Saratoga Headhunter

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 25 April 1985

Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw lands deep trouble in his third mystery in Saratoga Springs.

Private eye Charlie, ever the outsider, finds himself in hot water when a former jockey due to testify in court on a race-fixing scam is found decapitated, apparently given up to the mob by Charlie himself.

Now Charlie must hunt down the killers and clear his name, all while staying alive and keeping his scheming companion Victor Plotz on a leash. But both are easier said than done...


SARATOGA BACKTALK CL

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 17 July 1994
Saratoga Springs, the famous racing center, is again the setting for Stephen Dobyns's eighth mystery featuring Charlie Bradshaw, local cop turned private eye. This time, since Charlie is about to go on jury duty, his off-beat sidekick, Victor Plotz - "a high-on-pragmatism, low-on-ethics kind of guy" - agrees to poke around when wealthy horse owner Bernard Logan is kicked to death by a horse. Logan's death surely looks like an accident. Yet just a few days before, Logan had come looking for Charlie, convinced his wife wanted him dead. It soon turns out that a host of folks at Battlefield Farms don't much like each other. Then rats start popping up all over the place. Before the case is closed, there's plenty of mayhem and misdeed, including shenanigans at the race track. This is the kind of sophisticated, elegant story where Stephen Dobyns excels. And dedicated Dobyns fans need not fear; Charlie Bradshaw is very much on the scene. Once more the witty, moodily reflective investigator comes through as a "stand-up full-fashioned creation" (The New Yorker), with the irrepressible Victor Plotz as his perfect foil.

Saratoga Snapper

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 25 September 1986

Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw returns with sidekick Victor Plotz for a fourth mystery in Saratoga Springs.

In search of an easy buck, Victor has found a sideline taking photos of tourists, but his new career nearly kills him when he is the subject of a hit and run and his camera in snatched.

Meanwhile, Charlie has his own problems when a maid is apparently murdered in the hotel owned by his mother and a waiter suspiciously vanishes. The two cases come together as a spate of robberies suggests something else is going on.


Saratoga Longshot

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 7 September 1978

Tip your hat and meet everyman detective, Charlie Bradshaw, hero of Saratoga Springs.

It's 1975, and shy, gentle small-town cop Charlie Bradshaw celebrates an unwelcome 41st birthday with a trip to New York to search Sam Cheney, the son of his high school sweetheart and a small-time drug dealer.

What begins as an intriguing mystery spirals out of control as rumpled Charlie quickly finds out that Sam is out of his depth - and he's not the only one.


Saratoga Strongbox

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 1 July 1999

The final mystery for everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw turns into a hilarious caper in the hands of his morally flexible sidekick Victor Plotz.

Scenting a quick buck, Victor agrees to collect a suspicious suitcase from Montreal, but trusting in bumbling blackbelt Eddie Gillespie quickly transpires to be a terrible mistake.

Between a pair of thugs, a stripper, and the worry that his girlfriend is playing away, Victor finds he has more on his hands than he can handle - and has to call on his old friend to clean things up, Saratoga Springs style.


Saratoga Swimmer

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 28 May 1987

Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw returns for his second mystery.

Having left behind his career as a cop for a job as a security guard at a Saratoga stable, middle-aged, divorced Charlie thinks his life has finally calmed down. Until, that is, his boss is shot while swimming.

As Charlie digs deeper into the murder and the murky world of Saratoga Spring's racing scene, fighting the bumbling local police at every turn, he discovers a conspiracy that reaches right to the top.


Saratoga Bestiary

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 8 December 1988

Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw and sidekick Victor Plotz dice with death in their fifth mystery in Saratoga Springs.

Gambling, an art heist and dog fighting collide in Charlie's latest case, which once more lands on his doorstep when his pal Victor's gambling party is robbed at the Bradshaw family hotel.

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and one of the five gamblers present at the party has an agenda beyond mere money - but who? And are they willing to kill to get what they want?


Saratoga Hexameter

by Stephen Dobyns

Published October 1990

Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw lands deep trouble in his sixth mystery in Saratoga Springs.

Three puzzles revolving around poems come together in a perplexing case: an octogenarian in a nursing home writes a strange verse about the death of one of the carers; robberies at the Bentley Hotel are accompanied by a rhyme left by the burglar; and a poetry critic is attacked.

Into this mess stumble Charlie and his ineffectual companion Victor Plotz. One terrible disguise and some very suspect sleuthing later, and our heroes are in trouble again.


Saratoga Fleshpot

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 1 August 2013

Morally flexible sidekick Victor Plotz takes on the ninth mystery for everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw.

Now working at the Horse Pavillion at the Saratoga Springs racetrack, Victor finds himself being followed as a badly behaved horse named Fleshpot begins to make waves.

Several murders and a breath-taking car chase see Victor himself come under suspicion while Charlie faces up to his own commitment issues - a fate worse than death.


Saratoga Haunting

by Stephen Dobyns

Published 1 August 2013

Everyman detective Charlie Bradshaw finds an old case coming back to haunt him in his seventh mystery in Saratoga Springs.

When a convict Charlie sent down some two decades earlier is paroled, death threats start arriving, while the skull of a woman who supposedly fled to South America shows up on a building site, drawing the detective back to his old case.

Meanwhile, girlfriend Janey wants to see some commitment from Charlie, and Victor is generally being unhelpful in the way that only the world worst hotel detective can.