Benjamin Justice Series by John Morgan Wilson

Following the death of his lover and a scandal involving his Pulitzer Prize-winning article, crime reporter Benjamin Justice has fallen into a hazy, alcoholic reclusiveness, hiding out in the West Hollywood neighborhood known as the Norma Triangle. He is called back to the world of the living by an unexpected, and unwelcome, visit from Harry Brofsky, his former boss... moreFollowing the death of his lover and a scandal involving his Pulitzer Prize-winning article, crime reporter Benjamin Justice has fallen into a hazy, alcoholic reclusiveness, hiding out in the West Hollywood neighborhood known as the Norma Triangle. He is called back to the world of the living by an unexpected, and unwelcome, visit from Harry Brofsky, his former boss. Brofsky wants Ben to do some background work (strictly off the record) with another reporter on the investigation of a seemingly motiveless killing outside a local gay bar.Sucked in for reasons even he doesn't quite understand, Justice finds himself back in the life of gay bars, spurned lovers, dysfunctional families, and tawdry secrets--all the things he had been trying to escape. While fending off passes from his sexy, young female partner, he finds himself falling hopelessly in love with the man he must ultimately nail for murder--a killing that turns out to have far more personal and political implications than a simple bias crime.Simple Justice is a subtly plotted mystery that takes a piercing look at not only violent crime but violations of the heart and soul in the sometimes glamorous, more often dark and dangerous gay life of West Hollywood. less

There's a Hollywood one never gets to see on Oscar night, the Hollywood of wannabes, has-beens, and never-weres. It's this hidden Hollywood that Benjamin Justice finds when he accompanies Alexandra Templeton - the go-getting young journalist he met in Wilson's previous novel, Simple Justice - to an open house at the home of the well-known teacher of screenwriting Gordon Cantwell... moreThere's a Hollywood one never gets to see on Oscar night, the Hollywood of wannabes, has-beens, and never-weres. It's this hidden Hollywood that Benjamin Justice finds when he accompanies Alexandra Templeton - the go-getting young journalist he met in Wilson's previous novel, Simple Justice - to an open house at the home of the well-known teacher of screenwriting Gordon Cantwell. Templeton is on assignment, but the body she finds in Cantwell's garden isn't part of her story, and Justice suspects that the death isn't natural, either. The dead man is Raymond Farr, born Reza JaFari, and as it turns out, almost anyone at the party might have wanted him dead. The quintessential Hollywood deal maker, Farr's credentials were as phony as his name, and his scruples were as nonexistent as his credits. Justice - ever the investigative journalist, however reluctant - begins to nose around, and unearths a tangled web of relationships that lead him, finally, to the killer. Along the way he also reawakens a part of himself, the part he had kept buried, or preserved in alcohol, ever since the death of his lover from AIDS seven years before. less

A Benjamin Justice MysteryBenjamin Justice knows a reporter is nothing without credibility. He learned the hard way when a Pulitzer was snatched from his grasp. It's been a long, hard climb to find even a fraction of the work he once had. But his fortunes are about to change: Justice has been offered the opportunity to script a documentary for public television... moreA Benjamin Justice MysteryBenjamin Justice knows a reporter is nothing without credibility. He learned the hard way when a Pulitzer was snatched from his grasp. It's been a long, hard climb to find even a fraction of the work he once had. But his fortunes are about to change: Justice has been offered the opportunity to script a documentary for public television.Only after he accepts the job does he learn a crucial piece of information: The man who had the assignment before him has disappeared, leaving behind his trashed motel room-and a spattering of blood. As Justice delves into his predecessor's notes and follows his tracks, he enters a world of pleasure and peril-and deadly secrets. And soon it will not be his reputation Justice must protect...but his very life. less

Ex-reporter Benjamin Justice is trying to come to terms with his HIV status, no job, and no hope. Then the daughter of a onetime Hollywood hunk offers him a job to ghostwrite a payback book after a sleazy bio links the actor to a shadowy world of sinister perversion and blood-chilling crimes. When she's found dead with a needle in her arm, Justice goes looking for the truth.

Benjamin Justice, a disgraced journalist in his mid-forties, is slowly putting his life back together. Under contract to write his tumultuous life story, Justice is trying to put all the elements of his life into perspective for the first time. When trying to locate his childhood priest, however, he runs into a bureaucratic stone wall... moreBenjamin Justice, a disgraced journalist in his mid-forties, is slowly putting his life back together. Under contract to write his tumultuous life story, Justice is trying to put all the elements of his life into perspective for the first time. When trying to locate his childhood priest, however, he runs into a bureaucratic stone wall. Then his best friend's fiance, a Lost Angeles Times columnist, is killed in a tragic and suspicious hit-and-run accident shortly after trying to aid Justice in his search. Reluctant at first, Justice soon finds himself in the midst of a complex case involving a decades-old child murder, a powerful and controversial cardinal, and elements of his own dark past. less

Benjamin Justice used to be one of Los Angeles's most respected journalists, but a scandal over invented sources cost him the Pulitzer, his job and his reputation. With his life in ruins, he's spent much of the past decade slowly piecing it back together. Now he's under contract to write his biography, but the writing is going slowly and he's in need of a job to tide him over financially... moreBenjamin Justice used to be one of Los Angeles's most respected journalists, but a scandal over invented sources cost him the Pulitzer, his job and his reputation. With his life in ruins, he's spent much of the past decade slowly piecing it back together. Now he's under contract to write his biography, but the writing is going slowly and he's in need of a job to tide him over financially. So when Bruce Bibby, a freelance writer, is murdered during an apparent burglary, Bibby's uncompleted assignment for the city of West Hollywood is a much needed opportunity for Justice. Hired to complete the dead man's assignment-researching and writing a booklet on the city's historically relevant buildings - Justice resists becoming involved in the murder investigation, wanting only to maintain his quiet, stable life. But it's not going to be that easy. There's a fight brewing over the fate of a set of rundown cottages - some believe them historically significant and wish to preserve them, others want them torn down to make way for a new condo project and both sides see Justice's pamphlet as the key to winning the fight. As Justice tries to go about his business, he finds himself intrigued by the complexities of the murder case - the young Russian immigrant tied to the Bibby murder scene may be damned by his father's notorious crimes; the detective leading the murder investigation is quietly searching for her own long missing father; the owner of the houses in question, the would-be developer, and their main opposition all share a secret connection that dates back nearly three decades. When the leader of the local preservation group is found murdered on the grounds of the controversial cottages, Justice must unravel the secrets that surround the murders or let an innocent suffer for another's crimes. less

Disgraced journalist Benjamin Justice, at loose ends between jobs, takes a short vacation with a friend, Los Angeles Times reporter Alexandra Templeton, to a movie set at a faded resort hotel in the California desert. The film being shot is about a star's death in the 1950's and the lynching of a local black man for the murder--the last lynching in California... moreDisgraced journalist Benjamin Justice, at loose ends between jobs, takes a short vacation with a friend, Los Angeles Times reporter Alexandra Templeton, to a movie set at a faded resort hotel in the California desert. The film being shot is about a star's death in the 1950's and the lynching of a local black man for the murder--the last lynching in California. But the set is in an uproar over the appearance--and then the brutal murder--of a feared Hollywood gossip journalist who had promised to reveal 'explosive' new information. Now Justice finds himself enmeshed in two old deaths and a new murder as he attempts to uncover the truth before another falls victim. less

Benjamin Justice was once one of the most prominent and respected journalists in Los Angeles, even the country. But when it was discovered that he'd invented the sources for his Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles, he lost everything - his job, his reputation, his friends. Now, many years later, Justice has finally published a memoir revealing the truth behind the events that cost him so much and made him permanently radioactive in the journalism community... moreBenjamin Justice was once one of the most prominent and respected journalists in Los Angeles, even the country. But when it was discovered that he'd invented the sources for his Pulitzer Prize winning series of articles, he lost everything - his job, his reputation, his friends. Now, many years later, Justice has finally published a memoir revealing the truth behind the events that cost him so much and made him permanently radioactive in the journalism community. And this book may be his last chance to turn things around, to make a living writing as he'd always wanted.But his memoir brings out more than the truth - it brings out long-forgotten, long hidden ghosts from his past. And Justice finds himself, and everyone/everything he holds dear under attack. less