Bailey Crane Series by Billy Ray Chitwood

Meet Bailey Crane, a son of the south, now firmly transplanted in Phoenix, Arizona. Bailey is six feet tall, one hundred eighty-five pounds, a ruggedly good looking guy in the mold of a young Christopher Plummer, the "Sound of Music" gentleman. Bailey has just enough nuance in his charming southern manners and speech to make him appealing to most, perhaps a bit flamboyant for some. He's got a soft manufacturing rep business that brings in easy money... moreMeet Bailey Crane, a son of the south, now firmly transplanted in Phoenix, Arizona. Bailey is six feet tall, one hundred eighty-five pounds, a ruggedly good looking guy in the mold of a young Christopher Plummer, the "Sound of Music" gentleman. Bailey has just enough nuance in his charming southern manners and speech to make him appealing to most, perhaps a bit flamboyant for some. He's got a soft manufacturing rep business that brings in easy money. He's an actor on the local and regional scene, doing television commercials, print modeling, and some theater. He's a private investigator for a few attorney friends in town, and, a former cop, he is an auxiliary detective for the Phoenix PD. Bailey has love, friends, golf, and a bon vivant life style. For the most part the man is a crusader without a cape and has life just about where he wants it. In "An Arizona Tragedy" Bailey Crane's life takes a perilous and tumultuous twist when a young lady friend is brutally murdered in the Arizona desert. The friend, a twenty-six year old single mother and model, goes missing for weeks, is then found in a desert arroyo just northeast of Scottsdale, her skull crushed, her body ravaged and unrecognizable. Working privately on an estate matter for one of his attorney friends, Bailey finds the name of his lady friend's boyfriend. The discovery does not necessarily have great significance but it does start the wheels turning in the mind of our southern sleuth. Bailey becomes a target for an unknown pursuer and ends up battered, bruised, and angry. His strong feeling of hostility pushes him deeper into his friend's murder, and, finding a possible connecting link, he travels to Washington, D. C., to the hallowed halls and offices of the nation's lawmakers. At his hotel across the Potomac the unknown assassin strikes again, this time wounding our noble protagonist. The bad guy gets away, and Bailey has a temporary stay in a Reston, Virginia hospital. Through more ironic turns and twists Bailey goes on to solve not only his friend's homicide but another brutal slaying in the nation's capital. With the help of his PPD buddies, and, one very special female cop, the bad guy behind the gruesome killings is caught. The climatic ending scene in this Bailey Crane caper is nail biting tense and will keep the readers riveted to their seats of choice. "An Arizona Tragedy" was inspired by two actual homicides. The Phoenix slaying of the young mother and model has never been solved. With the decomposition of the body, accelerated by the desert's extreme heat and denizens of the habitat, evidence was scarce. This Phoenix murder was also very personal for the author ... he was a friend of the real murder victim. While "An Arizona Tragedy" was written to be commercially acceptable and successful, the author also wanted it to be a token of remembrance. less

Bailey Crane helps a mother find modest closure in the brutal beheading death of her daughter. Other murders in other states present a trail for our southern sleuth to follow, and he will find himself steeped in a case with bizarre far reaching psychological implications. The surprising ending comes on a stormy night in a Colorado mountain town and will mark a new beginning for the bible belt warrior of Cherokee blood. This Bailey Crane tale is not to be missed.

MURDER IN PUEBLO DEL MAR - A Bailey Crane Mystere (BOOK 4 in the series) - An Arizona wife and mother is murdered while on holiday in Mexico, and her three children find her brutally beaten and slashed body. Bailey Crane, an auxiliary member of the Phoenix PD, is visiting close friends in Pueblo del Mar, and is asked by the local police chief to assist him in building his case against the transvestite lover of the victim's husband... moreMURDER IN PUEBLO DEL MAR - A Bailey Crane Mystere (BOOK 4 in the series) - An Arizona wife and mother is murdered while on holiday in Mexico, and her three children find her brutally beaten and slashed body. Bailey Crane, an auxiliary member of the Phoenix PD, is visiting close friends in Pueblo del Mar, and is asked by the local police chief to assist him in building his case against the transvestite lover of the victim's husband. Bailey's Cherokee blood comes to an emotional boil when family and friends get caught up in the web of corruption, drugs, and sex. The highly intense climax comes in a 'Whale Shack' on the scrub brush and sand near the Sea of Cortez. This tale has the always soulful musings of our southern Sherlock, a chance encounter with a mysterious mystic who shares his thoughts on Time and Place, and fragile nerves that get edgy and frayed. This tale was inspired by an actual murder some years ago, and you don't want to miss it."Murder In Pueblo Del Mar - A Bailey Crane Mystery" is Book 4 in the 5-Book 'Bailey Crane Mystery Series.' Each Bailey Crane book can be read independently of the other. Each succeeding book in the series shows the natural progression of the central character (aging, loves, experiences). less

Bailey Crane, auxiliary cop for the Phoenix PD, is set-up by the bad guys and nearly consumed by a warehouse fire as this adventure begins. One of the thugs utters a mysterious phrase, 'Beware the Brutus Gate, ' and the boys in blue have a good chuckle and try to figure out its meaning. This simple string of words marks the start of a tale that leads our southern muser/sleuth to the worst criminal elements in our society, elements that reach the highest levels of government and politics... moreBailey Crane, auxiliary cop for the Phoenix PD, is set-up by the bad guys and nearly consumed by a warehouse fire as this adventure begins. One of the thugs utters a mysterious phrase, 'Beware the Brutus Gate, ' and the boys in blue have a good chuckle and try to figure out its meaning. This simple string of words marks the start of a tale that leads our southern muser/sleuth to the worst criminal elements in our society, elements that reach the highest levels of government and politics. Bailey encounters the players of the drug world, murder, and political corruption with his special panache and contempt. It's a case that has it all, and there are some personal changes in the life of our crusader for truth and justice. Bailey's emotions run the normal gamut as he plods and ponders his new realities, his life, and the meaning of it all. The climax to THE BRUTUS GATE plays out at an old ranch on the Mexican border, just south of Yuma, Arizona. It's a fun caper you won't want to miss. less

Bailey Crane is thinking long term fun and sun on the Sea of Cortez, but an old friend and HOA president puts those thoughts on hold by enlisting our southern sleuth to help solve a case of missing money and murder.Bailey is kidnapped twice, beaten twice, and his anger management is nowhere to be found. With the help of Pueblo del Mar's police chief, another old friend, Bailey begins to connect the dots... moreBailey Crane is thinking long term fun and sun on the Sea of Cortez, but an old friend and HOA president puts those thoughts on hold by enlisting our southern sleuth to help solve a case of missing money and murder.Bailey is kidnapped twice, beaten twice, and his anger management is nowhere to be found. With the help of Pueblo del Mar's police chief, another old friend, Bailey begins to connect the dots. He meets a most unusual man of intrigue, discovers the intricasies of money laundering in the posh resort communities along the sea, and makes it through to a most bizarre ending. The climax of this mystery leaves Bailey emotionally drained as he contemplates the true essence of friendship and life's strange twists of fate. It's all here: disloyalty, greed, love, money manipulation, murder. All the action takes place along a most lovely stretch of cobalt sea and an unrelenting desert of cacti, sage, and sand. less