Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: A forgotten-about cistern located in the roof of Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison causes a flood and reveals the skeleton of a long-hidden body and a visiting art professor, Nora Barnes, finds herself helping with the investigation, even after her own life is threatened. Her husband, Toby Sandler, also takes an interest in the case but is more interested in finding lost architectural plans drafted by Frank Lloyd Wright. Review: I didn't plan ahead when I went to the library last week and, with nothing on hold and no books on top of my list, I wandered the stacks looking for anything that caught my eye. The Bones of Bascom Hall wound up being one of the books I checked out, primarily because it takes place in a city I frequently visit and I liked the idea of a murder mystery in a familiar setting. I finished the book this morning and would describe it as OK. I liked the mystery surrounding the discovered body because it added some challenges that were u...

Synopsis: Chicago private investigators Aberford "Abe" Allard and C. S. "Duff" Duffy are asked by retired Waukesha, WI sheriff Buddy Olson to look into the deaths of Olson's long-time friends Art and Michelle Laskey. The deaths have been ruled a murder-suicide by the local authorities with Michelle as the person pulling the trigger. However, it doesn't take the ultra-observant Duff to determine the police are likely wrong, a determination that ultimately puts the two detectives in a dangerous situation that may require them to use their guns for the first time. Review: I checked Bought the Farm out from my local library last week and finally finished reading it last night. I chose the book because I've enjoyed other Abe & Duff mysteries in the past but, while that was still true about this book, it did leave me with some mixed feelings. The primary attraction to these books, for me at least, are Abe & Duff themselves and this book didn't d...

Synopsis: C.S. "Duff" Duffy doesn't talk a lot about his time in Bensonhurst, the Canadian psychiatric hospital he was sent to as a teenager. His friend and business partner, Aberforth "Abe" Allard learns more about Duff's experience when Duff's former bully, Hank Novak, shows up at their detective agency asking them for help for his daughter, Sarah, who has been arrested for murdering her boyfriend, a division III college quarterback with NFL aspirations. The pair agree to help but Duff's sleuthing skills might be hindered by a pair of distractions - his hatred for Novak and the proximity to the unsolved murder of a friend that resulted in Duff being sent to Bensonhurst to begin with. Review: I came across Fourth and Wrong earlier this year but held off on requesting a copy at my library until after I read the book that came before it, The Single Twin . After reading a couple other books in between, I finally checked it out this week and was not ...

  This is a sequel to Murder by Chili I've been working on for some time now and it stars the detective from that book, Maxwell V. Diamond. I decided to publish this book on Kindle Vella, which is a platform on Amazon that lets me publish the story in "episodes" rather than all at once. I've never tried this platform before so it's definitely a new experience for me. My hope is, depending on how successful this murder mystery is, I can add other stories as additional episodes down the road. The first four chapters are already published and can be read here:  The Body at Belmount Manor | Kindle Vella (amazon.com)