claims from their growing list of creditors and must deal with the inevitable marital strife that threatens these once proud families. Then one of Stan’s old flames resurfaces and makes a play for Stan’s affections sending Rebekah in a rage that culminates in a confrontation with the intruder and a .38 special. A wrongful death suit worth millions, ancient Peruvian pottery filled with diamonds and a confrontation with the Mob round out this nail biting legal thriller.

Deadly Distractions

by William Manchee

Published 14 July 2017

Cactus Island

by William Manchee

Published 1 November 2008

Stan is called out to Possum Kingdom Lake in Central Texas where a boy scout has been killed in a tragic Jeep accident. At first glance it appears to be just a typical case of a reckless teenager driving too fast, but the teenager, Steven Caldwell, insists the accident wasn't his fault. He claims he was distracted by an alien spacecraft flying overhead. At first Stan thinks his client's story is ridiculous, but as his investigation progresses he discovers his client may be telling the truth.

Black Monday

by William Manchee

Published 1 June 2011

Volume Six of the Stan Turner Mysteries features legal sleuths Stan Turner and his partner Paula Waters. It's Black Monday, October 17, 1987, and there are three murders in Dallas that night. The chairman of a failed thrift and his girlfriend are found with their throats slashed and an old lady is found asphyxiated along with her eleven dogs. Paula ends up defending the man accused of the double homicide and Stan discovers he is the executor of this ladies' estate and has to figure out who killed her and the dogs in such a bizarre fashion and why. If that isn't enough, with the stock market crash and the nation's banking system falling into crisis, Stan is asked by the CIA to help an operative unravel an IRS garnishment and ends up caught in a fire-fight between the CIA and the FBI.

Disillusioned

by William Manchee

Published 8 July 2017

Act Normal

by William Manchee

Published 1 October 2008

In this 8th episode of the series Dallas attorney Stan Turner struggles to keep his practice going in the wake of the tragic loss of his son and his rapidly disintegrating marriage. Stan, who has been recruited by the CIA for its ultra top secret Tarizon Repopulation project, gets his first assignment to defend a woman accused of murdering her children and alien husband. The alien husband, however, is not from Mexico but Tarizon, a planet in another solar system. Stan must not only prove his client innocent but also make sure nobody finds out that the government is allowing aliens to live and propagate on Earth.

While Stan is busy with his CIA project, Paula is asked to defend the accused in the arson-murder of a prominent scientist and his family. While a bitter feud between neighbors over a barking dog and a chain link fence appears to be the motive for the crime, Paula discovers several others who have benefited from Chester Brown's death.

In the midst of the two murder cases Stan is lured into a dangerous relationship with an alien woman assigned to him as a legal assistant. He soon learns that the women of Tarizon are even more mysterious and dangerous than those on Earth.

Deadly Defiance

by William Manchee

Published 1 September 2011

Deadly Dining

by William Manchee

Published 5 July 2017

Deadly Blood

by William Manchee

Published 14 August 2018

Second Chair

by William Manchee

Published 18 July 2017

It's 1981 in Dallas and Stan decides to throw a Christmas party at his home as a way of saying thanks to the clients who have sustained him during his first tumultuous year in the practice of law. As Stan's luck would have it, a client is killed and Stan is blamed for his death. While trying to shield himself from the wrath of the grieving widow, he's asked to defend a young college student charged with murdering her newborn child. Knowing he lacks the experience for such an undertaking, he enlists his former criminal law professor to be "Second Chair." What he doesn't know is the professor, who everyone calls "Snake" is a drunk and a womanizer. When Snake fails to show up for the last few days of trial Stan is devastated.