New Mystery Series by Robert J. Randisi Lauches at Dagger Imprint

Riverdale Avenue Books Gets Cozy with P.I. Master Robert J. Randisi

RIVERDALE, NEW YORK, June 16, 2015 -- Riverdale Avenue Books is pleased to announce the publication of DRY STONE WALLS, the first book in a new mystery series by Robert J. Randisi, under the new Dagger imprint.

“Mature Male Available for Housesitting, Non-Smoker, No Pets, Widower.”

With this listing, Randisi introduces readers to a retired captain of the NYPD who now spends his time housesitting wherever the job takes him…and learns that he can never fully leave the job behind.

Truxton “Tru” Lewis is looking after a house in Bluegrass Country, Kentucky, a simple enough task within a tight-knit community. But it’s his encounter with octogenarian Max Beasley, who spends his days reconstructing stone walls that will alert Tru that not everything is right here. His fears are confirmed when the body a local, reviled realtor turns up, buried under one of Max’s precious walls. With Max under suspicion for the crime, Tru ingratiates himself with the local cops and a colorful lawyer, as well as with Max’s widowed daughter, as he searches for the truth that will clear the old man of a most heinous crime.

But the farther he stretches his investigative net, Tru finds himself being reeled back to the original suspect…his new friend. The thing about housesitting, Tru has learned, is you can’t know what goes on behind your neighbor’s closed doors.

A Q & A BETWEEN DAGGER EDITORIAL DIRECTOR JOSEPH PITTMAN and ROBERT J. RANDISI:

JP: First of all, thanks for being a part of the Dagger launch.

RR: I’m very excited to be part of this new line with my old friend. Here's hoping Dagger Books cuts through all the competition like a hot knife through butter.

JP: Tell me about your new character, Truxton Lewis. Not your everyday name.

RR: We were driving on the highway one day and saw an exit sign with the names of two towns on it, one above the other. TRUXTON and then LEWIS. I thought, what a great name for a character.

JP: Is DRY STONE WALLS Tru’s first appearance?

RR: No. I was invited to contribute to a Florida anthology. I have always thought housesitting would be a great way to see the country without paying for hotels. So the idea of a housesitter, and the two town names came together in the Florida anthology in a story called "Midnight Pass."

JP: What about Truxton appeals to you?

RR: I so enjoyed writing the Truxton Lewis story, about a retired Captain of Detective in the NYPD who came to Florida to "sit" in a condo on the beach, and got involved in a mystery. So I decided to make it a series.

JP: How would you categorize the series? You’re known for the P.I. novel. Have you written…a cozy?

RR: It never occurred to me that I was writing a "cozy" series. Instead, I think I'm combining "cozy" and "hardboiled," or "cozy" and "procedural," in that Tru Lewis was a cop for many years, but now was trying to live a more sedate and simple life.

JP: Yet he keeps finding bodies wherever he lands.

RR: No bodies, no series…

Dagger has committed to an additional two books in the series, so look for more “Tru” adventures in early 2016.

Robert J. Randisi is the author of the “Miles Jacoby,” “Nick Delvecchio,” “Gil & Claire Hunt,” “Dennis McQueen,” “Joe Keough,” and “The Rat Pack,” mystery series.  THE HONKY TONK BIG HOSS BOOGIE, the first book in the Auggie Velez Nashville P.I. series, appeared in 2013.  UPON MY SOUL is the first book in the “Hitman with a Soul” Trilogy. The second book is SOULS OF THE DEAD. His recent novel MCKENNA’S HOUSE has been called is best book yet by several reviewers.  He is the editor of over 30 anthologies.  All told he is the author of more than 600 novels.  Randisi is the founder of the Private Eye Writers of America, the creator of the Shamus Award, the co-founder of Mystery Scene Magazine, the American Crime Writers League, and Western Fictioneers.