Carl Waldman

In Noir Rehab, the prequel to Fancy Dancer and the first book in The Jake Jakes Mystery Series, the protagonist solves a self-appointed case that has helped keep him motivated while he rehabs his life. In Fancy Dancer, the second book in the series, happenstance again leads him to a mystery. The new riddle obsessing him takes him on travels into Native America, where he makes new complex and captivating friends. But is one of them a killer?

Haunted by past demons and spending too much of his time on New York City streets and park benches, Jake takes inspiration from noir fiction and invents mysteries in random people's lives. A fellow bench-sitter leads him to a conspiracy involving a cabal of young folks and a French sociologist. What is this strange bunch up to? Finding the answer takes Jake far from his urban neighborhood of choice to other streetscapes, both real and artificial.