“I pulled the blinds down in my office so Detective Strizzi and I could watch the surveillance footage of the CEOs being murdered onstage. I was drinking these days more often than being a private investigator, but Emily knew the right way to bait a hook for me. She told me the execs had been murdered by the same virus that killed my wife.”
— Kurt Hardash, private investigator
The Avatar Murders is a new hardboiled detective mystery by Jim Rowson, author of Uncommon Scents, chosen for the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize Short List. It is available now from Amazon in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle editions.
The Avatar Murders is a classic noir story in a near-future setting. A detective in a seedy office. A femme fatale whose attempts to seduce Kurt Hardash, private investigator, leave him alternately tingling and wracked with unresolved guilt about the loss of his wife. Organized crime. Corporate espionage. The unethical exploitation of cutting-edge technology. A cast of characters motivated by greed, lust, and power. A world rife with corruption.
Kurt lost the love of his life to a nasty pandemic. It may be man made. He has a serious problem with that.
Kurt’s long time detective friend draws him into a high profile multiple murder case to distract him from his grief. Thrust into the sleazy world of digital high fashion, he’s hired to protect the CEO of an avatar company, the biggest supplier of augmented beauty to the rich and famous.
When he uncovers a complex conspiracy, Kurt becomes a target for the corrupt police force and an ambitious mob.
He’s after the pandemic creator to avenge his wife, but first he has to stand up to the vicious mob that wants to control him. Or kill him. His choice.