Valerie W. Wesley

A tough and savvy Newark cop-turned-P.I., Tamara Hoyleis a sister with a mission: to raise her kid right in a mean town. But now the post has come knocking -- bringing trouble to her door in the person of her "dog" of a former husband, DeWayne. Suspicious "accidents" have claimed the lives of two ofDeWayne's sons from different marriages. And though goodsense warns Tamara to steer clear of her charming, lowdown ex, she has little choice but to offer him her investigative expertise -- because a killer may now be drawing fatally close to home -- to Tamara's only son.

When Death Comes Stealing

Anybody lucky enough to have experienced the artistry of Valerie Wilson Wesley already knows that her ability to blend wry humor with stark reality is unsurpassed. And now she plies her talents in a new direction in an insightful, poignant story of family ties unraveling and lost loves regained. Eva is alone with an empty heart in a big, empty house. Hutch fears he is falling in love with the neglected wife of his wealthy, philandering best friend. Charley, Eva's law school-bound daughter, forgets her plans for school to become a stand-up comedian. Steven, Hutch's son, harbors a secret that will rock his father's world. And into the mix strolls Isaiah Lonesome, Charley's ex-boyfriend, a handsome hunk of a twenty-eight-year-old jazz musician who will teach Eva to play some lusty new riffs on love's oldest song. And in the end, everyone learns that when it comes to living life to the fullest, and in the quest for true love, it ain't nobody's business how one goes about it. Valerie Wilson Wesley's Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do is a delightful story of an African-American family in transition that is, at once, touching, sad, and funny, and that celebrates love, personal freedom, and the pursuit of happiness with charm, humor, and wisdom.

Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do

Darnella Desmond is disturbed after she begins investigating the disappearance of a wealthy heiress when she learns that the girl has fled to Atlantic City, where a serial killer is stalking the city's runaway population.

The Devil Riding

Hired by rich African-American Lincoln Storey to investigate his stepdaughter's lover, struggling private eye Tamara Hayle witnesses her client's death at a fundraiser and learns a treacherous secret. Reprint.

Devil's Gonna Get Him

Death doesn't take a holiday -- even when Tamara does. Off to sunny Kingston, Jamaica, for some much needed relaxation, former Newark cop and hard-working p.i. Tamara Hayle is pleased at first to join fellow Jersey homegirl, Lilah Love, for a night on the town. But with Lilah's abusive husband and his friend Delaware Brown along, the evening starts out bad and gets much worse -- especially when, after a blackout, the lights come abruptly up on a fresh corpse, a murder weapon with Tamara's fingerprints all over it, and two missing companions who have vanished with her money and identification. Now Tamara's at risk in a strange place far from home. She's already lost paradise. And with death heading her way again, she's about to lose a lot more -- unless she can stop a killer before the killer stops her.

Valerie W. Wesley

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