a Joe Burgess Mystery Series

Book 1

"A boy rapping on his car window summons Portland police detective Joe Burgess to a fire at a nearby mosque, where he finds a screaming woman and her baby locked in a closet. The baby dies. The very young mother survives, but suffers from traumatic muteness. She has no ID and no one has reported her missing. Autopsy shows the gravely ill baby would have needed surgery to survive. Burgess suspects someone was trying to keep mother and baby away from hospitals that might have asked questions. As Burgess tries to identify his victims and learn who set the fire, he encounters cultural and language barriers. The mosque's Somali Imam claims to have no knowledge of the girl or of who wrote anti-Muslim graffiti on the building. Neighbors say the Muslims were sometimes harassed by men on motorcycles--a gang identified as the "Iron Angels," led by William "The Butcher" Flaherty. Life at home is complicated, with two newly adopted children and a sullen teenage son. Then suspects threaten Burgess's family, a threat that's amped up when a violent criminal is found parked near his house with guns and an abduction kit in the trunk. The key to Flaherty's storage locker leads to a stash of stolen guns and an armed confrontation; a distinctive ring leads to a fishing boat captain supplementing his income with gun and drug sales. Finally, a missing witness draws Burgess's team into a booby-trapped building, and the possibility that just as life is making Burgess into a normal "family man," it may be coming to an explosive end"--

Book 5

Led Astray

by Kate Flora

Published 7 October 2016

Book 6

A Child Shall Lead Them

by Kate Flora

Published 28 May 2019

Book 7

A World of Deceit

by Kate Flora

Published 4 May 2021

A Geologist Lies Comatose in a Portland, Maine Hospital in A World of Deceit, a Detective Joe Burgess Thriller by Kate Flora

--Portland, Maine--

Unable to awaken her father--eminent geologist, Ted Gabbro--nine-year-old Arielle approaches the vacationing Joe Burgess, desperate for his help.

Loathe to let anything interfere with his much needed rest on the mountains of western Maine, Joe can't ignore the girl's plea for help and can't deny that something is very wrong.

As the frightened girl's father languishes in a coma and her mother can't be found, Burgess finds himself in a tangle of land disputes, family politics, the child's parents' nasty divorce, and the powerful greed that accompanies "gold fever".

Winner of the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction

"Flora pours on the intensity in this criminal, legal and moral maze."~Kirkus Reviews

"Flora writes cops so convincingly it's hard to imagine she's never worn the badge herself." ~Bruce Robert Coffin, author of Among the Shadows

THE JOE BURGESS MYSTERIES
Playing God
The Angel of Knowlton Park
Redemption
And Grant You Peace
Led Astray
A Child Shall Lead Them
A World of Deceit

Book 8

Such a Good Man

by Kate Flora

Published 5 December 2023