The Clarke Lantham Mysteries Series by J. Daniel Sawyer

Disgraced former cop Clarke Lantham doesn't mind making his living as a PI. He doesn't mind the long hours, living in his office, or even dealing with bill collectors, because it keeps him in the city--as close to heaven as he's ever likely to get. Fortunately, the world needs private detectives... moreDisgraced former cop Clarke Lantham doesn't mind making his living as a PI. He doesn't mind the long hours, living in his office, or even dealing with bill collectors, because it keeps him in the city--as close to heaven as he's ever likely to get. Fortunately, the world needs private detectives. Unfortunately for Lantham, on this particular Saturday morning "the world" consists of a fretful mother with a missing daughter, and the place he has to go to look for her has a name every bit as ominous as hell: Suburbia. With only a teenager's blog and diaries to go on, and time running out, Lantham chases the puzzle pieces from the posh shadow of Mount Diablo to the kink clubs of San Francisco to the genetic engineering labs of Stanford. Tailed by mercenaries, framed for murder, and forced into hiding, he somehow must keep his head in the face of a world where the normal rules of reality don't seem to apply...all for the sake of a nineteen-year-old girl whose face he sees every time he closes his eyes. less

A detective with insomnia chases every cop's worst nightmare...When a security guard disappears with a priceless Martian meteorite belonging to the Chinese government,  and surveillance tapes show a commando team of gray aliens making the snatch, a surly security chief turns to the only agency that might take him seriously: Clarke Lantham Investigations... moreA detective with insomnia chases every cop's worst nightmare...When a security guard disappears with a priceless Martian meteorite belonging to the Chinese government,  and surveillance tapes show a commando team of gray aliens making the snatch, a surly security chief turns to the only agency that might take him seriously: Clarke Lantham Investigations. After turning down another alien-hunting case earlier this week, Clarke Lantham wants nothing more to do with kooks, cranks, and crooks of any kind. But with a lawsuit, an assistant, and a new ward all chewing through his finances, he needs the paycheck.Racing spies, assassins, insurance agents, and the FBI, Lantham must find the wandering watchman--and the treasure that went with him--before the theft escalates into a diplomatic flash point between the world's fearsome superpowers and the alien overlords they allegedly support. But even that might not bother Lantham...if he didn't have to sleep on the couch. less