Gunshots echo down an antebellum Charleston alley. Brack Pelton, an ex-racecar driver and Afghanistan War veteran, witnesses the murder of his uncle, Reggie Sails. Darcy Wells, the pretty Palmetto Pulse reporter, investigates Reggie's murder and targets Brack. The sole heir of his uncle's estate, Brack receives a rundown bar called the Pirate's Cove, a rotting beach house, and one hundred acres of preserved and valuable wetland along the Ashley River. A member of Charleston's wealthiest and oldest families offers Brack four million dollars for the land. All Brack wants is his uncle's killer. From the sandy beaches of Isle of Palms, through the nineteenth-century mansions lining the historic Battery, to the marshlands surrounding the county, Southern Heat is drenched in the humidity of the lowcountry.

The past is never past. Sometimes it repeats itself. And sometimes it comes back to pay a visit. Blu Carraway, flush with cash and back in business, never had it so good. Or so he thought. The reality is his love life is in shambles, his business partner is spending too much time with women half his age and not enough time on the job, and someone close goes missing. Blu tries to avoid the first and second by focusing on his work, but it's the third that very nearly does him and everyone around him in. His business partner goes off the rails, his friends show their true colors, and he realizes that getting closure sometimes means walking away from everything. With a case from the past gone wrong twice, a loved one in trouble, and an unanswered marriage proposal, it's a bad time to be in it for Blu Carraway Investigations. - - - - - - - - - - - - - BAD TIME TO BE IN IT by David Burnsworth | A Henery Press Mystery. If you...

As darkness blankets the holy city of Charleston, South Carolina, Brack Pelton, an Afghanistan War veteran, steps out of a rundown bar after a long night. Before he gets to his truck, he finds himself in the middle of a domestic dispute between a man and a woman on the sidewalk. When a little girl joins the couple and gets hit by the man, Brack intervenes and takes him down. But the abuser isn't finished. He pulls a gun and shoots the woman. Brack saves the little girl, but his world has just been rocked. Again. The next day, while sitting on a barstool in the Pirate's Cove on the Isle of Palms, his own bar, Brack scans the local paper. The news headline reads: Burned Body of Unidentified Hispanic Man Found at Construction Site. Nothing about a dead woman in the poor section of town. Brack feels a tap on his shoulder and turns around to see an eight-year old girl standing behind him. She's the little girl he rescued the night before, and she wants him to look into her sister's...

"Burnsworth nails the voice of new Southern noir. This talented author will win you over with his engaging and multi-faceted hero, then keep you turning pages with his suspense." – Hank Phillippi Ryan, Mary Higgins Clark Award-Winning Author of The Other Woman Lowcountry Private Investigator Blu Carraway needs a new client. He's broke and the tax man is coming for his little slice of paradise. But not everyone appreciates his skills. Some call him a loose cannon. Others say he's a liability. All the ex-Desert Storm Ranger knows is his phone hasn't rung in quite a while. Of course, that could be because it was cut off due to delinquent payments. Lucky for him, a client does show up at his doorstep—a distraught mother with a wayward son. She's rich and her boy's in danger. Sounds like just the case for Blu. Except nothing about the case is as it seems. The jigsaw pieces—a ransom note, a beat-up minivan, dead strippers, and a missing briefcase...

An action-packed Atlanta-set mystery by an author who "nails the voice of new Southern noir" (Hank Phillippi Ryan, Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning author of Trust Me). Lowcountry bar owner and Marine veteran Brack Pelton heads to Atlanta in the wake of a panicked three a.m. phone call. A woman is missing, and Brack's friend Mutt is in danger. Brack's old flame, investigative news correspondent Darcy Wells, now lives there and is set to marry another man. If Brack was honest with himself—and he usually wasn't—he'd realize that the missing woman isn't the real reason for his visit. His Semper Fi buddy Mutt can handle himself just fine. When Brack and Mutt team up to find the woman, the Atlanta underworld revolts, the two biggest players target them, and people start dying. Most people would size up the situation, call it impossible, and walk away. But most people are not Brack Pelton. Impossible situations are his...

"Hop on board for a hard-edged debut that's fully loaded with car chases (particularly Mustangs), war veterans, old grudges, and abundant greed. A choppy start belies a well-executed plotline enhanced by the atmospheric Palmetto State setting." – Library Journal (on Southern Heat) "This second case for Brack is marked by a challenging mystery, quirky characters, and nonstop action." ―Kirkus Reviews (on Burning Heat) "Solid, well-written-and full of heart—Burnsworth nails the voice of new southern noir. This talented debut author will win you over with his engaging and multi-faceted hero—then keep you turning pages with his suspense, southern-voiced wit and sharp insight into the not so pleasant side of a fascinating city. - Hank Phillippi Ryan- Anthony, Agatha, MAcavity and Mary Higgins Clark Award winning author (on Southern Heat) "David Burnsworth's debut novel, Southern Heat, has everything a good mystery needs—intrigue, action,...