This image is the cover for the book Reardon, The Lieutenant Reardon Mysteries

Reardon, The Lieutenant Reardon Mysteries

To stop a crime wave, a San Francisco cop investigates a ring of smugglers

Homicide lieutenant James Reardon is raising a martini to his lips when the call comes in from headquarters. He is late for a meeting and the chief is furious. The cocktail, and Reardon’s girlfriend, will have to wait. The meeting is a waste of time—a federal agent repeating platitudes about the dangers of drug smuggling—and Reardon is grateful when a call comes in on the radio, requesting his presence at the scene of a fatal traffic accident. He assumes it will be routine, but Lieutenant Reardon is in for an evening of agony.

The driver claims that he was only going fifteen miles an hour when the victim stepped off the curb. Reardon doesn’t buy it. And when he learns the dead man had just gotten off a ship from Southeast Asia, he realizes that the federal agent was right: Smuggling is a murderous business.

Reardon is the 1st book in the Lieutenant Reardon Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Robert L. Fish

Robert L. Fish, the youngest of three children, was born on August 21, 1912, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the local schools in Cleveland and went to Case University (now Case Western Reserve), from which he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. He married Mamie Kates, also from Cleveland, and together they have two daughters. Fish worked as a civil engineer, traveling and moving throughout the United States. In 1953 he was asked to set up a plastics factory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He and his family moved to Brazil, where they remained for nine years. He played golf and bridge in the little spare time he had. One rainy weekend in the late 1950s, when the weather prohibited him from playing golf, he sat down and wrote a short story that he submitted to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. When the story was accepted, Fish continued to write short stories. In 1962 he returned to the United States; he took one year to write full time and then returned to engineering and writing. His first novel, The Fugitive, won an Edgar Award for Best First Mystery. When his health prevented him from pursuing both careers, Fish retired from engineering and spent his time writing. His published works include more than forty books and countless short stories. Mute Witness was made into a movie starring Steve McQueen.

Fish died February 23, 1981, at his home in Connecticut. Each year at the annual Mystery Writers of America dinner, a memorial award is presented in his name for the best first short story. This is a fitting tribute, as Fish was always eager to assist young writers with their craft.

Open Road Integrated Media